"So, what happens now?"
Convictions had been handed down. Tara Galinet would spend the rest of her life in prison, while her brother would be serving a considerable amount of time in prison himself. The question had come from Rebecca, who lay flat on her back in Brittany Stone's apartment, staring up at the ceiling.
"Don't know," said Brittany. "Guess you don't have anything else to worry about, except for testifying against Erin."
"Self-righteous bitch, like she wasn't going to get caught," Adrina muttered, acidly. "Talk about anger issues."
Rebecca snorted. "Dad and Anna are coming home from Chicago tomorrow," she remarked. "Think Danielle told them already?"
"Knowing her, probably," said Adrina, amused. "They'll be glad to hear it. Wouldn't be surprised if they called."
As if on cue, the phone rang, and she smirked. "Well, speak of the devil," she said, looking at the idea. "It says, 'McCoy, John. You wanna answer?"
"Wouldn't let him hear you calling him that if I were you," said Rebecca, but took the phone. "I'll be back."
She disappeared, into the kitchen, somehow knowing that Brittany and Adrina were rolling their eyes behind her, and pressed the talk button. "Hello?"
"Becky, that you?" Jack's voice came over the line, faint, because he was on a cell phone, but it was still there.
"Yeah, it's me. Danielle tell you about the convictions?" Rebecca replied, leaning back against the counter.
"She did. Says she doesn't know where it's going to go from here. You're all right with everything, though?"
"I'm fine with it. Better than I was when it first started anyway. How'd you know I was at Brittany's?"
"Danielle's been talking to Ben; he says you and Brittany and Adrina have been hanging out a lot lately," said Jack, almost amused by this. "You'll tell them Anna and I say hello, won't you?"
"Yeah, I'll tell them. You guys still planning on heading back tomorrow, or is Aunt Emily threatening to keep you there for the next ten years?"
"She's threatening, but she keeps laughing, so neither of us are taking her very seriously. I think she intends to come out here and visit sometime before the baby is born…"
"That's cool."
It was almost funny, Rebecca thought, that after years of wishing for a sibling, now that she was grown, she was actually going to happen. She thought briefly on an incident from when she and Brittany were ten, and decided she didn't want to think about it any longer than that moment.
"How is everyone out there? Any word from Jamie?" Jack's voice broke into her thoughts again and she nodded, before remembering that he couldn't see her.
"Yeah. She says Neil's doing fine, and he's probably going to be discharged this afternoon…Erin's trial's nowhere near starting, and she's fighting the cops on her arrest, whatever that means, so…"
"You aren't going to have to testify against her, are you?"
"Amanda says probably, but she's trying to find a way to get me out of it. I don't really care if I have to, though."
On the other side of the line, Jack held the phone away from his ear for a moment and stared at it. Something had changed, he thought, and whether it was for better or for worse, he had no way of knowing. But it certainly seemed as if it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
"And to think, before all this, you'd have never set foot in a courtroom of your own free will," he said, after a moment, and Rebecca bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Yeah, well…things change," she said. "I'm just glad this is all starting to wind down. Maybe we can get back to normal, you know?"
In the other room, she could hear the television, and then Brittany's voice. "You are freaking kidding me. Ha! That ought to give him something to chew on."
"Hold on a minute, Dad," said Rebecca, and then, to Brittany. "Hey! What're you yelling about in there?"
"Branch just announced his retirement," Brittany said loudly, so that her voice would reach into the kitchen. "Just in time for elections. Talk about coincidence."
Rebecca's eyebrows raised at this, and she shook her head, amused. "You might have a new boss when you get back, Daddy," she remarked. "Branch just announced that he's retiring."
Jack laughed. "Yeah, I heard," he said. "I've already had a phone call from him. He wants me to take the run. What do you think?"
"I think you're nuts," Rebecca told him, "But I'll be right behind you if you do."
They sat in Danielle's office. It was almost funny, because before this, the lines between defense and prosecution had always been clearly defined, but now they were definitely blurred. No one saw any difference anymore.
"…and one of you better be there to let me in my office, because I left my keys there when I left…" Anna trailed off for a moment, and then went on. "Is it just me or did we cut off again?"
"No, we're here," said Danielle, "And I'm sure someone will be there. You've heard the news about Arthur Branch, then?"
"Yes," said Anna. "Jack tells me he means to take the run, can't say I'm surprised, but Dr. Carmichael's probably going to kill him for it. I still can't believe everything's already ending."
"You should be grateful," Trevor said dryly. "It's been months now. You can't tell me you wanted this to carry on forever."
"Well, no, but a fifteen minute jury on Tara, and then only two hours on her brother? That's got to be some kind of record," came the reply.
"Yes, that's what Judge Donnelly and Judge Ross had to say. I don't think they've ever seen verdicts that fast either," said Amanda. "Which, by the way, our new EADA's quite the prosecutor."
"I should think it was only a matter of presenting evidence," said Mike, shaking his head at her, "I had nothing to do with it. She hung herself."
"Of course she did," said Anna. "You all almost make me miss New York, you know that?"
"What, and you didn't already miss us before?" Trevor asked. "I'm hurt, Anna. I thought you liked being with us."
"I do," said Anna, "But it's nice to have a break every now and then…have any of you heard from Rebecca?"
"Earlier on; she said Jack called her," Danielle replied. "Now, you two are definitely coming home tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, unless Emily thinks of some way to keep us here…she says she's going to come visit at some point, so that should be nice…" Anna trailed off and sighed. "What a year."
"Has it already been so long?" Trevor asked, startled, and then, "No, it's not September yet, it's only been a few months, then."
"That's what I meant," said Anna, distractedly, and then, "What's going to happen to Erin now?"
"Oh, she's going to trial, whether she likes it or not," said Amanda. "She's too stubborn to plead out. I'm just hoping her lawyer talks her into it, because I can't stand to look at her for another couple of months."
Silence and then suddenly, all of them laughed. "Well, then," said Danielle, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see with that. In any case, with things winding down, do you think you'll take any time off?"
"Are you kidding me?" Anna asked, half-seriously. "I'm having this baby in the courtroom, didn't I tell you?"
"I should think Jack would have some objections to that theory," said Mike dryly. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Neither would I," said Trevor, and then, "You know, I'm still the senior partner, and I can still tell you to take time off."
"I should love to see you try it," said Anna, and then, "I actually have to go and pack so we can actually get to the airport on time tomorrow, so…I shall talk to you all then. Try not to do anything stupid while I'm gone, please."
"Anything you want us to pass along to anyone else?" Connie asked, finally looking up from the paperwork she'd been trying to finish and breaking into the conversation.
"I was wondering where you were," said Anna, "But yes, if you'd tell our dear judges that I do say hello, and that Jack does, too…oh, quit, you know you do…that'd be great."
"We'll do that," said Trevor, "You just try not to get yourself killed walking through the airport."
"That'll earn you no coffee for the first week I'm back, you know," said Anna, giving the phone a mock-annoyed look. "Never mind. I'll probably forget by the time I get back; I hate to fly."
"Well, you'd best go pack, then, and take your mind off things," said Danielle, "We'll talk to you tomorrow."
As it was, by the time the next day rolled around, Mike and Amanda had both had it up to here with Erin and her refusal to talk to anyone. So they had made the journey out to Rikers Island, and were sitting across from her.
"Well, if it isn't the District Attorney's dream team," she said, sarcastically. "Let me guess. One of the two McCoys sent you here to tell me something."
"We sent ourselves," Mike said evenly. "You would do well to listen to us, whether or not your lawyer is here, because there's nothing saying that you have to speak to us."
Erin rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm a lawyer myself," she said, "Technically, I don't need another attorney in my ear, telling me what to say and what to do. So talk."
"The attitude is not going to help you," said Amanda. "The police have found witnesses. People who have seen you talking to Tara Galinet and her brother. People who saw you staking out Jack McCoy's place, and Anna Flynn's."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Like hell it doesn't," said Mike, "That alone is enough to convict you, and the fact that you have a gun registered in your name…that's more than enough."
"Nothing happened to him, or to his little girlfriend. I hear she finally told him that he knocked her up. Took her long enough."
"That's not any of your concern," said Amanda. "What we came here to tell you, Ms. Fallon, is that if you insist on dragging yourself through a trial, then you will most likely be convicted. You will never practice law again, anywhere. We can make sure of that."
"Don't you dare sit there and threaten me, Ms. Fellowes. All the evidence the police have is circumstantial at best, and you know it. You have no case."
"Rebecca McCoy spent enough time with you when you were married to her father, I'm quite sure that she's perfectly capable of identifying your voice, even if she couldn't see anything," said Mike. "We're offering you the charges of conspiracy to commit murder, and Man One, because we know you had something to do with at least one of the murders that Ms. Galinet committed. Twelve and a half to fifteen on the second charge, three to six on the first."
"Concurrently, if you cooperate with us," said Amanda. "If you don't, then the deal's off the table, but believe me when I say this is the lowest that we're willing to go."
"And if I tell you no?"
"You'll make your life a living hell, because you will be dealing with us for the next few months, as you're already aware of," said Mike. "I'm sure you'd rather avoid seeing us for a while, but if not, that can be arranged."
Silence. Erin appeared to be mulling this over, and finally she scowled. "You're only doing this to protect them. Jack, and Rebecca, and Anna. That's the only reason why you came here, isn't it?"
"They don't need to be pushed through any more than they already have been," said Amanda, flatly. "And you know it."
"You don't know what I know," Erin snapped, and then, "Fine. I'll take your so-called plea offer. Just send the paperwork to my lawyer; I'm sure you know who she is."
They did, too. Danielle had taken the case, out of pity, more than anything else, and had been one of the driving forces in getting Erin to accept the plea she'd finally given into.
Mike and Amanda rose to their feet and motioned to one of the guards.
"It looks like this is officially over," said Mike. "You'll tell everything that you had a hand in, in Judge Donnelly's courtroom, as part of the plea, is that understood?"
"Whatever, "said Erin. "Just leave."
They did.
"I didn't expect it to be so easy," said Amanda, as they made their way back into Manhattan. Mike sighed.
"Neither did I. But I guess she knows that it would have been worse for her if we'd actually taken her to trial."
"Now she decides to get some sense."
"Well, at least we have good news for Jack and Anna."