Savior 4/?
Title: Savior 4/?
Author: Tofem
Fandom: Law & Order SVU
Pairing: Olivia/Casey
Rating: PG, I think
Disclaimer: The characters of the SVU universe are not mine. But I do own the ones tha you don't regognize are.
Spoilers/warnings: This takes place sometime after season 6. That means that anything from the first 6 seasons is fair game and may be used. I have changed the time line though.
A/N: Thank to Cathandsaraforever55 for doing the beta thing
Summary: How will a difficult case change the lives of Olivia and Casey forever.
Previous chapters
savior 1 - savior 2 - savior 3
Monday morning came much too soon. But a new week waits for no one. And this wasn’t going to be an exception.
Casey had a full day ahead of her, with arraignment and court appearance. The redhead was hoping Judge Donnelly had had a pleasant weekend. And that the judge didn’t feel the need to ruin the ADA’s day.
Olivia had several open cases that needed to be looked at. The Karen James case would hopefully get some new leads as the detectives tracked down the woman’s colleagues, but that case was mostly Fin and Munch’s. The only reason the brunette had become involved on Friday was, because Andrea had been terrified of men.
That was if nothing new came in during the day.
Coming into the squad room Olivia could immediately tell this would be a bad day. Cragen was out of his office with a newspaper in one hand, and the look on his face was far from happy.
“I want to know who leaked this to the press.” The Captain held out the Post showing the front page as he spoke. There above the fold was a story about Karen James’ murder. And that was far from the worst part. No, the article stated that a witness to the murder was helping the police and was in temporary custody of ACS. It didn’t have any specifics about Andrea, but the article could be misinterpreted as
Andrea being a reliable eye witness able to pick out the murderer.
None of the detectives moved when the captain made an order, instead they stared blankly at the paper. Cragen spoke once again, “Today people.”
That had the desired effect.
“Benson, Stabler. You have a case. Victim in route to hospital. Officers are waiting on you at the scene, Stabler.”
This wasn’t the time to ask questions of the Captain. Leeks to the press never put Cragen in an accommodating mood.
This was not the way Olivia had wanted to start off the week.
When the detective arrived at the ER the day just got worse. A 13 year old girl was beaten and raped on her way to school. The rapist had left the girl naked in an alley; to be found by an old lady out walking her dog.
The girl was beaten badly. But was still able to give Olivia something to go on. Apparently the rapist hadn’t been all that clever. First of he hadn’t used a condom. Second he had counted on having intimidated the girl to keep her from describing him to the police. Of course it was a major help that the young girl was brave enough to relive the worst moment of her life.
At least that was how Olivia thought of it. Cragen on the other hand believed that the girl remembering all the details were more due to the skills of detective Benson.
The Captain had known when Olivia applied, that the brunette had a way with children. That became even more apparent after the first case Olivia worked at SVU concerning a molested child.
It wasn’t easy to find someone with that kind of gift with scared women and children. It was always hard to get new detectives to work at SVU. The positions in Special Victims were voluntary as opposed to most of the other units, where officers were assigned. SVU also had a terrible reputation with other officers in the force. That was until their families were exposed to something that would leave them needing
the help of the Special Victims Unit.
The Captain had recently received three applications for positions in SVU. None of the options were ideal at first glanced. Two of them were men. Which wasn’t exactly what Cragen was looking for. And if that wasn’t bad enough it seemed that both male applicants were looking rather fishy. They had complaints about being too friendly with female victims in their jackets. They might be looking for easy access to females that wouldn’t complain and were hoping SVU was the place for that.
The third applicant was a woman, but she hadn’t been an officer for long and wasn’t yet a detective. Though on her way and according to her Captain, would get there within a year or two. She also had good recommendations from everybody she worked with in her short time on the force.
Before Cragen could make a decision he would have to talk to the woman. The Captain would have Benson join them at the end of the interview, as he planned on having Olivia train any new member of their squad he could find. He knew the brunette was a great judge of character and would be able to say if the woman had what it took working here, within minutes of meeting the person.
The day had been busy even compared to Casey’s normal standards. The ADA hadn’t seen any of the detectives. The warrant Elliot had requested had to be delivered by one of the clerks. In fact Casey had to talk to the judge over the phone in one of the short breaks the redhead had gotten during the day. Looking on the bright side it had kept Casey from getting yelled at by the DA for the leak to the press.
By the time court had let out for the day Casey had several hours’ worth of paperwork to occupy her. And that was without the new rape case Olivia and Elliot had a suspect in. When the ADA called the precinct, Munch told her Stabler and Benson were out apprehending the suspect. If the detectives found the suspect tonight they had enough to hold him overnight, and do a line up in the morning.
Getting to go home at a reasonable hour wasn’t getting easier. It was as if the necessary paperwork grew each year Casey worked as an ADA for special victims. It was getting so bad that she was starting to delay the paperwork that didn’t need her immediate attention. And handing off what she could to who ever she could find.
DA Branch was starting to notice and there had for the last months been talk about expanding the legal staff sex crimes going around the DA’s office. It didn’t make matters worse that Casey had one of the higher closing rates of the ADAs. That got the DA’s attention.
The line up had gone without a hitch. The 13 year old rape victim was proving to be a solid witness. The girl had with no doubt pointed out the suspect that had been in custody since Monday night.
The detectives had managed to solve this case in a day but unfortunately it didn’t always go that easy. That was why, even if no new cases had come in that all the detectives were out by Tuesday afternoon, when Jennifer Thomas walked in to interview with Cragen, she found the squad room empty.
Jennifer was young compared to his other detectives. Only 25. She wasn’t straight out of the academy but not by much. She wasn’t much too look at. Shorter than average with short dark blonde hair. She wasn’t skinny but there definitely wasn’t much excess fat, no Jennifer was built rather compactly. But she moved with a graciousness that Cragen wouldn’t have expected from her look.
After having talked to the young woman for a good half hour and gotten a good impression Cragen thought it time to have Olivia met Jennifer.
Calling the brunette. The younger woman was looking more and more uncomfortable as the conversation wore on.
“Benson.” The standard greeting Cragen had come to expect from his female detective sounded clear and crisp. If you didn’t know her you might think of it as rude or Olivia as angry. But Cragen knew better.
“If you’re not doing something that can’t wait an hour, you’re needed at the precinct now, Benson.” Not that Cragen’s part of the phone call could be classified as friendly sounding, if you didn’t know him.
The Captain considered Olivia as his daughter most of the time. But he always used Benson when it was necessary to differentiate between their ranks. This way Olivia always knew when Cragen used the boss card or was more fatherly. It made for a great working relationship.
“Not something El can’t handle alone, Cap’n. I’m on my way, might be 15 minutes.”
Cragen had continued with a more relaxed conversation with Jennifer while waiting for his detective. They didn’t have to wait long before a knock on the door announced detective Benson had arrived.
Poking her head in, in the same movement as she had knocked, Olivia looked surprised at seeing someone else besides Cragen in the office.
“Sorry Cap’n, didn’t know you had company.”
As the brunette was about to close the door Cragen spoke up. “That’s quite alright Olivia. She’s the reason I asked you to come.”
Waiting for the detective to enter before making introductions.
“Jennifer, this is Detective Olivia Benson. Olivia, this is Jennifer Thomas.”
Cragen hadn’t let any of the detectives in on the search for new man power for the squad in form of a woman. He had talked slightly with Munch, but that was more about the detective’s wishes about less fieldwork. John was beginning to feel his years on the force and couldn’t keep up anymore. Munch had been reluctant to leave special victims for retirement. They were his only family. John still wanted
to be a part of and help the squad in a way he could. So a new detective would be a help to Munch as well. John would from time to time get to help in the field especially because Jennifer wasn’t a detective and needed training. And that would take some of Olivia’s time.
Before any of this could be fulfilled it was important that Olivia got a good impression of Officer Thomas. If not the brunette would be a pain in his ass. Not to mention the training of Jennifer wouldn’t be as good. Not because Olivia wouldn’t train her, but because so much of what the brunette did was subconscious.
Jennifer could feel that the captain wanted her to impress Olivia and it made the young woman nervous. What Cragen hoped for was that tOlivia would naturally comfort the young officer. It was an ability that came to the detective as easily as breathing. It wasn’t that the brunette couldn’t or wouldn’t be pleasant, Olivia could still be polite but rarely pleasant if the detective didn’t like you.
Cragen hadn’t needed to worry. Nervousness wasn’t enough to put Olivia off. The detective met her fair share of nervous people on a daily basis. What Olivia looked for was something not even the brunette could put into words.
The captain might not be as good at reading people as Olivia. But he did know the brunette. After letting the detective talk to Jennifer for a little while, he felt it safe to offer the young officer the job in his squad.
When there was a quiet moment between the two women talking, Cragen saw it as his time to make it official.
“As you know, I have been looking for someone to relieve you from being on call pretty much 24/7, Olivia.”
Cragen knew the brunette wasn’t stupid, and Olivia had most likely figured out where he was going with this. However, the captain needed to say this. Not so much for Olivia’s sake but for Jennifer’s. That didn’t stop the detective for interrupting and keeping Cragen from what he had planned on saying.
“Who will she be working with?” Cragen was right. The brunette already knew that the reason for her meeting Thomas was to introduce a new squad member. What Olivia wasn’t so sure about was why the rest of the squad wasn’t there.
“You,” seeing the look in Olivia’s eyes he elaborated without being prompted. “She’ll be partnered with you, Olivia.”
“But I already have a partner.” The detective didn’t want to believe this and that more than anything else had her protesting. If she was truthful to herself she had suspected this from the beginning.
“I know, and Elliot will be working with Fin. Munch will get to stay off fieldwork as he has requested. It all works out this way.”
Olivia knew there was no reason to complain, the captain had already made up his mind. It clearly showed in his eyes.
“Right. When you’re done come find me Thomas and I’ll give you the tour.” With that Olivia left the office to get a little time on her own to process what had just happened.
Jennifer was surprised, she hadn’t wanted to start off on a bad foot with her new partner. Coming in as the newbie and breaking up old partners wasn’t her idea of a good beginning.
“I’ll have your transfer papers signed and at 1PP today. That will make it possible for you to start tomorrow morning. Will that be okay with you Thomas?”
She didn’t really have a choice, but it was always good to make it sound that way.
“Yes sir.” As Jennifer was about to leave she thought it best to ask one question as not to start the assignment of with sounding stupid.
“What did you mean by 24/7, sir?”
Cragen smothered a chuckle at how young Jennifer sounded at that moment. “There are some victims too scared of men to even consider talking to one, even if it’s one of my detectives. That’s were Benson comes in.”
The Captain hadn’t been as clear as he thought, but this was something the young woman would have to find out for herself. You couldn’t explain the amazing work Olivia did for all those frightened women and children.
They had some possible leads in the Karen James’ murder case but nothing that had panned out as Tuesday came to an end.
By the time that Fin, Elliot and Olivia showed up Wednesday morning, Munch had already moved his things to another desk. As John wouldn’t be partnered with any one of the detectives but would still be working in the squad room he got the desk of to the side.
The old detective had known about the possibility of the move in a long time. And Cragen had informed him last night of the new addition to the squad.
“Why has he moved his bony butt over there, Cap’n? Am I getting a new partner?”
Cragen had come out of his office as he noticed his detectives arriving. He brought Jennifer with him out into the squad room.
“Yes Fin…”
Before he could get any further Fin had interrupted. “Fresh meat, that will be an improvement to that old man.” He smiled to Munch and hadn’t noticed the grin that graced Cragen’s face.
“A new partner yes, but fresh meat I wouldn’t exactly say.”
That got both of Elliot and Fin’s attention. “What?” They had both thought that the young woman standing next to the captain would be Fin’s partner.
“You’ll be working with Stabler.” Cragen didn’t try to continue after this. He knew there would be objections, from Elliot especially.
Stabler was under the misguided opinion that he was special in some ways. The captain’s golden boy.
“I already have a partner. I work with Liv.” Elliot hadn’t noticed that Olivia hadn’t said anything, he was absorbed in convincing the captain that he was working with the brunette.
Not wanting to get into a discussion about this, Cragen raised his voice slightly when he answered. “As of today, you’re partnered with Fin, Stabler.”
That closed Elliot’s mouth. Cragen knew it was brief respite before the ex-marine would make his displeasure known again.
Turning slightly so he looked at Jennifer before speaking, to make sure the young woman knew she was being addressed.
“These are detectives John Munch, Odafin Tutuola, Elliot Stabler, and as you already know Olivia Benson.” The captain pointed to each detective as he introduced them. “And this is Officer Jennifer Thomas. She will be, as you have already guessed, partnered with Olivia.”
When the greetings had run their course, Cragen spoke again. “Stabler you can move your things at a convenient time today. We don’t have any new cases as of now. Where are we with the James’ murder case, any suspects?”
That was it. Jennifer was thrown in and now all Cragen could do was hope she could swim. It wouldn’t matter how much time and energy Olivia put into training the young woman if Jennifer couldn’t handle special victims.
According to one of Karen’s coworker, the victim had complained about a guy who wouldn’t leave her alone. The coworker had seen him a couple of times when they were returning from lunch. She would meet with a sketch artist this morning before Munch would talk to her again.
There had been some activity on Karen’s credit card after her death. The security tapes from the stores were at TARU and Fin and now Elliot were looking into that.
Olivia apparently would be easing Jennifer into things. That meant going through open cases on the brunette’s workload. Introducing her to Casey probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Make the young woman comfortable would help in the long run.
The day was turning out to be a good one for special victims. They hadn’t caught any new cases by lunch time.
Olivia managed to track the redhead down at the courthouse in the ADA’s lunch break. Casey didn’t notice that the detective was followed by a younger woman. The redhead greeted Olivia as usual. It wasn’t the greeting one would expect from a detective and ADA with a normal working relationship. Not to say that they were all over each other.
There was something Jennifer couldn’t put her hand on as much as it was a feeling. The touch from the ADA on Olivia’s arm and the way the redhead looked at the detective, spoke for itself.
“Hey Liv, you have time for lunch?” Casey’s eyes brightened as the detective came up to her.
“Not really, but I wanted to introduce you to someone, and knew you would be in court all day.”
Casey could feel the caress of Olivia’s eyes and shivered at the love she could see written there.
“Case, this is my new partner Jennifer Thomas. And this is our ADA Casey Novak.”
“New partner, what happened to El?” The confusion was obvious in Casey’s eyes. That was until the ADA remembered Cragen talking about Olivia teaching her abilities with victims to someone.
Before Olivia could explain further, Casey corrected herself. “New partner of course, nice to meet you.”
“You knew about this.” I wasn’t a question.
“Err… Don told me about looking for another female detective for some of the late night calls. And he might have mentioned you getting the honor of training her.”
The redhead just knew this would come back to bite her. There was no way Olivia would let this go without hearing everything Cragen had said.
“Great, you think he could have told me sooner.” Casey knew that what Olivia had really meant was that she should have told the brunette earlier.
Gently putting her hand on the brunette’s arm. “I’ve got to go. Donnelly is not having her best day and lunch is shorter than usual.”
Before the ADA turned to go she directed her attention to the young woman next to Olivia. “It was nice to meet you Detective Thomas and I’ll see you again. Don’t let them intimidate you too much.”
Smiling one last time to the brunette and letting her hand linger, Casey turned to head to the courtroom.
“Come on kid, let’s head back to the precinct.”
Jennifer looked one more time from the ADA retreating form to the brunette before she followed. “Don’t call me kid, ma’am. I have a name.”
That made Olivia laugh. "You'll do alright Thomas. I'll make you a deal. You don't call me ma'am, and I won't call you kid. How's that?"
Not sure what she should call the detective. "I think I can do that, but what do I call you then?"
"You could try with my name." Olivia was having a hard time keeping from laughing at the younger woman. That this was apparently not something Jennifer had thought of was obvious. Getting serious once more, there really was no reason to make it more difficult for her new partner. "Why don't we go with Olivia, but if you want, Benson works as well."
This shocked Jennifer. Why would the detective let her call her Olivia? They had only just met and she had broken up an old partnership. "But you just met me."
Seeing the confusion clearly written on the young woman's face, Olivia suggested that they go somewhere quiet for lunch. That would give her time to explain. Olivia might not have been thrilled to get a new partner, but that was how it worked. Now that she had, she was determined to make it work.
They both had a sandwich for lunch but where Jennifer had a soda with it Olivia ordered coffee. At the strange look she received the brunette said. "You'll find that coffee can be your best friend, but don't drink it if Munch made it unless you're desperate, that is. And it's a food group to Casey."
Like that explained it all. And to Olivia it did, but the last comment in particular made the younger woman look again. This and meeting Casey in the courthouse was beginning to add up. Jennifer knew there was more to it than she at this moment could see.
"Why does Miss Novak’s coffee habit matter?"
Olivia could see where this was going. It wasn't that she tried to keep her relationship with Casey a secret. Everybody already knew about it. No, Olivia just hadn't planned on telling Jennifer on their first day working together. It was always hard to predict the reaction she would get, especially from police officers. Well, they might as well get this over with. If the notion of her relationship with the ADA would be a problem Olivia would rather know now.
"Living with Case has exposed me to her obsession and she would probably say that she changed me."
It would be better if Jennifer wanted to leave if she did so now. That would save Olivia the trouble of caring and get rejected. The brunette wasn't exactly looking for approval but that didn't mean she liked to be rejected because of her relationship with Casey.
"Oh."
This raised Olivia's hackles. She didn't mind prejudice being directed at herself, but if Jennifer as much as though of going after Casey.
"Oh, what?" Olivia didn't bother trying to hide her anger.
"That it explains the courthouse. The way Miss Novak looked at you like you were the only one there."
"Yeah sorry about that." Olivia's voice was much calmer and the look in her eyes got softer. "We try not to let that happen too much in public when we're working."
"No problem. But back to the reason you brought me here."
That was it? Olivia hadn't expected such easy acceptance from her new partner. Not even Elliot had been that good about it. Caught a little of guard the brunette couldn't remember why she taken Jennifer here.
Catching the short glimpse of confusion in the detective's eyes, Jennifer continued. "You sure you want me to call you by your first name?"
Again Olivia could see the insecurity and this time just how young Jennifer looked. "It's my name so why not, and sides ma'am makes me feel old." The brunette thought it best to inject some humor and that way get the younger woman to lighten up.
"My old partner wanted me to call him sir. Only last week would he allowed me to call him by his first name, and that was only because he knew I was hoping to work special victims. Or as he said, the panty police."
"That's just crap, calling me ma'am doesn't show more respect and it definitely won't help me teach you what I know. Olivia will be fine for now."
For someone who had found out she would get a new partner only yesterday Olivia was showing the younger woman more kindness than Jennifer had experienced in a long time.
A small smile gracing Jennifer's face and brightened the woman's eyes.
"I'll call you Olivia on the condition that you lay of Jennifer. It's Jen, only my parents call me Jennifer."
Author: Tofem
Fandom: Law & Order SVU
Pairing: Olivia/Casey
Rating: PG, I think
Disclaimer: The characters of the SVU universe are not mine. But I do own the ones tha you don't regognize are.
Spoilers/warnings: This takes place sometime after season 6. That means that anything from the first 6 seasons is fair game and may be used. I have changed the time line though.
A/N: Thank to Cathandsaraforever55 for doing the beta thing
Summary: How will a difficult case change the lives of Olivia and Casey forever.
Previous chapters
savior 1 - savior 2 - savior 3
Monday morning came much too soon. But a new week waits for no one. And this wasn’t going to be an exception.
Casey had a full day ahead of her, with arraignment and court appearance. The redhead was hoping Judge Donnelly had had a pleasant weekend. And that the judge didn’t feel the need to ruin the ADA’s day.
Olivia had several open cases that needed to be looked at. The Karen James case would hopefully get some new leads as the detectives tracked down the woman’s colleagues, but that case was mostly Fin and Munch’s. The only reason the brunette had become involved on Friday was, because Andrea had been terrified of men.
That was if nothing new came in during the day.
Coming into the squad room Olivia could immediately tell this would be a bad day. Cragen was out of his office with a newspaper in one hand, and the look on his face was far from happy.
“I want to know who leaked this to the press.” The Captain held out the Post showing the front page as he spoke. There above the fold was a story about Karen James’ murder. And that was far from the worst part. No, the article stated that a witness to the murder was helping the police and was in temporary custody of ACS. It didn’t have any specifics about Andrea, but the article could be misinterpreted as
Andrea being a reliable eye witness able to pick out the murderer.
None of the detectives moved when the captain made an order, instead they stared blankly at the paper. Cragen spoke once again, “Today people.”
That had the desired effect.
“Benson, Stabler. You have a case. Victim in route to hospital. Officers are waiting on you at the scene, Stabler.”
This wasn’t the time to ask questions of the Captain. Leeks to the press never put Cragen in an accommodating mood.
This was not the way Olivia had wanted to start off the week.
When the detective arrived at the ER the day just got worse. A 13 year old girl was beaten and raped on her way to school. The rapist had left the girl naked in an alley; to be found by an old lady out walking her dog.
The girl was beaten badly. But was still able to give Olivia something to go on. Apparently the rapist hadn’t been all that clever. First of he hadn’t used a condom. Second he had counted on having intimidated the girl to keep her from describing him to the police. Of course it was a major help that the young girl was brave enough to relive the worst moment of her life.
At least that was how Olivia thought of it. Cragen on the other hand believed that the girl remembering all the details were more due to the skills of detective Benson.
The Captain had known when Olivia applied, that the brunette had a way with children. That became even more apparent after the first case Olivia worked at SVU concerning a molested child.
It wasn’t easy to find someone with that kind of gift with scared women and children. It was always hard to get new detectives to work at SVU. The positions in Special Victims were voluntary as opposed to most of the other units, where officers were assigned. SVU also had a terrible reputation with other officers in the force. That was until their families were exposed to something that would leave them needing
the help of the Special Victims Unit.
The Captain had recently received three applications for positions in SVU. None of the options were ideal at first glanced. Two of them were men. Which wasn’t exactly what Cragen was looking for. And if that wasn’t bad enough it seemed that both male applicants were looking rather fishy. They had complaints about being too friendly with female victims in their jackets. They might be looking for easy access to females that wouldn’t complain and were hoping SVU was the place for that.
The third applicant was a woman, but she hadn’t been an officer for long and wasn’t yet a detective. Though on her way and according to her Captain, would get there within a year or two. She also had good recommendations from everybody she worked with in her short time on the force.
Before Cragen could make a decision he would have to talk to the woman. The Captain would have Benson join them at the end of the interview, as he planned on having Olivia train any new member of their squad he could find. He knew the brunette was a great judge of character and would be able to say if the woman had what it took working here, within minutes of meeting the person.
The day had been busy even compared to Casey’s normal standards. The ADA hadn’t seen any of the detectives. The warrant Elliot had requested had to be delivered by one of the clerks. In fact Casey had to talk to the judge over the phone in one of the short breaks the redhead had gotten during the day. Looking on the bright side it had kept Casey from getting yelled at by the DA for the leak to the press.
By the time court had let out for the day Casey had several hours’ worth of paperwork to occupy her. And that was without the new rape case Olivia and Elliot had a suspect in. When the ADA called the precinct, Munch told her Stabler and Benson were out apprehending the suspect. If the detectives found the suspect tonight they had enough to hold him overnight, and do a line up in the morning.
Getting to go home at a reasonable hour wasn’t getting easier. It was as if the necessary paperwork grew each year Casey worked as an ADA for special victims. It was getting so bad that she was starting to delay the paperwork that didn’t need her immediate attention. And handing off what she could to who ever she could find.
DA Branch was starting to notice and there had for the last months been talk about expanding the legal staff sex crimes going around the DA’s office. It didn’t make matters worse that Casey had one of the higher closing rates of the ADAs. That got the DA’s attention.
The line up had gone without a hitch. The 13 year old rape victim was proving to be a solid witness. The girl had with no doubt pointed out the suspect that had been in custody since Monday night.
The detectives had managed to solve this case in a day but unfortunately it didn’t always go that easy. That was why, even if no new cases had come in that all the detectives were out by Tuesday afternoon, when Jennifer Thomas walked in to interview with Cragen, she found the squad room empty.
Jennifer was young compared to his other detectives. Only 25. She wasn’t straight out of the academy but not by much. She wasn’t much too look at. Shorter than average with short dark blonde hair. She wasn’t skinny but there definitely wasn’t much excess fat, no Jennifer was built rather compactly. But she moved with a graciousness that Cragen wouldn’t have expected from her look.
After having talked to the young woman for a good half hour and gotten a good impression Cragen thought it time to have Olivia met Jennifer.
Calling the brunette. The younger woman was looking more and more uncomfortable as the conversation wore on.
“Benson.” The standard greeting Cragen had come to expect from his female detective sounded clear and crisp. If you didn’t know her you might think of it as rude or Olivia as angry. But Cragen knew better.
“If you’re not doing something that can’t wait an hour, you’re needed at the precinct now, Benson.” Not that Cragen’s part of the phone call could be classified as friendly sounding, if you didn’t know him.
The Captain considered Olivia as his daughter most of the time. But he always used Benson when it was necessary to differentiate between their ranks. This way Olivia always knew when Cragen used the boss card or was more fatherly. It made for a great working relationship.
“Not something El can’t handle alone, Cap’n. I’m on my way, might be 15 minutes.”
Cragen had continued with a more relaxed conversation with Jennifer while waiting for his detective. They didn’t have to wait long before a knock on the door announced detective Benson had arrived.
Poking her head in, in the same movement as she had knocked, Olivia looked surprised at seeing someone else besides Cragen in the office.
“Sorry Cap’n, didn’t know you had company.”
As the brunette was about to close the door Cragen spoke up. “That’s quite alright Olivia. She’s the reason I asked you to come.”
Waiting for the detective to enter before making introductions.
“Jennifer, this is Detective Olivia Benson. Olivia, this is Jennifer Thomas.”
Cragen hadn’t let any of the detectives in on the search for new man power for the squad in form of a woman. He had talked slightly with Munch, but that was more about the detective’s wishes about less fieldwork. John was beginning to feel his years on the force and couldn’t keep up anymore. Munch had been reluctant to leave special victims for retirement. They were his only family. John still wanted
to be a part of and help the squad in a way he could. So a new detective would be a help to Munch as well. John would from time to time get to help in the field especially because Jennifer wasn’t a detective and needed training. And that would take some of Olivia’s time.
Before any of this could be fulfilled it was important that Olivia got a good impression of Officer Thomas. If not the brunette would be a pain in his ass. Not to mention the training of Jennifer wouldn’t be as good. Not because Olivia wouldn’t train her, but because so much of what the brunette did was subconscious.
Jennifer could feel that the captain wanted her to impress Olivia and it made the young woman nervous. What Cragen hoped for was that tOlivia would naturally comfort the young officer. It was an ability that came to the detective as easily as breathing. It wasn’t that the brunette couldn’t or wouldn’t be pleasant, Olivia could still be polite but rarely pleasant if the detective didn’t like you.
Cragen hadn’t needed to worry. Nervousness wasn’t enough to put Olivia off. The detective met her fair share of nervous people on a daily basis. What Olivia looked for was something not even the brunette could put into words.
The captain might not be as good at reading people as Olivia. But he did know the brunette. After letting the detective talk to Jennifer for a little while, he felt it safe to offer the young officer the job in his squad.
When there was a quiet moment between the two women talking, Cragen saw it as his time to make it official.
“As you know, I have been looking for someone to relieve you from being on call pretty much 24/7, Olivia.”
Cragen knew the brunette wasn’t stupid, and Olivia had most likely figured out where he was going with this. However, the captain needed to say this. Not so much for Olivia’s sake but for Jennifer’s. That didn’t stop the detective for interrupting and keeping Cragen from what he had planned on saying.
“Who will she be working with?” Cragen was right. The brunette already knew that the reason for her meeting Thomas was to introduce a new squad member. What Olivia wasn’t so sure about was why the rest of the squad wasn’t there.
“You,” seeing the look in Olivia’s eyes he elaborated without being prompted. “She’ll be partnered with you, Olivia.”
“But I already have a partner.” The detective didn’t want to believe this and that more than anything else had her protesting. If she was truthful to herself she had suspected this from the beginning.
“I know, and Elliot will be working with Fin. Munch will get to stay off fieldwork as he has requested. It all works out this way.”
Olivia knew there was no reason to complain, the captain had already made up his mind. It clearly showed in his eyes.
“Right. When you’re done come find me Thomas and I’ll give you the tour.” With that Olivia left the office to get a little time on her own to process what had just happened.
Jennifer was surprised, she hadn’t wanted to start off on a bad foot with her new partner. Coming in as the newbie and breaking up old partners wasn’t her idea of a good beginning.
“I’ll have your transfer papers signed and at 1PP today. That will make it possible for you to start tomorrow morning. Will that be okay with you Thomas?”
She didn’t really have a choice, but it was always good to make it sound that way.
“Yes sir.” As Jennifer was about to leave she thought it best to ask one question as not to start the assignment of with sounding stupid.
“What did you mean by 24/7, sir?”
Cragen smothered a chuckle at how young Jennifer sounded at that moment. “There are some victims too scared of men to even consider talking to one, even if it’s one of my detectives. That’s were Benson comes in.”
The Captain hadn’t been as clear as he thought, but this was something the young woman would have to find out for herself. You couldn’t explain the amazing work Olivia did for all those frightened women and children.
They had some possible leads in the Karen James’ murder case but nothing that had panned out as Tuesday came to an end.
By the time that Fin, Elliot and Olivia showed up Wednesday morning, Munch had already moved his things to another desk. As John wouldn’t be partnered with any one of the detectives but would still be working in the squad room he got the desk of to the side.
The old detective had known about the possibility of the move in a long time. And Cragen had informed him last night of the new addition to the squad.
“Why has he moved his bony butt over there, Cap’n? Am I getting a new partner?”
Cragen had come out of his office as he noticed his detectives arriving. He brought Jennifer with him out into the squad room.
“Yes Fin…”
Before he could get any further Fin had interrupted. “Fresh meat, that will be an improvement to that old man.” He smiled to Munch and hadn’t noticed the grin that graced Cragen’s face.
“A new partner yes, but fresh meat I wouldn’t exactly say.”
That got both of Elliot and Fin’s attention. “What?” They had both thought that the young woman standing next to the captain would be Fin’s partner.
“You’ll be working with Stabler.” Cragen didn’t try to continue after this. He knew there would be objections, from Elliot especially.
Stabler was under the misguided opinion that he was special in some ways. The captain’s golden boy.
“I already have a partner. I work with Liv.” Elliot hadn’t noticed that Olivia hadn’t said anything, he was absorbed in convincing the captain that he was working with the brunette.
Not wanting to get into a discussion about this, Cragen raised his voice slightly when he answered. “As of today, you’re partnered with Fin, Stabler.”
That closed Elliot’s mouth. Cragen knew it was brief respite before the ex-marine would make his displeasure known again.
Turning slightly so he looked at Jennifer before speaking, to make sure the young woman knew she was being addressed.
“These are detectives John Munch, Odafin Tutuola, Elliot Stabler, and as you already know Olivia Benson.” The captain pointed to each detective as he introduced them. “And this is Officer Jennifer Thomas. She will be, as you have already guessed, partnered with Olivia.”
When the greetings had run their course, Cragen spoke again. “Stabler you can move your things at a convenient time today. We don’t have any new cases as of now. Where are we with the James’ murder case, any suspects?”
That was it. Jennifer was thrown in and now all Cragen could do was hope she could swim. It wouldn’t matter how much time and energy Olivia put into training the young woman if Jennifer couldn’t handle special victims.
According to one of Karen’s coworker, the victim had complained about a guy who wouldn’t leave her alone. The coworker had seen him a couple of times when they were returning from lunch. She would meet with a sketch artist this morning before Munch would talk to her again.
There had been some activity on Karen’s credit card after her death. The security tapes from the stores were at TARU and Fin and now Elliot were looking into that.
Olivia apparently would be easing Jennifer into things. That meant going through open cases on the brunette’s workload. Introducing her to Casey probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Make the young woman comfortable would help in the long run.
The day was turning out to be a good one for special victims. They hadn’t caught any new cases by lunch time.
Olivia managed to track the redhead down at the courthouse in the ADA’s lunch break. Casey didn’t notice that the detective was followed by a younger woman. The redhead greeted Olivia as usual. It wasn’t the greeting one would expect from a detective and ADA with a normal working relationship. Not to say that they were all over each other.
There was something Jennifer couldn’t put her hand on as much as it was a feeling. The touch from the ADA on Olivia’s arm and the way the redhead looked at the detective, spoke for itself.
“Hey Liv, you have time for lunch?” Casey’s eyes brightened as the detective came up to her.
“Not really, but I wanted to introduce you to someone, and knew you would be in court all day.”
Casey could feel the caress of Olivia’s eyes and shivered at the love she could see written there.
“Case, this is my new partner Jennifer Thomas. And this is our ADA Casey Novak.”
“New partner, what happened to El?” The confusion was obvious in Casey’s eyes. That was until the ADA remembered Cragen talking about Olivia teaching her abilities with victims to someone.
Before Olivia could explain further, Casey corrected herself. “New partner of course, nice to meet you.”
“You knew about this.” I wasn’t a question.
“Err… Don told me about looking for another female detective for some of the late night calls. And he might have mentioned you getting the honor of training her.”
The redhead just knew this would come back to bite her. There was no way Olivia would let this go without hearing everything Cragen had said.
“Great, you think he could have told me sooner.” Casey knew that what Olivia had really meant was that she should have told the brunette earlier.
Gently putting her hand on the brunette’s arm. “I’ve got to go. Donnelly is not having her best day and lunch is shorter than usual.”
Before the ADA turned to go she directed her attention to the young woman next to Olivia. “It was nice to meet you Detective Thomas and I’ll see you again. Don’t let them intimidate you too much.”
Smiling one last time to the brunette and letting her hand linger, Casey turned to head to the courtroom.
“Come on kid, let’s head back to the precinct.”
Jennifer looked one more time from the ADA retreating form to the brunette before she followed. “Don’t call me kid, ma’am. I have a name.”
That made Olivia laugh. "You'll do alright Thomas. I'll make you a deal. You don't call me ma'am, and I won't call you kid. How's that?"
Not sure what she should call the detective. "I think I can do that, but what do I call you then?"
"You could try with my name." Olivia was having a hard time keeping from laughing at the younger woman. That this was apparently not something Jennifer had thought of was obvious. Getting serious once more, there really was no reason to make it more difficult for her new partner. "Why don't we go with Olivia, but if you want, Benson works as well."
This shocked Jennifer. Why would the detective let her call her Olivia? They had only just met and she had broken up an old partnership. "But you just met me."
Seeing the confusion clearly written on the young woman's face, Olivia suggested that they go somewhere quiet for lunch. That would give her time to explain. Olivia might not have been thrilled to get a new partner, but that was how it worked. Now that she had, she was determined to make it work.
They both had a sandwich for lunch but where Jennifer had a soda with it Olivia ordered coffee. At the strange look she received the brunette said. "You'll find that coffee can be your best friend, but don't drink it if Munch made it unless you're desperate, that is. And it's a food group to Casey."
Like that explained it all. And to Olivia it did, but the last comment in particular made the younger woman look again. This and meeting Casey in the courthouse was beginning to add up. Jennifer knew there was more to it than she at this moment could see.
"Why does Miss Novak’s coffee habit matter?"
Olivia could see where this was going. It wasn't that she tried to keep her relationship with Casey a secret. Everybody already knew about it. No, Olivia just hadn't planned on telling Jennifer on their first day working together. It was always hard to predict the reaction she would get, especially from police officers. Well, they might as well get this over with. If the notion of her relationship with the ADA would be a problem Olivia would rather know now.
"Living with Case has exposed me to her obsession and she would probably say that she changed me."
It would be better if Jennifer wanted to leave if she did so now. That would save Olivia the trouble of caring and get rejected. The brunette wasn't exactly looking for approval but that didn't mean she liked to be rejected because of her relationship with Casey.
"Oh."
This raised Olivia's hackles. She didn't mind prejudice being directed at herself, but if Jennifer as much as though of going after Casey.
"Oh, what?" Olivia didn't bother trying to hide her anger.
"That it explains the courthouse. The way Miss Novak looked at you like you were the only one there."
"Yeah sorry about that." Olivia's voice was much calmer and the look in her eyes got softer. "We try not to let that happen too much in public when we're working."
"No problem. But back to the reason you brought me here."
That was it? Olivia hadn't expected such easy acceptance from her new partner. Not even Elliot had been that good about it. Caught a little of guard the brunette couldn't remember why she taken Jennifer here.
Catching the short glimpse of confusion in the detective's eyes, Jennifer continued. "You sure you want me to call you by your first name?"
Again Olivia could see the insecurity and this time just how young Jennifer looked. "It's my name so why not, and sides ma'am makes me feel old." The brunette thought it best to inject some humor and that way get the younger woman to lighten up.
"My old partner wanted me to call him sir. Only last week would he allowed me to call him by his first name, and that was only because he knew I was hoping to work special victims. Or as he said, the panty police."
"That's just crap, calling me ma'am doesn't show more respect and it definitely won't help me teach you what I know. Olivia will be fine for now."
For someone who had found out she would get a new partner only yesterday Olivia was showing the younger woman more kindness than Jennifer had experienced in a long time.
A small smile gracing Jennifer's face and brightened the woman's eyes.
"I'll call you Olivia on the condition that you lay of Jennifer. It's Jen, only my parents call me Jennifer."