Work Text:
And the Rest is History
by Michelle Furnas
Hardcastle sighed as he watched McCormick taken from his office down to lock up. Damn stubborn kid. Couldn't he see that the Judge was offering him a lifeline? It was the best deal he was gonna get.
Hardcastle had known it wouldn't be easy. It would have gone against the kid's pride to just jump at the offer falling all over himself with gratitude. The Judge expected resistence, but not a flat out denial. He thought he might even have been getting through to McCormick at first until he'd said McCormick would have to give back the car. That's when the kid shut down and rejected the idea completely. He'd said he thought Martin Cody killed his friend and stole the car. Apparently that was a belief that was worth his freedom and for McCormick, that was saying a lot.
The irony of the situation wasn't lost on the Judge. McCormick was doing in this exactly what Hardcastle wanted to do with those 200 cases. The kid believed his friend's murderer had escaped justice so he was planning to do what the law had been unable to. It was the same song just a different verse.
That McCormick was sticking to his guns so adamantly to his own detriment, actually increased the kid's appeal. It demonstrated loyalty and strength of character. It was easy to fight for something when you had nothing to lose. McCormick had everything to lose and yet fought anyway.
Sighing again the Judge sat down at his desk and picked up the phone.""Listen, get Kline, Kline in records and ID. Tell him I want a national check on this car guy, Martin Cody.""
As soon as he got the report back, he'd know if he had something to offer that McCormick couldn't be stubborn enough to say no to. For all his faults, Mark McCormick was certainly no dummy.
They would have a lot to overcome. McCormick was openly hostile. Not a suprising face considering the Judge put him in prison, but Hardcastle thought they could move beyond that. The past was the past, and it belonged exactly there. This could be a fresh start. Of course the kid was also a smart ass--usually when he was being hostile. So if they could work that out, the mouth should quiet down on its own.
Secretly he hoped not too much though. He wouldn't admit it to anyone--most of all McCormick, but he actually enjoyed their verbal sparring sessions. McCormick gave as good as he got, and it was kind of nice to find someone that wasn't easily intimidated by Judge Milton C. Hardcastle.
The kid had spunk and style, but he was impulsive which led him to make bad judgments that were self-destructive. McCormick's heart was in the right place, but the kid needed to learn to work within the law not outside it. Not to mention he could use a little discipline--someone to lay down a few boudaries. Someone looking over his shoulder to keep him from getting himself into trouble.
Hardcastle knew Mark McCormick's file by heart. He knew the kid never had a steady father figure or male role model growing up. He was raised by his mother until her death left McCormick on his own. Considering his background, he could easily have fallen into one of the gangs leading to much more serious trouble flushing his entire future down the toilet. He hadn't which earned him more points on the Judge's scorecard.
The Judge would have to be careful not to get his hopes up though--well, up any higher than they already were. He thought he'd found viable candidates before and been sorely disappointed. Even reminded of past failure, a word Hardcastle despised in general but doubly when applied to him, he couldn't dampen the certainty taking hold that his search was over. Mark McCormick was his Tonto. Now if he could just convince the kid.
Hardcastle and McCormick--it did have a nice ring to it.
The end