Disclaimer: I don't own them, so don't sue me.
A/N: This is really messed up. It is my very poor attempt at writing a Jack/Claire story where all my other favorite characters are involved. Some of the characters might not really be in character (whoa major tongue twister) so feel free to call me on that or anything else you think up. Flames are, as always, read graciously and used to burn some sense into me.
Oh, but please don't diss Abbie or Jamie, because they're the best and are better than Claire anyways, in my humble opinion.
So basically here's what happens: Claire is alive only Jack doesn't know it. Claire doesn't know that Jack doesn't know it so she just thinks he doesn't care. Then Abbie and Jamie get into the act and it turns into utter nonsense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack McCoy sat in his office looking over a whole bunch of documents. He wasn't really sure what they were about, since he wasn't really reading them. They were old anyways. He was just trying to come up with an excuse to stay in his office until Nora went home. She had been flirting with him all day and he was sick of it.
"Interesting," he said out loud, just for the sake of saying it. He looked down at the paper because if someone was looking through that glass panel on the door they'd think he was pretty strange for talking to himself about nothing. It was a case from about five years ago, one he'd worked on with Claire just before she died..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire Kincaid sat on her couch, grateful that her mother had finally left. About a week before, she had gotten out of her coma, much to the surprise of everyone on the face of the planet. She was considered a walking miracle now, and had been on several news stations being called just that: "Claire Kincaid, the Walking Miracle."
Well you never know, she thought to herself, maybe miracles do exist. Maybe she could even become religious! Nah, it was just VERY good practice of medicine. It was doctors, not angels.
Ever since she had been on the news, her phone had been ringing off the hook. She had gotten a new, unlisted phone number, but they still kept calling. She had even gotten a phone call from Rudy Guiliani! But the one phone call she wanted, she hadn't gotten yet. Why hadn't Jack called her? Did he know she was alive? It was very unlikely he could have missed it, since her story had been on the air for about a week. But then again, maybe he didn't watch the news. Or maybe he didn't know her new number.
She decided to call him. She had the phone in her left hand, her right hand poised to dial, when she suddenly remembered she forgot his number. She cursed under her breath. She dug around in her coat from five years ago, to see if she had his business card somewhere. She only had one business card in her pocket, hers.
She stared at it, wondering what would happen if she called her old work number. Well there's no harm in trying, she thought as she slowly dialed the digits. The phone rang twice then a voice at the other end said "Carmichael."
Claire's mind raced. She wasn't sure who this was, so maybe she should just ask for Jack. But what if Jack wasn't working there anymore? Well she had to say SOMETHING, or this woman on the other end was going to think she was a total lunatic.
"Um, hello," she said shakily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abbie Carmichael hung up the phone in a state of shock. She had never known Claire Kincaid personally, but Lennie and Jack had said enough about her so that Abbie knew most of the story. Claire had been dating Jack, but then she and Lennie had been in a car accident.Claire had died.
But Claire wasn't dead. Abbie had just talked to her on the phone, and dead people cannot have a conversation with you. Jack must be pretty happy, she thought. But wouldn't he have said something? And Claire Kincaid had wanted to know if Jack still existed. Wouldn't they have been in contact? There was something extremely fishy about this whole thing.
Maybe Jack doesn't know, she thought incredulously. She had seen something about Claire on CNN, but Jack had once said that he never watched the news for fear of seeing himself. So it was possible.
So tell him, she told herself. Tell Lennie, too. He would also want to know. But a fiendish plot was forming in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, she could set them up without them knowing.
"I'm a fiendish person, and I'm strange." she sung happily to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abbie saw Jamie Ross standing outside a sandwich shop near the train station and immediately dashed over, hoping to catch Jamie before she went inside. She knew she could never set Jack and Claire up without either of them knowing unless she had a little help.
"Hi Abbie," Jamie said, looking quizzically at the other woman. Jamie and Abbie had hated each other when they first met, and even though they were friends now, they didn't dash over or anything when they met each other on street corners.
"Oh my gosh Jamie have you heard the news?" Abbie asked breathlessly.
"What news?" Jamie asked, instantly alert.
"Claire Kincaid! She's alive!" Abbie said as loudly as possible for someone who was having trouble breathing.
"Well yeah I had heard that. It's only been on headline news for over a week. I actually talked to her a few days ago. She somehow figured out that after she was in the accident I took her place. She wanted to know how her cases turned out." Jamie snorted. "I told her that it was four or five years ago and I couldn't remember."
"I could probably find the files to give to her," Abbie said. "Well, anyway, that's what I came to talk to you about. If Claire's alive, this story could really change. I mean-"
"You mean instead of giving up your job to a blond ditz you could quit and someone with a brain could take your place?' Jamie interrupted.
Abbie laughed. "Yes, that would be nice. What's-her-face was such a ditz at the job interview. But I think Nora wants to hire her because she knows that woman has NO chance with Jack. Claire, on the other hand."
"Speaking of Jack, isn't he putting in his vote for Claire Kincaid to come back? She'll probably need a job, and since she was better than either of us."
"Jack doesn't know," Abbie stated. Jamie stared at her like she was crazy. But when Abbie whispered her plan, Jamie snickered happily. She agreed to help play matchmaker and help get Claire to come to the restaurant with Jack.
"But who's going to get Jack over there?" Jamie asked, because she was always sensible. Abbie thought for a moment. Who would Jack listen to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben Stone heard his doorbell ring and started cursing under his breath. It was ten o'clock PM for God's sake, who would be at his door at this hour? He slowly got up to answer it.
"Hello, Mr. Stone, I'm Jamie Ross."
"And I'm Abbie Carmichael."
"I don't want to buy whatever it is you're selling," Ben said wearily. "Now go away."
"We aren't selling anything." Jamie reassured him. "Calm down. Now we're here to ask whether or not you know about Claire Kincaid."
"She died five years ago," Ben said. "Get out of my doorway."
"But she's not dead," Abbie told him. "She was only in a coma for about five years but now she's awake." Ben gaped at her open mouthed.
"We also wanted to know if you knew about EADA Jack McCoy's relationship with Ms. Kincaid," Jamie said in her cross-examining voice.
"Well, yes, it occurred to me," Ben stuttered. "Should I have told Adam, maybe? But I really didn't think it was anything but professional. Oh, no."
"Ben we need your help," Abbie broke in. "We need you to get Jack McCoy to be at The Red Raven Bar at seven o'clock on Friday. Use whatever tactics you need to, but don't mention Claire Kincaid, because Jack doesn't know she's alive and we want to surprise him."
Ben rolled his eyes and wondered why everyone was trying to ruin his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire paced around her living room, jumping every time she heard a sound that sounded like the phone ringing. She couldn't figure out why Jack hadn't called yet. Abbie Carmichael had said she would give him her new number, so why hadn't he called? Didn't he know she wanted him to call SO BADLY?!
Maybe, five years later, he didn't even remember her, or how much they had loved each other. Maybe he had a new girlfriend now, one he wouldn't be disbarred for seeing. Supposing.
It wasn't fair, Claire thought. The last time they had seen each other, they had been watching an execution. And after it, she wasn't really sure if she could classify it as a fight, but things between them hadn't been the same for the rest of that day, the last time they had seen each other. Maybe he had told her he hated her and never wanted to see her again, or she had done so to him, and she just couldn't remember.
Claire collapsed onto her couch. Forget it, she told herself. Jack isn't going to call you. She blinked back tears, wondering vaguely why she didn't call him. It was a free country, after all, she had as much right to call him as he had to call her. And there was always the phone book if she didn't remember his number. But for some strange reason she couldn't make herself call him, so she just laid back on her couch and cried. She felt like kind of a loser, but everyone has to show their emotions sometime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hi, Claire, you might remember us. I'm Jamie Ross and this is Abbie Carmichael," Jamie said. It was Friday night at five o'clock, and she and Abbie were doing another show in someone's doorway.
"Yes, I believe I talked to you on the phone. I had wanted to know about some of my old cases."
"Right," Jamie said. "Abbie found some of the files, and I was hoping you and I could go over them, maybe tonight?" Abbie produced some files from her briefcase and handed them to Claire.
"Yeah, that sounds good," said Claire, briefly glancing down at the papers. "Do you two want to come in; I could make some tea or something."
"Well, actually, the two of us were going to grab some dinner, get caught up, you know, old friends getting together again," Abbie interrupted. Claire winced. She hated being interrupted, and the phrase "old friends" made her think of Jack.
"We'd be honored if you joined us," Jamie added, kicking Abbie in the shin to make her stop giggling. "We're going to this place called The Red Raven, it's quiet and it had good food, so if you want to, we can discuss there."
"Okay," Claire agreed. She wasn't really sure she wanted to go out to eat, since it made her think about Jack too much, but she knew she had to do something besides sit at home and mourn over him. "Should I change, because." she gestured to her beat up jeans.
"You can if you want to," Jamie said, exchanging a sly smile with Abbie. "But you don't have to."
"Fine then," Claire said. She didn't get changed, but she did look in the mirror for a fraction of a second to make sure her hair was okay. The she grabbed her coat and followed Jamie and Abbie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Jack," Ben Stone said, waltzing into Jack's office like he owned it. Actually, he did own it at one time, Jack remembered. But why he was there now.Jack did not know.
"Um, hi Ben," Jack said. He wondered what on earth Ben Stone was doing. It wasn't like he came over on a regular basis.
"Long time no see, eh?"
"Yeah, long time no see," Jack murmured. Both the quote and Ben made him think of Claire. And thinking of Claire made him feel sad.
"So Jack, you look like you need a break," Ben said, gesturing to Jack's pile of papers on his desk that was about a mile high.
"Ben, what is this about?" Jack asked. He was becoming very impatient with Ben, because he still had a lot of work to do.
"Well, Briscoe and I were thinking of trying out that new bar, The Red raven. It's right near here. We wanted to know if you wanted to join us."
"Ben, you act as if I don't have a huge trial tomorrow that I have to prepare for. I have to get to work!"
"Awww, don't be such a party pooper McCoy," teased Lennie, who had just stuck his head through the doorway. "That's no way to treat your old boss. Just come with us for an hour."
Lennie, of course, already knew about Claire. Abbie had let him in on it the day before, and he had agreed to help fool McCoy, even though in his opinion it was a mean, low-down trick. He supposed he could be mean and low- down sometimes if the results would be good. In Lennie's opinion, the results would be VERY good, if Abbie's plan worked out as planned. It wouldn't work out as planned, however, if McCoy didn't cooperate.
"Please, Jack," Ben said. It wouldn't be the same without you."
"Besides," Lennie added mischeviously, "you would rather stay with us then be all alone with Nora, wouldn't you?"
That did it. Jack jumped up, grabbed his coat, and walked as fast as he could out the door. Ben and Lennie followed, grinning. "Nothing I like better than a plan that works out," Lennie whispered.
"Nothing I like better than happily ever after," Ben whispered back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jamie was playing referee in Abbie and Claire's argument over the death penalty when Jack, Lennie, and Ben entered. She flashed Ben the thumbs up sign, and then called, "Hey, Lennie!"
"Fancy meeting you ladies here," Lennie called back. Claire and Abbie stopped arguing and looked up. Abbie grinned at Lennie and waved; Claire wasn't really sure whether to laugh or cry. Ben Stone was standing just behind Lennie, chatting with someone. Claire vaguely wondered why she was running into everyone she knew at this place.
When she voiced her question, Abbie and Jamie laughed. "It's kind of popular with people in our professions," she said. Lennie nodded heartily.
"Great to relax."
Jack listened in to Lennie's conversation. He heard Abbie and Jamie talking, and then he heard someone else's voice. It sounded like.no, it couldn't possibly be her. But just to make sure, he turned around.
Claire had been focusing her gaze on the man standing next to Ben Stone. He looked familiar, though she couldn't really see his face. Then he turned around. She drew in her breath sharply. It was him. His hair was grayer, his eyes looked more tired, but it was Jack McCoy. Once again, she was reminded of all the reasons she loved him, or at least most of them.
She saw his wonderful eyebrows go up really high, his eyes widen, and his lips form her name. He was even more surprised to see her than she was to see him.
"Claire?" he repeated.
Claire could not contain herself any longer. She jumped up from the table and embraced him. He hugged her back. He kept whispering "You're alive, you're alive."
Claire didn't really feel like saying anything much, so she just whispered "Jack, Jack," again and again. Jack lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. They both felt more wonderful than they had in a long time. Their kiss started to become more than a kiss, and they both lost themselves in each other's arms. They completely lost track of the world around them.
When they finally tapered away from each other, Jack could have sworn he heard Briscoe say, "Wow, eighteen minutes, a new record." Claire's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"I can't believe it's you," she whispered to him.
"I can't believe it's you," he replied. They started to kiss again.
"Awww, how sweet," everyone said simultaneously.
"Your line," Abbie whispered, jabbing Jamie in the ribs.
"Ouch, right." Jamie cleared her throat. "And the prince and the princess both lived-" Suddenly, the door to the bar opened, and Nora Lewin entered.
"Oh, this bites," Lennie muttered.
"And I was all set to say 'happily ever after,' too," Jamie groaned.
"Quick, let's end this before it's completely ruined," Abbie called frantically.
"THE END!" chorused everyone but Nora.
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A/N: Yes, I am a cruel, evil person who can't just drop the curtain while they're kissing. Oh, and I have never really written a romantic scene before, so if this one sucks.tell me what I did wrong so it will be better next time.
A/N: This is really messed up. It is my very poor attempt at writing a Jack/Claire story where all my other favorite characters are involved. Some of the characters might not really be in character (whoa major tongue twister) so feel free to call me on that or anything else you think up. Flames are, as always, read graciously and used to burn some sense into me.
Oh, but please don't diss Abbie or Jamie, because they're the best and are better than Claire anyways, in my humble opinion.
So basically here's what happens: Claire is alive only Jack doesn't know it. Claire doesn't know that Jack doesn't know it so she just thinks he doesn't care. Then Abbie and Jamie get into the act and it turns into utter nonsense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack McCoy sat in his office looking over a whole bunch of documents. He wasn't really sure what they were about, since he wasn't really reading them. They were old anyways. He was just trying to come up with an excuse to stay in his office until Nora went home. She had been flirting with him all day and he was sick of it.
"Interesting," he said out loud, just for the sake of saying it. He looked down at the paper because if someone was looking through that glass panel on the door they'd think he was pretty strange for talking to himself about nothing. It was a case from about five years ago, one he'd worked on with Claire just before she died..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire Kincaid sat on her couch, grateful that her mother had finally left. About a week before, she had gotten out of her coma, much to the surprise of everyone on the face of the planet. She was considered a walking miracle now, and had been on several news stations being called just that: "Claire Kincaid, the Walking Miracle."
Well you never know, she thought to herself, maybe miracles do exist. Maybe she could even become religious! Nah, it was just VERY good practice of medicine. It was doctors, not angels.
Ever since she had been on the news, her phone had been ringing off the hook. She had gotten a new, unlisted phone number, but they still kept calling. She had even gotten a phone call from Rudy Guiliani! But the one phone call she wanted, she hadn't gotten yet. Why hadn't Jack called her? Did he know she was alive? It was very unlikely he could have missed it, since her story had been on the air for about a week. But then again, maybe he didn't watch the news. Or maybe he didn't know her new number.
She decided to call him. She had the phone in her left hand, her right hand poised to dial, when she suddenly remembered she forgot his number. She cursed under her breath. She dug around in her coat from five years ago, to see if she had his business card somewhere. She only had one business card in her pocket, hers.
She stared at it, wondering what would happen if she called her old work number. Well there's no harm in trying, she thought as she slowly dialed the digits. The phone rang twice then a voice at the other end said "Carmichael."
Claire's mind raced. She wasn't sure who this was, so maybe she should just ask for Jack. But what if Jack wasn't working there anymore? Well she had to say SOMETHING, or this woman on the other end was going to think she was a total lunatic.
"Um, hello," she said shakily.
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Abbie Carmichael hung up the phone in a state of shock. She had never known Claire Kincaid personally, but Lennie and Jack had said enough about her so that Abbie knew most of the story. Claire had been dating Jack, but then she and Lennie had been in a car accident.Claire had died.
But Claire wasn't dead. Abbie had just talked to her on the phone, and dead people cannot have a conversation with you. Jack must be pretty happy, she thought. But wouldn't he have said something? And Claire Kincaid had wanted to know if Jack still existed. Wouldn't they have been in contact? There was something extremely fishy about this whole thing.
Maybe Jack doesn't know, she thought incredulously. She had seen something about Claire on CNN, but Jack had once said that he never watched the news for fear of seeing himself. So it was possible.
So tell him, she told herself. Tell Lennie, too. He would also want to know. But a fiendish plot was forming in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, she could set them up without them knowing.
"I'm a fiendish person, and I'm strange." she sung happily to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abbie saw Jamie Ross standing outside a sandwich shop near the train station and immediately dashed over, hoping to catch Jamie before she went inside. She knew she could never set Jack and Claire up without either of them knowing unless she had a little help.
"Hi Abbie," Jamie said, looking quizzically at the other woman. Jamie and Abbie had hated each other when they first met, and even though they were friends now, they didn't dash over or anything when they met each other on street corners.
"Oh my gosh Jamie have you heard the news?" Abbie asked breathlessly.
"What news?" Jamie asked, instantly alert.
"Claire Kincaid! She's alive!" Abbie said as loudly as possible for someone who was having trouble breathing.
"Well yeah I had heard that. It's only been on headline news for over a week. I actually talked to her a few days ago. She somehow figured out that after she was in the accident I took her place. She wanted to know how her cases turned out." Jamie snorted. "I told her that it was four or five years ago and I couldn't remember."
"I could probably find the files to give to her," Abbie said. "Well, anyway, that's what I came to talk to you about. If Claire's alive, this story could really change. I mean-"
"You mean instead of giving up your job to a blond ditz you could quit and someone with a brain could take your place?' Jamie interrupted.
Abbie laughed. "Yes, that would be nice. What's-her-face was such a ditz at the job interview. But I think Nora wants to hire her because she knows that woman has NO chance with Jack. Claire, on the other hand."
"Speaking of Jack, isn't he putting in his vote for Claire Kincaid to come back? She'll probably need a job, and since she was better than either of us."
"Jack doesn't know," Abbie stated. Jamie stared at her like she was crazy. But when Abbie whispered her plan, Jamie snickered happily. She agreed to help play matchmaker and help get Claire to come to the restaurant with Jack.
"But who's going to get Jack over there?" Jamie asked, because she was always sensible. Abbie thought for a moment. Who would Jack listen to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben Stone heard his doorbell ring and started cursing under his breath. It was ten o'clock PM for God's sake, who would be at his door at this hour? He slowly got up to answer it.
"Hello, Mr. Stone, I'm Jamie Ross."
"And I'm Abbie Carmichael."
"I don't want to buy whatever it is you're selling," Ben said wearily. "Now go away."
"We aren't selling anything." Jamie reassured him. "Calm down. Now we're here to ask whether or not you know about Claire Kincaid."
"She died five years ago," Ben said. "Get out of my doorway."
"But she's not dead," Abbie told him. "She was only in a coma for about five years but now she's awake." Ben gaped at her open mouthed.
"We also wanted to know if you knew about EADA Jack McCoy's relationship with Ms. Kincaid," Jamie said in her cross-examining voice.
"Well, yes, it occurred to me," Ben stuttered. "Should I have told Adam, maybe? But I really didn't think it was anything but professional. Oh, no."
"Ben we need your help," Abbie broke in. "We need you to get Jack McCoy to be at The Red Raven Bar at seven o'clock on Friday. Use whatever tactics you need to, but don't mention Claire Kincaid, because Jack doesn't know she's alive and we want to surprise him."
Ben rolled his eyes and wondered why everyone was trying to ruin his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire paced around her living room, jumping every time she heard a sound that sounded like the phone ringing. She couldn't figure out why Jack hadn't called yet. Abbie Carmichael had said she would give him her new number, so why hadn't he called? Didn't he know she wanted him to call SO BADLY?!
Maybe, five years later, he didn't even remember her, or how much they had loved each other. Maybe he had a new girlfriend now, one he wouldn't be disbarred for seeing. Supposing.
It wasn't fair, Claire thought. The last time they had seen each other, they had been watching an execution. And after it, she wasn't really sure if she could classify it as a fight, but things between them hadn't been the same for the rest of that day, the last time they had seen each other. Maybe he had told her he hated her and never wanted to see her again, or she had done so to him, and she just couldn't remember.
Claire collapsed onto her couch. Forget it, she told herself. Jack isn't going to call you. She blinked back tears, wondering vaguely why she didn't call him. It was a free country, after all, she had as much right to call him as he had to call her. And there was always the phone book if she didn't remember his number. But for some strange reason she couldn't make herself call him, so she just laid back on her couch and cried. She felt like kind of a loser, but everyone has to show their emotions sometime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hi, Claire, you might remember us. I'm Jamie Ross and this is Abbie Carmichael," Jamie said. It was Friday night at five o'clock, and she and Abbie were doing another show in someone's doorway.
"Yes, I believe I talked to you on the phone. I had wanted to know about some of my old cases."
"Right," Jamie said. "Abbie found some of the files, and I was hoping you and I could go over them, maybe tonight?" Abbie produced some files from her briefcase and handed them to Claire.
"Yeah, that sounds good," said Claire, briefly glancing down at the papers. "Do you two want to come in; I could make some tea or something."
"Well, actually, the two of us were going to grab some dinner, get caught up, you know, old friends getting together again," Abbie interrupted. Claire winced. She hated being interrupted, and the phrase "old friends" made her think of Jack.
"We'd be honored if you joined us," Jamie added, kicking Abbie in the shin to make her stop giggling. "We're going to this place called The Red Raven, it's quiet and it had good food, so if you want to, we can discuss there."
"Okay," Claire agreed. She wasn't really sure she wanted to go out to eat, since it made her think about Jack too much, but she knew she had to do something besides sit at home and mourn over him. "Should I change, because." she gestured to her beat up jeans.
"You can if you want to," Jamie said, exchanging a sly smile with Abbie. "But you don't have to."
"Fine then," Claire said. She didn't get changed, but she did look in the mirror for a fraction of a second to make sure her hair was okay. The she grabbed her coat and followed Jamie and Abbie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Jack," Ben Stone said, waltzing into Jack's office like he owned it. Actually, he did own it at one time, Jack remembered. But why he was there now.Jack did not know.
"Um, hi Ben," Jack said. He wondered what on earth Ben Stone was doing. It wasn't like he came over on a regular basis.
"Long time no see, eh?"
"Yeah, long time no see," Jack murmured. Both the quote and Ben made him think of Claire. And thinking of Claire made him feel sad.
"So Jack, you look like you need a break," Ben said, gesturing to Jack's pile of papers on his desk that was about a mile high.
"Ben, what is this about?" Jack asked. He was becoming very impatient with Ben, because he still had a lot of work to do.
"Well, Briscoe and I were thinking of trying out that new bar, The Red raven. It's right near here. We wanted to know if you wanted to join us."
"Ben, you act as if I don't have a huge trial tomorrow that I have to prepare for. I have to get to work!"
"Awww, don't be such a party pooper McCoy," teased Lennie, who had just stuck his head through the doorway. "That's no way to treat your old boss. Just come with us for an hour."
Lennie, of course, already knew about Claire. Abbie had let him in on it the day before, and he had agreed to help fool McCoy, even though in his opinion it was a mean, low-down trick. He supposed he could be mean and low- down sometimes if the results would be good. In Lennie's opinion, the results would be VERY good, if Abbie's plan worked out as planned. It wouldn't work out as planned, however, if McCoy didn't cooperate.
"Please, Jack," Ben said. It wouldn't be the same without you."
"Besides," Lennie added mischeviously, "you would rather stay with us then be all alone with Nora, wouldn't you?"
That did it. Jack jumped up, grabbed his coat, and walked as fast as he could out the door. Ben and Lennie followed, grinning. "Nothing I like better than a plan that works out," Lennie whispered.
"Nothing I like better than happily ever after," Ben whispered back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jamie was playing referee in Abbie and Claire's argument over the death penalty when Jack, Lennie, and Ben entered. She flashed Ben the thumbs up sign, and then called, "Hey, Lennie!"
"Fancy meeting you ladies here," Lennie called back. Claire and Abbie stopped arguing and looked up. Abbie grinned at Lennie and waved; Claire wasn't really sure whether to laugh or cry. Ben Stone was standing just behind Lennie, chatting with someone. Claire vaguely wondered why she was running into everyone she knew at this place.
When she voiced her question, Abbie and Jamie laughed. "It's kind of popular with people in our professions," she said. Lennie nodded heartily.
"Great to relax."
Jack listened in to Lennie's conversation. He heard Abbie and Jamie talking, and then he heard someone else's voice. It sounded like.no, it couldn't possibly be her. But just to make sure, he turned around.
Claire had been focusing her gaze on the man standing next to Ben Stone. He looked familiar, though she couldn't really see his face. Then he turned around. She drew in her breath sharply. It was him. His hair was grayer, his eyes looked more tired, but it was Jack McCoy. Once again, she was reminded of all the reasons she loved him, or at least most of them.
She saw his wonderful eyebrows go up really high, his eyes widen, and his lips form her name. He was even more surprised to see her than she was to see him.
"Claire?" he repeated.
Claire could not contain herself any longer. She jumped up from the table and embraced him. He hugged her back. He kept whispering "You're alive, you're alive."
Claire didn't really feel like saying anything much, so she just whispered "Jack, Jack," again and again. Jack lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. They both felt more wonderful than they had in a long time. Their kiss started to become more than a kiss, and they both lost themselves in each other's arms. They completely lost track of the world around them.
When they finally tapered away from each other, Jack could have sworn he heard Briscoe say, "Wow, eighteen minutes, a new record." Claire's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
"I can't believe it's you," she whispered to him.
"I can't believe it's you," he replied. They started to kiss again.
"Awww, how sweet," everyone said simultaneously.
"Your line," Abbie whispered, jabbing Jamie in the ribs.
"Ouch, right." Jamie cleared her throat. "And the prince and the princess both lived-" Suddenly, the door to the bar opened, and Nora Lewin entered.
"Oh, this bites," Lennie muttered.
"And I was all set to say 'happily ever after,' too," Jamie groaned.
"Quick, let's end this before it's completely ruined," Abbie called frantically.
"THE END!" chorused everyone but Nora.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Yes, I am a cruel, evil person who can't just drop the curtain while they're kissing. Oh, and I have never really written a romantic scene before, so if this one sucks.tell me what I did wrong so it will be better next time.