(Most characters are of the Law and Order universe.)
My take on season 21!
IT'S COMPLICATED
Chapter 1
It was a hit and run accident with a fatality.
The case seemed open and shut. A witness had written down the license plate number of the damaged vehicle. The driver was drunk. Meanwhile the victim's blood was splattered on the broken headlight from that night.
Plain and simple; score one for the prosecution.
That was what DA Jack McCoy originally thought when he had assigned this particular case to one of his newer attorneys in the DA's office. Unfortunately, within that same week, the young prosecutor responsible for the case had slipped and fallen down some stairs and was now laid up with a broken leg in a hospital bed on the final day of the trial.
A headache for Jack.
Jack rushed through the assigned case log of his prosecutors, noting that only EADA Mike Cutter was currently not working on a case. Jack hated to put one of his more valuable prosecutors on such an easy win case, but no one else was readily available, and the wrap up of the trial would take place tomorrow.
With file in hand, Jack walked down the hall way towards Mike's office, passing several offices, the majority of them empty. The entire floor of the office was near silent, for it was still in the early hours of the morning. But Jack had no doubt that Mike would be in his office. Like himself, Mike lived for the job.
Sure enough, Mike was standing near his office cabinet quietly catching up with some filing. This was a time Mike enjoyed, being alone in solitude with his thoughts, before all the craziness of the day began.
With that small chore completed, he sat down and took a sip of his coffee, feeling totally at peace with the world. As he gazed up and beyond his office window, he could see clear across the way to Connie's darkened office. She had not arrived as of yet.
His heart always seemed to quicken at his first sight of her in the mornings. He always looked forward to her cheery greetings.
Lately however, it seemed to Mike that he and Connie had been growing distant, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He had felt that way ever since Lieutenant Van Buren's retirement party.
Connie seemed more preoccupied than usual with other matters and rarely would stay late at the office. He missed those times where they would spend late night dinners together, although all they ever talked about was whatever case they were working on.
Mike's office door was already opened, but Jack knocked on the doorway anyway, which meant he was here in a business capacity.
"Jack, you're certainly here early," Mike greeted him, "What's up?"
Jack strode in, "This is what's up," he curtly remarked as he tossed a thin file on Mike's desk, "Bill Anderson injured himself and is unfortunately unavailable to proceed with the Brantley case. We need someone to substitute for him in court, later this afternoon."
Mike stared at the file.
"Are you handing this case to me?" he asked, "Do you actually expect me to become familiar with a case in one day?"
"You're an EADA, " Jack stated, half-jesting, "You're paid to handle the emergencies. That's why you get the big bucks."
Mike guffawed.
"You are aware, Jack," suggested Mike, "that in circumstances like these, we could ask for a continuance regarding this case…"
Jack, of course, knew that, but the office was already backlogged with too many cases, so he was trying hard to whittle the number of open-ended cases to a minimum, if possible.
"We could, but is it necessary for this one?" Jack asked, "Anderson had informed me that he was finishing up with the last witness and then the summations would begin. So far, the case has gone smoothly. No problems."
Mike opened up the file and skimmed through it, "A hit and run casualty?"
Jack nodded, "The driver is obviously guilty. He was driving drunk, there was the victim's blood on the driver's damaged vehicle, and we have a corroborating witness. We have all the proof we need to convict."
"All wrapped up in a pretty bow, eh?" Mike asked, liking the odds, "But Jack, it's not like you to give me an easy win case."
"Consider it you owing me a favor," Jack answered in his usual gruff voice. He then turned to leave.
It took Mike a split second for Jack's words to sink in.
"Wait! Jack!" Mike beckoned Jack back, with a question, "how did you giving me a case at the last minute turned into a favor that I will owe you?"
Jack paused at the doorway, "It's called being a DA, Mike. I can make anything I say sound advantageous for me. That's why I get paid the REALLY big bucks, " he grinned as he left, leaving Mike looking flabbergasted, with the file on his desk.
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Later that morning, the DA's office was bustling with people and noise. Workers were rushing back and forth as phones could be heard ringing and fax machines whirring in the background.
Amidst the chaotic, noisy office cubicles sat Connie Rubirosa. She let out a sigh as she looked at the huge stack of files she still had to go through. It was well after lunch, yet she could already do with another break.
She stared at Mike's empty office. He had told her how Jack had 'volunteered' him for the hit-and-run case that had previously belonged to Bill. Mike had gone to prep the witness and then headed straight to court.
Having him gone just made the place seem more…gloomy. The mumbling of several voices could be heard in the hallway, but Connie was only aware of being alone.
She liked her working partnership with Mike. From the start, it had felt so natural, so comfortable. Of course, there were times when being with him was rather unsettling, especially when his searing blue eyes looked deeply into hers. It was as if he knew a part of her that even she didn't know. And she had to admit that thought was disconcerting yet at the same time oddly pleasant.
Connie forced herself to concentrate on her work. She was doing some research as a favor for another prosecutor's case, when the phone rang. She was still reading off her computer screen when she absent-mindedly picked up the phone.
"Connie Rubirosa."
The well-modulated youthful voice of a woman responded, "May I speak with Mike Cutter of the DA's office?"
Mike had obviously forwarded his calls to her phone.
"I'm sorry," Connie apologized, as she continued reading a case citation on the screen and was jotting the information down on a legal pad, "Mr. Cutter is unavailable at this moment, but I work closely with him. I'm ADA Connie Rubirosa. Could I be of assistance to you?"
"How much do you charge for a day in court?" the other voice asked.
The woman's strange question made Connie stop writing in mid-word. Obviously this person on the phone did not understand how court proceedings worked.
"Prosecutors do not get paid by the day, Miss," Connie explained patiently, "And we do not accept money from the public. However, if you like, you could make an appointment with our front desk, and one of our assistants would be more than happy to explain to you how the DA's office works."
"No, I need to speak to Mr. Cutter, " the young woman, insisted, "but if you work closely with Mr. Cutter, you must be good, too. I need your help and you must hurry, for time is running out!"
"Oh?" Connie asked attentively, as she put down her pen to listen, "and what exactly do you need?"
"What I need," began the other woman, "is for you to sit in on a case."
"You mean, you want me to prosecute a case?" Connie asked, thinking the woman, in addition to not knowing how court works, did not know correct legal terminology,
"No," the young woman stated, "I need you to sit and listen to a trial that is already on-going."
Connie scowled, but she was intrigued, "You want me to just listen to a trial?"
"That's right," the other person stated, "just listen and maybe draw your conclusions at the end."
Connie wasn't sure if this was a joke, "Who is this?"
"Let's just say my name is… 'Help'" she had said, "because that's what I need."
"I'm sorry, Miss…Help," Connie did not know how to proceed, "but this is really such an unusual request…"
"Please, I am not a crank call…I really need your help!" she sounded desperate now, "A person's life depends on this! There is a case in Department 24 of the Superior Court entitled People vs. Brantley. It's actually in session right now, even as we speak. The prosecutor on that case, I believe, is Bill Anderson."
Mike's case, Connie thought, her interest peaking.
"Coincidences being what they are," Connie explained, "Mr. Cutter has already been assigned that case."
"Oh really?" the woman sounded pleased. There was a pause, as if she was considering her options, "…and what was your name, again, please?"
"Rubirosa. Connie Rubirosa."
"Well, Ms. Rubirosa," the young woman proposed, "perhaps you would be willing to listen in on the case, too? A second opinion would always be welcomed. I can even pay you for your efforts, although I don't have much. But that is how important this case is to me."
This conversation was getting stranger by the minute, but Connie was intrigued.
"This office does not accept payments from the public," Connie explained, "but I am curious… how does this case concern you?"
"It doesn't…not directly, that is," the young woman responded mysteriously, "I just need your expertise opinion."
"Suppose I decide to sit in on the trial," Connie started hesitantly, "then what?"
"I will contact you tomorrow to ask you what your conclusions are." the young woman said. She then specifically told Connie to sit in the gallery.
"Suppose I can't find a seat among the spectators?" Connie asked, knowing that happened often.
"I've worked it out already," she explained, "When you enter the courtroom, I'll be seated in the right-hand aisle seat, third row back. I'll have dark chestnut hair and glasses. Next to me will be a seat with a coat. I will pick up the coat and then you can sit down."
Before Connie could respond, there was a decisive click at the other end of the line. Hmmm..a real mystery, Connie thought, as she continued to stare at the now silent phone.
And if there's anything Connie loved, it was a good mystery.
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A/N: So excited to be writing another L and O story. My attempt at another crime/mystery story. Although there is no real romance in this story, I hope I captured the natural chemistry that Mike and Connie seemed to have on the series.
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