Author's Note: Here's hoping this is the start to a wonderful story ^^

I stared up at the large brick building. My eyes scanned it slowly, taking in every spec of it, not knowing but sensing that it would be important to me. "You ready?" I thought about it for a moment. Was I ready? I couldn't really be sure. This was something I had been dreaming of for years and now it seemed unreal to me that it could actually be happening. I nodded and we pushed our way in to the sixteenth precinct.

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When I was younger I was the weird little kid who sat in the corner alone. I was gawky and uncoordinated and couldn't make conversation to save my life. I had slowly grown out of this but it had been a long grueling process. My mother had even contemplated therapy, but I eventually bloomed into a social butterfly, a strong leader.

Staring in at the people whom my life would surround, I went back to being that little kid. I realized just how nervous I was for this moment and I questioned why I had never felt this way in the past, why I was feeling it now. I didn't like it.

"You'll be fine," she whispered reassuringly, squeezing my shoulder and propelling me forward. The words echoed through my head. I tried to convince myself they were true. I tried to prevent myself from hyperventilating. It was so weird being here.

When my mom had set this thing up she hadn't really filled me in much on who I would be spending my time with other than Casey of course. My mom and Casey had been friends since college. I had only seen her once every so often when she came to visit but she was nice enough and I liked her as a person. Despite what some people think, she's the reason I wanted to become a lawyer, not my mother. I loved my mom, but she was my mom and Casey was Casey. So now I was interning with the sixteenth precinct and her. And I had no idea who anyone was.

A man with a kind face and the bluest eyes you would ever see, smiled and winked at me. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself so I just kept my eyes on the ground. He didn't seem to worry. I was glad he didn't think I disliked him. I just didn't know what to do with myself.

Casey seemed to know where she was going so I just kept letting her push me forward. A woman with brown hair was staring intently at a piece of paper on her desk but she did look up when I passed. I could sense the questioning in her eyes as she looked at Casey. I can't be sure what the look Casey gave her was.

Two men, one with grey hair and an odd tie and one much more dressed down, were arguing about something but I couldn't make out their conversation. I was usually a first-class eavesdropper but the buzz of the precinct was just too loud.

We were heading straight for an office but the door was closed. Right before I was about to collide with it Casey opened it. I shot her a grateful smile. I knew she could tell I was freaking out inside. The man behind the desk was old and balding. The little name plate on his desk informed me he was "Captain Donald Cragen." Unlike everyone else he didn't seem surprised to see me. At least Casey had told someone I was coming.

He didn't say anything at first. I could tell he was taking in the sixteen-year-old that stood before him. I was wearing a cable-knit sweater with a white blouse underneath. My light blonde hair fell to about my shoulders and I was wearing my glasses- brown, plastic- which framed my hazel eyes. I was also wearing a pair khakis and nice black shoes. Casey had helped me pick it out.

After a few moments longer he smiled. "You must be Claire," he said enthusiastically. He stood and offered Casey and me a seat. "I'm Captain Cragen, but just call me Captain. Welcome to SVU," he said. I stared at him confused; I was not familiar with the acronym. "Special Victims Unit," he explained. "Did you not tell her anything, Casey?" he teased.

"You told me not to," she countered. I sat there silently listening to their conversation and feeling very out of place.

"You'll be here for the summer from what I've heard. You'll be working with both our unit and Casey at the ADA's offices. I'm sure you noticed some of the people out there. They'll be your mentors while you're here. Don't worry; they don't bite," he joked. I begged to differ after seeing the way the two men had been arguing but my throat was clogged by an imaginary block.

Arguing is something I truly love to do. Immoral people are something I truly hate. Getting to argue and put immoral people in jail at the same time had always seemed like the perfect job to me. I don't think I ever really thought about the crimes the people I would be prosecuting had done. I was planning on making my career based on people who had been murdered or raped. But then again, so were the cops I would be working with.

"I have to go get a judge to sign that warrant you wanted," Casey mentioned. Cragen nodded and 'dismissed' us. We closed the door behind us.

"Do you really have to go?" I asked, looking at her with terrified eyes. She knew I was terrible at meeting new people, especially alone.

"We really need to get this arrest warrant, Claire. Don't worry; Liv and Elliot will take good care of you," she tried to reassure me.

"But I don't even know who any of those people are!" I argued, finally finding my voice.

I was finally where I had dreamed of being, and I was terrified. I didn't know anyone and I was going to be left here alone without Casey, the one person I did know.

She smiled reassuringly. "Elliot, get your ass over here," she called. The man with blue eyes who had winked at me looked up from his desk before slowly making his way over to us.

"Yeah, Case?" he asked, looking me up and down much the same way Cragen had.

"This is Claire," she introduced me. "Claire, this is Elliot." I smiled at him but my voice had disappeared again.

"Are you two related?" he asked, noticing the similarities between us. Our hair was pretty much the same and our bone structure was similar; it was an easy mistake.

"Nah," she replied, "just close family friends."

"Hmm…" he said, taking in her response and looking me over again.

"She's interning here this summer. She'll be working you guys and with me. I need to go get an arrest warrant signed. I was hoping you could 'watch' her while I was gone," she said. She air-quoted the 'watch' part, knowing I would argue I didn't need to be babysat if she hadn't.

"That's fine," he said, smiling wickedly, as if he had something up his sleeve. I was not pleased by this look. I gave Casey a pleading glance, but she shook her head.

"I'll be back soon; I promise. Just relax. You'll be fine. I promise," she said before disappearing out the door.

I glanced at Elliot. "You ever played poker?" he asked. Now I was the one grinning wickedly.

"As a matter of fact, I have," I said.

Author's Note: I am still in school so it may take a little time in between chapters for me to get stuff up but I'm hoping to have the next chapter by the end of the weekend ^^ It should be a fun one. There will be more dramatic stuff to come. Reviews make me much more inclined to write; just a little tip haha :)