Title: Flowers for the Alley
Author: SevenDayBlues
Rating: PG, nothing naughty here, folks.
Author Notes: I'm afraid I don't know when exactly Claire's death took place. Since "Aftershock" was a season finale, and season finales often take place in Spring/Summer, I'll assume that's the case.
Disclaimer: Despite my recent attempts to overthrow the Dick Wolf empire, I still do not own Law & Order, or anything else.
Spring, 1997
An unreasonably stale night.
The honking of cars fills the humid air. No one feels friendly; it's been this hot all week and the generosity of the holidays ran out months ago. A burst of obscenities spouts from the crowded street a bit farther up. Even at one o' clock in the morning, Friday nights in New York always burst with excitement.
A lone figure staggers from the pub nearby. He wonders as to where exactly he's going, then looks down at the flowers in his hand and remembers. He slowly makes his way down the alley, with the honking cars beginning to merge with the pounding behind his right eye.
There it is. A small cross –how ironic- and a picture mark the scene where so much destruction had taken place. He can tell someone has stopped by already tonight; fresh flowers lay across the sidewalk. Good thing he'd come late –no one likes to see John Jay McCoy sloshed…including John Jay McCoy.
Dropping to his knees, the flowers slip from his fingers before he means to lay them down. So much for formalities. She never liked them anyways. The stench of whiskey hovers in the air around him, and he thinks back again. Is it from tonight's drinking, or just a long ago memory of his guilt? Doesn't matter.
"Claire."
It's been one year to her death, and it's only the second time he's cried.
(end)