A/N: I rewatched"Dignity" and decided to write how he and Connie worked it out. Hints of Cutterosa. Oneshot. Sorry for the lack of a better cover picture, but google images is not cooperating right now. :)
"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is a success." -Henry Ford.
"Do you want to go to my office?" A private setting was much more appropriate than a hallway where anyone passing by could hear. Besides, if they were both in a familiar place they both felt safe in maybe it would be easier to say what needed to be said. Connie nodded numbly as she stood up and followed him to his office. He opened the door for her and closed it behind him, then shut all the blinds so no one could see in. For a moment both of them were silent, neither of them knowing how to start the conversation. She leaned on his desk, and he stood with his back to a wall. "So, Jack told us to work it out." As if restating Jack's instructions could give them some guidance on how to proceed.
"I know," She spoke softly, and the resignation was clear in her voice and slumped shoulders, her arms folded across her chest. Many defendants had held that position when they asked for a plea. "I just don't think we can, Mike. We're too different." There was no denying they were very different people with very different viewpoints. If anything he should want her gone, it'd certainly make his job easier. But against all reason, there was nothing more he wanted than for her to stay. "I can't work with someone like you. Sure, you get results, but at what cost?" She met his eyes, and finally she had some of her fire back. "You leave your soul and ethics at the door when you walk in. You bend or break the law as much as you enforce it. You justify it by saying you put the bad guys away, but you've stooped to their level. What makes you any better than them?" He'd asked himself that question many times when he'd first decided that sometimes a maverick approach was needed. After a while, he'd learned the answer.
"You said yourself that not everything's so clear cut. I learned a long time ago it's easier to live with a few questionable choices with a good motive and result than good choices that ended with the real bad guys walking free." He'd learned to suppress his conscience at times, but maybe he'd gotten a little too good over the years. "But you are right. I can be soulless, I can make ethically questionable decisions. I cross lines that maybe I shouldn't. You don't have to agree with that. In fact, maybe you shouldn't." Connie unfolded her arms and leaned forward, trying to mask her confusion with curiosity. "You're also right that we're very different people. But I don't think that makes us incompatible, in fact I think that's part of what makes us so effective."
"Mike, I can't sit by and watch you make these choices anymore. I want out. I don't care how effective we are." She stood up to leave, and he knew if she walked out he would never see her again. He couldn't let that happen. He moved in front of the door, blocking her from leaving. "Mike." Her fire was back, her eyes dark with anger and something else. It was the look of someone who was done, who just wanted it over with. It was not the look of Connie Rubirosa. "Let me out."
"Connie, people don't change or get better if they're surrounded by people just like they are. You learned that with the witness's testimony. It made you question yourself." Mike desperately tried to figure out how to translate what he wanted to say into words. He never had that problem except when it came to emotions. "Connie you challenge me. You make me question myself. I don't always change what I do, but sometimes I do. And at least I question myself. Our differences make us stronger. As long as we question each other, keep us on our toes...you don't have to compromise yourself or your morals to work with me. Do the opposite, keep them. It's part of what I respect about you." As infuriating as it could be sometimes, he admired her steadfastness when it came to principles. "I'll do the same. As long as we disagree respectfully, I think we can work out." Naturally when he needed it most his skill with words failed him. But he'd said what needed to be said, and hopefully she would agree. If she didn't...his heart twisted just at the possibility of losing her. If he lost her for good, he didn't know how he'd react.
"Agree to disagree? That's your argument for me to stay?" Connie had always been excellent at boiling down arguments to the basic idea, he just wished she wasn't using it on him. She'd oversimplified it a bit, but that was the gist of it. He could see her mulling it over, her eyes were locked on the floor and she was biting her lip. "Will you actually listen to me and not just immediately disregard my position?"
"Of course. Connie, I mean it when I say I respect you. I may not always agree, but I know you have your reasons for what you think. Whether they're always good, on the other hand..." It definitely wasn't the best time for a joke, but even though he'd just presented a logical argument for her to stay, he felt like he'd exposed himself emotionally. He couldn't let her have that vulnerability.
"A second ago you were begging me to stay, and now you're cracking a joke?" Her eyebrow was raised in skepticism, but the indecision in her eyes had disappeared. "Why do you want me here so badly? I figured you'd jump at the chance to have someone more like you here. It'd certainly make your job easier, and doing your job is supposedly all that's important." It was almost like he'd been compelled to testify by a court order. She couldn't force him to answer technically, but he knew he had to.
"I already told you, being challenged is a good thing no matter how infuriating it is. Besides you're intelligent and reasonable and...you're a pleasure to work with most of the time." He couldn't admit she was probably his closest friend. Connie had somehow found her way a little too close into his heart. He didn't know why or how, he just knew he needed her in his life. As a colleague, as a friend, as a rival, anything.
"I'll take that as a compliment," She smiled, and Mike could already guess her decision. "Alright. I will withdraw my request. White Collar is pretty boring, and why leave when I can make you suffer?" She said it teasingly, but she could have meant it and his heart still would have soared. He kept things professional, however, and smiled as he stepped aside and opened the door for her.
"Goodnight, Connie. See you tomorrow." This victory meant much more than the one they'd had in court.
"Bright and early." She left his office with a spring in her step, her head held high. Mike smiled to himself, more relieved than was proper that things between he and Connie would go back to the way they were.
A/N: Hope you enjoy, and review/favorite if you do.