She's Got a Way, a law and order fanfic

SHE'S GOT A WAY

Author's Note: Back again with not only more total and complete Cutterosa fluff, but also a song fic! Last fall, I had the opportunity to mark something off my Bucket List when my husband and I saw Billy Joel in concert. Although he didn't perform this song during the concert, it has always been one of my favorites. C'mon, what girl wouldn't want a man to feel all those things about her?!

So, yeah, I'm a little late to the "Mike and Connie 4-ever" party, I know. In the last year, I have experienced a sea change in my life that led to, among other things, lots of sleepless nights. Some of those night were passed by watching a television show that had ended almost 8 years earlier - a crime procedural in which I figured I wouldn't have to worry about pesky things like getting stuck on characters and their feelings, or parents of main characters dying. I had just experienced that in my own real life, and then had to watch as it happened to characters I loved on my 3 favorite TV shows at the time (Bones, Nashville, and This Is Us - I'm lookin' at you!)

And then damned if one of the first episodes of Law and Order I saw wasn't "For The Defense," And all I could think as I watched Mike Cutter and Connie Rubirosa was, "HE LOVES HER!"

These little ramblings are the result. Law and Order and all of the characters that you recognize don't belong to me. Neither does Billy Joel or his music. They are all used lovingly and with great respect.

Let's get this show on the road -

The reception was starting to wind down. Dinner had been served and enjoyed. The cake had been cut. Toasts had been given. The newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Cutter had shared their first dance as husband and wife, and the dance floor had been opened to the rest of their small assemblage of guests. Mike was over by the bar, speaking with Jack and Rafael when he saw Connie sitting down with her mother. An idea grew in his brain, and he excused himself from the other two men and made his way over to the DJ.

As the current song finished, the DJ took the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've just had a special song request from our groom to his beautiful bride."

There was a moment of silence. Connie saw Mike making his way across the dance floor, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face as the sound of a repeating piano chord began to play. Her face broke into an easy smile as she took her new husband's outstretched hand. He pulled her to her feet, kissing the hand he held and leading her to the dance floor as Billy Joel's earnest tenor voice began to sing, "She's got a way about her…."

Connie placed her hand on Mike's shoulder as he pulled her close, curling their arms together and cradling her other hand in his close to his heart. "You remembered, Mr. Cutter," she said, resting her forehead against his.

"Of course I did, Mrs. Cutter," he said, smiling at his wife. "How could I forget?"

One of the first things they had discovered when they were doing their cross-country, long distance "thing" as they both called it, was that they were both big Billy Joel fans. About four months after Connie had returned to New York for good, she surprised Mike with tickets to one of the singers many shows at Madison Square Garden. Mike, in turn, surprised Connie by somehow managing to get Billy Joel to dedicate a song to her in the middle of his concert.

"I don't usually do this," the singer's voice thundered through the venue, "but this request came from a pretty impressive source. When the former Secretary of State asks for a favor, ya know, you do what you can." The audience laughed. "Connie, Mike asked us to do this next song for you."

The audience went wild. Connie turned to Mike, her eyes wide. "How…" she breathed.

Mike shrugged sheepishly. "Don't worry about it." He took her hand and pulled her in front of him, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Just enjoy your song."

She did just that. And though neither of them were big on public displays of affection, when the song ended, Connie turned, practically jumped into his arms, and kissed him.

She was still glowing as they walked hand in hand toward the subway station after the concert. She leaned in closer and gently nudged him with a smile. "I thought you said you didn't really do 'romantic'?"

Mike looked over at her with a secretive smile. "Just you wait," he whispered, as he leaned in and kissed her quickly.

Connie quirked one eyebrow at him, but he offered no more information. She asked nothing further, content to enjoy the magic of the evening thus far.

They had agreed to go back to Mike's apartment for the night after the concert. He unlocked the door and ushered Connie in ahead of him. He threw his jacket in a chair, which she promptly picked up and hung in the closet next to her own as he flipped through the mail. "Something to drink?" he asked nonchalantly as she moved past him and started towards the bedroom.

Connie stopped and smiled at him as she pulled the ankle-high boots she'd been wearing from her feet. "Surprise me," she said as she turned away.

"That's the plan," Mike whispered. He'd been playing it cool all night, but now that the moment had essentially arrived, he began to feel the nerves creeping in. He knew she would only be in the bedroom for a few minutes - he had to work fast.

Connie switched on the light as she entered Mike's bedroom, noting with a smirk that the bed was made - something that typically only had about a 50-50 chance of occurring from day to day. She dropped her boots into what had become "her" side of his closet, then moved to place her watch and earrings on the table next to what had become "her" side of his bed. Connie smiled. We fought against this - I fought against this - for so long, she thought to herself. And it was true. While they worked together, it just couldn't happen. Neither of them would allow it, no matter how much they both were starting to want it.

And then her mother got sick. Though she loved New York, loved her job, she knew going home to LA was the right thing to do. The hardest thing had been telling Mike that she was leaving. They stayed in touch through email and text messages. She had left him an angry voicemail, asking what exactly he had shared with her new boss, Jonah Dekker, besides the fact that she was a "loose cannon." It had taken some persuasion on Mike's part, but he had finally convinced her that Dekker had misrepresented their conversation over dinner completely. "The truth is Connie, " Mike confessed, "I miss you. I had an opportunity to ask about you, to talk about you, and I just miss you so damn much that I said more than I probably should have."

And that's when the long distance, cross country "thing" started. The emails turned into nightly phone conversations. Sometimes they would fall asleep on the phone together. Mike wanted to come and see her, but Connie resisted. She could admit only to herself how much she missed him, too. As much as she longed to see him, to be with him, she just couldn't rationalize in her head how this could possibly work. It was so hard leaving him once. Could she let him in even more, with the entire country between them? She would surely just lose him again.

Then one night as she was sitting with her mother, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Mike, and it instantly made her smile. "Good news?" Her mother asked as Connie sent a reply. Connie initially tried to brush it off, but her mother persisted. When she learned that it was from Mike, her mother commented with a knowing smile, "Seems like you two have been talking quite a bit." Connie looked over at her mother, hesitated only a moment, and then told her everything on her heart. How he was brilliant and determined in his job. How he had been nothing but supportive of her, from their first case through the time she told him she had to leave, and even after she had come to California. She confessed to her mother that she had developed very strong feelings for him, then sighed. "But I just don't see how it could ever work," Connie said as she worried the straw from her soda cup between her fingers. "He's in New York. I'm here."

"What does Michael have to say about all this?" her mother asked.

"He wants to come see me," she said. "He says he just wants to be with me, anyway we can."

"And what do you want?"

Connie looked at her mother, her eyes brimming with tears. "I want to let him."

Mike arrived before the end of the month, and he came back again for Christmas. Connie came to visit him in New York in the spring. Mike was in LA later in the summer, after the offer of Bureau Chief of Special VIctims Unit had been made to him. They went on this way for months, until Connie's mother sat down with her one afternoon and told her that she had agreed to move in with Connie's brother and his wife. "It's time for you to go home, mi querida hija," her mother said, pulling her into her arms, "Go home to New York. Go home to Michael."

She secured a job at the US Attorney's office, and was back in New York, and in Mike's arms, within two month's time.

When Connie returned to the living room, Mike had dimmed the lights. The room was bathed in the soft glow of candlelight. Connie walked up behind him where he stood in front of his stereo system. She placed both hands on his shoulders and stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, "I had a really good time tonight."

Mike smiled as he pushed a button to start the music, and turned in her arms. "Wanna dance?" he asked, sliding an arm around her waist and taking her other hand in his own.

"You're playing my song," she said as he pulled her closer, the soft strains of Billy Joel filling the room. "How can I resist?"

They moved together without speaking, just listening to the music. Mike had set the song to repeat, so when it started for a second time, he pulled back to look deep into Connie's beautiful brown eyes. "You know, this is your song," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It could have been written about you."

"Hmm," she smiled as she ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. "I think you may be a little biased, counselor."

Mike just shook his head. "No. It's you," he told her. "You inspire me. You give me strength. Your smile heals me." He took a deep breath. "And I know that I can't live without you." Mike stopped their movements and took a small step away from Connie before sinking down onto one knee in front of her and pulling a small box out of the pocket of his jeans. He held Connie's left hand in his. Her right hand had moved to catch her gasp.

"I love you," Mike said simply, then asked, "Will you marry me?"

Connie took the box from his outstretched hand. The ring was beautiful and perfect. "When did you…?" she trailed off.

Mike shrugged at her with a smile. "After that trip to LA, when I came out to get your take on the Bureau Chief job. I got it the day I got back to New York. You're just lucky you don't spend too much time looking through my sock drawer."

Connie looked into his blue eyes. "But, Mike, we'd just barely started our,... our…'thing' at that point," she said, pulling him to his feet.

He gazed into her eyes, pulling her closer with an arm around her waist. "I knew Connie. I think I've always known."

Tears filled her eyes as she put a gentle hand to his cheek. Mike chuckled a little. "Not to be rude, but there is still a question on the table." He held the ring up between them. "I'd really love to hear your answer."

Connie threw her arms around his neck and whispered, "Yes!" She pulled away only slightly, holding her left hand out to him. Mike took it, slid the engagement ring home onto her finger, then kissed her hand.

Connie looked down at her newly adorned hand with a delighted smile, before moving both hands to cradle his face lovingly as she brought his lips to hers. She pulled away and rested her forehead to his. "I think, deep down, I've always known, too. Even when I fought against it." She smiled at him with watery eyes. "Thank you for being patient with me."

Mike leaned in and kissed her again. "I know I'm not known for being especially patient, but I figured, since this is something I plan on only doing once in my life, I'd better give you a chance to really see what you're getting yourself into," he shrugged with a self-deprecating chuckle. He became serious as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Besides, somethings - the best things - well, they're worth waiting for."

"I love you," Connie told him, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him so close that there was barely any space left between them. "And I really love this song," she whispered as she leaned in to kiss him once again.

Mike quickly deepened the kiss, beginning to move her slowly backwards out of the room. His lips left hers as he kissed his way down her neck and back up to her ear. He gently took the lobe between his teeth before he whispered, " 'Don't really do romantic' my ass."

Connie threw her head back and laughed out loud, as Mike all but carried her the rest of the way to the bedroom.

She's got a way about her
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without her
She's got a way of pleasin'
I don't know what it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway
She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way of talkin'
I don't know why it is
But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere
She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around
She's got a way of showin'
How I make her feel
And I find the strength to keep on goin'
She's got a light around her
And ev'rywhere she goes
A million dreams of love surround her ev'rywhere
She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around
She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way about her
I don't know what it is,
But I know that I can't live without her anyway