Jim slipped into the courtroom and spotted Karen immediately. She was looking around nervously until her eyes met his. Then she seemed to relax. He moved up, getting as close as possible and as each arrestee was dispatched, more spectators left and he was able to move closer. By the time it was her turn, Jim was sitting on the bench just behind her. "It's okay Baby," he said as her case was called.
She stood with George, her back straight and she held her head high. Jim heard the proceedings but he was focused on her, willing her to be strong. Then there was voice from the back of the courtroom and everything became silent. "What was that?" the judge asked.
"If I may approach, Your Honor," repeated the voice of Maddie Klein, one of Vegas' top ADAs.
"Please Ms. Klein," the judge said as he waived her forward.
"Your Honor, the District Attorney's office does not wish to pursue these charges at this time.
"Am I hearing you correctly, Ms. Klein? Your office wishes to drop the charges?"
"Well, technically since this hearing is when the formal charges are being made, I suppose we are choosing to not proceed."
"Then so be it," declared the judge. "But in the future, Ms. Klein, I hope that the DA's Office will make up its mind before the defendant gets to court…" Then the judge banged his gavel and the bailiff called for the next case.
Jim stood, unsure about what just happened. He'd never seen the DA's Office drop a case at the bail hearing before. George turned and smiled at Karen and then turned further and winked at Jim. Maddie, who was standing at the end of Jim's row, turned toward him. "Who the hell in your office decided to proceed on this without consulting my office?"
Jim blinked at the heat of her question. "It didn't come from my office, Maddie. Ecklie ordered one of my detectives to arrest her."
"And what the hell are you doing here Jim?"
"I um…well, she's…my fiancé."
Maddie relaxed and then grinned. "I know. Word is all over the building. I'll have a word with Conrad. He was out of bounds on this one. And a first year lawyer could have seen that there wasn't enough evidence to warrant an arrest."
"Thanks Maddie," Jim said sincerely.
She shrugged. "Hey, consider it payback for all the times you coulda said told you so and didn't." Then she turned and walked out.
George made sure that Karen was processed out quickly and soon Jim had her in his car, taking her home. It was as he drove that her bravado gave way and she began to shake. By the time he pulled into her driveway, she was sobbing. Jim led her into the house and settled her on the couch, then slipping out of his jacket, he sat beside her, pulling her into his arms and holding her, speaking softly, trying to soothe her. Inside, he was fuming. Conrad Ecklie was going to hear from him as soon as he felt he could leave Karen alone for a little while.
Slowly, she began to relax and the tears stopped. He sat, holding her, his face buried in her neck and his hands in her hair and on her back. "That's it Honey, you're okay…" She seemed to melt into him. "I am now…with you," her muffled voice replied from his chest.
Jim's breath caught in his chest and he closed his eyes as he let the meaning of her words sweep through him. He'd screwed up so many things in his life and gotten a few things right. But he'd never had anything like this. She said he made everything alright for her; she was okay with him. He couldn't describe how that made him feel but it made those plaques on his wall meaningless, the past mistakes pale, and all other relationships anemic. He made her okay; nothing could make him feel more heroic than that.
She fell asleep in his arms. The day had been long and exhausting and soon he was dozing too. The buzzing of his phone woke him. Careful not to shift her and wake her up, he pulled the damned thing from his pocket and spoke softly. "Brass."
"You have a case you are supposed to be working," snarled Conrad Ecklie from the other end.
Jim choked back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue and paused before replying. "Moreno has it right now. I have more important things to take care of right now," he finally managed.
"More important than triple kidnappings?"
"Yeah. Some dumbass had my fiancé arrested today and …"
"Be careful with what you are saying, Jim."
"Look, I'm busy right now. Moreno can handle things…we're pretty much at a dead end anyway until the lab finishes their stuff…"
"Busy? Yeah…I have a pretty good idea how that is going. What is it with you, Brass…you seem to have a thing for murderesses."
Briefly, Jim thought about responding. Instead, he just hit the end button and threw the phone across the room. The sound of it hitting the wall woke Karen. She sat up, surprise making her eyes wide. "Jim?"
"Nothing…just…"
"You have to go…to work, I mean," she said dispirited.
"No. I'm not leaving," he answered firmly.
Her skeptical look would have been funny if he wasn't still seething over Ecklie. "Jim?"
"Really, I'm staying here, with you."
"But they want you at work?"
"Yeah, that jackass called and was goading me. But I told him Moreno can handle it. And he can. I'm staying here."
As Karen eyed him, her demeanor changed from disconsolate to anger to amusement. "I don't want you to get into trouble because you're babysitting me. I'll be okay."
"I know you will, because I'm staying. Maybe…maybe I need to stay. Maybe I need to see you okay. Ecklie can go to hell. He might reprimand me, but it'll just be one more in a jacket full of 'em. I'll deal. I'm close enough to retirement that if it gets too bad, I'll just leave. I've got enough put away and my pension will see me through."
"But Jim, your job…it's your life…"
"No, it isn't. It is what I do and yeah…a big part of who I am. But…you are my life…my future. Now or a few years from now, I won't be a detective anymore. I plan to spend the rest of my life being here for you."
He watched as her expression softened and then as tears began to slide down her face. Her lip quivered as she fought them back, but she was losing the battle. He was in awe. No one had ever cried over him…not like that. "Baby, I didn't mean…I mean, you don't have to cry. I'm supposed to make you feel better," he told her, his heart pounding.
"You do make me feel better. It's just…Mike was so…so…not here for me. He…um, it was all about him. And if I didn't …if…" she paused as melancholy returned. "He um…he," she began to sob.
Jim reached for her, stroking the tears on her cheek with his thumb as he held her chin. "You never talked it about with me, never told me. Maybe…maybe we should talk about it so…maybe you can…I don't know, maybe put it behind you."
Taking a deep breath to still the tears, she looked into his eyes. "I didn't want…to sound like…a victim. You deal with victims all the time. I wanted to be strong in your eyes."
A flood of emotions washed over him. She wanted to be strong for him, not vulnerable…not needy. She loved him, of that he was sure. It dawned on him why she'd been so patient with him. She only wanted what he could give, but she wanted him to give freely. She didn't want to crowd him, expect more than he had to offer, especially not for him to be something he wasn't. She wanted him, the real guy, not some fantasy. As he looked into her eyes, he realized that nothing in his life had ever been as right as this was. "Honey…I want to take care of you, to be your strength, to take care of your every need, but I know that you can do it yourself. I look at you and I don't see a victim; I see someone who has enough guts to put up with me. I see...my happiness."
She smiled at that. He liked making her smile. "So, you going to fill me in?" he asked.
Looking away, she sighed. "Everything was alright at first. But then he became … obsessive. He wanted to know every detail of my day. I worked when we were first married, but he made me quit. He was jealous of the men at work. Then Mickey came along and…Mike was jealous of the time I spent on Mickey. If Mike was home, I had to be home too and he had to come first. But he could go and come as he pleased. At first, the abuse was verbal…cruel, biting comments, attacks on my mothering skills, on my abilities as a wife, until he was calling me a whore and…other names. Nothing I did was right. I was never smart enough, caring enough, good enough. And then, when Mickey got older and more active, Mike began to hit me, taking his annoyance out on me. It started as something that only happened on occasion and by the time he died; it was his way of dealing with every little frustration."
Oh my god, Karen. Did Bruce know?"
"I think he suspected but I never told him anything. He was always the protective big brother and I didn't want him to feel he had to do something about it. Then he…Mike had found someone else and wanted a divorce. I wanted it too but we agreed that we'd wait until Mickey went to college. Mike didn't want to be bothered with keeping up with Mickey the last couple of years of high school so it was convenient for him that I stay. It gave me a chance to plan to be on my own. And then wreck and…it wasn't a problem anymore."
Jim looked at her incredulously. "You were going to stay, even though it meant more abuse?"
"For Mickey's sake, yes. I couldn't support the both of us and…Mickey was happy at his school and doing well. I didn't want to ruin things for him. I'd managed for all those years, two more seemed…livable."
"And this other woman?"
She chuckled. "That's the irony of it. There was no other woman…it was a man."
Jim's eyes widened and then he rubbed the back of his neck as the implications ran through his mind. "So he was gay…"
"Actually, I think he was bisexual. But by that time, I didn't care anymore. He wasn't interested in me and it was a relief. I was just counting the days…"
Jim shook his head. "I had no idea…"
"I know; I wanted it that way. And I think Bruce had been putting off a promotion and transfer because he wanted to stay close to me, but after the wreck and everything settled, he could move on." She smiled as she continued. "Knowing you were kind of around made his decision easier, I think. He knew somebody would be here for me if I needed it."
"Yeah, he moved to Seattle..what? Two years ago?"
"Almost,' she answered. "And I do miss him but… you've made things easier."
Jim grimaced. "Easier?" he huffed. "I've floated in and out of your life for three years. You never knew when I'd show up again."
"No, I didn't. But after Mike, I think that was…well, kind of good for me. I learned to be my own person, think for myself and decide to do things because it was what I wanted. After so many years of deferring to Mike, I needed the time to find me again. If you had wanted to…" she paused, looking for the phrasing, "for us to be a couple, I wouldn't have been ready for it. Things worked out much better this way, I think. We both had time to find out what we wanted."
Jim smirked. "Maybe, but I was still an idiot for waiting so long…"
Her eyes glistened as she looked into his. "Maybe, but now you're my idiot and I plan to tighten the reins on you from now on."
Jim hugged her tightly and chuckled. "Consider this ass tamed, Baby. I know who has the sweetest oats."
Karen smiled as she held onto him. "Oats huh? And here I was thinking you liked fruit."
"Fruit?" he asked, sounding confused.
"As in melons," she giggled before reaching down on him. "Just like I'm into nuts…"
Okay, I am curious. Tell me what you think about Karen. I started this (the second time) with the idea that with all the darkness that he deals with, Jim would need someone who could lighten things up for him... someone who could match him quip for quip. How am I doing with that? Writing OCs in fanfiction is always trickly 'cause we like the characters we are familiar with and don't like others intruding in our little world. So, tell me how you like Karen...
And any other constructive comments you have are always welcome.
