| A Matter of Trust |
| Jack sat in his office, reading through some briefs Jamie had done for him on items that had come up earlier in the week while he was out. Spending Wednesday evening at the pub with Lennie had done wonders for his attitude. He really hadn't been sure what to expect. It could have been terribly uncomfortable, but Lennie had other ideas. He'd shown up a little after six and talked a blue streak for the next hour or so. Simple, everyday things. A 'serious' subject couldn't have muscled its way in with a prybar. And the detective's wry sense of humor was just the thing to coax a smile, and even a laugh, from Jack's aching heart. They played some darts, and some pool, and by the time he got home, he'd fallen asleep easily, for the first time in weeks. Thursday morning, he'd gone back to the office. Much to his relief, it was business as usual. If he was still the subject of water cooler gossip, it was being kept quiet. It did feel good to immerse himself in his work again. Even Jamie seemed to understand how important 'normal' was to him right now. He knew she knew about the case. Thankfully, she chose to not bring it up, letting him focus on the work. Thursday evening, Lennie had surprised him with tickets to the Yankees game. OK, they were nosebleed seats. But it was a beautiful summer evening, actually on the cool side for August. They pigged out on hot dogs and soft pretzels; Jack had a couple of beers, and enjoyed the evening immensely. Leaving the stadium in the 8th inning to avoid the crowds, they walked in a companionable silence toward Lennie's car. Once on the road, Jack asked the question that was bothering him. "Lennie?" "Yeah?" "Why are you doing this?" "Doing what?" "You know." Jack sighed, not quite sure what to call it. "I just thought you could use a friend, Jack." "I � didn't think we were still friends �" It was Lennie's turn to sigh. "We are." He took his eyes off the road just long enough to glance over his shoulder at his passenger. There was something in the way Lennie said it, as if he'd been an imbecile for even thinking that they weren't. He began to realize that friendship was something Lennie took seriously. Jack managed a soft smile. "Thanks." Lennie just smiled and nodded, focusing back on the road. After a little while, Jack asked, "So, you have any plans for the weekend?" "Have to play it by ear. Rey and I are being tapped for a stake-out tomorrow night. Could wrap up tomorrow, could go on for a couple of days." "Oh." Jack was surprised by how disappointed he was. But then, maybe it was a good thing. He didn't want to get too dependent on Lennie's company � Before he knew it, Lennie had pulled up in front of his apartment. "I'll give you a call if I get some time, ok?" Jack nodded. "Yeah, that would be great." "Have a good one, Jack." He just nodded as he got out of the car. And now it was Friday afternoon. It had been a fairly busy day, but now it was almost over and he had only a lonely evening at home to look forward to. A knock at the door caught his attention. "Jack? You busy?" He waved her in. "Come on in, Jamie. What's up?" She sat down, smiling shyly. "I was wondering if you had plans for dinner?" He looked up, surprised. "Uh, no � " She cut in. "It's just that, Neil has Katie this weekend, and David's out of town, won't be getting back until late tonight. I thought it would be nice if we could just talk, you know?" Jack sighed, wondering if Adam had put her up to this. "I don't need a babysitter, Jamie." Her expression convinced him that wasn't true. "I � I didn't mean that, Jack. It's just � We've worked together for four months now, but I barely know you. Yeah, some things have come out this week that surprised me. I'd just � I'd like to hear it from you, I guess." Jack rubbed his face and leaned back in the chair. He knew he'd been intentionally keeping her at a distance. And while he certainly didn't need a mother hen, a friend wouldn't hurt. Finally he sat up and nodded, smiling just a bit. "I guess I owe you that much." He glanced at his watch; it was a quarter of five. "In fact, how about we head over to Sabatino's now, beat the crowds?" She grinned at him. "Great. Just let me go get my purse." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By 5PM they were seated at the nearby little Italian restaurant Lennie was so fond of, sharing a bottle of wine. For a moment, they stared at each other in silence, not sure where to start. Then, they spoke simultaneously. "Jack, I �" "Jamie, �" They laughed, and Jamie nodded at him, giving him the serve. "I owe you an apology, Jamie. Adam kind of forced you on me when I wasn't really ready to accept someone yet, and I guess I took it out on you. And I've been keeping you at a distance ever since then. I guess since you couldn't take the role my other assistants had played in my charade, I thought you didn't need to know. I didn't want anybody to know, and I guess I was still grieving for Claire." Jamie's head tipped to one side. "That's what I just don't get, Jack. You weren't lovers, then? But her death hurt you so much!" Jack sighed. "It's � complicated. We weren't lovers. I'm not at all � interested � in women. But Claire was something special. I loved her, Jamie, more than I've ever loved anybody. I still miss her �" She could hear the sadness in his voice, and it touched her heart. "I'm sorry, Jack." He shook his head, as if shaking off the melancholy. "I was just finally getting over it, when � " "Jack, you don't have to talk about it." He managed a small smile. "Thanks. I really appreciate you not even bringing it up in the office." "Jack, my sister was raped. I saw how long it took her to recover. Don't expect miracles; give yourself time." She reached out and gently squeezed his hand. Jack couldn't quite suppress the subconscious flinch at her touch, but forced himself not to pull away. After what felt like forever, he forced his eyes up to meet hers. Jamie smiled at him, recognizing his struggle. She gave one last squeeze and let go. "So I thought maybe tonight we could start over again? I want you to trust me. Not just as your second chair, but as your friend." For so long he had worked to keep his heart a fortress of solitude. But he was finally beginning to see that he had been wrong. His life had been immeasurably better when Claire had pried her way into his heart. And then Lennie. Liz had talked to him about the importance of trust in his recovery. He looked into her soft brown eyes, and for the first time in his adult life, made the conscious decision to trust someone. He smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lennie put the finishing touches on his 'costume.' No stake-out, tonight's work had him undercover at the Palace. Clothes just a little classier than his usual wardrobe, over a wire. And a hint of talc to give his hair a bit more gray. // Ain't that a kicker? // He chuckled to himself as he realized the face looking back at him from the mirror was probably pretty close to the 'real thing.' He'd started dyeing his hair a couple of years ago to hide the gray; he told himself it was so that the punks he dealt with every day wouldn't think him old and infirm. Vanity had nothing to do with it � He'd felt bad about lying to Jack, but he really didn't want the attorney to know what was going on until they caught this bastard. He hoped that they'd get lucky and tonight he'd be able to give his friend the peace of mind that the bastard who raped him was behind bars. He turned around just in time to see Rey pulling on a tight-fitting muscle shirt. Over equally tight jeans. Even Lennie had to admit he looked hot. He couldn't resist teasing his partner. "You're gonna be fighting them off all night, Romeo!" Rey grinned back at him. "Just let 'em try �" Lennie pointed to Rey's left hand. "Might want to leave that in your locker." Rey thought about it for a moment, then reluctantly removed his wedding ring, tucking it into the pocket of his suit coat inside the locker. The team gathered in Van Buren's office for the briefing. Several other detectives were also going 'under' as backup. The Lieutenant would stay in the van with the sound technicians. The sketch of "Dave" was circulated one last time. "OK, now everybody listen up. Keep your eyes open for this guy, but don't approach him. We want this to be totally by the book. We don't just want him to proposition Lennie; we've got to get him actually getting violent. So when they leave, he'll probably go to an empty apartment nearby. We'll follow. The minute he goes from lover to fighter, we go in. Any questions?" Nobody asked, so they filed out of the office. Van Buren held Lennie back. "Lennie, are you SURE you want to do this? We could just arrest him in the bar based on the drawing. Once McCoy ID's him in a line up, we're set." Lennie shook his head. "LT, you didn't see Jack after just reading the complaint I wrote up. I want to get this bastard so good we don't need his testimony. I don't want him to have to go through that again, and especially not in a courtroom in front of a judge who knows him." Van Buren sighed. "OK, it's your game now. Just don't get yourself hurt, ok?" "Who, me? I hate pain!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rest of the team entered the bar one by one, straggling in and taking up positions around the place. Finally, Lennie entered. Tony waved at him and produced a club soda as usual. A while later, Damian spotted him and came over, greeting him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The two sat talking for a while, but positioned so that Lennie was clearly surveying the night's crowd. Profaci, looking distinctly uncomfortable, wandered over to where Rey was sitting nursing a beer and avoiding eye contact with the many guys trying for it. "Hey Curtis. Something ain't right here. Did you see that guy kiss Lennie? He let him get away with that?" Rey sighed. "Profaci, that's the owner. We set it up to make it look like Lennie's known around here." He knew it wasn't a set-up, but he hoped it would keep Profaci from realizing that Lennie WAS something of a regular here now. Profaci shook his head. "Briscoe's a better actor than I thought. He didn't even blush!" "Just give it a rest Profaci." For the rest of the evening, Rey's attention was split between Lennie, the front door, and Profaci. Aside from a stereotypical affinity for donuts, which Rey found annoying, Profaci was also known to be a bit homophobic. Rey really wished he hadn't been on this detail; he was obviously uncomfortable here, and who knew what he was really thinking of Lennie's 'performance.' Finally, around 11PM, Dave entered the bar. Rey spotted him and flagged Lennie's attention. Via the wire, Lennie let Van Buren know, then left Damian and began circulating, actively on the hunt. Rey fended off another advance as he waited for Dave to zero in on Lennie. Sure enough, after about half an hour, they made eye contact. Lennie gave him a good long once over and nodded, calling for Tony to get his new friend a drink. JD, straight up. As their 'dance' began, the undercover cops began leaving the bar, one by one, getting to their cars to follow. Rey and Profaci were the last to leave, and not before Profaci saw Dave's hand groping at Lennie's groin. He shivered with disgust as Rey pushed him out of the door. Dave led Lennie out to the side street where Lennie had been parked that fateful night two weeks ago. He walked up to a motorcycle - a Yamaha. Lennie realized with a sinking feeling that it might be Jack's, although it had Jersey tags. Dave grinned at him. "You up for it, old man?" "Who you callin' old? And I'll show you "up for it!" Feigning eagerness, Lennie climbed onto the bike behind Dave and wrapped his arms around the driver. For just a moment, he wondered if maybe someday he'd ride like this with Jack. He grabbed onto the fantasy, using it to get himself aroused, so Dave could feel it pressing into his back. They drove about 8 blocks this time; Lennie guessed nothing closer had come into the cleaning service this weekend. Finally, Dave parked the bike and they got off. Lennie managed to get his pant leg caught on something, giving the cavalry time to catch up with them. They went into the apartment building, walked up one flight of stairs. Dave unlocked the door and waved Lennie in. The place was vacant as expected. Lennie stopped. "Hey, what's this? What the hell?" He stopped talking as Dave's fist slammed into his face. "Now! What the hell was that for?" The "Now" was an urgent instruction to his back-up. He managed to block the next couple of blows, which was only inciting Dave further. "Oh no you don't! I'm in charge now, Daddy." He said it with an ugly sneer. Driven by anger, he lunged at his target and had Lennie pinned to the wall, pummeling him. A knee to the groin had Lennie doubled over in pain. Suddenly, the door burst open and Rey ran in. He pulled Dave off Lennie, but Dave was just as happy with this new target. The two young men struggled, as Lennie sagged against the wall. Moments later the rest of the reinforcements arrived, and Dave was quickly subdued. Rey had to admit he enjoyed snapping the cuffs on him as he barked out. "You are under arrest for the rape and attempted murder of Daniel Sandhu and Jack McCoy. You have the right to remain silent �" Van Buren rushed into the room and straight to Lennie. "Lennie? You OK?" He was still breathing heavily, and blood ran down his face from a cut almost identical to Jack's. "I'll be fine." The Lieutenant fished a kleenex out of her pocket and wiped some of the blood away. "You will after a visit to the emergency room - that's going to need stitches." Lennie groaned, but knew better than to argue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jack sat in his recliner, not really paying much attention to the TV. Dinner tonight with Jamie had really opened his eyes. That she was an intelligent person he already knew. He hadn't really thought about the warm human being behind the sharp lawyer. Her eyes lit up when she talked about Katie and David. But even with a full home life, he was surprised to find there was still room in her heart for compassion for her moody boss. Almost despite himself, he found himself telling her about Lennie and what a mess he'd made of the situation, which explained his dramatic mood swings the past month. She didn't seem to find the fact that he was gay of any importance at all, for which he was grateful. After dinner, they walked back to Hogan place to collect her car. She offered him a ride home, since he still hadn't replaced the bike. As they pulled up in front of his building, Jamie had gently touched his arm. "Jack, anytime you want to talk, I'm here. Don't be afraid to ask." The sincerity of her words touched something deep inside him. Hesitantly, he covered her hand with his. "Thank you. I � that means a lot." She had squeezed his hand and smiled as he got out. He was still floating a bit on the emotional high of this new friendship. The ringing of the phone startled him awake. // Must have fallen asleep, // he thought groggily as he reached for the phone and spotted the clock. Close to 1AM. "Yeah?" "Jack, sorry to bother you so late." "Jamie? What the �?" She sighed. "Jack, listen to me. They've got Dave in custody. I'm headed down to the 2-7; they need you to come down to identify him in a line-up. Can you do that?" His head started spinning. Dave? In custody? He had to face the man who had raped him - could he do it? Fear clenched at his stomach. But then he remembered Daniel Sandhu still lying in ICU. He might never get the chance. Hard as it would be, he had to do this. "Yeah, Jamie. I � I'll do it." "OK, I'll pick you up in about 15 minutes, ok?" "Yeah �" He sat there in a daze for most of the 15 minutes; luckily he had never undressed. He sat in silence as Jamie drove them to the 27th precinct. Lt. Van Buren came up to them. "Jamie, he's in Interrogation Room 2 with Curtis, but he's not talking. He's already called a lawyer." A few moments later, a disheveled man in a suit entered. "Kevin Donaldson, attorney for David Blaise. I'd like to see my client." Van Buren escorted the attorney to the interrogation room. Jamie turned to Jack. "Just stay here for right now, Jack. I want to stay with them." Jack nodded and sat down on a bench. After a little while, Rey Curtis came looking for him. "Counselor? You ok?" Jack looked up; he guessed he probably looked as bad as he felt. "Yeah, I guess. You've really got him?" Rey nodded. "They're putting together a line-up now. You gonna be able to handle it?" Jack swallowed hard. "I'll have to, detective." They walked in silence toward the viewing room for the line-up. Van Buren, Jamie, and Donaldson were already in the room. Anita ran the show as professionally as possible; no need for the defense counsel to know just yet that McCoy was an ADA. "Are you ready, Mr. McCoy?" Jack nodded, his face already pale. He held his breath as six men entered the room on the other side of the one-way window. He knew how lineups worked; the five imposters should be similar enough to the suspect to make this hard if you weren't sure. His pulse was pounding as he scanned down the line, not recognizing anyone. He'd have thought he'd never forget that face. The fear that after all this, he wouldn't be able to ID this bastard grew and wrapped itself around his chest. And then his gaze fell on the fifth man and all uncertainty left. "That's him - number five." Jack spoke without hesitation. Seeing his tormenter was almost more than Jack could take. He stumbled back to lean against the wall. Then Van Buren was beside him, urging him out of the room. He finally collapsed into a chair that eventually he realized was Lennie's. Rey appeared with a glass of water, which he accepted gratefully. After a while, Jamie came out of the interrogation room with a scowl on her face. She joined the group eagerly awaiting news. "Despite the eyewitness ID, he's not interested in a plea. His lawyer says he admits nothing, and besides he's sure his supposed 'victim' will never reveal his secret in open court." She shook her head. "Jack? You will go through with this, won't you?" McCoy rubbed his face. He truly understood now how terrifying this was to a victim. To have to bare your most secret self to public scrutiny in order to see justice served. It was a high price to pay. But he remembered Adam's words. To remain true to himself, he had to do this. "Yes. I'll testify." His voice came out shaky, but the words were there. Jamie nodded and squeezed his shoulder. "Come on, then, nothing more we can do here tonight. Let's get you home." Jack nodded numbly, still somewhat in shock. Suddenly he looked up at Rey. "Wait a minute - Curtis, you arrested him?" Rey nodded. "But I thought you and Lennie were on a stake-out this weekend?" Rey looked at the LT, then back at Jack. "He didn't want you to know, Jack. He went undercover to get this creep." Fear started to grow in his eyes. "Where is he? Is Lennie all right?" Van Buren stepped in. "Relax, Jack. He's at the emergency room, but he'll be just fine. Nothing permanent." His eyes wide with panic, Jack reluctantly nodded and let Jamie lead him out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back at his apartment, Jack couldn't even contemplate sleep. Seeing Dave had chilled his blood; the fear was back in full force. He knew it wasn't over just yet; he'd have to relive the nightmare at least one more time, in court, in front of everyone. He reached for a bottle of scotch and poured a stiff drink, downing it quickly. On top of everything else, he kept picturing Lennie at the mercy of this bastard. Setting himself up as bait, putting himself at risk. Why would he do such a thing? It was crazy! He needed to know what had happened. What hospital had they taken him to? Shit, why hadn't he asked? He reached for the phone book, flipping the pages madly, looking for hospital emergency rooms. Finding the list, he grabbed the phone and began calling, asking if a Leonard Briscoe had come in that night. At each negative, he brutally slashed out the number with a pen. He almost didn't hear the soft tap at the door. It was now almost 3AM - who the hell could that be? Fearfully, he walked over to the door and looked out the peep hole, then hurriedly threw off the lock and opened the door. "Lennie! What are you doing here?" Lennie managed a small grin. "Well, you know me, couldn't sleep so I thought I see if there were any other insomniacs roaming around tonight." He pushed the door shut behind him. Jack was blinking back tears as he stared at the ugly cut down Lennie's left cheek. It was almost a duplicate of his own. "Thank god you're all right!" he cried out as he threw his arms around the startled detective. Lennie quickly returned the embrace, holding Jack close as sobs wracked his body. Lennie wasn't sure what had gotten him past the fear of being touched, but right now he didn't care. At long last, he was able to give the comfort he had longed to give. He gently urged Jack over to the couch, sat down in the corner and pulled his friend close. "Shh, it's all right, Jack. Everything's going to be all right. It's all over." Jack had buried his head in Lennie's shoulder, suddenly needing as much contact as humanly possible. He could feel Lennie's hands, stroking his hair and back. He could hear the soft thudding of Lennie's heart, and the softly spoken words of comfort. He felt a gentle pressure against the top of his head - a kiss? He felt warm and protected and safe, something he'd all but forgotten existed. After a while, his sobs quieted. He lifted his face to look at Lennie, one trembling hand reaching up to touch the injured cheek. "Why, Lennie? Why did you put yourself at risk?" Lennie leaned forward to gently kiss his palm. "I wasn't really at risk, Jack. I wore a wire, and Rey was just a few minutes behind us. He knew the minute it went down." "But still �" Lennie pulled him back down. "Shh. It's ok, Jack, everything's going to be ok. Just rest." Jack took a deep, shuddering breath and settled back into Lennie's arms. In just a few minutes, he was sound asleep. Lennie sat there holding him, his own heart full to bursting. He had talked to Van Buren, knew his hopes for a quick plea out hadn't worked. Yet. Maybe after arraignment they'd be able to overwhelm the defense with the strength of their case and the fact that the victim who'd ID'd him was an EADA who most certainly was willing to testify. Yeah, there was still hope. He gazed down at the man sleeping in his arms, finally finding some measure of peace. He gently caressed the soft silver hair. Glancing around the room, he spotted an ottoman that he could just barely reach with his foot. Kicking it into place, he put his feet up and settled into the corner of the couch as comfortably as he could. He wished he could shut out the lights, but there was no way in hell he was going to disturb Jack, so instead he just bent his face to place a light kiss, then closed his eyes and fell into a contented sleep. Continue on to Chapter 24 Send me some Feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 23 |