Is nothing sacred to you? Is there no level that is too low for you to stoop to in order to get what you want?

Jack McCoy asked himself the same questions he'd been asking since he left his wife at Manhattan General Hospital. Every time he thought about the defeated, mournful look in Brooke's eyes, he felt his own eyes start to water. McCoy glanced at his watch and tried once again to focus on the case file that had been sitting in front of him unread for over an hour.

"Jack? You gotta minute? There's been a screw up in the-," Michael Cutter stopped short as McCoy looked up from the file. "Jack, are you feeling all right? You look like hell."

"I'll survive. Now, what's the problem here," McCoy responded gruffly as he slipped his glasses off and waited for Cutter to respond.

"Mike, I told you I'd run it by Jack in the morning," Connie Rubirosa snapped as she hastily entered McCoy's office.

Although McCoy had told no one in the office about the procedure Brooke had undergone the day before, Rubirosa had walked in on his telephone conversation with Suffolk county ADA Jake Cohen and quickly put the pieces together. "Jack, isn't Brooke coming home today? Should you be at home instead of-?"

"I think I'm capable to managing my personal life without your input, thank you Connie," McCoy snapped as he stood and snatched the case file out of Cutter's hand.

While he skimmed the file, Cutter and Rubirosa exchanged concerned glances before McCoy looked up and muttered a string of curses that caused both ADA's to stare back at him in stunned silence.

"Have either of you let Van Buren in on this cluster fuck," McCoy demanded as he reached for the phone. "This is worse than the usual sloppy interrogation crap the 2 7 is famous for! Such incompetence…neither of these detectives deserves to have a gold shield... much less any kind of-"

"Put the phone down and go home Jack," Rubirosa said with firmness that surprised both men. "I'll call Van Buren myself. If we have any hope at all in salvaging this mess, the last thing we need is a pissing match between our office and the 2 7."

McCoy bit back a response he knew was based on his own personal misery. He recognized Rubirosa was trying to do. As much as he appreciated her effort, McCoy knew from personal experience the only way he could cope with his own personal demons was to do what had become second nature to him; he'd have to work his way through the devastation of losing a child.

Cutter gave his assistant an awestruck stare as he watched the DA wordlessly grab his briefcase and suit jacket before walking out the door.

"Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but what is it with you and McCoy? I don't know anybody else in this office that would have gotten away with what I just saw. Have you cast your spell on Jack, as well?"

Cutter inwardly relaxed when Rubirosa leaned back against McCoy's desk and surveyed him with an amused smile.

"'As well?' Trust me; no one mesmerizes Jack McCoy, except maybe his wife. But I'm intrigued by your statement, Mike. Are you implying someone else in this office might be bewitched by me, besides Jack?"

Cutter grinned back at his assistant as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I've made my feelings about you pretty clear, Connie. Not only do I think you have great legs, but that I think you're intelligent and a damn fine attorney. It would be easy for any man to fall under your spell and you know it," Cutter replied confidently as he leaned down and met her eyes. "Now, stop trying to hedge and tell me what's going on with Jack."

Rubirosa's face clouded as she thought about what the McCoy's were going through. She knew it was just a matter of time before it became common knowledge Brooke's pregnancy was over. The last thing she wanted was to be the one that got the rumor mill running regarding the specifics.

"There have been some problems with Brooke's pregnancy," she said as she glanced at the closed door. "Jack's not handling it well."

"I image not," Cutter said thoughtfully. "I have to admit, those two have had more than their share of trials. I have to hand it to Jack; he's held it together better than I think I would. I mean first the kidnapping, then this. Not to mention, wasn't there a shooting before they got married, before my transfer to Major Felonies?"

"The Samantha Weaver shooting. Don't remind me," she said as she grimaced. "Just when he seemed to be getting comfortable with the idea of being a father again, too. It's more than sad; it's not fair."

Cutter's smile deepened. 'It's not fair' wasn't a phrase you often heard from a dedicated prosecutor like his assistant. Hearing the sincere concern in her voice reminded Cutter of what a truly compassionate woman she was.

"Connie," he said softly as he reached out to lift her chin. His own eyes softened when he realized she had tears in her eyes. "Hey, what is it?"

Rubirosa met his concerned gaze, not bothering to try to hide her distress.

"Having children someday is something that's always been important to me," she said haltingly. "Being an attorney is satisfying, but being a wife and mother…When the time comes, my family will be my first priority. To find the right man and…to be carrying his child only to have to… God I can't image going through what Jack and Brooke are going through right now."

Cutter shook his head as he gently pulled her into his arms and began stroking her hair. Rubirosa's feelings about family came as no surprise to him. During the dinner they shared a week before; it became obvious to the EADA that although she was in a non-traditional career, Rubirosa herself was a traditional woman. It seemed only natural to think she would take great pleasure in caring for family one day.

It was a side of her Cutter not only respected, but found endearing.

"Listen. You said Brooke was home from the hospital. That must mean she and the baby are both fine; that whatever happened to them is over. The doctor wouldn't let her go home otherwise-"

"The baby's gone," she said whispered as she rested her face against his shoulder. As much as she wanted to protect McCoy's privacy, there was something about Cutter's manner that reassured her it wouldn't be a mistake to confide in him. "The baby's gone and if Jack's as upset as he seems, God only knows how Brooke's dealing with it."