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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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943
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1/1
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12
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Hard Landing

Summary:

echoes of the past haunt Jack while he has dinner with the hotshot lawyer.

Work Text:

Notes: Post-ep for "Coming Down Hard". The airdate for the episode is October '04, which I used as the start date of the investigation. That would put the trial in probably January or February, therefore after Lennie's death. I couldn't remember the actual names of the drugs used, nor could I find them online, so I made them up. Bobby Goren is from L&O CI, and this story takes place in a little crossover universe that I've come up with. The big story that will explain it is in the works, with an expected post date somewhere in November (muses willing). Again, completely unbetaed, actually written in only 45 minutes, so all errors are mine.

Jack actually wasn't looking forward to dinner, despite the fact that he was meeting the hotshot who'd be handling the class-action suit against the drug company. The guy's reputation was good, and he still had the conviction of the young that he could take on the world and win. It was actually an old friend of Bobby's, though Jack still hadn't gotten the full story of how the two had met out of the detective.

The hotshot had only stayed for drinks and appetizers, citing an early court appearance for his early departure. He'd been intelligent, empathetic, and shown signs of enough ruthlessness that Jack was satisfied that the case was in good hands. Bobby and he had then spent the rest of the meal catching up on each other's latest cases, Carver's antics, and Bobby's latest round of internal debates over whether or not to ask out his partner. Jack was staring into the cup of coffee he'd gotten with dessert, letting Bobby's rambling wash over him as he contemplated the case he'd just finished.

"What did the defense bring up?" The change in Bobby's tone brought his attention back. The detective was looking at him with that uncanny tilt of his head, the one that had unnerved more than a few suspects in interrogation. Jack wondered how Bobby did it without hurting himself.

Jack deflected with a lopsided grin, "What makes you so sure it was something the defense said?"

Bobby didn't take the bait, and his hands started twitching towards the spare chair he'd set his notebook on. "Because. If it had been something Serena had said, you'd have been verbally chewing it over, discussing it with yourself to hear it said in a different voice. And Branch doesn'tâ€"he wouldn't comment on anything unless it had come up in the courtroom."

Jack shook his head, "This is why I should stop making friends with detectives. On the stand, Dr. Cedars used the example of the studies on his company's cancer drug to justify continuing studies on Leptopril. While we were waiting for the jury to deliberate we were handicapping it, and Branch pointed out that anybody on that jury who's got a relative who fought or is fighting cancer would be more likely to throw in on the company's side.

"I'm just wondering if what Cedars did was really illegal. It was malpractice, and it was shady business, but did he really cross that line or was I trying to punish someone for Lennie's death?"

Bobby didn't jump to reassure Jack, but he also didn't immediately ask why Jack would think that. Instead he fidgeted with his silverware, his water glass, and his coffee cup for a few minutes while he turned the issue over in his mind.

"But it isn't the same, is it? The other timeâ€"before. You were ready to crucify the man because not only was he a drunk driver, he was a drunk driver who had killed a husbandâ€"had made a woman a widow. And he wasn't a great guy sober, either. Claire's death wasâ€"was senseless to the point of farce. She was playing designated driver and was killed by someone driving drunk. There was a lot more going on in that case, and the situations were just too similar.

"But Dr. Cedars. He violated the first line of the Hippocratic Oath by selling an antidepressant that made even the happiest person suicidal. And he manipulated the system so he could make the biggest profit for as long as possible."

The waitress brought the check, and the subject was dropped. It wasn't until they were outside the restaurant that Bobby brought it up again.

"Lennie didn't use it. Cedomitrin is used with chemo for less aggressive forms of cancer. Lennie's prostate cancer was aggressive, and because of that wasn't caught early enough. None of Lennie's meds came from Cedar's company." Bobby didn't say anything else, walked off towards the nearest subway station.

Jack chuckled even as he held in tears. Bobby Goren was one of a kind. Only Bobby would remember exactly which treatments a friend had been on, even two months after. And only Bobby would have thought to check which companies each medication came from. Of course, Bobby was also part of a very small circle that would have thought about the fact that Jack might have had any kind of vendetta against drug companies right now.

As he headed back to his empty apartment, Jack spared a quick prayer of thanks that Lennie had dragged him into such a good group of friends. Even if they were all detectives.