Normally when Mike Cutter was pacing his office with a baseball bat it was because he was concentrating hard on a case that was presently before him. He felt that keeping his hands and feet preoccupied gave his brain the ability to think hard and fast, especially if he was bouncing ideas off either Connie or Jack.

But neither Connie or Jack were present. Connie had been sent to Baltimore to speak to potential witnesses for their current, most challenging case. And Jack…well, Jack wasn't the right person to help Mike overcome this exact problem. His current predicament wasn't a problematic case, or even a case at all.

Mike's current dilemma, the thing causing him to pace around his office with his baseball bat, was because he had sabotaged the relationship he had with the love of his love, and all efforts of winning her back had been fruitless. He needed to at the very least get his foot back into the door of her life. He needed it fast too.

He felt his Blackberry buzz on his desk before his ring tone started ringing so he already had his eyes on the screen as the tone bounced off the walls of his wooden office.

Connie Rubirosa calling. . .

"Connie, got any good news for me about the Charles Gardner case?" Mike asked his ADA, finding himself relieved for the distraction from his personal life.

"Mike," Connie sighed as she said her superior's name carefully "I'm calling about Chelsea."

Mike felt his breath catch in his throat at the mere mention of her name. He felt relief and joy begin to spread through his body, but also his heart began to race. Connie had been refusing to discuss Chelsea with Mike, so the fact she was now mentioning her to him meant that something was happening. Even if it was bad news, this was his way of getting his foot in the door.

"Yeah?" Mike responded trying to sound nonchalant but he knew that Connie was smart enough to know he was feeling anything but casual.

"It's pretty serious. I have her on the other line. Mike, she's been arrested for assaulting a police officer. She's currently being held in a station in a small town near Hudson. She used her one phone call to call me. For the first time in weeks." Connie stated.

Mike was silent for a few moments as he let Connie's words sink in. It would be a lie if he immediately denied she was capable of doing what she was accused of. Chelsea Callahan was a firecracker who had been toeing the line her entire life. But he knew this was extreme, even for her.

"Connie, what the hell happened?" Mike eventually asked as he ran a hand through his greying hair as nerves began to rise.

"I don't know. It's hard to get information out of her. I don't know if she's under the influence of anything or if she's just terrified. She claims she didn't do it, though. I didn't want her to say anything out loud without a lawyer present so I haven't asked for the full story." Connie explained.

As if he were on auto-pilot Mike had raced over to his suit rack and was attempting to throw one of his expensive jackets over his shoulders with his phone pressed to his ear. Once he got both arms through he responded to Connie.

"Good advice. I'll go down and sort this out, can you text me the address?"

"Mike, it's fairly late and it's a two hour drive. Is there anyone else you can call to go and represent her?" Connie asked.

Mike thought about it for a split second. Connie was talking in complete sense. If he found a local lawyer they could be down at the station in mere minutes to help out Chelsea. However, he didn't personally know any lawyers in or around Hudson. In the time it took for him to make a few calls at this late hour, he could already be down there. Besides, he needed this. He needed to be the one to go down there and be her hero.

"Okay, there's no talking you out of this. You're going to do this." Connie sighed as if reading his mind.

Mike grabbed his car keys and did a one handed pat down to ensure he had both his wallet and his DA office identification. He then began to jog out of the office with his phone still to his ear.

"Look, I'm on my way now. Can you do me a favour and keep Chelsea on the phone with you as long as possible? We need to stall these proceedings until I get there."

"Okay." Connie responded.

"You really need to hit home to her that she's not to utter a single word to any of the police officers until I get there. You've been her closest friend for a while now so you should be the best person for this." Mike instructed Connie.

"Obviously I need to instruct her to not speak to the police, duh." Connie responded with disdain.

Mike normally had a very playful relationship with his favourite ADA. He and Connie worked extremely well together, and she was the one who helped him to get together with Chelsea, the love of his life. But he was too busy being flustered and panicky about Chelsea's welfare and did not appreciate Connie's sarcasm in a time like this.

"Connie, shut up and just go back to talking with Chelsea. Keep her on the phone for as long as possible talking to you instead of anyone else." Mike snapped.

As an extremely strong person, Connie normally did not allow people to grumble at her the way that Mike had just yelled. Mike was expecting a war of words to break out. However, he was unexpectedly met with kindness.

"Okay. But make sure you wear your hands free. I'm calling you as soon as I'm done with her. I'm not just worried about Chelsea. I'm worried about you too, Mike. I want to keep you awake to make sure you get there safely."

"Thanks Connie. I'm nearly in my car so I'll let you go and we'll speak soon." Mike gratefully responded. He was glad Connie didn't have any animosity towards him. He needed her on his side.


Mike felt completely numb as he drove up the highway to make his way upstate. He tried not to think of Chelsea sitting in a dilapidated jail cell alone, cold and scared - or worse, locked in with other offenders who could be trying to attack her.

Instead he would dart his eyes between the road, the speedometer and the clock. It had been twenty three minutes since he had gotten off the phone with Connie. The longer she took to call the better as it meant she was buying Chelsea's time until he could get there.

But then the dreaded call came. As he was driving he couldn't check the caller ID. But there wouldn't be anyone else calling him at eleven thirty at night, so he immediately pressed the button on his hands free.

"Connie, got anything for me?" Mike answered his phone.

"A little, yeah. I was able to get a little bit more out of her. She claims she didn't assault the police officer, but the cop got her. She said she was in a bar when an off-duty officer was allegedly beating his girlfriend. Apparently the officer then turned on Chelsea, and she's swearing it's a big cover-up to protect the police officer." Connie went on to explain.

Chelsea was in a bar. The woman he loved who recently called things off with him was spending her Friday night in a bar two hours away. She was absolutely gorgeous and always received a lot of attention. Mike's heart sank knowing what sort of things she was most likely up to, and what sort of attention she would have been receiving from the opposite sex.

But he couldn't speak up about it. Connie had been berating him for weeks about the mistakes he had made and how he had hurt Chelsea. If he dared utter his displeasure of her occupying a bar it would just end in another argument with Connie. He didn't have time for that right now.

"Why is she near Hudson right now?" Mike asked curiously.

"I don't know. Work, I think. I don't really speak to her as much as I used to," Connie admitted as her voice grew bitter "because of you."

"Yeah, yeah, we've gone over this before. I ruined things with the only woman I've ever truly loved. Hilarious." Mike dryly responded.

Connie was silent for a few moments before she spoke up, and Mike could hear the smile in her voice.

"Only woman you've ever loved?" Connie teased.

Mike sighed as he realised what he had just confessed out loud to Connie. It wasn't something he had ever told anybody else, not even Chelsea. But when he thought back about all the previous women he had relationships with, nothing compared to what he had with Chelsea. It wasn't love at first sight with her, but the second he met her all those years ago when she was still in college that she was something special.