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Part 3 of The Phoenix Saga
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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2,700
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1/1
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Friendship

Summary:

Now roommates, Lennie gets to return the favor by helping Jack deal with his crisis.
Timeframe:  March-May 1998

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

 

Phoenix Saga Prequel 3 Friendship
by LavendeJade

Saturday March 28.

It had been one hell of a day.  Lennie sighed as he opened the door to his apartment.  It still felt a little strange thinking of this place as home.  But after a day like today, he was grateful he didn’t have to go home to that empty mouse-hole of an apartment anymore.

Jack McCoy was stretched out on the couch, reading a book.  Something instrumental was playing on the stereo; it didn’t completely register on Lennie’s consciousness.  Jack looked up at his roommate’s entrance.  One look at the detective’s face told him something was wrong.  “Lennie?  You OK?”

Lennie sighed heavily and shook his head as he hung his overcoat up in the closet.  “Rough one, Jack.  Little girl, maybe 10 years old, beaten, maybe raped.  The jerk stuffed rat poison down her throat.  She’s still alive, but in a coma.”

“Christ.”  Jack could only imagine how hard this was for his friend; Lennie was still grieving for the loss of his daughter Cathy less than a month ago.  He sat up, making room on the couch.  Lennie sat down beside him, bent over, head in his hands.  He had fought to keep it together all day, but lost the battle now that he was home.  A ragged sob came from his throat as the tears poured down his face.

Jack gently laid his hand on Lennie’s back.  This wasn’t the first time Lennie had lost it since he moved in; it had been a very difficult time for the detective.  Jack understood pain; although he tried to hide it from the rest of the world, he still grieved for Claire.  There had been more than a few nights these past years when he’d cried himself to sleep, when something reminded him too much of her.  Still, sometimes he’d awaken from a dream consumed by a deep, painful longing for her.  The pain just didn’t seem to ever go away.  He’d tried to bury it in alcohol, but he knew Lennie didn’t have that option.  So for his friend, he consciously tossed aside the ‘guy rules’ and offered the only comfort he could.  They had an unspoken agreement; they never talked about it later.

Lennie felt Jack’s gentle touch and gratefully leaned into his friend’s embrace.  He knew they were breaking the ‘rules’ but right now he didn’t care.  He needed the support, and was grateful that his friend was willing to give it.  Jack’s long arms wrapped around him as the deep, gravelly voice whispered “Shhh.  It’s OK, Lennie.  It’s OK”

Finally, when he could breathe again, Lennie let go and got up, disappearing into the bathroom.  When he came back, it was like nothing had happened.  “So, you want to get some dinner?”

Jack smiled.  One thing about Lennie, absolutely NOTHING got between him and food.  “Sure.  How about we head over to the pub and grab some burgers and maybe a pool table?”

Lennie chuckled, realizing that Jack was still taking care of him, giving him a good distraction for the evening.  “Good idea.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, April 22

Lennie looked at the clock again.  10PM, and Jack still wasn’t home.  He was worried.  His roommate had been acting strange ever since last Friday, but he wasn’t talking about whatever it was that was bothering him.

It had been a hell of a month.  The case of the girl who had been attacked and poisoned had been a difficult one all around.  Their original suspect turned out to be innocent, making both the cops and the DA’s office look very bad in a high-profile case.  To make things worse, Judge Feldman was making it an issue in the upcoming primary election where he intended to unseat Adam Schiff, Jack’s boss and long-time friend and mentor, as District Attorney.  Lennie knew Jack was under a lot of pressure.  But he didn’t think that was the real issue.

Finally, the door opened and Jack stumbled in, obviously quite drunk.  “Lennie.  Are you going to abandon me too?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”  Lennie’s face was a study in confusion as he got up and helped his friend to the couch.

Jack flopped bonelessly down into the overstuffed leather sofa and stared up at Lennie.  “Jamie’s leaving.  After the Castillo case. They’ve summoned her to testify at the hearing, and I don’t know what she’s going to say.  Adam’s probably going to lose the primary to that nitwit Feldman, and it’s all my fault.  So are you going to leave too?”

Jack looked like a little kid who’d lost his puppy; that mournful gaze went straight to Lennie’s heart.  He still had no idea what Jack was talking about, but right now comfort was more important than logic.  He sat down beside his friend, an arm around his shoulders.  “I’m not going anywhere, Jack.  I’m with you.”

Jack’s eyes tried to focus on him as a few tears of gratitude leaked out.  “Thanks, Lennie.”  He tried to sit up, ended up falling into Lennie’s arms, out cold.

Lennie sighed and sat there for a moment, holding him, wondering what to do. What hearing was Jack talking about?   Obviously, something was very wrong, but he wasn’t going to get any answers tonight.  He realized that tomorrow morning, Jack probably wouldn’t remember any of this, so he decided the best thing to do would be to get him into his bed and let him sleep it off.  He gently shook his friend.  “Jack.  Come on, wake up.  Let’s at least get you into bed.”

The dark eyes blinked several times before focusing.  “Lennie?”

He nodded.  “It’s me, Jack. Come on, let’s get you up, OK?”  He pushed the other man into a sitting position, then got up and pulled Jack onto his feet.  Jack stood there, very unsteady, so Lennie wrapped an arm around his waist and got him moving.  “Come on, Jack.  Bedtime.”

Back in the bedroom, Jack was practically asleep on his feet, so Lennie got him out of the shirt and jeans before pulling back the covers.  When he finally had Jack tucked in, the attorney was already snoring softly.  Lennie sighed and shook his head, smiling at the picture of innocence sleep brought to his friend.  On impulse, he reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair back from Jack’s forehead.  He was still seeing the little boy with the lost puppy.  Yeah, that’s it.  // Are you sure? //   He pushed that thought aside …

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday April 25

At precisely 5PM, Lennie was out the door.  They had both worked late last night, so late he hadn’t gotten a chance to ask Jack about the hearing and whatever else had made him get so drunk Wednesday evening.  He was getting very worried about his roommate, and wasn’t taking no for an answer tonight.

He called and confirmed that Jack was also coming home at a normal hour, offering to pick up Chinese for dinner on the way.  He was just sorting out the containers on the kitchen table when Jack walked through the door.  Jack stashed his helmet and jacket in the hall closet and came into the kitchen. “Hi, Lennie.”

He looked up.  “Hey, Jack.”  His roommate looked apprehensive.

Jack looked away, then turned back, hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans.  “Um, listen, I just wanted to say thanks for covering for me yesterday morning.”

After tucking Jack into bed Wednesday night, Lennie had intentionally not turned on his alarm, and had left a message for Jamie that Jack would be late Thursday.

Lennie shrugged.  “After all you’ve done for me the past month, Jack, it was the least I could do.”

That at least got a small smile.  “Still. Thanks.”
Lennie smiled and nodded, then pointed at the table.  “You want some dinner?”

They sat down at the table and started dishing out the food.  Lennie nattered on about baseball for a while, wanting to keep the conversation light.  Jack wasn’t being drawn in, though.  Luckily, Lennie could easily talk enough to simulate a real conversation all by himself.  It got them through dinner.

Finally, the leftovers were stashed in the fridge, empty cartons tossed in the trash, and an after dinner pot of coffee was brewing.  Lennie sat back down at the table and looked at his friend.  “All right, Jack.  You want to talk?”

McCoy took a deep breath and looked across the table.  “I’m not even sure what I said Wednesday, Lennie.”

Lennie gave him a sympathetic nod.  “Yeah, I know, been there too many times myself, Jack.  Really, the only thing I understood was Jamie quitting after this case?”

Jack bit his lip and nodded.  “It was that final straw, Lennie.  On top of everything else, she picks now to leave.  It felt almost like a betrayal.”

“On top of WHAT else, Jack?  You’ve been acting twitchy since Friday, but I still don’t know why!”

He bowed his head.  “It’s not easy to talk about something you’re ashamed of, Lennie.”

“I know, Jack.  I’ve got a list a mile long on that front.”

The coffee was done, so Lennie got up and filled a couple of mugs for them to give Jack a few more moments to summon up his courage.  Jack’s hands wrapped around the mug as if it could help steady him.  As if it were a glass of scotch.  “You remember the Dressler case?”

// oh, no. //   “The drunk driver?”

Jack nodded.  “I crossed a line, Lennie.  I wanted vengeance for Claire, so I suppressed evidence that would help Dressler escape the death penalty. Feldman was the judge; he was really pissed because he wanted a death penalty case to help his political ambitions.  Now that he’s going up against Adam in the primary, he’s filed charges against me for it.  I got the notice on Friday of a Disciplinary Committee hearing.”

“Wait a minute, Jack, you’re not making sense.  Dressler didn’t get the death penalty.  And if Feldman wanted a death penalty case, why would he be pissed that you strengthened the case?”

Jack shook his head.  “At the beginning of the case, we were on the same side, Lennie.  We both wanted the death penalty.  He helped me suppress the evidence.   But at the last minute I couldn’t go through with it.  Jamie was pushing me to do the right thing, and I finally realized that Claire would have hated me for doing this, even though in my mind it was for her.”

He stopped, his voice breaking as he said her name.  Trembling hands brought the mug to his lips; he took a long drink of the coffee.  Finally, he put the mug down and looked into Lennie’s eyes, expecting to see disappointment, maybe even disgust.  Instead he found compassion.

“Jack, in the end you did the right thing.  That’s all that really matters.”

He shook his head.  “No it’s not.  What I did was wrong, Lennie.  I can’t go in to that hearing and protest my innocence when I don’t even believe it.  And now with Jamie leaving – she’s been asked to testify, and I know her.  She’ll tell the truth.  That I went too far.  That I wanted vengeance.  I’m going to lose everything, Lennie.  My job, my career.  I’ll be disbarred.  And I’ll take Adam down with me.  All because I just can’t get over her.”  His face contorted as he fought the tears.  A ragged sob tore from his throat.

Lennie reached across the table, wrapping his hands over Jack’s.  “No!  Jack, don’t do this to yourself!”  He took a deep breath.  “Jack, listen to me.  There’s something I never told you.”

Something in Lennie’s voice broke through the web of self-loathing he’d built around himself.  He looked up into his friend’s eyes.

“Jack, toward the end of last month, one of my snitches called me.  He was in jail.  He said if I’d talk to the cop who arrested him, get him off the hook, get some evidence ‘misplaced,’ he’d take care of Cathy’s killer for me.”

“Lennie?”  Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I thought about it, Jack.  Even called the arresting officer, met with him.  I wanted this scumbag dead.  But that wouldn’t bring Cathy
back.  I finally realized I couldn’t go through with it.  I’ve bent my share of rules in my day, but this was too far.  The snitch is still in jail where he belongs.  But I came this close …”

Jack looked at him.  “But you didn’t.”

Lennie nodded.  “And neither did you.  You started down the wrong path, but you fixed it before it was too late.  Jack, don’t plead guilty to a felony just because you feel guilty of a misdemeanor!”

Jack took a deep breath, comprehension dawning.  Lennie was right – he was convicting himself of the wrong crime.  His friend was still talking.  “And if I know Jamie Ross, that’s exactly what she’ll tell them, too.  She’ll tell the truth as SHE sees it, Jack.”

Lennie gave his hands a final squeeze then let go, seeing that he was getting through.

Jack nodded and took another deep breath.  “Thanks, Lennie.  Again.”
Lennie smiled.  “What are friends for, Jack?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, May 11

Jack sat outside the hearing room with his attorney, Carter Newton.  He felt a lot better about this situation since his talk with Lennie; he had decided that it was worth presenting a defense after all.  He had even managed to joke with Adam this morning, and for once it wasn’t an attempt to hide his true feelings.  He knew he had done wrong, and was willing to accept an appropriate punishment.  But he wasn’t going down without a fight on the main issue here, and he sure as hell was going to do his best to take Feldman with him.

The door opened, and Jamie came out.  He looked at her, hoping for some sign, a smile, anything.  It wasn’t there.  She looked sad as she met his gaze for a moment, then turned away.  His stomach twisted with fear again; could it have been that bad?  They called him to the hearing, but he had to turn to the railing, watching her walk out of the building, out of his life.  Friday had been her last day at the office; he doubted he’d ever get to hear her tell what had happened in there.

He turned around, took a deep breath, and walked into the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lennie walked into the pub around the corner from their apartment.  He knew after the hearing Jack would need a drink, no matter how it went, so he had suggested they meet here for dinner.  It still amazed him that Jack had stuck with his promise to not keep alcohol in the apartment anymore.  Lennie greatly appreciated that fact, and was beginning to think it wasn’t a bad thing for Jack either.  He could see the signs, like that Wednesday night a month ago.  But Jack wasn’t ready to see it yet, so he wasn’t going to push the issue.  Tonight, he’d just make sure that Jack didn’t drink alone.

He found his roommate sitting at the bar, smiling.  // Oh, thank god! // A nearly empty glass sat in front of him.  “Lennie!  Come celebrate with me!”

Lennie grinned and slipped onto the next stool.  “I take it things went well.”

Jack nodded.  “You were right, Lennie.  They said that the fact that I fixed it before it was too late was all that mattered.”
“I told you.”

Jack’s exuberance faded away, as he momentarily got serious.  “Yeah, you did.  I owe you, Lennie.  I was ready to throw everything away.  Jamie didn’t look happy when she left; I didn’t get a chance to talk to her. If I hadn’t fought back today, who knows what might have happened.”

Lennie shrugged.  “Well, you did, and you won, that’s all that matters now.”

Jack laid his hand on Lennie’s arm.  “Thanks.”  Their eyes met, the debt of gratitude was acknowledged.  // and maybe something more … //

Lennie grinned.  “Come on; you can buy me dinner.”

Jack grinned back at him.  “You’ve got it, my friend.”

 

 

end

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author LavenderJade.
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