This story starts in Season 4 of Alias, somewhere between Détente and Nightingale and goes AU at some point, I'm not entirely sure where. It's a crossover withLaw and Order. I know the L&Ocast line-up doesn't fit in with the timeline set for this season but we're behind here in the UK and it's the most recent one I'm familiar with …and anyway, if the Alias writers can play fast and loose with the timeline why can't I?

I'm not an American or a lawyer so references to stated cases or parts of the penal code are totally fictitious and should not be relied upon!

This was originally published over at SD1 but I thought I'd put it here too, in case anyone doesn't visit that site.I hope you like it. If you do, please review, if you don't, please review and say what you didn't like!

Disclaimer: The rights to Alias, its related characters and items belong to JJ Abrams, ABC, Touchstone Television, Bad Robot and Buena Vista. The rights to Law and Order, its related characters and items belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I do not own anything related to Alias or Law and Order. I have, however, created a number of my own characters; I think you'll probably recognise them when they appear.

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 1

"Are you sure you want to do this Jack? It will put this office on a direct collision course with the Feds." DA Arthur Branch swirled whisky round his glass.

Executive ADA Jack McCoy nodded. His expression showing his commitment to the Roman statesman, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus' famous dictum, 'Fiat justitia, ruat coelum' - Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.

"They brutally murdered a US citizen exercising his Constitutional rights."

"Long ago and in a country far away" Branch pointed out.

"There is no Statute of Limitations on murder, Arthur." McCoy reminded him. He took a photograph from the thick folder on his lap and handed it to Branch. "Look what they did. They tortured him, cut off his fingers one by one, then killed him. They have to pay, no matter who they are or who they were working for."

Branch looked at the photograph in distaste. "How do you intend to get round the jurisdictional issue?" he asked, "Last time I checked, Chile wasn't a part of the United States, much less Manhattan."

"State of New York-v-Kruger, 1997. The State Supreme Court held that a District Attorney could prosecute if any part of the crime took place within their jurisdiction. In this case, the operation originated in the CIA Field Office, here in Manhattan."

"I've read the file Jack. There is strong circumstantial evidence of that, but you can't prove they specifically ordered this young man's death."

"There's a direct link between the two acts. I know I can persuade a jury to convict on the evidence we have and I think I can persuade the State Supreme Court that the prosecution falls within Kruger."

"That may not be the only Supreme Court you'll have to persuade if we go ahead." Branch noted dryly. He turned to the third person in the room, who up to then had remained silent. "Serina, what do you think?"

ADA Serina Southerlyn frowned.

"I'm concerned at the big picture." she said, "Should we be prosecuting CIA officers engaged in black operations when we are in the middle of a war on terrorism? What sort of message will that send to others fighting to keep this country safe? And, in post 9/11 America, I'm not as convinced as Jack that we'll actually get a New York jury to convict."

"We're fighting to protect democracy, the rule of law, the right to freedom of belief and expression!" Jack argued passionately, "James Selzer was denied access to the law and killed for exercising his freedom of belief and expression. If we don't punish those in our governmental institutions, including the CIA, who fail to respect those principles, how can we expect people in other parts of the world to take our commitment to them seriously?"

Branch tapped his fingers on the armrest of his easy chair.

"The identifications are solid?" he asked.

McCoy nodded. "Yes, the witness picked them both out of a photo array. He's absolutely certain they were the two men he saw torturing Selzer in the San Sebastian military prison, even after thirty years."

"And they're no longer affiliated to the CIA?"

Serina answered, "Not as far as we can ascertain. They're both senior executives at a Los Angeles bank. We've been unable to trace any current relationship."

Branch came to a decision and downed the rest of his whisky in one gulp.

"Send Briscoe and Green to LA to pick them up. I'll make the necessary arrangements with the Attorney-General of California and the Los Angeles DA's office …and Jack, batten down the hatches, we're about to enter a whole world of trouble!

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Jack Bristow opened the door of his apartment and stepped out to be confronted by three uniformed police officers and an Afro-American man who flashed a detectives' badge at him. Jack just had time to read "New York City Police Department" before it disappeared.

"Jonathan Donahue Bristow, you are under arrest for the murder of James Selzer." the man said.

Jack stood still, allowing himself to be handcuffed, as the NYPD detective continued. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to be speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. Do you understand these rights?"

The caution born of years of undercover work took over, warning him against saying too much until he had a clearer understanding of the situation.

"Yes." he replied, succinctly.

As he allowed himself to be led away he had only one question on his mind, who was James Selzer?

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"…cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense."

As the grey haired detective recited the Miranda warning, Arvin Sloane felt the familiar, but always unpleasant sensation, of handcuffs being placed on his wrists. His instinctive reaction on being prevented from entering his car by this man and the uniformed police officers accompanying him was that enemies in the Federal Government who had opposed his pardon agreement had sold him out to State authorities. The detective, however, had shown an NYPD badge and Sloane could not remember committing, or even ordering, a killing there. He needed to know more before determining his strategy.

"I do." he replied in response to the detective's question as to whether he understood his rights.

As he was escorted to the waiting police car, he racked his brains trying to recall a James Selzer among his list of victims.

TBC