This is for any Carey Lowell fans out there! Ever wonder what happened to Pam Bouvier after LTK ended? Well, she ended up working in the Manhattan D.A.'s office for a time, under the name Jamie Ross... Please review really want some feedback before I decide whether to continue with this story.

Jack McCoy motioned for the bartender to bring him another scotch. Checking his watch, he grudgingly wondered if she had changed her mind. Since her divorce from husband number two, McCoy had tenaciously pursued his former assistant. McCoy pulled out all the stops. Flowers, cards, even the occasional email - which for less than computer literate Jack, was above and beyond the usual call of seduction. A fact not lost on the woman who had been his only link to the West Law website, during her tenure in the D A's office. It was in one of those email exchanges that she had finally agreed to an official date. Having let her slip through his fingers once, McCoy wasn't about to let history repeat itself.

"Jack, sorry to keep you waiting. I got stuck in chambers with Casey Novak and Danielle Melnick. I know Danielle is a friend of yours, but I thought she was never going to stop talking."

McCoy discreetly appraised his companion. A whisper of black lace peeked out from the top of the beaded gold jacket. The gold satin skirt revealed a considerably amount of Judge Ross's shapely legs.

"Jamie, you are always worth waiting for," he said leaning to kiss her cheek. "You look beautiful."

Ross smiled back at him. "You know, I would have called you if you had a cell phone. When are you going to join the rest of us on the information highway, Jack?"

"Come on, Jamie. I've progressed since you left the D A's office. Serena Southerlyn persuaded me to start carrying a beeper. That's enough technology for me. Would you like a drink or should we see if our table's ready?"

"Would you mind if we got the table," she asked. " I haven't eaten since breakfast."

Minutes later, as the waiter left with their drink order, Ross looked around the small dining room.

"I know you said to dress formally for dinner, but I didn't expect this. Candlelight, strolling violinists, champagne .. this is a far cry from the old days of Chinese take out."

McCoy smiled. "Does that mean you approve?"

"It means I'm very flattered."

McCoy's smile faded slightly. "Do I hear a 'but' coming?"

Before she could answer, a tuxedo clad waiter returned with the champagne McCoy had ordered. After filling their glasses, he took their order for dinner. Ross looked down at her hands as the waiter left..

"Jamie, I know the divorce was hard on you. I remember how it felt to have a second marriage fail. In some ways, it's worse than the first time."

"It's like you just can't get it right."

McCoy nodded. "Relationships have never been something I've excelled in. When I was younger, the job came before everything. My wife, my daughter. Hell, what kind of a father lets almost a decade go by without talking to his daughter? That's something I always admired about you. Nothing ever came before Katie. Not Neil, not Dave, not your job. That says a lot about the kind of mother you are. The kind of person you are."

Ross grimaced, shifting uncomfortably and reaching for her champagne flute. " The kind of person I am… whoever that is."

"Jamie what's bothering you? Look, if you're uncomfortable with this…if I've over stepped -"

Ross shook her head. "God no, Jack. It's not you . It's me. I have something I have to tell you. I'm just not sure…"

"Not sure of what? Jamie what is it? Are you alright? Is it Katie?"

Ross took a breath, slowly letting it out. "Nothing like that. Jack, I can't go into a lot of detail but, I know I can trust you to keep what I do tell you to yourself."

"Of course," he said gravely.

The waiter returned once more. The pair remained silent has their salads were served, the conversation resuming only once he was well out of hear shot.

"Alright. Before I met Neil, I worked for the government," she said softly. "My final year of law school, I was approached by one of the intelligence services."

McCoy's usually impenetrable mask was replaced by utter shock. "Jamie, are you saying you were an operative-"

Ross nodded grimly. "It was years ago, Jack. Another lifetime ago. I got out after a good friend and colleague lost his wife. He almost lost his life as well. It all started with the arrest of a Columbian drug lord named Franz Sanchez. It's along story, but my colleague's his best friend was a field operative for British intelligence. The British agent and I went after Sanchez-"

"Jamie, I remember the case. It was back in the late '80's. A DEA agent named Leiter, was maimed - the papers said this Sanchez took a chain saw to him. Leiter's wife was raped and murdered."

"It wasn't a chain saw, Jack. That bastard Sanchez, had Felix lowered into a shark tank, as retaliation for capturing him."

"And you were involved in this," McCoy asked incredulously. "Jamie, you know what happened to Alex Cabot when she went up against these kind of animals-"

"Jack, it was years ago. I had been trained by both the army and… well, let's just say that training- and the dedication of that MI6 agent - are the reasons Jamie Ross even exists today."

McCoy intently studied his glass of champagne .

"You wouldn't be telling me this, unless something had happened. What is it, Jamie?"

"After Danielle and Casey left my office, I got a call from Felix Leiter. Apparently, you and I have something new in common Jack," Ross said with forced wit. " We both have the dubious honor of being on someone's hit list."

"How is that possible? Jamie, if I remember correctly, there was nothing left of Sanchez's operation after he died. How-"

"I said the same thing, Jack. I was there. I saw everything go up in smoke. The refinery, the tankers, the money to finance Sanchez's whole operation. There wasn't anyone left standing after we were finished. Unfortunately, no one thought about Sanchez's brother. Javier Sanchez was safely in prison, until last week."

McCoy looked around the room for the waiter.

"You're on a drug dealers hit list and you're out where any assassin could take a shot at you," McCoy motioned to the waiter for the check. " What the hell is 'your friend' Leiter, thinking? You should have a protective detail or -"

"Jack, relax, " Ross said extending a shapely leg outwards.

Taking a glance around the near empty room, she took McCoy's hand . McCoy gasped, his dark eyes wide with surprise, as she slid his hand up her inner thigh.

"Jesus, Jamie!" She grinned at his reaction as she guided his hand up the holster, to the concealed Beretta.

"Just because I've been out of the game a while, doesn't mean I've forgotten all the moves."

McCoy shook his head in amazement.

Ross continued. "The only way for me to escape the past, once and for all, is to go after Sanchez myself. There's no where I could hide that he won't find me, eventually."

"Have you lost your mind? You're a judge, not Sidney Bristow! You can't be seriously planning to hunt this man down on your own-"

Ross shook her head. "I'm not an idiot, Jack. But, I lived in fear of Franz Sanchez once. I'm not going through that again with his brother." She looked behind McCoy towards the doorway and stood. "I didn't want to leave without giving you some kind of explanation. Jack, I wish I had more time."

He stood and turned to see two men in the doorway. One lanky, with a shock of straw colored hair, leaning on a cane. The other man dark haired, a faint scar on his right cheek, with an air of sophistication about him. Both men were smiling warmly at Ross.

McCoy embraced her and whispered. "Take care of yourself, Jamie."

"You too, Jack." She kissed his lips, with passion that surprised him.

McCoy watched as she joined the pair, giving each man a friendly hug.

As they left McCoy heard the dark haired man say teasingly, "I see you still have a difficult time waiting until you've been asked, Pam."