"I thought he was aiming at me."

The vulnerability of that statement melted the heart of Alex Borgia as she instinctively moved closer, joining her superior on the courthouse steps.

She reached over, finding the usually steady hands clammy and shaking. Jack McCoy looked at her, the warm feel of her smooth hands jarring him back from the moment frozen in his mind. The dark eyes where still wide with terror, softening slightly as he met her uneasy gaze. Borgia held his gaze as she silently squeezed his hands while they waited for Fontana and Green to arrive.

Borgia's statement was brief. She'd only just stepped out of the courthouse when Leland Barnes was shot by his oldest son. By the time she got to Jack, the shooter had been restrained and Barnes senior was dead.

"Thank you Ms. Borgia," Joe Fontana said as he closed his note pad. "you're free to go."

Borgia looked over at McCoy and Green. She could see McCoy was trying to put on a brave front. His voice weary, but steady. A bit more color in his face since Green had the paramedics look him over and give him a mild sedative. She looked down at the hands by his side. Looking carefully, she could spot the trembling, until McCoy caught her and self consciously his hands disappeared into the pockets of the dark suit jacket.

"Jack won't be in any shape to ride his motorcycle," she replied. "I'd like to wait for him, see if he'll let me give him a ride."

"He'll be all right, Ms. Borgia. The protective detail-" Fontana began.

"Come on detective," Borgia said softly. "you know Jack. Now that Barnes is dead, his son in jail, Jack's going to send the detail on their way, the first chance he gets."

Fontana nodded in agreement as he went to interview the next witness. Sure enough twenty minutes later, McCoy had dismissed the protective detail. He grudgingly accepted Borgia's offer when he realized the streets around the courthouse was still sealed off from incoming traffic; no taxi's in site.

"Alex, you didn't have to stay," he said as they walked towards the parking garage. "I'm fine."

"Well I'm not," she said earnestly. "walking our there and finding you on the steps, not thirty feet from a dead man…. I guess I haven't seen enough to harden myself to that kind of shock, yet. Maybe you were right when you implied I should go back to where I came from."

McCoy's jaw dropped for the second time that day, staring unbelievingly at she unlocked the car door. Once inside he turned to her, his eyes shiny pools.

"I'm sorry, Alex," he said as his voice cracked as his defenses crumbed. "I didn't mean it…I never should have-"

Borgia felt her own eyes well up as she reached for him.

"Hush, hush, Jack. It's alright," she said as she stroked his cheek, wiping the tears away as he pressed her to him. "I know. You're safe, it's over now."

She continued to hold him, rocking him back and forth as the emotions he'd fought so hard to keep to himself flooded out. As they embraced she felt her desire to comfort and console McCoy slowly turning into something surprisingly more intense and significantly less chaste.

When she began working with McCoy, she already knew him by reputation. "Hang' Em High McCoy' was a legend in the DA's office. Most certainly the next choice for DA when the time would come for Arthur Branch to step down. McCoy's drive to win was common knowledge. As were McCoy's ill-fated affairs within the DA's office. While the rumor mill seemed to dry up several years before with the death of Claire Kincaid, a few of the senior staff in the Narcotics Division had felt obliged to warn her against the legendary McCoy charm before her transfer took effect.

Rather than being intimidated or put off by any aspect of McCoy's character, Borgia was intrigued. In the months she worked with him, Borgia found McCoy's courtroom style riveting, his office manner professional. While he could be demanding and one sided at times, usually his conduct was friendly and supportive, never harassing or predatory.

"Better?"

McCoy nodded.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Alex," he said as he reached for his handkerchief..

"Jack, don't apologize for being human. Listen, I have my cell phone with me. Do you want to call any one before this hit's the evening news - your daughter, ex wife, Jenna?"

McCoy shook his head.

"You know the situation with Becky. As for her mother, she'll be fine knowing I wasn't the one who got shot. As for wife number two - she'll be disappointed I wasn't the one that got shot," joked.

"You really shouldn't be alone right now. What about Jenna?"

McCoy sighed heavily. McCoy had been dating Jenna Matthews for almost a month when they were met after lunch by Fontana and Green the day the Leland Barnes nightmare began for McCoy.

McCoy shrugged his shoulders.

"She broke it off," he said simply. "Can't blame her after today."

Borgia nodded as she started the car. She thought about McCoy words, stunned by the pleasure it gave her to know he was no longer involved, that he was free to do whatever he liked with whomever he liked….

God, Alex get a grip, she thought as she maneuvered her car through the rush hour traffic. The man's in shock…he's been sedated…the last thing on his mind is sex…the last thing you need is to not only sleep with you boss, but to initiate it… talk about a fast way to loose his respect, to loose your credibility….

"Alex, are you all right?"

Borgia looked over at her boss flushing slightly.

"Maybe I'm more shaken up than I thought," she said making a half hearted effort to cover.

"Of course you are," he responded apologetically. "I should have realized that instead of falling apart on you."

"Jack, stop. I'm fine, really. I just, well I was just thinking…" she stammered suddenly feeling very young, very foolish, and very unsure of how to proceed.

"Alex something is obviously on your mind," he pressed as she pulled in front of his building. "I'd like to think you're comfortable enough with me to tell me what it might be."

Borgia turned off the ignition and faced him. She looked into the deep brown eyes that seemed to see through her. She'd always found McCoy an attractive man, especially for a man of his age. The first time he'd changed from work attire into jeans in her presence, she'd found herself at first flustered, then quickly, intrigued as she glimpsed the broad shoulders and muscular legs….

Alex, stop it…Jack's older than your father, she tersely reminded herself as she looked away. Save what's left of your dignity and say good bye…

Borgia looked back into his inquiring eyes.

"I was going to ask you if you had any wine,' she heard herself say." You were right. I am still a little shaky. I thought may be a glass of wine would calm me down."

McCoy looked at her intently, as if he was trying to read her thoughts, to try to answer an unasked question.

"You're not trying to baby sit me are you counselor?"

Borgia laughed softly.

"I hate to admit it, but I think I might be the one in need of some babysitting, as selfish as that is under the circumstances."

What the hell are you doing?? As if a man like Jack McCoy can't see right through such an obvious manipulation…

McCoy wordless got out of the car. Borgia turned away, mortified that she'd been caught in such a juvenile ploy. She was about to turn the ignition key when McCoy opened her door, offering her his hand.

"I'm not sure about the wine," he said as the car door closed. He continued to hold her hand as he looked down at her. "But whatever I have to offer, you're welcome to it counselor."