Force

By: CatherineJosephineMarie007

Author's Notes: This is my first long fic! Can I get a WOOT WOOT? Anyway, I don't own Law and Order, big fucking surprise. Can you imagine though, if Dick Wolf was on ? His inspirations would be a lot less "from the headlines" and a lot more smut.

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CHAPTER ONE

It had been a long day.

Mike Cutter hadn't left his office since he'd entered it at eight thirty that morning. The white board hanging on the back of his door had been written on and erased so much that there was a seemingly permanent green tinge to the surface. Connie Ribirosa was sprawled on the couch, flipping restlessly through files.

Their case was becoming exceedingly difficult, as if it hadn't been from the start; Hector Phillipe, a nineteen year old boy, had attacked two beat cops with a box cutter. One of the police officer s had died, and the other was on a ventilator. It appeared she was trying to qualify for gang initiation. Ever since Connie had gotten him remanded, his lawyer was flooding the DA's office with paperwork citing cases of mental disease or defect.

"This is ridiculous," Connie sighed, getting up to stretch. "We have a strong case, and there's no way that all of this—" she gestured at the boxes of motions. "—isn't going to change our mind or the jury's."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mike replied, pacing back and forth behind his desk. He looked at his watch; quarter to eleven. "We might as well head home." Jack McCoy had stopped in at eight to say goodnight; they were the last ones in the office.

"Okay. I'm going to grab my coat." Connie got up, gathered her shoes and headed to her office, the blinds clinking against the glass. In the quiet building, the sound was much louder than normal. She returned a moment later with her coat draped over her arm. "I'm going home. Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

Mike nodded, rolling his sleeves down and donning his suit coat and jacket. They entered the elevator in silence and rode down to the parking garage. Connie sighed, leaning against the rail and closing her eyes.

"You'd better get some sleep; it wouldn't be helpful to our case if the second chair fell asleep during cross examination." Mike smirked. Connie's eyes flew open, their chocolate brown depths heated with molten anger.

"I am more than capable of staying awake during a trial, Mike." She said. He chuckled, stepping back to let her exit the elevator first. Her heels clicked on the concrete floor. She stopped briefly at his car to wish him goodnight, then continued to her vehicle. Connie waved as Mike drove past her. She unlocked her car and tossed her briefcase in the back. That was all she remembered.