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Cabot & Assoc., Thursday

It was Jack's last day at Cabot & Associates, and he was working like a whirlwind. Perhaps it wasn't all the most important legal work imaginable, but he hated leaving the tasks Ms. Cabot had set for him undone, or done sloppily.

Staying busy also gave him less time to think about the goodbyes he'd have to say tomorrow. He was excited about the life he'd begin in London, but that didn't make him any happier to leave the island (and, more specifically, the people on the island) behind. At least he had Sookie's party tonight as a last hurrah.

Anyone visiting the law offices today would likely find him behind the desk, tapping away at some precedent research as if nothing at all could possibly be the matter.

[OOC: No OCD, open law office!]

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Alex entered the law office with a drink in each hand: tea for herself, and coffee for him, which she proceeded to set down on his desk.

There was also a slim wrapped parcel under her left arm, but first, she should deal with the scalding hot liquids.

"You don't have to worry about looking busy," she teased. "You can't get fired on your last day."

"That would be the ignominious end to my legal career, wouldn't it?" Jack laughed, as he scooted back from the desk. "Thank you for the reassurance. I'm glad to see you before I go."

"It would," Alex laughed. "But any promising student of the law could spin that to their advantage. Sometimes I think this career is as much about PR as it is justice."

She took the seat across from his desk as she sipped her tea. "So where and what are you headed to?" she asked. "Is this the end of your legal career?"

"Just the beginning, actually," Jack said brightly. "I'm to read law at the University of London -- staying in this time but going back to my own universe. You inspired me."

Also, detective practices in the 21st century seemed to be far too constrained for Jack; legal work felt freer, in a way, and more likely to lead to some sort of justice.

"I'm ... flattered," Alex said, smiling. "More than I can say. It's a hard profession, but it's the most rewarding one I can ever imagine. And on a personal note, I have to say I'm relieved, because if you'd decided you hated the law and everything to do with it, this would make a pretty poor parting gift."

She set the package on the desk. Inside, Jack would find a book (http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Justice-Biblical-Injustice-Commandments/dp/0446676772) written by one of Alex's favorite outspoken advocates of civil liberties. She liked many of his books, but most of them had seemed to US-centric to be appropriate; the secular Jew's take on Genesis as a starting point for moral law, however, seemed fitting.

The card attached said, One of the great legal minds, even if I don't always agree with him. That's the joy of the law, having passionate arguments. May you always find others who challenge your understandings and engage you in thoughtful debate.

"Dershowitz," Jack read slowly from the cover. "This looks like a fantastic book, thank you. I don't know as much about faith as I'd sometimes like to."

He glanced up at her. "I'd planned to be a detective," he explained. "Which I may have told you. But it seems as if lawyers are the people who make a difference, in this time,. That's what I've always wanted to do."

"Faith is difficult for me," Alex admitted slowly. "Sometimes, the things you see in daytime keep you up all night, and you wonder about what kind of world this is. I suppose that's part of wanting to make a difference, isn't it? Leaving the world a little cleaner than you found it."

She sipped her tea before continuing. "There are plenty of professions that make a difference," she said, "but I believe in justice, and that it's worth fighting for. There will be plenty of people who need your help, on either side of the law. And on either side of the pond."

Jack smiled a tight smile. "I don't tend to moan about this," he said, "but I didn't have the easiest childhood. There's not much I haven't seen already. No one bothered shielding children, where I came from. I think I'll be able to sleep."

He waved it off. "In any case -- I believe in justice, as you do."

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Alex said, frowning slightly. She imagined experience was closer to the truth, but she didn't want to push on what might be a sensitive subject. "I sleep better when I know I've helped. You can't undo the damage that others have done, but you can help to pick up the pieces. Justice isn't closure, but it's a start."

"Do you believe in closure?" Jack asked, seriously. "I'm -- not sure I'm convinced anything is ever really over, is why I ask."

"I don't know," Alex replied. "Olivia -- a friend -- says closure is a myth. Victims heal, and they move on, but I'm not sure you're ever the same person that you were before. I don't know that you can be."

"Maybe." Jack didn't know. He couldn't remember the child he'd been before everything, could barely conceive of who he would have grown into had he been born to people with the money and sense to raise him properly.

"At the same time, though" -- he was chewing his lips as he thought -- "that almost glamorizes suffering, doesn't it? You could just as easily say someone can never be the same as they were before any large life experience, good or bad. No one ever talks about people needing closure over, say, winning an Olympic medal."

"I'm not sure you would be the same person after winning an Olympic medal," Alex said, "but ... I take your point. It also moves too far into perpetual victimhood -- implying that being assaulted at age ten means you'll always be an assault victim, that that label attaches to you and defines you. Which is a damn good way not to get over it, if you're fetishizing it in that manner."

"Exactly," Jack said, nodding. "I tend to think people are like sharks -- if we try to stay in any one moment, we stagnate and die. Better to let things go, if you can."

If you could. But that was always the trick.

"I don't know if that's the kind of law I want to do, anyhow. I'm more interested in government than in criminal law."

"Sometimes you're left with permanent reminders," Alex said, thinking of physical scars as well as emotional ones. And for Olivia's mother, Olivia herself. "But you can't let them cripple you, either."

She sipped her tea again, looking up at the change in subject. "Legislation? Reform? What are you hoping to do with your degree?"

"I haven't precisely worked it out yet," Jack admitted. "I'm a bit fascinated by civil rights movements, and I might like to do something protecting the rights of marginal groups. I like the ACLU a lot, but of course that isn't British."

"I send the ACLU money," Alex grinned. "They do amazing work. The United Kingdom has some equivalent organizations, if I can think get the names right. The National Council of Civil Liberties, the British Institute of Human Rights, and one that just calls itself 'Justice.' In fact, I think the Council shortened its name to 'Liberty.' Makes things harder to look up on the internet when a group uses a common noun like that. There's always Amnesty International, too."

"Definitely Amnesty," Jack agreed. "They all have offices in London -- I should be able to find an internship, if I work hard. I hope I'd have at least one decent reference, too."

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Cabot & Assoc., Thursday

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