Funny Story guys, You'll all get a kick out of it, like I did (only I more or less wanted to kick myself in the face lol) anyways, as some of you remember I posted like, 3 new story ideas in the last week of October. The day after I posted the last idea, I heard about this really cool thing called NaNoWriMo, national novel writing month, for those of you who haven't heard of it. And you can't use ideas you wrote before the first day of November…. So yeah, how bad was that for me. But I sighed up anyways, and so I need support, b/c while I can promise you at least 3 -4 more updates this month for New Dawn (that's 4 pages a week so not a huge deal) I have to focus on this b/c I really want to participate in this. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this, b/c as you saw with Redemption I power write when reviews are good. And boy I need motivation this month lol!

"Congratulations Ms. Austen," Bernard Nadler, long time public defender said, shaking Kate's hand stiffly. Kate bit back a smile.

"Come on Bernard," she said playfully, "Part of you is just as happy as I am to see Tom Friendly behind bars," she said raising an eyebrow and daring him to challenge her. Bernard bit back a smirk, maintaining his professionalism until the bailiff had Tom out of the room, and he was free of Tom's scrutinizing gaze.

"Guys like him are not the reason I became a public defender…I should have been a dentist," Bernard muttered, and Kate chuckled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The mood shifted as Bernard, a 50 something man with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence, and now ten grandchildren turned to her, his brow furrowed in concern, "But I'd be careful if I was you, I don't know why Benjamin Linus would let his right hand man go to jail without a fight so…." He sighed, looking at her in such a fatherly way Kate was forced to avert her eyes.

"It was probably because the case was so bullet proof Bernard," Sayid said, clapping a hand onto Kate's back in happiness. "Congratulations," he said sincerely, embracing his friend in a hug. Kate smiled, hugging her boss in return. It had been a long case but finally it was over. Tom Friendly one of Benjamin Linus's lead ring men in L.A's crime circle had been brought down. Appeals, even sped up by incentive money from Ben would take years, and he was looking at a 60 year sentence, no parole; which at his age was life in jail, assuming they couldn't still get the needle for him. Kate preferred the chair, it was more fitting after everything he had done, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Kate let go of Sayid, suddenly uncomfortable as Kevin stood waiting for her behind the desk. He fiddled with his walkie looking uncomfortable. Sayid shot her a sympathetic smile, before excusing himself and Bernard out of ear shot.

"Hey," she said weakly. He nodded in return, "Thank you for your testimony Kev….it really put the final nail in the coffin on this case," she smiled weakly.

"I wouldn't miss this one," he said, not making eye contact. "I know how important this was to you…" he shifted, looking uncomfortable, "I didn't want to let you down again."

She nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. Last time she'd needed Kevin's testimony for a major crime ring case, they had been together, and for whatever reason, he hadn't shown up to court. Kate had been worried sick out of her mind all throughout the hearing; wondering if the next day she would learn her next trial assignment would be against his murderer when his body washed up from the river. But she'd gone home and found him lying on the ground, passed out drunk; guilty because he'd let himself get paid off. Disgusted, she'd moved out that night.

"I appreciate it," she said quietly, unsure of what else there was to say, but knowing that no matter what he did or said, she would never feel something more for him again. She'd spent enough of her life forced to be around people who ignored what was right, she wouldn't willingly do that, wouldn't knowingly bring that into her life ever again. There was another awkward pause before Sayid came to her rescue, ushering her away under the pretense of 'business'.

In the taxi on the way back to the DA's office Kate sighed, and shifted uncomfortably as she looked out the window. She loved the city, but things had been spiraling downwards in recent years. And Benjamin Linus was one of the biggest causes of that. A long time crime boss, in the last ten years he'd drastically increased his human trafficking along with his selling of illegal substances and weapons, dragging half the city down with him. When they had caught Tom Friendly for murder, Kevin's smoking gun testimony, along with Tom's record, they had known they had Tom nailed. They'd hoped he would cut a deal, testify and get them Ben, but no such luck; he hadn't talked. They'd only removed another limb of the beast; they'd yet to strike its heart. She shifted again feeling Sayid staring at her coolly.

"We really do have business to talk about Kate," he said calmly, his accent thick as he tried to hide his amusement.

"Whats so funny?" she asked turning back to him with a frown.

"You should be happy for what we accomplished today Kate. Tom Friendly was one of Linus's biggest muscle men. We did good work today. You did good work today," He said offering her a small understanding smile, "Don't beat yourself up over the fish we couldn't catch. We'll get him," he added, his face hardening.

"I know," she said with a sigh. Sayid was one of her oldest friends. When she'd first come to the city and the DA's office, he had taken her under his wing, and she'd risen the ranks quickly with him helping her. After just a few short years at the LA office, at the age of 28, she was one of the top prosecutors in the city. She and Sayid always worked well together, sharing a similar thirst for justice; though neither had ever explained to the other what drove them to search for it so deeply.

"I actually may know how we are going to do that," He added, opening the door for her as they exited the cab, briefcases in hand as they marched into their office building. She looked at him startled, and frowned not believing him till she looked into his cool, calm, and determined eyes. He really believed he'd found their ticket, she opened her mouth to inquire further, but was interrupted by a thunderous roar and applause. Kate smiled as her friends and co-workers clapped her and Sayid on the back appreciatively; most of them as glad as they themselves were over the long and hard fought victory over Tom Friendly.

The celebration lasted well past normal office hours, and it was past 10 by the time Kate tracked Sayid down again. He was looking weary, standing near the punch. He politely excused himself when he saw her approach.

"What was it you were saying earlier, about you finding us our ticket to bringing Linus down?" she asked, cutting straight to the chase. He laughed.

"I think I found us someone who we can pursue. A weak link in Linus's inner circle; someone we can get to talk," he explained.

She raised her eyebrows surprised. She hadn't known he had been working on anything, "Who?" she asked, shifting closer to him. Sayid grimaced.

"We will discuss this in my office, I do not wish to let anyone else hear this," he said quietly, and Kate nodded grimly. Corruption, even in their high and mighty establishment, was a fact of life.

Sayid closed the door to his office quietly following Kate in. He moved over behind his desk, and quickly put in the combination on a safe in the corner of his room. Kate frowned; she hadn't realized he was so serious or that he'd invested so much time in this search, especially without her knowing of it. He handed the file to her and opening it her eyes widened. Christian Shephard's face stared up at her; he was one of the cities biggest philanthropists. Sayid wanted to go after him? She sent him a questioning look and he motioned for her to read the file. Her eyes widened as they landed on a handful of pictures of him shaking hands with Benjamin Linus.

"Everything we have on him at the moment is circumstantial. None of it would stand up to the laugh test in court," Sayid said quickly,"But if we can get enough on him, he'll talk. He'll tell us everything we need to bring Linus down," Sayid said confidently.

"Yeah Sayid," she said, handing the file back to him, "But how are we going to find anything on him? He's a golden boy in this city," she reminded him sadly.

Sayid smiled, "I didn't think you'd give up that quickly Kate," he smirked as her brow creased, insulted by the insinuation.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help," she muttered, snatching the file back and plopping onto the couch, spreading the contents of the folder out across the coffee table.

"Tell Cindy to order us some Chinese," she said with a smirk. "We'll be here a while," she said, rolling her eyes. Sayid smiled, rolling out the large white board, and writing Christians name on it.

"Okay, so what do we know about him?" Sayid asked; popping the cap on the marker as Kate skimmed over the file.

Kate sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Okay…family…a son, a wife…possibly has a second child in Austrailia…geez this guy is a piece of work," she muttered and Sayid chuckled again.

Later:

Kate popped a piece of the kong pow chicken into her mouth, twisting the chop sticks between her fingers, her brow furrowed as she stared down at the same picture that she'd been staring at an hour ago when Sayid had started to snore. She glanced back at the board, now a giant web all stretching from Christians name, lines drawn across it, linking him to Ben and various illegal activities. She threw a pillow across the room, hitting Sayid square in the head and he jolted up, sending her a glare.

"I think I know our link. How we're gonna bring Shephard down. Or, who we are going to bring him down with," she said with a smirk as Sayid moved over and joined her. She gestured to the picture she'd been looking at and Sayid raised an eyebrow.

"You want to use his son to bring him down?" Sayid said, sounding less then convinced, as he held up the picture of the dark haired doctor, "You think this guy, this Jack will turn in his own father?"

"Once we're done with him Sayid, absolutely," Kate said, smiling confidently.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed that.

Obviously Ill update soon if I get reviews. 8 reviews as usual. Thanks for your support, and as I said, I'm still continuing New Dawn, regardless of this fic. So don't worry about that. I just have to prioritize at the moment. Sorry to any Hardcore New Dawn fans…on the bright side the majority of new dawn will come up during the twilight fevor following the movie release, so that's kinda cool and fitting I guess lol