Setting: Season 1, Ep. 5 "Lost and Found."
AN: Hi readers! I hope you enjoy this latest update. As always, I only own the plot of the story (not anything from DDD itself). Enjoy!
Getting Reacquainted
Jay Parker has known Jane for years.
He knows that she's a great lawyer. From the moment he hired her, he could tell that she – like the hundreds of thousands that take the LSATs and apply to law school – had the desire to make a difference.
But she had something else, too. She had intelligence and a strong sense of propriety. She knew how to win her court battles, and she did so with cool professionalism and logic. She had ethics, morals, and a cool head. And she knew when to pick her battles and when to follow orders.
At least she did.
Now, instead of backing down when he comes barging into her office, demanding to know why she defied him and went after the D.A., she doesn't shrink back as she's done so many times before.
"What about Michael?" she demands. "Okay? He got screwed!"
"Sometimes, the system works; in this case, it didn't. Jane, I have plans for this firm and a ticked off D.A. is not part of them!"
An emotion Parker can't identify – hurt, betrayal, shock? – flashes across her face for a quick second, but as soon as it's there, it's gone. "Well, I can't back away from this."
"Then I can't guarantee your future here."
Again, Jane's face is unreadable for a moment. But something's different – the air around the two of them has changed and Jane's eyes blaze with fury. When he notices the changes in her, Parker wants to kick himself. He should have known better than to use that tactic. The Jane he knew would have backed down, would have backpedaled.
But she's not the Jane he knew; these past few weeks have proved it.
"No one can guarantee anyone's future," she says coldly. "I could get into my car and drive into a truck full of grapefruit and be dead." Her voice is full of venom, as if he's said just said her mother was a bitch or something equally reprehensible, and for a second he wonders why she's throwing such a fit. But before he can say anything, she walks away from him and he's left in shock.
When Jane sees Parker walk into the courtroom, she wants to scream. Instead, she glares defiantly at him before grabbing the TV remote and pulling herself back into the matter at hand.
"A root beer and a box of Cracker Jacks." She stalks over to the witness box and glares at D.A. Callahan. "Hector Diego, the man who committed this crime, walked out of the convenience store with a root beer and a box of Cracker Jacks."
D.A. Callahan gives her an incredulous look. "We all just saw the video; what's your point, Ms. Bingum?"
"Were you aware that Mr. Fernandez, the man you convicted, is a diabetic? And would've been extremely unlikely to drink a soda and even less likely to drink a soda and eat a box of Cracker Jacks?"
"We didn't have this confession ten years ago when Mr. Fernandez was arrested," Callahan spits back.
"No. But you did have an eyewitness account from Mrs. Ellen W. Worth. Would you please read the highlighted portion of this police report taken on the day of the shooting?"
When Callahan reads it, his voice is full of resignation. "I didn't see his face but I clearly remember the gunman left the store with a soda and a box of Cracker Jacks."
With a smirk, Jane enters the report as Exhibit A, before stalking back. "Your office received that video tape 5 years ago. It took me one night to go through the evidence of Mr. Fernandez's case and connect the dots. Everything necessary to free him was sitting in a dusty file in your office."
"That was no misconduct, Ms. Bingum," Callahan says with a wide gesture. "We did nothing wrong."
Jane shoots him a semi-smile; it's almost cruel. "It's not that you did anything wrong, Mr. Callahan; it is that you did nothing, and given the responsibilities of your office, doing nothing - by definition - is negligence. But you know that."
Parker's been looking for Jane from the moment the case was done.
After that amazing closing, Jane ran from the courtroom and he quickly lost sight of her among the huge crowd that always seemed to be at the courthouse.
When he gets back to the office, her door is closed and Michael Fernandez can be seen behind the glass pane, giving her a hug. I should probably call the D.A., he thinks. Even though Callahan had gotten what he deserved, Parker wants to smooth the feathers that had been ruffled; though Callahan isn't the only one he needs to speak to, he was certainly the best place to start.
After the phone call, where he'd tried his hardest not to gloat to Callahan, he goes back to Jane's office only to find that she's disappeared.
Upon a hint from Terri, he finds her on the balcony.
"Bingum."
Jane jumps before shooting him a cold look, one that was mixed with defeat. He decides then and there that he didn't like that look.
"If you're here to fire me, I'd like it in writing. Makes it easier to get unemployment."
God bless and damn her good memory! "Why would I fire you?"
" 'Cause you said if I took on the D.A.'s office, you'd fire me."
Mentally, Parker's scrambling. If it's one thing Jay Parker doesn't do, it's backpedal.
At least not obviously.
"No, what I meant was, if you took on the D.A.'s office and lost, I'd fire you." He chooses to ignore the eye-roll she gives him as she turns her gaze back out to the L.A. cityscape. "But you won. I can't let you go now; you'd have three offers by noon tomorrow."
The offers that she'd have are the least of his worries, though.
"As far as I'm concerned," he continues, "You're the lawyer of the day around here."
"Just the day?" Jane says, a lilt of playfulness behind her words.
Since when does Jane Bingum do playful? he wonders. "Actually, about one more hour. Then, we're going to get a hailstorm of crap from the D.A.'s office; I'm going to need you to deal with that."
What Jane doesn't know – and he can tell she doesn't by the semi-disdainful look on her face as she glances at him - is that it's bull; Parker's going to do what he can to protect her. He turns away and heads back. "See you tonight, Bingum."
"Tonight?" she asks, surprised.
"Uh…damn." Mentally, he slaps himself before chuckling. "I'm no good with surprises; people need to learn that," he says before going inside.
He doesn't hear the little oh that escapes her lips, or the pounding of her heart, and he doesn't see the smile that spreads across her face. If he had, he would've thought it was because she knew her birthday was going to be celebrated. Never in a thousand years would he have thought it was because she knew he was going to be there.
At the party, she doesn't know what possesses her to sing – maybe she wants to sing the song so Grayson will stop staring at the condescending bitch that is Kim Kaswell, maybe it's remind Grayson of Deb, maybe it's just because she finally wants to get that song – and Grayson - out of her system.
What she does know is that though she was focused on Grayson at first, her gaze started wandering to Parker, who seemed to be splitting his attention between her and Melissa from Accounting. Though she won't admit it, it kind of thrills her when he looks her way.
When the song's done, she heads over to the bar again and grabs another martini.
"Bingum!"
Jane jumps a foot in the air but somehow manages to keep her martini from spilling.
He chuckles as she turns and she gives him a warm smile. "Hi, Parker."
"I can't seem to keep from startling you," he says. "I'm sorry for the birthday heart attack."
She waves it off with an even bigger smile. "Not your fault I've apparently turned into a jumping jellybean," she says.
He laughs, richly, as he tries to think of how to say what's on his mind. Finally, right before the silence gets awkward, he finds the words.
"You have a beautiful voice, Jane," he murmurs. "I didn't know you could sing like that."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Parker," she says, her eyes dancing with mischief. "I'm a woman of mystery!"
Yes, Jay Parker had known Jane for years. But there was still much he wanted – no, needed to know.
And he intended on finding it all out.