Notes: this story takes place after Entitled part 2. It's AUish since none of this actually happened and it doesn't really bring in any other episodes of the same season. Hope you enjoy! Oh…and I'm not exactly sure if I'm going to do separate one-shots or if I'm going to make this a multi-chapter fic. LET ME KNOW!

Disclaimer: none of this belongs to me except the plot line. We bow down to creators like Dick Wolf and NBC and who ever else I'm forgetting to give credit to.

1:20 a.m. Wednesday…

Below zero, it was the second day in a row that winter had reared its ugly face. Behind the glittering layer of snow and ice was the underbelly of the city; stiff. December was New York's ex-lover. Every time she came back it was with a vengeance that made even the most hardened of people shiver. On this night, it wasn't the cold that marched goose-bumps down the arms of Abigail Carmichael. Four weeks since the Mulroney case and the DA's office was just piling on the complaints and suits filed against its iron will.

Even Hogan's Place seemed to stand in resolute defiance as a dark silhouette in the wee hours of the morning with only a few office lights still attempting to blare into the frigid darkness. The last time she had checked it had been a quarter past one. She had said her 'good nights' and 'good lucks' to a bleary-eyed Jack McCoy and headed for her car.

There were few things that Abbie hated; losing and the hours of the morning where you could hear the beat of your heart. It made her jumpy, allowing memories she had come to terms with leap back into the forefront of her mind. The sound was obnoxious, an annoyance that she found sadly ironic as her briefcase made an abnormally loud noise when she placed it on the roof of her sedan. Naturally being a 'truck girl', having a car did not bode well for the Texan.

It's just a rental, which was her hope anyway. Her pick-up had, for lack of a better word, died too early for her liking. Figures, considering my line of work. More recently, she and Jack had prosecuted a man accused of murdering his wife over alimony during a heated divorce. They were prominent individuals of New York's higher-up society. They had money coming out every orifice and still the greed persisted.

Amazing world we live in. She sighed, unlocked the doors, and grabbed her briefcase. Sliding into the driver's seat, and setting her bursting case in the passenger's, she started to put the key into the ignition when she noticed the small piece of paper under her windshield wiper. Damn solicitors. (Of which are not allowed on the property) For a moment she thought about leaving it there, letting the wind take it as she drove away, but after staring at it like it was the bane of her existence, she noticed the scribbled writing, the underlined words; a threat. Her gloved hand snaked around her door and yanked the piece of paper from the front of her car.

'DODGE THIS'

The words were written in a manner she could only describe as sharp, deliberate. "Great." She muttered and slammed the door of her car shut, habitually locking them before she turned the key in the ignition. The Enterprise-Rent-A-Car revved to life and in seconds she was down at street level. And just as she was about to pull out onto the street, BAM! Abbie's heart jumped into her throat and she gasped; her hands squeezing the life out of the steering wheel.

Jack McCoy dragged a hand over his face, exhaustion etched into every tired line. He had been going through complaints, signing them, and organizing them for the past two hours. Letters, official notices, suits…it was a never ending stream of paper. Despite the aforementioned organization, his desk was anything but. There was only room for his elbows and the paper in front of him. His hand hurt from writing, he had a headache coming on, and there was still a closing argument to proof read after he finished the mess he had created during the Mulroney case.

Do they even know what Penal Law is? Severe punishment this, uncalled for that, it was like a parade of whining dollar bills and Adam's budget the target of protest. His eyes were just beginning to droop when there was a soft knock at the door. Jack was instantly awake, attempting to blink away sleep.

"I'm heading out; I just realized I don't get paid after 5 p.m." Even in the absurdity of the hour, her voice could still fall into comfortable sarcasm. Jack glanced at the clock on the far side of the wall and raised his eyebrows. It showed an alarming one in the morning and the EADA knew another long day had already started without his knowledge. In spite of himself, he laughs, trying to think about something witty to say and fails.

"Did you finish the witness statements for the Le Roux case?" Just like him these days to be serious beyond words. He thought he saw disappointment flash onto her face and in seconds she had wiped the gentle smile from her lips as she jumped into her professional lingo.

"They're sitting on my desk, there was one inconsistency I thought you should take a look at. Let me just-." She had just started to vanish from sight when Jack called her back into the room.

"It can wait until tomorrow. Covering my ass has taken priority." He spread his arms over the desk in front of him, indicating the mess that was before him. He stretched, leaning back into his chair. Abbie looked at him like he was a stray puppy. A stare that made him sigh, guilt tugging the corners of his mouth into a sheepish smile. "I promise to get at least four hours of sleep." He didn't look at her finding himself suddenly more occupied with shuffling papers about his desk.

"Good," She paused to yawn before continuing. "Because I'll see you in six of those hours Mr. McCoy." She obviously found this entire after hours endeavor more entertaining than he did. "Goodnight." Her out of place, cheery goodbye echoed from the hallway.

"Night." He turned to look up at her but caught only the tail end of her coat as she walked briskly towards the elevators. He gave a small laugh, shaking his head and started to stand, but before he could do so he noticed a piece of paper peeking out from behind an envelope. He couldn't remember making any notes in that particular region of his desk. Picking it up, staring at the contents of the page, his eyes widened.

"Jesus, Jack!" Carmichael's voice yelled as she rolled her window down. A panting Jack McCoy stood beside her car, one hand bracing himself against the roof as he showed her the piece of paper.

"Sorry, get one of these?" Jack swallowed, his brown eyes finally catching sight of the piece of paper in her lap.

"Ya…did you run down here?" You know your tired Abs when you ask about the obvious. Her face was mildly judging him from her car door and she shivered as the cold swept into the warm cocoon she had created in the vehicle. Next thing she knows, Jack is nodding his head and shrugging.

"Just trying to give you a head's up." His voice border lined defensive as he leaned away and folded his arms, all too aware of the cold now that he was standing in the snow in his suit. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning." Like it was a promise, like he was commanding her to come to work on time and alright.

"Don't worry about it Jack, K? Go call it a night." With a mumbled goodbye Jack watched her pull out onto the street and vanish out of sight.

8:47 a.m. Wednesday…

"Thanks Ed, I'll see you at twelve to prep you for court." Abbie walked into Jack's office, a laugh hot on her lips, her hand holding the cell phone to her ear. She wasn't surprised to see Jack McCoy stretched out on the couch with papers draped across his chest; a light snore coming from his open mouth. "Four hours my ass," She murmured under her breath. "Hmm?...Ya sorry Ed I got distracted…No-no! Bring the witness statements, we can use them to tie it into your testimony…yeah…mhmm…hah, alright I'll see you soon. Yep, mkay, goodbye." She snapped her phone shut with force, effectively making her boss jump into a sitting position on his couch. The papers abruptly fluttered to the floor. She stood there with her arms crossed, an 'I told you so' smirk adorning her face, and watched McCoy bend over as if to pick the papers up. But he changed his mind, rubbing his face with both hands to wake himself up; almost like a kid throwing the covers over his eyes to keep the light out.

"What time is it?" The muffled question was concealed behind his hands as his eyes peered between his fingers.

"Ten minutes to nine."

Jack was on his feet in a split-second. His hands fumbling with the sleeves he had rolled up to his elbows after returning to his office. He buttoned them, smoothed his shirt down as best he could, and tucked in a corner that was being unruly. God knows what my jacket looks like. He dashed to the coat rack beside his chair and shook the suit jacket out professionally. Jamie had once said that that solves none of the wrinkles in his wardrobe, but it had become a force of habit. He slipped it on and was storming for the door of his office with a scowl on his face when Abbie tapped him on the shoulder.

"Forgetting something?" She dangled his tie in front of his face. And after a frustrated glare, Jack snatched it from her and was gone without so much as a word. Adam had been observing from his office door and approached nonchalantly, leaning up against the door frame to Jack's office. The DA and ADA stared after their co-worker in compatible silence.

"Sleep in the office again?"

"Yep."

"Tell him I want to see him when he gets back." Schiff shook his down cast head as he walked back towards his office and closed the door. Abigail didn't know what kept her standing there but she had a sudden revelation and was knocking on Adam's door in a matter of seconds. The sound of him acquiescing her barely made it to her ears before she let herself in. The questioning look on his face was obvious but before he could say anything, Abbie started to tell him about the threat they had received last night.

"I told him pushing her was a bad idea." He mumbled, noticing his ADA's shock out of the corner of his eye as he paced the room.

"You think it was Mrs. Mulroney?" Why would she do something like that? And this soon after her daughter's conviction?

"Find out if there're any prints on those pieces of paper. And file a report."

"I've already done both. Well, I filed the report and was going to give the note to Ed and Lennie when I prepped them for the hearing this afternoon."

"Good, good." He droned, his mouth set in a rigid line of concentration. "Just what we need, another investigation to suck money out of the office. Let me know what comes up."

"Jack." Abbie jogged lightly down the hall to her boss, falling in beside him. "How did your meeting with Adam go?"

"He's sending me home early today. Quote on quote, 'don't become a liability to yourself'." After giving her his best Schiff voice, he presented her with a sideways, rueful smile before he pressed the down button to the elevator with a bit more force than was completely necessary.

"Lucky. I'm on my way to get Mrs. Holls's statement before the Defense does." Bless her heart that woman could talk even Brisco to death and getting only her statement was going to be a task in itself.

"Better you than me. You know how emotional I get." Jack smiled as they entered the elevator and the doors closed. "Lennie's going with you right?" He asked, able to drop the Alpha Male bravado just enough to make his voice sound stressed.

"Yes dad." She nudged his shoulder with her own and was the first out the double doors, leaving Jack to stand in the elevator alone. Despite her "never say die" attitude lately, Jack was not so optimistic. She's a big girl Jack. He had to remind himself that among the hundreds of threats received in the office, there was a one percent chance of it actually leading to anything. 'DODGE THIS' It had been bugging him all day. Dodge what? Maybe she's right, I'm just paranoid. He shrugged further into his jacket as he headed out the double doors of Hogan's place and into the frigid afternoon. Snow flurried around him, the wind biting his skin as he pulled his beanie onto his head and walked towards his bike.

"McCoy." Jack answered the call tautly on the third ring, having stared loathingly at the numbers his clock displayed so arrogantly. It was 10:15 p.m. and he had fallen asleep just a small hour ago after finishing some paper work and eating dinner. His 'taking the rest of the day' hadn't been as relaxing as Adam might have warranted, but Jack felt rested enough to wake immediately when the phone had begun to ring.

"Hey Jack, it's Abbie. I hope I didn't wake you?" Her voice sounded guilty as her question trailed off, reminding Jack of his daughter when she was young. He blinked once, drew a hand over his face and gave a hurried answer.

"No, no you didn't. So what's up?" Why are you calling me? Why are you still at work? He thought it best to go the polite route this evening especially after she sighed heavily on the other side of the line.

"Well…here's the thing. I need you to come in and take a look at some things." Her stress on 'things' had McCoy's eyebrows rising by the millisecond as she explained the situation at the office in a hushed tone. Apparently Abbie, Adam, and Regina Mulroney had been discussing the things Abbie was alluding to for the better part of two hours. Jack gave a frustrated sigh as he lurched out of the covers and into a sitting position on the edge of his bed.

"I'll be there in ten." He muttered sternly before hanging up the phone. By the time Jack got out of his apartment and onto his only mode of transportation, his Yamaha, it was snowing. Just great. There was something about the evening that made him feel particularly vulnerable as he revved the engine and sped down the icy street. A few cars mingled about, taking lazy turns down a few streets, but other than that the night was a quiet one. For Jack, it was too quiet, and he was thankful for the roar of the bike's engine beneath him. A short while later, the earlier threat they'd received seemed to come to light with a single shot and the squeal of tires…

Well I hope this grabbed your attention. let me know if you liked it! advice is also, and always is, appreciated!

-BD