It's Enough
Written for polkadotsnplaid. I don't own Law & Order, obviously.
She joins the D.A.'s office because she wants to piss off her ex-husband and because she believes in monsters that go bump in the night. She wants to put them away for good, to make the world a safer place, and if it has the added bonus of annoying her ex then it's worth it.
At first it reminds her of when she first began working with Neal – she's among the masses of young, inexperienced lawyers, just another face in the crowd. But her courtroom manner soon earns her the notice of Adam Schiff, the D.A., and she is promoted to Jack McCoy's assistant.
He is still grieving for his previous assistant, Claire Kincaid, and they are often at loggerheads about how to handle the case. He resents her because her presence means that Claire is really gone.
But eventually they forge a working relationship which, at times, borders on the flirtatious. But both of them are guarded individuals, unwilling to get hurt again, so their relationship does not progress any further than good friends.
And when she marries David their friendship withers a bit but doesn't die. Though she's left the D.A.s office she soon returns to the law as a pro-bono lawyer and then she becomes a judge.
When she's dragged up in front of the judiciary review he's there for her, even though they didn't ask for his testimony. That simple gesture speaks volumes of his affection for her.
It's never the right time for them to be together and it never will be. But their friendship is enough. It has to be enough.
