SquidgeWorld Archive

"Alan."

"Shirley." He walked in, closed her office door and seated himself across the desk from her. Then he sat back, readjusted his tie and waited.

Shirley took a deep breath, eye contact never wavering. "How are you doing it?"

He blinked. "Doing what?"

"How is it you're carrying two caseloads and still managing to come out on top?"

Alan swallowed. "Two caseloads? I don't understand."

"Alan," Shirley said, rising and pacing around the side of the desk, "we know you've been carrying Denny's cases."

"I haven't."

"You've gone to every court appearance with him. Every single one."

"Assigned sitter."

"You're not just sitting, Alan, and nobody assigned you to every one of his cases. You're doing his openings, his closings and very often his interrogations."

Alan shifted uncomfortably.

"Alan, you're going to burn out. Nobody can handle two full caseloads. Not for long."

"What is your point, Shirley?"

She pushed the second guest chair out of the way with her foot, moved directly in front of him and leaned back against her desk. "You have to stop. We're not paying you to do his job." She bit her lip. "Alan." He looked up at her. "If Denny is going to fail, he needs to fail. You can't carry him indefinitely."

"Perhaps not indefinitely. But for right now I seem to be doing just fine."

"Alan, this isn't a request. You are to drop everything that is Denny Crane. And I mean immediately."

"What do you have against him?"

"I don't have anything against him, Alan. God knows I feel for the man and the fact that he has Alzheimer's. But as the next senior partner in line, I can't sit back and watch not just one of our attorneys fall apart, but a second one as well. It's in the firm's best interests to keep you here, intact and performing as you are now. That's not going to happen if you keep carrying him."

"We're halfway through the Tremour case. Closing on Aberdeen is tomorrow and the Macy's class action begins Monday. You're telling me you want me to just drop him like a hot potato."

"That's what I'm telling you."

"You realize what will happen if he loses? How much money Crane, Poole & Schmidt stands to lose on those three cases alone?"

"A momentary loss of income is better than the long-term loss of the best attorney I've seen since Denny Crane."

"He's not dead yet, Shirley. He can do his own cases. I know he can."

"Fine," she said, going back around to her chair and sitting down. "Then let him prove it."

"Shirley, you're not being fair."

"I'm going to give you some friendly advice, but it's not because I'm your friend." Shirley hesitated, then met his gaze. "I think if you really look at this situation, Denny's the one not being fair. To you."

Alan swallowed, looked at her a few moments longer, pirouetted and left the office. Shirley sat back in her chair and heaved a huge sigh of relief. The dirty deed had been done. Now it was up to Denny Crane and Alan Shore to see what would happen.

She hated doing it. God, she hated doing it. She did still care for Denny. And in spite of his many flaws, Alan was the most winning lawyer they'd had since Denny's heyday. It was for the firm. Paul's and Brad's opinions had been clear, and she could not disagree.

It didn't make her hurt any less.

~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~

He lingered outside the door, staring at the name plate. DENNY CRANE The two words that had inspired fear and awe for so many years. DENNY CRANE Two words which had initially convinced him that they were synonymous with wacko. DENNY CRANE Two words he'd begun cherishing, even going so far as to remind the voice to say them when it forgot. DENNY CRANE The man he loved.

If he ignored Shirley, he'd be gone in a heartbeat. And Denny would soon follow. It wouldn't be so bad, he thought, if it were just him. He would miss Denny...if Denny would be staying. But he knew that wouldn't happen. Without him to anchor his friend, to stabilize his mind...to basically do his work for him...Denny would have a repeat of the incident in the court against Donnie.

Donnie had told him. He leaned back against the wall as the conversation returned to his mind. It had been just before Donnie had left for the airport.

"I'm sorry to disturb you."

"Donnie. I'm already disturbed. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my...dad."

"Your dad? I thought we had established he wasn't."

"He agreed to be my fake dad again. Tonight, at dinner."

"Ah. What about him?"

"I...get the idea you two are...close." Alan hadn't responded, just raised his eyebrows. "Is that true? I mean, are you...I don't know...like, his best friend?"

"I would consider that an accurate assessment."

"Alan, he...bombed. Badly."

"I assumed as much."

"He forgot..." Donnie had paced his office. "He forgot right in the middle of a sentence. In the middle of a word. I never...thank God the judge understood and helped him muddle through. But...to see him like that. To see him..." Donnie had walked right up to him. "Please...take care of him. I'm worried, but I can't stick around here."

"I am taking care of him, Donnie, and I plan to continue doing so."

Donnie nodded. "Thanks." He turned to walk away, stopping when he got to the door. Slowly he looked back at Alan. "I'm glad he's got someone by his side who...loves him so much."

If Alan hadn't been committed to carrying Denny before that conversation, he had been afterward. Their relationship had advanced beyond mere dancing in offices and slipping into the same bed to sleep at night. It had gone beyond living together and sexual innuendo to include a wholly satisfying physical relationship. Whatever else Denny Crane forgot, sexual prowess, skill and energy were not among them.

Alan had been surprised to discover their working relationship didn't change at all after their first time. They acted the same at work, still going out for their nightly balcony visits, still handling cases and lawyers and clients and women in the exact same fashion they always had. They still went home together. They still went to bed together. Only now, it wasn't just to sleep.

Personally, he'd never been happier. He'd found no reason to look for female companionship ever since. Partially because their nights together left him plenty happy, but also because Alan was nothing if not monogamous. Well, when he was in an actual relationship, anyway.

He moved forward so he could see through the door. Denny was sitting there at his desk with a law book open in front of him. Alan couldn't tell for sure if he was reading it or just staring blankly at the page, but he felt his chest tighten as what he'd basically been ordered to do consumed him.

Finally he walked through the door, closing it behind him. "Denny."

"Alan, what's up?"

"Could you come out to the balcony please?"

Denny rose. "Now? It's barely eleven in the morning." His eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk. That's the most private spot."

Denny nodded and headed out onto the terrace, Alan in tow. The doors were closed behind them. Denny turned and leaned against the wall. "What is it?"

Alan looked up to the sky, out at the skyscrapers, over to the potted palm, down to the chairs and table. Giant invisible hands squeezed his chest even tighter.

"Alan, you're scaring me."

His jaw worked. And he couldn't help the tears that filled his eyes. "I have to stop working on your cases with you."

Denny frowned and cocked his head. "I don't understand. We're a team."

"Yes. But not everyone wants us to be."

Thinking for a moment, Denny finally snapped his fingers, his eyes wide. "They got to you, didn't they?"

"They did."

"Which one?"

"Denny, Iâ€""

"Which one?"

"Shirley."

"Bitch."

"Denny, they know I'm carrying your cases."

"You're not!"

"Oh, come on, Denny, we share one another's bodies, let's try to be honest about this, too." Denny didn't respond, just turned away and looked at the skyscrapers across from their building. "I sit with you on every one of your cases. You're the lead attorney, but I handle the arguments and most of the interrogations. They know, Denny."

"What was the ultimatum?" His voice was taut, as though mirroring the fact that Denny himself was about to break.

"I stop helping you or I'm fired."

He turned to face Alan, incredulity written on his face. "They can't do that! You're the best attorney this law firm has!"

"Nevertheless, that was the decision I was asked to make."

Denny looked down. "What are you going to do?"

"I can't drop you, Denny. Not like this."

"You have to, Alan. You still have a long and brilliant set of years ahead of you. You'll no doubt make partner..."

"Denny, no," Alan said, moving forward and putting his hands on his lover's arms. "Why would I want to stay here without you?"

Denny looked up at him, tears in his eyes. "Because you're only forty-nine years old. You could be at this for another twenty years at least. Make a real name for yourself, outside the shadow of...Denny Crane."

"I'm part of Denny Crane. And he's part of me. I won't stay here without you."

"I can do this."

"Denny..."

He jerked away. "Alan, I'm not down and out yet. Drop my cases. Let me prove I can still be Denny Crane."

Alan frowned. "What if you can't?" he asked so softly it was barely heard.

A ghost of a smile toyed with Denny's mouth. "Then you'll be there to catch me when I fall."

~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~

He couldn't concentrate. No matter how many times he tried to read the single page in front of him, something important he needed to refresh himself on prior to his court appearance in an hour, Alan Shore simply could not concentrate.

The Aberdeen closing had begun thirty minutes ago. Alan couldn't stop looking at his watch. Couldn't stop checking to make sure his cell phone was on and had a strong enough signal to receive incoming calls. Couldn't stop drumming his fingers on the desk. He looked up in surprise as Shirley entered his office, and stopped drumming immediately.

"I see you didn't go with him."

"No. I didn't." His face was hard as stone.

"You've made the right decision."

Alan imagined she could probably see the steam coming out of his ears, but he rose noisily to his feet for emphasis, hitting his fist on the edge of the desk. "No, I haven't. I'm letting my...my best friend...go it alone. And for what? This?" Alan's hands raised to indicate his office, its contents and Shirley herself. "For you?"

"For the firm, Alan."

"It's always about the firm," Alan said, walking over to the doors that led to his balcony. "My old friend Ellenor told me her firm was her life. I always wondered about that. Wondered about...people who make work their entire life. What does that leave us, Shirley? In the end it leaves us with coffers of money and no one to share it with." He turned to face her. "It leaves us old, empty and alone. Certainly those last three apply to you."

"Alan, you get away with murder because you're Denny Crane's golden boy."

"And you want to get rid of him. To hurt him."

"Not to hurt him. Just to stop a slow leak before it becomes a waterfall."

"You're using me to oust him, and I won't stand for it. I'm telling you now, Shirley: if Denny goes, either by will or by force, I'm going with him. So in either case, you lose. You won't retain me and you won't have Denny Crane."

Her face hardened, eyes glinting steel. "I'm sure Crane, Poole and Schmidt will survive without you."

"Not without Crane on the door, it won't," Alan said. He stared at her a few moments longer before walking out.

~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~

Alan looked at the throng of people coming out of the courthouse, filtering through the faces of those he vaguely recognized and those who were complete strangers until his eyes came to rest on a familiar sight. He started to smile, but the look on Denny's face froze the smile deep inside. "Oh, God," he whispered, quickly moving forward into the fray.

Within seconds, he was at Denny's side.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have a case in thirty minutes. What happened?"

He tried to look nonchalant about it, but Alan knew him too well. "Exactly what Shirley said would happen. I bombed, Alan." He took a deep breath and looked away. "I lost the case."

"You...lost?"

"Winning streak's over, Tiger. Denny Crane is officially...out."

Suddenly, Alan couldn't breathe. No.

~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~

Alan opened the front door of their home. Denny had left the courthouse. Left Alan standing there in disbelief. It had been all he could do to maintain his composure throughout the afternoon as he'd sat there listening to some yahoo drone on and on about some boring thing or other. Truth was, he hadn't heard a word of it.

He'd arrived back at the office to find not only that Denny had never returned, but that Paul was more than willing to nag him about it, and quite intent upon discovering where the partner had disappeared to. Alan knew where he'd be, and had walked right back out the door without so much as a nod in Paul's direction.

And so at four o'clock in the afternoon, he made his way out to the back yard, where he found Denny relaxing in a chaise next to the magnificent, sparkling pool. Denny looked up and smiled. "It's about time you came home."

Alan could only shake his head. Words would not form.

"Oh, don't look so down, Alan. It's time. I'm seventy-seven years old, for God's sake." He watched as Alan made his way to him, shedding his jacket, tie and shirt so that only his tee shirt remained. "What do you think I should do in my old age, Alan?" His voice sounded cheerful. "I was thinking of traveling, but I don't want to do that without you...it's no fun. Then I thought about spending my days at the shooting range, but without you there looking ridiculous alongside me, I realized that's no fun either." Denny leaned back and closed his eyes. "Without you, nothing's any fun."

"I'm not going back, Denny."

He opened his eyes and sat up. "What?"

"I won't. Not after what they pulled."

"Alan, this is your career."

"No, Denny," he replied, sitting on the edge of the chaise and taking Denny's hands in his. "This is my life. You are my life. I don't need to earn money now any more than you do. What I need is right here. Right in front of me."

"I won't let you throw away a good thing on my account."

"Don't you get it? You are my good thing. God, Denny, I've been in love with you since you hired me."

"I know."

"Let's travel the world together. Let's do all the things you could never do because you were married to your job."

"And when we've finished doing all those things?"

"Then we'll still come home together. Like we always have."

Denny looked at the crystal clear water of the pool. "It's hard to imagine not being Denny Crane anymore."

"You'll always be Denny Crane."

"Still carrying a legend around, Alan?" Alan nodded. "Might get tiring."

"Never," Alan smiled, squeezing his hands. "Now, are you going to come to bed or am I going to have to force you to?"

"Bed? Now?"

"I love you," Alan said suddenly.

Denny looked into his eyes. Even after they'd transitioned to the more physical aspects of their love four years prior, he'd never been able to say the words. Now, however, there was no more law firm to worry about, no more partners to use these types of things against you, no more judges and juries to impress. Now there was only Alan. And Denny knew he deserved to hear it put into words.

"I love you, too."

The men rose as one and headed back into the house. Legends don't ever die. Not legends like the name Denny Crane. And even after the man was gone, Alan knew he'd be carrying his memory forever, burning it into the annals of history. Carrying Denny's ideals, hopes, dreams and the man he'd been. Carrying the insane, intense love he had for Denny in every cell of his being. Carrying a legend.