Julian learned quickly that dating Dana Scott changed very little and absolutely everything.
They didn't arrive together.
They never planned to.
Julian stepped out of the elevator first, already reviewing notes on his phone. Dana followed a moment later, coffee in hand. She passed him without stopping and slid the cup into his free hand.
He nodded once. She didn't look back.
Across the bullpen, Donna watched this exchange with deep professional satisfaction.
"Domestic," she murmured.
Jessica called them in before ten.
No warning. No tone shift. Just business.
"This isn't personal," Jessica said, folding her hands on the desk. "But it is necessary."
Julian and Dana stood side by side, not touching, not defensive.
"You're both senior attorneys," Jessica continued. "I expect professionalism, discretion, and zero complications."
"Understood," Julian said immediately.
Dana nodded. "Agreed."
Jessica studied them for a moment. "That was easy."
"We're adults," Dana replied.
Jessica allowed herself a small smile. "Good. Donna already drafted a contingency plan anyway."
Outside, Donna waved a thin folder labeled Boundaries.
Julian paused. "That's a joke."
Donna smiled. "Mostly."
The case came in just before lunch.
Former DOJ contractor. Corporate compliance dispute. Technically civil. Quietly political.
Julian recognized the name immediately.
He closed the file once, then opened it again.
The client wanted a workaround. Legal. Barely. A maneuver that would delay disclosure just long enough to force a settlement.
Harvey thought it was brilliant.
"Delay wins," Harvey said, pacing Julian's office. "By the time anyone catches on, the deal's done."
Julian shook his head. "It undermines the statute."
"It exploits it."
"That's the same thing when you're the one who wrote it," Julian replied.
Harvey stopped pacing. "You didn't write it."
"No," Julian said calmly. "But I enforced it."
Harvey stared at him. "You still thinking like the DOJ."
Julian met his gaze. "I'm thinking like someone who has to sleep at night."
Donna poked her head in. "Voices are rising. That's six minutes, Harvey."
Harvey exhaled sharply. "You're going to turn down a winnable angle?"
"Yes."
"Because of principle?"
"Because of consequence."
Harvey scoffed. "This firm survives on bending."
Julian stood. "It survives on credibility."
They stared at each other until Harvey finally shook his head. "You're exhausting."
"I've been told."
Dana didn't interfere.
She didn't argue Harvey's side or defend Julian's.
She asked one question that evening, quietly, in Julian's office when the floor had emptied.
"If you take this," she said, "what happens next?"
Julian leaned back in his chair. "Short term? We win."
"And after?"
He thought for a moment. "The statute gets tightened. Future cases get harder. Someone else pays for it."
She nodded. "And you?"
"I compromise something I can't put back."
Dana rested a hand on the desk. "Then you already know your answer."
He smiled faintly. "I do."
The client didn't take it well.
"That's not the answer I expected," the man said, lips curling into something close to amusement. "Not from the DOJ's golden boy."
Julian remained calm. "Then you misunderstood me."
The client stood. "People are watching you, Mr. Cross."
Julian held his gaze. "Then let them watch me say no."
After he left, the office felt quieter.
Harvey leaned against the doorway. "You just made an enemy."
Julian shrugged. "I didn't make him. He already existed."
Harvey studied him, then smirked. "You're really going to be like this, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Harvey laughed once. "This firm's going to hate you."
Donna passed by. "Too late. Some of us are fans."
That night, Julian and Dana ate takeout on her couch, files untouched on the table.
No strategy. No debate. Just comfort.
"You're sure?" she asked.
"Yes."
She leaned into his shoulder. "Good."
Julian looked around, at the quiet, at the normalcy, at the absence of chaos.
For the first time since coming back, he felt certain.
Not about the firm.
Not about the cases.
But about where his line was.
And that, he knew, would matter.
END OF CHAPTER
Author's Comment:
Chapter 5 sets Julian's ethical baseline and introduces the first long-term tension: his DOJ past isn't buried, and his choices ripple outward. Dana stays supportive without becoming a plot device, and the romance remains stable. From here, consequences start arriving—slowly, realistically, and inevitably.