Once the pair found themselves alone in the conference room adjoining the judge's chambers, Brooke went through the ritual of checking her voice mail and accessing her email while Prescott sat at the other end of the sofa patiently observing her.

"Let me guess; the CIA found somethin' on our guy and now the World Court wants a piece of ole Mr. Kane, as well," Prescott offered when Brooke began to snicker.

"Sorry to disappoint you Sherlock," she replied as she put her phone in her pocket. "As much as I know you'd like a reason to plead your case at The Hague, this message was about a Manhattan case, not this one. Cohen sent me a text to let me know the Waxman verdict was guilty on all counts. I hope that'll enough for Jack to be able to live with what that case cost him."

Prescott smiled knowingly as he looked away. The night before, Danielle Melnick had expressed her own disapproval, as well as disappointment, regarding McCoy's actions in the Waxman case. Although Prescott had kept his opinion of McCoy's 'dirty tricks' as Melnick called them to himself, Prescott had to admit he felt a tinge of sympathy for the DA.

Using the'expert' testimony McCoy had, as well as turning on someone close to him to achieve the required remedy, was something Prescott didn't relish. But it was something he understood after years of not only dealing with career criminals, but finding himself on the run because of one. The federal prosecutor knew in any criminal case the bottom line had to be keeping the accused off the street, regardless what the personal price might be to do it.

"Danielle," Brooke asked as she figured out the reason for his smile.

"Yep. She wasn't too happy with your husband last night. I'm sure you weren't as well. How,ever since McCoy is your husband, I guess it's safe to admit to you that I think he did the right thing."

Brooke sighed as she leaned back on the sofa. The only thing she found surprising about Prescott's remark was how it showed her once again, how similar her former and current husbands could be.

"So Danielle discussed Jack with you, did she? What about you, Sam, "she asked by way of changing the subject. "Did you discuss me with Danielle? Specifically, did you tell her about these strolls down memory lane we've been taking the last few weeks? Strolls that include us doing things other than strolling, that are grounds for divorce in forty of the fifty states?"

"Lord Mal, you make it sound like we abused farm animals together or somethin' equally alarmin'," Prescott said rolling his eyes. "Don't make this more than it is."

"And what exactly is it when you find yourself in your former spouses arms after you've not only divorced, but remarried, as well," she asked, knowing it was a question she herself wasn't fully sure of the answer to.

"Honey, Judge Barkley isn't gonna be long. Are you sure you wanna do this now?"

"Samuel," she said leaned closer. "Don't beat around the bush with me. You know I don't make a habit out of kissing men other than my husband, As far as I know, you don't either. Just because we haven't gone to bed together doesn't make what we've done 'okay' and you know it."

"First of all, I don't make a habit out of kissing men, period, "he said, unable to resist a final attempt at humor."That would be Jake's department."

"Johnny Carson you're not, honey," she shot back impatiently. "Are you stalling because you're as confused as I am and have no idea what to say or are you stalling just to be annoying?"

"Neither," he said with sudden seriousness. "As enticin' as I find any woman who wears Pooh Bear and Friends to court, it's not my intention to hustle you off to bed or off into the sunset, for that matter. You made your feelin's about that clear a long time ago."

Brooke nodded in agreement, torn between relief and even deeper confusion. She was relieved to hear that Prescott had not misinterpreted her passionate response to him as an invitation to begin some ill fated affair. A move she was certain neither of them had the desire to pursue, muchless the stomach to live with.

Her confusion stemmed from the genuine pleasure she was sure they both had experienced during these encounters. She felt a deep sense of disloyalty to her current husband, especially when the single encounter on the street turned into yet another, even more intense meeting in Prescott's office. Yet Brooke had to admit, she looked forward to her courtroom battle with Prescott.

"You know, I was going to wear a cute little Piglet number, but I didn't think you could handle it," she said suggestively, after leaning back to ponder his statement.

"Piglet? Wear that and I won't be accountable for my actions," he countered. "Listen, don't think I wouldn't sleep with you in a heartbeat we were both free. And I mean free, Mal, not just alone. I told you before, I wouldn't have married my sweet Danielle Rose if I didn't love her. I know you feel the same way about ole smilin' Jack."

"Yeah, I do," she said as her mind recalled the last time she and her current husband make love. Had any other man including Sam Prescott, tried to have her as drunk as Jack McCoy had been that night, Brooke would have been disgusted and repulsed. Yet seeing the need; the vulnerability in a man who so often kept his feelings hidden safely behind his wall of arrogant indifference made McCoy irresistible in her eyes.

"So what are you saying Sam? That what we've been doing is…what? Some sort of outlet?"

"You know, when I married my second wife, I learned a lot about love," he said as he moved close enough to slip his arm around her shoulders. "When I left New York I dreamed about you every night, thought about you all day long, and never thought I'd look at another woman, much less marry one. But, I did. I found happiness again, but that doesn't mean I stopped lovin' you. When I came home and found my self back in your life, I knew I still loved you, but that didn't mean I loved Ellie less."

"I understand that. You know what I went through when you left," she said softly as she leaned into his embrace. "As deeply in live as I was with Jack, it took us both a long time before we even discussed marriage. It wasn't that I didn't love him, I just didn't expect to get a second chance…I never thought I could have anything close to what we had together, Sam. Yet…"

"Yet you're devoted to Jack," he said without malice. "I saw it the last time we had dinner with you and the Stone's. It wasn't the first time I saw it; it won't be the last. He makes you madder than hell, but you'd fight like a lioness protecting her cub if anyone tried to harm him. "

"Yet this feels very right Sam," Brooke admitted as she rested her head on his shoulder."Too right."

Prescott sighed as he nodded. As savvy as he knew his former wife was in matters regarding all things legal, it amazed him how innocent Brooke could be in the ways of human relationships.

"Darlin' it's not like we fell out of love nor had a nasty parting of the ways. I suspect it's always gonna feel right to hold you, as well as-"

Before he could finish the bailiff opened the door. After the young man recovered from the sight of the pair looking more like close friends than opposing counsel, he announced the judge was ready with her decision.

"Mal, let's just set this aside for now. You'll buy me lunch at The Chop House when we're done here and we can clear the air then. But frankly knowin' you, I suspect the best person for you to get an answer you'll accept is Jack, not me."

"Jack," she said in amazement.

"Yep. Jack's been married before. I guarantee he knows what I'm talkin' about. 'Sides, you know you it's just a matter of time before that man gets this out of you anyway," Prescott said as he held the door open for her. "You McCoy's are a tenacious bunch."

"You think I should talk to Jack about this? What makes you so sure he'd understand this? Will Danielle?"

"Darlin', Danielle would understand this about as well as you would have the first time you became a wife," he said bluntly. "Oh, she'd make all the right noises, but it would hurt her. It would hurt her deeply. I'd feel the same way if I hadn't been through this before with Ellie. Trust me, Jack's gonna understand better than you do right now. Just talk to the man."

Brooke pondered Prescott's words as they entered the courtroom. Just before he reached for the gate, she nodded and rested her hand on his forearm.

"Agreed, except we'll be lunching at Brennan's, not The Chop House," she said with a catlike grin. "The loser – that would be you- picks up the tab. The winner chooses the place, remember?"