Chapter 1-- A couple of us got together and discussed a fan fiction challenge to try this new cross-over fiction feature at . So this is mine (which is an ode to shows based in Texas) and I'm not sure where in blazes its going but it's a start of something. I don't own any of the characters in any of these shows nor will I make money. I am just doing this because I want the chocolate fish and because it's lots of fun writing. And if I can write a fanfiction under 100,000 words.

I hope you like my fanfiction. I hope it goes in some direction. Because I love writing and I really, really want the chocolate fish.

C.J. Parsons waited outside the building for Fran and Chris. She had finished off a packet of saltines and felt better. Still, the idea of eating a heavy lunch didn't appeal to her. She hoped she could handle the soup of the day but it didn't appear very promising.

"Hey, have you been waiting long?"

C.J. looked up and saw Fran walking towards her, carrying a bag from Victoria's Secret. In anticipation of a weekend holiday cruise with her husband, Carlos, Fran had been hitting the stores, shopping for her vacation wardrobe fromberets to toe rings.

"No, not long at all," C.J. said, "I spent the morning in chambers with the judge and that new federal prosecutor from Dallas."

Fran made a face.

"I heard about her," she said, "I read she was a bad-ass D.A. before she jumped ships."

C.J. nodded.

"Just the thought of facing her in court…It's kept me up at night."

"But she's pretty cool," Fran said, "She's built a reputation for helping women in trouble. I've seen her speak on these issues at conferences."

"I know," C.J. said, "I like that side of her just fine and she's a hell of a lawyer. I'm just not looking forward to this afternoon."

They started down the sidewalk towards Houston Enterprises. Earlier in the morning, it had rained but now the sun's heat had begun to melt the clouds, making Houston's residents temporarily forget about autumn.

Fran gave her a careful look over.

"You look pale," she said, "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"As much as I can, while preparing for this case."

They waited for the stoplight to change then crossed the street.

"When does Matt get back," Fran asked.

"Tomorrow night," C.J. said, "He's finishing up the final paperwork for the transfer of his agency to Brody and Greg."

"I know that's got to be difficult, even though I know he loves his life here."

C.J. knew that he did too. Still, she worried that he would miss living in L.A. and the glamor of his old career. She wondered if he had any regrets about his decision. She wondered how he would handle her news. She wondered how her head could possibly spin more than her stomach.

The blonde woman had followed her in the bathroom where she had rushed to after the brief evidential hearing. C.J. had tossed up her breakfast and after she finished, she got up off the tile floor, away from the porcelain god and grabbed some paper towels to wipe her face. She stood in front of the mirror wondering how she could rehabilitate her image as a ruthless public defender in under five minutes. Harvard Law hadn't prepared her for the reality of facing off in court in a game with high-stakes with a judge serving as referee. She would have to walk back in the courtroom after the recess and resume presenting her argument as if nothing had happened. One moment, she looked forward to take on all of them. The next, she thought she'd rather face a swimming pool filled with piranhas. Still, she loved the law and fully enjoyed her affair with it. Most of the time.

"Here," the woman said.

C.J. looked up and the woman handed her bottled water.

"Thanks," she said, opening the bottle and sipping some water, slowly.

"Your first court hearing," the woman asked.

C.J. nodded.

"How did you…"

The woman smiled, broadly.

"I've been there myself," she said, "It took me a couple trials before I could keep my breakfast down."

"But you're…"

"Now I am," she said, "but you should have seen me when I was a baby D.A."

"I know we're on opposite sides," C.J. said, "But you're really great in there."

Alex smiled.

"So are you," she said, "If I were a juror, maybe I'd swing your way, but I'm a prosecutor and I've got a job to do."

C.J. felt pleased.

"Thanks," she said, then held up the bottle, "And for this too."

C.J. watched as Alex Cahill strode purposely out of the bathroom.

"Are you okay?"

C.J. looked up and saw Fran looking at her oddly.

"I'm fine," she said, "I was just remembering the first time I went up against Alex Cahill-Walker."

"How'd that go?"

C.J. grimaced.

"I tried my hardest," she said, "But I lost. Still, she really tested me and I enjoyed the challenge."

"You'll beat her this time," Fran said as they neared the office building.

"We shouldn't even be adversaries in this case," C.J. said, "But my client is scared to testify under the current circumstances."

"Do you think she'll really get her thrown in jail on contempt?"

C.J. sighed.

"I don't know," she said, "Alisha is the strongest witness the feds have but her safety is at risk if she's forced on the witness stand."

"I hope it all works out," Fran said.

"Me too," C.J. said, "Hey do you think that Chris has any idea what we're planning?"

"She's pretty sharp," Fran said, "But I think she's in the dark this time."

"Good," C.J. said, "I want her to really enjoy her shower so we just have to be careful for the next several days."

"Speaking of…"

They both watch Chris approach them or rather waddle. At nearly nine months pregnant, she thought during isolated moments that she remembered what it was like to move unencumbered and what her feet looked like. Only several weeks to go until the finish line and two days left at work before she went on maternity leave. She still had a nursery to design with all the furniture currently stored in her home office.

"If you get any bigger, we're going to have to bring a wagon," Fran said, looking her over.

"Ha ha," Chris said, "Are my feet still attached to my legs? I haven't been able to see them in a while."

Both C.J. and Fran nodded.

"What a relief," she said.

"How much longer do you have to go," Fran said, "Cause you look like you're going to explode."

Chris smiled grimly.

"Thanks Fran," she said, "I do feel like it most of the time. If it's not heartburn, it's this damn bladder."

"It'll all be over in a few weeks," Fran said, "and then you'll have a brand new life in your household."

Chris smiled.

"Yeah there's that. I've really been looking forward to this."

Fran cocked her head.

"Then of course you won't sleep for the next 20 years."

C.J. had paid attention to the conversation with some bemusement, knowing that Fran's teasing was all in fun. But also knowing that Chris needed some encouragement now that she was in the home stretch of what had not been an easy pregnancy.

"I think it's really great that you're adding to your family," she said, "You'll be a wonderful mother."

"Well, Butterfly's been a great help," Chris said, "After the six months it took her to get used to the idea.""

"She's really excited," C.J. said, "She just worried for a while that the baby would take her place."

Chris nodded.

"She wants to film the birth," she said, "But when she started mentioning inserting zombies during the editing process, I got a little bit concerned."

C.J. chuckled.

"So are you ready to leave the corporate rat race for a while?"

Chris grew thoughtful.

"I love my job," she said, "But I'm really looking forward to being a mother and I just am not sure how it's all going to come together. How I'm going to make it work."

C.J.'s face grew serious.

"Yeah that's a difficult road to navigate, balancing all these priorities in your life but you have Dan."

Chris smiled.

"Yeah, he's been great especially with the mood swings and those middle of the night rushes for pistachio ice cream and sauerkraut."

Fran blanched.

"You're worse than me," she said, "I thought banana and watercress sandwiches with plenty of horseradish sauce and chocolate sauce was the greatest thing until 10 minutes after I gave birth."

"Sounds…interesting," C.J. said.

Both women turned to look at her.

"So when are you planning to gain your membership into the exotic food cravings club?"

C.J.'s face flushed then she laughed.

"We're not even married yet."

"That's not a requirement," Fran said, "Some of us standing here did jump the gun. It all works out in the end."

"I'm sure it does," C.J. said, "So where do you want to eat?"

Fran pursed her mouth.

"How about that new place across from the mall?"

The other two women nodded and they headed in that direction.

Over a thousand miles and two time zones away, Matt sat at the table of another restaurant with two of his investigators, Brody and Greg.

"So are you sure you want to do this," Brody asked, watching the play of emotions on Matt's face.

Matt nodded.

"I'm sure," he said, "I still maintain a controlling share and you two have to do most of the work."

"We're cool with that," Brody said.

"You've got a top-notch roster of investigators to help you out," Matt said, "As we know, they're all top of the line professionals."

"Yeah we got that," Brody said.

"You have the penthouse office in the Century City building and two receptionists and an office manager," Matt said, "And Murray's younger brother will do the books. He's just out of Yale's business school."

"Gotcha."

"Roy's staying in L.A. to be with his son's family," Matt said, "He'll be checking up on you and will help you whenever you need it."

Brody looked hopeful.

"Do we get company cars?"

Matt threw him an irritated look.

"No."

"I had to at least try," Brody said, "At least there's still the impound yard."

Greg looked up from his note taking.

"Are you really cool with leaving your agency in our hands?"

Matt took a sip of his orange juice.

"Yeah I am," he said, "I loved running my agency and I'll miss it and I'll miss L.A but Houston's got both smog and traffic so I'll be taking part of it with me."

"No second thoughts?"

Matt picked up the papers he had signed.

"I really like what I'm doing now. I like living in Houston. And I'm working alongside the woman I love. That's more than enough for me."

Both men nodded.

"When you put it that way," Brody said, "I can see you've got your mind made up."

Chris picked up a bread stick.

"This place is awesome," she said, dipping it in her sauce.

Fran nodded.

"Carlos took the twins here the other night," Fran said, "And they weren't banned from ever coming back so I figure it must be an all right spot."

C.J. fidgeted with her soup.

"That's all you're eating," Chris asked.

C.J. shrugged.

"I'm not that hungry," she said, "I think I'm keyed up about this federal case."

Chris and Fran looked at each other.

"That's the one where you're representing the witness right?"

C.J. nodded.

"The feds need her to testify for their case but they aren't willing to take measures to make sure nothing happens to her."

Chris reached for another bread stick.

"Why not," she asked.

C.J. hesitated, taking another stab at her soup, which was broccoli and cheese but she couldn't muster the enthusiasm. She put down her spoon and picked up a bread stick and smothered it with olive oil.

"I don't know," she said, "Alex said that she would get back to her supervisor with some of my requests so maybe there will be better news after lunch."

"I hope so," Fran said.

"I don't know what action to take if Alisha ends up in jail on contempt," C.J. said, reaching for the mustard bottle and squirting it on her plate.

"The judge wouldn't do that, would he," Chris said.

C.J. dipped her breadstick in the mustard. Then she frowned and reached for the Tabasco sauce and poured a small dab of that next to the mustard.

"I wouldn't think so," she said, "I mean Alisha is the victim here. It wouldn't look good if the Houston Chronicle published a photo of her being led away in handcuffs on its front page."

Chris and Fran both looked at C.J. She narrowed her eyes back at them.

"What?"

Chris looked at Fran and raised her brows. Fran stared at C.J.'s plate, with a mixture of fascination and horror.

"What's the matter," C.J. said.

What are you doing to that poor bread stick," Fran asked.

C.J. just shrugged and took another bite.

Alex Cahill-Walker ate alone in a café next to the courthouse. She had called her husband, Cordell a few minutes ago to say that she would hop on the highway after court and drive back to Dallas. These daily commutes to handle cases in Houston wore her out but she hated the thought of shacking up in a hotel until her committed caseload was completed and she returned to her Dallas office.

She hated her current case. She hated having to stand up in the courtroom in front of the pompous judge in the black robe and act like it was her deepest wish to throw a poor teenaged pregnant girl into jail on contempt because she wouldn't name the father of her baby, who most likely was a wanted drug courier for a major cartel in Mexico. Alex sighed as she thought of Angela, her own young daughter who had come into the world in a difficult way. Her daughter, who just turned two, now ruled the household and had her daddy's heart wrapped around her pudgy fingers. Only last night, she had tucked Angela in her crib and stroked her head, wishing her a night of pleasant dreams. This morning, she had to hit the highway so early, she didn't see her daughter wake.

She looked at her watch. She still had nearly an hour until court reconvened and she had to return to playing the heavy in a very tragic situation. She smiled, as she thought of Alisha's lawyer, C.J., who shot from the hip and pulled no punches when defending her client. Alex felt less guilty about what her job forced her to do knowing that Alisha had such a spitfire standing in her corner. She and C.J. had met only once before when she had been cutting her teeth at the Houston County District Attorney's office and C.J. had been a brand new public defender, having just graduated near the top of her class at Harvard School of Law. She had been impressed with the vivacious young woman with the shoulder length curls and a real passion for the law that Alex had seen in few attorneys before and even fewer since. C.J. had swallowed her nerves and taken center stage while trying to get evidence thrown out against her client and had waited until the recess to run into the bathroom to betray the impact of her first major court appearance on her digestive system.

Alex frowned, remembering that history had repeated itself with her running into C.J. in another courthouse bathroom losing her breakfast. Maybe she had been wrong about her moving past. Not that it mattered, because it sure didn't affect her performance inside the courtroom. She had asked her what was wrong and C.J. mentioned something about eating bad halibut the previous night.

Her phone rang. She picked it up.

"Hi honey," she said, "Calling back so soon?"

"Hi there," Walker said, "I forgot to ask you if I was supposed to pick up some more steaks for tonight."

She laughed and tucked the phone between her chin and shoulder.

"I forgot to tell you that I'm inviting more guests," Alex said.

Silence greeted her and she laughed further as she envisioned Walker digesting this news.

"Are you still there, honey?"

"Yes, how many more people?"

"Four, maybe five," she said, "Pick up six more steaks just to be on the safe side."

"Will do," he said, "Anything else?"

"No…Except I love you and can't wait to see you."

"Love you too," he said.

She clicked off her phone and looked at her watch again. She asked the waiter for the check so that she could head to the bank to deposit some checks.

C.J. sat back in her seat lost in thought as both Chris and Fran chatted about decorating nurseries and the importance of getting their kids on the waiting lists for pre-school the day after they were born. She thought of the court fight that awaited her in the afternoon and knew she had to do whatever was necessary to keep Alisha out of jail. And if that meant beating Alex and the federal government in court, so be it. Unless Alex and the agency she represented would agree to measures to protect Alisha, she wasn't going to give up.

She reached for her water and took a sip. Her mouth felt dry and she drunk the entire glass. She thought about Matt in L.A. signing away his business, the detective agency that they both had built together from the ground up. He kept telling her that he was ready to move on and she knew he loved his new line of work. Still…

"So have you set a date?"

C.J. looked up as both Fran and Chris looked at her expectedly.

"We're thinking about a couple months from now," she said, "In December."

Fran's face brightened.

"A Christmas wedding," she said, "That's great."

"Actually closer to New Years Eve," C.J. said, picking up another bread stick and realizing she was looking at the last one.

Fran looked noncommittal.

"You can have that last one," she said, "That's all you've been eating but don't let it anywhere near that Tabasco sauce."

"Yeah, that's pretty scary," Chris agreed.

"And the anchovies and pickle sandwiches that you have on special order, aren't," Fran challenged, tossing her hair back.

C.J grew thoughtful.

"I'd love some anchovies right now."

Both women looked at her.

"Not in my presence," Fran said, "Any fish that's shorter than two feet can't ever be trusted."

C.J. shook her head.

"That can't be," she said, "That eliminates trout and then there would that leave us?"

"It would break Butterfly's heart," Chris said, "She loved fishing when she was in Colorado."

The waiter came to their table.

"Would you like anything else," he said.

Fran smiled.

"Do you have any anchovies, by chance?"

He looked confused.

"I'm new here," he said, "But I don't think they're on the menu. I could check."

C.J. put her hand up.

"No that's okay," she said, "I'll pick some up on the way home."

"What is with you girl," Frank said, shaking her head, "Your taste in food puts the both of us to shame."

The glass of water that C.J. picked up to drink from stopped halfway to her lips.

Alex sat at her table, gathering her things when she noticed that her supervisor, Thomas Carter had entered the café. She groaned inwardly but didn't allow her irritation to appear on her face.

"Alex, I thought I'd find you here," he said, sitting down.

"What is it, Carter?"

He placed a folder of document on the table and pushed them over to Alex. She flipped through them and then slammed the folder shut. Anger filled her blue eyes.

"There's no way I'm going down that road just to win this case," she said.

He clasped his hands together and rested them on the table.

"You will do what I tell you to do," he said.

"And what if I say no?"

He tilted his head.

"Then you can go back to being stuck in a dead end job with the Dallas D.A."

She shifted in her seat.

"It wasn't a dead end job," she said, "I just needed a change."

"You're a working mother," Thomas said.

Her eyes darted up.

"What does that mean?"

He sighed.

"The law is a harsh task master on even a single person, Alex," Thomas said, "But you have a child."

She picked up her glass of ice tea.

"Are you trying to tell me how to balance out my professional with my personal life," she said, "I thought you were here to tell me how to handle this case."

"That's exactly why I'm here and this is how you're going to handle it this afternoon."

"If I do this, Alisha's counsel will go after me with guns blazing," Alex said, "And she should."

"Alex…"

"I would."

She got up from the table, after the waiter returned her credit card to her and walked out of the restaurant.

Matt walked into the penthouse office and saw Roy sitting there watching the news on television. He went to the mini-frig in the wet bar to get himself a beer.

"So how did it go?"

Matt popped the tab off and took a sip.

"I signed the agency over to them," he said, walking to the couch to sit down.

"How does it feel," Roy asked.

Matt gave it some thought.

"Not as bad as I thought," he said, "I'm ready to move on."

"You love what you're doing now?"

Matt nodded.

"It's great," he said, "I enjoy the assignments. It's a lot different than what I've been doing but I feel like we're making a difference."

Roy smiled.

"I believe that you are," he said. "How's living in Houston suiting you?"

"I didn't realize that I had missed it," he said, "I've been out looking for some land to buy. In fact, I had some properties to look at with C.J. when I get back."

"That sounds like a good plan."

"Both of us want to leave the city," Matt said, "We grew up on ranch land so that's where we feel we belong."

"Then that's what you should do," Roy said.

He put his glass down on the table.

"I'm thinking of flying back home early," he said.

"Any problems?"

Matt shook his head.

"C.J.'s just got a really hard court case, from something we both worked on for several months," he said, "And someone's got to make sure she's eating and resting properly."

Roy smiled.

"Naturally, someone who's nearly as driven as she is," he said, "But you're right."

Matt hesitated.

"I have something else to run past her when I get back," he said, "I hope she agrees."

C.J. looked up at the waiter who presented her with the check.

"I'm buying," she said, taking out her plastic. He took her card.

"Thanks for the lunch," Chris said, "Now I'm going to need someone to help me get up."

"Should we call your husband," Fran asked.

"No, he's the reason why I can no longer get up unaided."

Fran snorted.

"Try carrying twins, dear."

C.J. looked in her purse.

"Damn, I'm going to have to run by the bank before I head back."

"Don't worry," Chris said, "We'll go with you."

Fran shrugged.

"That's cool."

The waiter returned with C.J.'s card which she stashed back in her wallet. They all including Chris got up and left the restaurant to head off towards the bank.

C.J. looked at her watch. It was almost one o'clock. A few minutes in and out of the bank and then back to meet her legal match back in the courtroom. However, fate had other plans as they would soon discover.