DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the character of Allyson. All others belong to others and no infringement is intended. This is strictly for entertainment purposes. Any errors are all mine, although I've tried to be as accurate as possible.
A/N: I blame this entire tale on my cousin who encouraged me to write this story down after giving her a rough draft of an idea that wouldn't leave my head. She also suggested the Law and Order crossover, so I'm blaming her if this sucks. (She kidnapped my muse and was holding it for ransom until I actually published at least part of this story. She has something going with that plot bunny.) I'm not as familiar with these characters as an avid viewer might be, so, again, any errors are mine.
This is a Law and Order/Law and Order: UK crossover story. My character, Allyson Briscoe, is the daughter of Lennie Briscoe and Betty Abrams. She was living in London with her grandmother and going to school. She's friends with all the Law and Order: UK club because of her work with the CPS while living in London. She knows Jack McCoy and Anita Van Buren from her father and Connie Rubirosa from law school. This is AU because Matt's alive.
"I must say, finding out that you were interviewing for this job shocked me," Jack McCoy said as he handed the cup of tea to the young lady seated next to him in the conference room.
"You mean the last name didn't tip you off," she asked him.
"I wasn't really thinking about it. I remember the sparring matches your father and I used to get into all the time. I thought he hated the legal profession," Jack said.
She smiled. "Not hated. He just didn't understand all the things that could go wrong after he had done his part. He was the one yelling the loudest at my graduation," she said.
"Let me get Mike in here and you can meet him and Connie," Jack said.
He picked up the phone and called Mike Cutter and Connie Rubirosa into his office. He sat down behind his desk and signed the hiring papers in the open folder. He placed them on the corner of the desk just as Mike and Connie knocked on the door.
"Who's this, Jack," Mike asked in his usual manner.
"This is about the new ADA we will have working for us very soon," Jack said, standing and smiling. The young lady stood and shook hands with the two attorney's in the office.
"Ally," Connie asked.
The young lady nodded. Jack looked at both women. "You two know each other," he asked.
"Connie was the third year that mentored me my first year. We became friends. And before you ask, I didn't tell you because I didn't know how Jack would react," she said, pointing at the older gentleman in the room. This elicited a laugh from Connie.
"Will someone tell me, please, what is going on here," Mike asked, hating to be on the outside.
"This is Allyson Briscoe. Her father was Lenny Briscoe," Jack said.
"I've heard some great stories about your father," Mike said.
"She just passed the bar and is looking to start as our new ADA," Jack said.
"That's wonderful, Ally. Is she going to sit in on our upcoming meeting with Lupo and Bernard," Connie asked Jack.
"Would you like to sit in on the interview," Jack asked Ally.
"Yeah. Ed's told me great things about Det. Lupo although I don't think he's mentioned Det. Bernard," Ally said.
"You know Ed Greene," Mike asked.
Ally nodded. "Yeah. He was dad's last partner and we've been very close since right after dad died and he was involved in that gambling thing. Ed's like a big brother," Ally said.
"Why don't you put your stuff with mine and we'll head to the conference room," Connie said.
"Thanks. When is my start date," she asked Jack.
"How about Monday," Jack said.
Ally nodded. "Sounds perfect. Thanks, Jack," Ally said. She hugged the older man and headed out the door with Connie.
Mike watched the pair walk out of the door. He turned back to Jack. "She's our new ADA. How long have you known her," Mike asked.
"Since she was little. Lenny didn't always know she was his daughter, but Betty Abrams always knew Allyson was Lenny's daughter. Her husband wasn't such a nice guy and Allyson was sent to live with her grandmother in England. Long story short, she graduated from Oxford and, when she returned to the States, she attended law school so she could practice here. She's licensed in both countries," Jack said.
"Is she good," Mike asked.
"She's very good. She's got excellent credentials out of school and she's got a wonderful recommendation from BOTH current heads of the CPS office she had been working with back in the UK. They speak very highly of her over there," Jack said.
"CPS? She was working for them," Mike asked.
"She was a junior defender. She mostly did their pleas and what not, but she was the best little researcher according to George and Henry. James Steele, her reporting supervisor, enjoyed working with her," Jack said.
"Sounds impressive. Why come back to New York," Mike asked.
"Her mother was diagnosed with cancer and Ally wanted to be there for her. She had come back to help Lennie when he got sick and then she went back to London after he died. She said she needed a to be in a familiar place and, at the time, that was London. Before she went back, she went to law school to be able to practice in New York. She worked part-time advising on British legal matters for an international firm while studying for the New York State Bar," Jack said.
"Well, sounds like she'll fit in perfectly," Mike said.
"Treat her well, Mike," Jack said as Mike headed out the door.
Connie led Allyson to the conference room. They were both surprised to find Det. Bernard sitting at the table.
"Detective, where's you're partner," Connie asked.
"Bathroom break. Is this defence council," Bernard asked, pointing at Allyson.
Connie shook her head. "No, this is our new ADA, Allyson Briscoe," Connie said.
"Briscoe? As in Lenny Briscoe," Bernard asked.
"Yeah. He was my father," Allyson said.
Just then, Detective Cyrus Lupo entered the room. He was immediately taken aback by the breathtaking woman standing next to Connie. She looked about five six, with long brown hair that was twisted into a french twist. She wore a light gray suit. When Bernard saw him standing at the doorway, he ushered him inside.
"Lupes, meet the new ADA. Allyson, this is my partner, Cyrus Lupo," Kevin said.
Lupo looked at the woman as she smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Allyson Briscoe," she said.
Lupo shook her hand and nodded. Her eyes nearly had him mesmerized. Never before had he seen such vivid green eyes on a woman. He found himself immediately attracted to her and wondered what he was going to do about it.
Mike Cutter entered the room shortly after Lupo. "You meet Ally," he asked the two men who nodded.
"Then let's get started," Mike said, taking out his legal pad.
Two hours later, the meeting was finished and Ally felt she'd made the correct choice to come back to the States. She'd enjoyed her time in London, but she loved being back in New York, despite the memories she left behind.
"It was nice meeting you, Ally. I'm sure we'll see more of you in the future if you're going to be working with us," Bernard said.
"It was great meeting you both. I was actually going to head over to your precinct. I would like to see Anita," Ally said.
"You know Lt. Van Burean," Lupo asked.
"My dad worked with her before he retired. She was always very nice to me whenever I'd make a surprise visit to see dad," Ally said as she headed to Connie's cubicle to get her briefcase and purse.
"You're dad was a cop," Lupo asked.
"My dad was Ed Greene's former partner, Lenny Briscoe,"Ally said.
The two cops stood in shock as she waved at Jack and Mike before promising to call Connie.
Bernard and Lupo were waiting for her at the elevator. "Can we give you a ride to the station," Lupo asked.
"That would be wonderful," she said.
They exited the building and got into the car parked just down the block. "I can ride in the back. I've done it before," Ally said, getting into the car.
Lupo got behind the wheel and Bernard got in the passenger side after shutting the door for Ally and they headed to the precinct.
Neither cop said anything to each other and Ally busied herself looking at her phone.
When they pulled into the parking garage, Bernard opened the door and helped Ally out of the car.
"Thanks, Detective," she said.
"You're welcome," he said.
The men followed Ally up the stairs and into the chaos that was the precinct.
"You know where the LT's office is," Lupo asked.
"Yeah. Can I leave my stuff with you," she asked him, turning her vivid green eyes on him.
"Sure. I'm not leaving for a while anyway," Lupo said.
"Thanks," she said. Lupo put her coat on the back of this chair and took her purse and briefcase and tucked them into the bottom drawer of his desk.
Ally headed toward Van Buren's office. She knocked on the door and entered when prompted.
"Hi," she said.
Anita was out of her chair in no time. She wrapped the young woman in a hug and urged her to sit.
"Ally! How are you," she asked.
"I'm good," Ally replied.
"I thought you were in England," Anita asked.
"I was. When dad died I needed to get back to something familiar and went back to England. Then mom got sick and I had to come back to New York. It was tough to leave London behind the third time," Ally said.
"Was it the place or person you had a hard time leaving," Anita asked, smiling.
"Person. He was wonderful to me after dad died," Ally said.
Ally thought back to what had happened back in the UK.
"Want to talk about it," she asked.
"What's there to talk about. I fell in love with a cop," she said.
Anita smiled and prodded her to continue.
"I fell in love with a Detective Sargent with the London police force...who has the most mesmerizing blue eyes of anyone I've ever met," Ally said.
"Name," she asked.
"Matt Devlin," Ally replied.
"Sounds like you had a lot going on over there," Anita said.
"Well, now I'm here and working for the DA's office. So, I'll be over here a lot more often," Ally said.
"It was wonderful seeing you. We have to do lunch sometime," Anita said.
"I'd like that," Ally said.
The two women shared a hug and Ally headed out of the office.
"It was nice meeting you both today. I'll see you both later," Ally said.
She gave a small wave and headed out of the precinct. She hailed a cab and rode back to her apartment thinking about the people she had met that day.
"She's a looker," Bernard said.
"She's OK," Lupo said.
"OK? Lupes, I know you were watching her. I know you thought she was more than OK," Bernard said, teasing his partner.
Lupo finished typing his report and bid his partner a goodbye before heading out of the door.
On his way back to his apartment, he thought about Ally. She was beautiful, but that was as much as he wanted to admit.
Ally toed off her heels, relieved that Jack had given her the job. She didn't really need the job right away, especially in light of the inheritance she had been left by her grandmother. However, Ally didn't want to twiddle her thumbs. She'd worked hard for her law degree and enjoyed the practice of it.
She changed into her sweat pants, a UK soccer shirt, (stolen from her former boyfriend) and proceeded to heat up the Chinese take out she'd purchased the night before. Just as she was sitting down, the phone rang. Looking at the clock, Ally thought it might be Connie calling to make plans for dinner one night that weekend.
She picked up her cell without checking the read out and said, "Hey."
"Well, hey to you. I'm assuming you made it to the States OK, since I didn't get a call on my mobile telling me you arrived," the accented male voice said over the phone. Ally immediately sat her fork down and turned her attention to the caller. She laughed at his attempt to be stern with her.
"Matt," she said in a breathy whisper.
"How are you, luv," he asked.
"Do you want an honest answer or do you want me to just say I'm fine," she asked.
"Ally, I want the truth," he said.
"I got the job. I have a great place to live with a nice view of the city, although it's nothing like my place in London. I've met a few people I'm sure I'll be great friends with, but they're not the same as that wonderful group of people I know that hangs out at the pub on Friday nights," she said.
"Sounds nice. How's your mum," he asked.
"She's good. The cancer specialist thinks she'll do really well with this new chemo and, hopefully, it will go into remission," she said.
"We caught another homicide this morning," he said.
"I'll bet Ronnie is enjoying that one. Is he currently stuffing his face," she asked, knowing his partners love of all food. Ronnie reminded her so much of her father, sometimes she wanted to call him 'Dad.'
Matt's wonderful laugh came over the line and she longed more for the man and the place she'd left behind.
"Of course he is. He's back on the Korean again," Matt said.
Ally audibly groaned causing Matt to laugh. Ally remembered the last time Ronnie had been on the Korean food kick.
"I miss you," he said, catching Ally by surprise.
"I miss you, too," she said. God, did she miss him.
"Call me, anytime. I'll be here. I'll call you tomorrow," Matt said.
"OK. I'll talk to you tomorrow. You going out on a date with Alesha this weekend," Ally asked.
"Lyssa! I'm surprised you'd suggest such a thing. I have eyes for only one female that has a name that starts with A," Matt said.
"You know, Devlin, sometimes I can't tell if you're just flirting because it's part of your character or if you're serious," she said.
"I'm serious," he said. There was silence and Allyson actually thought they'd been disconnected. She was about to end the call when she heard, "I miss you, so much, Lyssa. I'll call you tomorrow," Matt asked.
"Tomorrow. Bye," she said.
"Bye, luv," Matt said.
Allyson stared at the phone long after she'd ended her conversation with Matt and willed her tears to stay away. She'd cried and agonized enough when making the decision to move to New York.
She put her cold food in the trash. She no longer had an appetite.
She looked out her living room window at the bustling city below. She couldn't help thinking about how many times she'd looked outside the window of her London flat at the end of the day. Most of those times she was standing at the window either waiting for Matt to show up or wait for his phone call.
Allyson wasn't sure when it happened or even how it happened, but during her time in London, she'd fallen in love with Matt Devlin. She knew he thought of her as a friend, a girl he could hang out with and share stuff, but he didn't see her as anything more. Sure, she'd dated when in London, but no one measured up to Matt. She couldn't believe she'd allowed herself to fall for someone who couldn't possibly feel the same way. Sure he flirted with her, but that was Matt Devlin's charm. Yes, he'd been there for her during her recovery and had hung out with her pretty much every night since she'd been released and gone back to work. But despite the fact that she'd never told Matt her feelings and had never asked him to voice his, she just knew it was hopeless. Matt didn't think of her as anything other than a friend. But, Allyson was happy with that. She was content to have Matt in her life any way she could get him.
Allyson turned away from the window and sat down on her couch. The apartment had belonged to her grandmother and had stunning views of the city. She caught a whiff of Matt's cologne on the shirt she was wearing and closed her eyes. She hoped she could find a weekend activity that would take her mind off the dashing Brit she left in London.