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A/N Special shout out to The Hesitant Writer for being my idea bouncer and giving me epic ideas and for just being an all-around epic badass writer! Love you!

"In New York City it's a whole other system then most of America. They call their local low level courts the Supreme Court for New York City and then County Court for outside the city, then their highest appeals court is the Court of Appeals whereas places like here, Supreme Court is the highest ranking court in the state."

Jessica Samson clapped her hands together as she looked over the sea of mildly interested students. "Before we go is there any questions?" she asked, making sure to look around the class to make sure she didn't miss anything.

A senior girl in the first row raised her hand, lowering it when Jessica pointed at her. "You mention New York a lot, Mrs. Samson," she began, "like I learn more law about New York then I do Idaho and we live here. Did you used to live there or whatever?"

Jessica paused; a flash of fear came alive in her eyes as she looked over the girls face. For one fleeting moment, her fears that she had been compromised that reappeared every so often came bursting fourth like a dam.

But as she looked over the young girls face, she felt the sense of dread diminish. She had no idea what those words otherwise meant to her Business Law teacher. She was just curious as to all the New York references.

So it was with an almost shaky sigh that Jessica shook her head. "No," she told the young girl with a forced smile. "I just find those courts and systems a little more interesting than our own."

The girl nodded, her curiosity appeased, as the bell rung overhead.

"Make sure you read chapters 5 and 6, and have your case reports done for Monday and have a good weekend, be safe!" she had to practically yell over the mad scramble of chairs and chatter as the students all but sprinted from their last class of the day.

Jessica quickly scanned the rom and found who she was looking for and nodded towards the girl she wanted to talk to. "Emily, can you hang back a minute?"

Emily, a small shy junior with her caramel colored hair pulled back into a pony tail with thin black rim glasses, who had just finished putting her books in her bags, swallowed hard and nodded, walking up to her desk as Jessica sat down on the edge of it.

They both waited until the final student had cleared the room and shut the door behind the small mob before they began talking. Jessica gave the girl a soft smile. "How you feeling?" the teacher asked gently.

Emily shrugged as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "I testify on Tuesday. I don't think I'm ready for it though…" she admitted with an almost embarrassed tone in her voice.

"That's normal to feel that way," Jessica told her. "But you gotta remember that he can't hurt you in that courtroom."

"I know," she muttered, "But... I'm scared. I mean I'm over what he did to me, this is just gonna make it worse and what if they say he's not guilty? I just don't wanna do it."

"Emily, listen to me," Jessica almost pleaded with the young girl. "It's normal to feel scared but the cops who handled your case will be there, you have a lawyer who's gonna fight like hell for you, I'm gonna be there to support you, you have two loving parents who are gonna be there for you…

And even if he is found not guilty, you will have confronted him. You are taking back control; you took back control just by reporting what he did to you. You are gonna reveal him for the scum he is on open court and those accusations? They stick with a man the rest of his life even if he is found not guilty but that's not gonna happen."

Tears rushed to the young girls eyes. "But... but he said he was sorry and he loved me and if I dropped the charges he would be nicer to me..."

"Sweetie, that isn't love," Jessica said with a soft shake of her head. "Love doesn't involve getting beaten, it doesn't involve him forcing you to do things you don't wanna do."

Jessica put her hand on her shoulder. "I know you're scared. And I know you think it'll get better if you drop the charges but it won't. He'll go on hurting you and I don't wanna see you come into this classroom with bruises on your face and a cast on your arm again."

Emily sniffed and wiped away the tears from her eyes, nodding as she did so. Jessica offered her another gentle smile. "I'll be there in the courtroom when you walk in on Tuesday, okay?"

The young girl nodded again and let out a sad chuckle. "You- you're almost treating me better than the cops who handled my case. I mean you're the one who helped get me into counseling, helped me with the whole victim's compensation thing; you explained the process better than the cops or the lawyer…" She wiped her eyes and looked back up at her teacher and gave her a teary smile. "Thank you. For everything."

Jessica returned the smile and nodded. "You're very welcome, Emily. Go have a fun weekend and if you need anything, you have my number okay? Don't hesitate to call."

Emily nodded, offered a final smile and goodbye, and headed out into the still crowded hallways. Jessica sighed as she leaned against her desk.

Emily had reminded Jessica of something she had nearly forgotten. She was doing all she could for this girl and a spark came alive inside the teacher whenever they discussed her case.

Jessica missed a lot of things about her old life but helping victims? Getting them justice? That was what she missed the most…

With another heavy sigh, she picked up her notebooks and papers to be graded and filed them inside her briefcase, grabbed her coat from the closet, and headed out into the halls. She maneuvered her way past the mass of students with an occasional smile or nod or hello towards students who called out her name, her smile growing bigger with every step she took.

She may have hated her teaching job but there was one thing that made it worth it. The person she saw every day after the final class.

Jessica stopped outside a door and glanced in the window at the man sitting behind the large wooden desk with his head bowed, a red pen making tiny checkmarks on almost every inch of a page, his brow furrowing with every mark he made.

The man she was staring at wearing a suit that unintentionally showcased his well-built body complete with a black tie decorated with stars and planets on it, a gift from Jessica,. Thick black hair lay as well styled as he could make it on top of his head with light green eyes shining behind black rimmed glasses.

He was good looking for his age, a mere forty five, and as Jessica referred to him as was 'nerd hot', something he always smiled and shook his head at.

He had on two separate pieces of jewelry. One, a small simple silver ring that had cost Jessica a little over four hundred, and another was a necklace made up of only two pieces of red and blue yarn with 'Best Daddy Ever' in simple plastic black and white beads hanging on them.

He treated each piece like it was irreplaceable gold.

Jessica couldn't help but smile as she opened the door and gently shut it behind her. "Mr. Samson, I have a question about this weekend's assignment," she asked with a smirk and a slight twinge of playfulness in her tone as she walked over to him.

The sound of her voice brought an instant smile to his face as he looked up from his papers to face her, twisting his chair towards her. "Which would be what exactly?" he asked with equal playfulness.

Jessica came up to him and straddled his lap, draping her arms around his shoulders while he wrapped his around her waist. "If I sleep with the teacher do I get to get out of it?"

The man seemed to think for a moment and nodded. "Of course. I'll even give you an A+ for the creative thinking."

Jessica chuckled for a moment before she sat on the edge of the desk next to his papers. She paused a moment as she glanced down next to the already graded papers. "You're not gonna grade papers all weekend right?"

"Not all weekend. I'll take five minutes to sleep," the man said with a sigh as he turned back towards his stack of unlooked at papers.

Jessica groaned, "Nate, you promised Cassie you'd go to the Snowman Wonderland thing this weekend."

"I will. I have never broken a promise to that girl in her life," Nate reminded her as he looked up from his papers.

"I know you haven't, but you also can't be distracted the whole time thinking about your work."

"I'll try not to be, but midterms are coming up and-."

"And nothing. Your students will be able to survive getting their essays back on Tuesday then Monday. I promise."

Before Nate could answer, Jessica froze for a long moment before a sad smile rose to her lips. Nate narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. "Jess, you okay?"

Jessica nodded, forcing herself to return to the present instead of a past she had tried so hard to forget. "Yeah, it's just... this argument? It reminded me of an argument a… a friend and I had once a long time ago."

Nate's face fell. He hated when his wife of four years would remind herself of a past she had only given him pieces and glimpses at. It would always end with her depressed and hours spent gazing out the window with a look of sorrow he could find nothing to compare to.

It was worse when she was reminded of him; her ex and best friend Elijah Stables, a fellow teacher where Jessica had worked with in Ohio. Of everything she seemed to miss from her seemingly boring life, she had missed him the most.

He was also Cassie's father, biologically at least. Nate had adopted Cassie when she was two years old, already having been a part of Jessica's life since he met her and she was already a month and a half pregnant.

Even though he and Cassie weren't linked that way, they both considered Nate Cassie's father in every single way but biologically and Jessica knew without a doubt would die for their little girl in a heartbeat.

His eyes shone with pride anytime he mentioned her and he had been the best father he could possibly be to her. He was an amazing father and an even better husband. While he knew Jessica occasionally missed Elijah, he also knew she loved him.

And she did. With every fiber of her being...

Nate swallowed hard, his heart breaking at the forlorn look on his wife's face. He reached out and gently grasped her hand. "Elijah?" he asked softly, already knowing the answer.

Jessica nodded, unable to face him. "Yeah…" she breathed, her brown eyes swimming in tears. "Only I was on the other side of the argument."

Nate paused for a moment before he suddenly stood up and grabbed the stack of papers to be graded. Without a word he pulled open the top drawer and placed them neatly inside and locked it with the keys he had attached to his Star Wars lanyard.

He turned towards Jessica, his face lighting up when he saw even a sliver of a smile. She stood up from the corner of the desk and draped her arms around his neck. "I love you," she breathed gently.

Nate pushed a stray brown lock of hair from her face and smiled sweetly back. "I love you too."

The couple leaned in and gently kissed one another. Nate pulled her in closer so she was pressing up against him, intensifying the kiss. "You know," he breathed as he trailed his lips behind her ear, "it's Friday. All the students will be sprinting to get out of here… no teachers will be looking for us…"

"I know…" Jessica moaned softly as she pressed against him. "And we don't gotta pick up Cassie for another hour…"

"My thoughts exactly," he almost purred as his hands slid down her body before settling on her ass.

Jessica grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back towards his recently cleared off desk and sat down on it, her lips crashing against her as she wrapped her long lean legs around his waist and drew him in closer.

Nate laid her down on the desk, his breathing hastening with every moment that passed. His hands trailed along her thigh, coming to a stop at her center. He undid the buttons on her well fitted jeans and slowly began to pull the zipper down…

XxXxX

"Baby, we're sorry, we didn't mean to pick you up late," Nate told Cassie while Jessica sat in the back and signed every word with the speed and procession of a professional, having had four years of practice and experience learning sign language after they discovered their daughter had been born completely deaf.

Cassie had been born four months premature. While she had far surpassed any and every expectation Doctor's had put on her for being a preemie, Deafness was the one prediction the doctors had told her that had come true.

Apart from being unable to hear; Cassie was a normal, smart, fun, beautiful and adorable little girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

If one didn't count the hair and eye color, she was the exact spitting image of her real father. The same face, same expressions, same piercing stare when she became angry… While Nate loved Cassie like his own and Cassie to her knowledge had or needed another father other than the one she called 'Daddy', it was clear to anyone who glanced for a second too long that Cassie wasn't Nate's.

It was the one thing Jessica prayed every day to change about her daughter.

Cassie, who had to wait an extra ten minutes at her school thanks to their activates, merely glared at Olivia and crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out a she did so.

"Stop that," Jessica quickly signed with a look in her eye that told her daughter she wasn't joking around along with saying each word slow enough so that Cassie could work on her lip reading skill. "We both apologized a lot and we meant it. It's your turn to be a big girl and apologize."

Cassie's face fell at her mother's admission and she nodded slowly with a pouty look emblazed on her face. She quickly signed 'sorry' and circled her heart, telling her mother that she loved her.

Jessica gave her a quick smile back and she repeated the sign for 'I love you' and pointed at Cassie who beamed and snuggled in next to her mother.

"And maybe," Jessica continued, her words and hands dancing together like a ballet, each in perfect synch, "if Daddy says okay, we can get some pizza tonight."

Cassie beamed and jumped up and down in her booster seat, tapping Nate on the shoulder several times and signing 'please' several times with her lips in an adorable pout.

Nate laughed and nodded before he held up his hand and signed 'yes.' Cassie jumped up and down again, clapping her hands together with a smile on her face as big as the Grand Canyon.

Jessica chuckled before she ran a hand over her hair and laid her head down on her daughter's, feeling happy and content for the first time today…

The rest of the fifteen minute ride to their home was quiet and content, without a care in the world for all three of the car's occupants, all looking forward to a relaxing and fun filled weekend with the people they loved more than life itself.

Jessica was too wrapped up in the thought of where to get the Pizza from, Tony's or Vinnie's, when her husband's question brought her out from her happy fog.

"I'm sorry what was that, babe?" she asked, signing the words just as a force of habit after all these years.

"I was just asking if you had anyone that was coming over today," Nate repeated as he drove down their street.

"No. why?"

"Because there's a car in our driveway."

Jessica looked up from Cassie's head as they pulled into the driveway. She opened her mouth to speak, to offer a reasonable explanation when she noticed the plates on the car.

Her heart all but stopped. Her breath chilled. Her whole body froze like she was encased in ice.

All because the license plates were from New York City…

Jessica's bottom lip trembled and her voice was caught in her throat, only able to watch helplessly as her husband pulled into the driveway.

It was only when Nate turned off the car did Jessica's wits return to her.

"No…" she whispered, her voice marred with tears. "No no no no no…"

Nate turned around and narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Baby, you okay?"

Jessica let out a sob and shook her head. "We need to leave. We need to leave now…"

"Jessica, what-,"

The two front doors and the left back belonging to the New York Car began to open.

"GO!" Jessica screamed. "DRIVE! NOW!"

"What the hell's going on?" Nate demanded, looking between the car and his wife, his eyes wide with shock and confusion.

A leg came out of the front seat as well as the passenger side and hesitating a moment so did the back. Jessica let out a cry of fright and dived to the front of the car, quickly pressing 'preset 6', the left turning signal, and the volume up button along with the 'play' button both at the same time.

A hidden panel under the radio popped open and Jessica dove for it, reemerging with a .23 hand gun with a round already chambered.

"What the fuck?!" Nate shouted as Jessica sat back up, aiming the gun towards the front windshield, ready, willing, and prepared to shoot whoever had stepped out of the car.

But when her eyes fell on the three men who had emerged from the car, more specifically the man who had emerged from the back door.

Jessica sat there, wide eyed and too shocked to move or process what was happening or why they were here. She merely sat there, her gun still aimed for what felt like a lifetime but in reality were only moments.

It wasn't until she saw the man standing in the middle, the one she knew the least, reach for his waist band, did sanity catch up to her and she quickly lowered her gun, putting it back where she had taken it and quickly raised her hands to show she wasn't armed.

"Jess," Nate breathed, unable to take her eyes off the three men, almost shaking with fear over how his wife had just reacted. "What the hell is going on, who are they?"

Jessica swallowed hard, tears welling in her eyes as she simply stared at the three men. After several moments, she took a shuddering breath and grabbed the handle of the door. "Stay with Cassie," she said, her voice something neither one recognized…

"Jessica, tell me what the hell is going on," Nate pleaded, but Jessica had already opened the door and stepped out, shutting the door behind her.

Her driveway suddenly felt as if it was one inch long. She was walking slowly, almost in a trance towards the three men, her eyes glued to the man on the left. While she hadn't even seen so much as a photo of him in five years, she had still looked upon his face every day for five years…

Far sooner then she wanted she was standing in front of the three men, looking into the eyes of the man she thought at one point she would spend the rest of her life with. They locked eyes, neither moving, neither so much as breathing or blinking in case they would find out it was only a dream.

Jessica swallowed hard, her lip trembling as she spoke. "Wha… what are you doing here? What happened?"

The man on the far right took a deep breath and stepped forward, gaining Jessica's attention. "There's been a problem."

Jessica closed her eyes, her worst fears coming to life right before her eyes. "What kind of problem?"

The man took another breath. "Cosgrave… Eric Cosgrave found out… found out you were in Witness Protection. He's… he's murdering and raping cops on a daily basis until you come back to New York City to meet him."

Her whole life was about to change. It had happened. Her worst fear since this whole thing started had happened.

Olivia Benson had been found by the man who wanted her dead.

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