Hey, everyone! Okay, so this is my first Law & Order: SVU fic. I'm hoping I got all the characters right, and if I didn't, I apologize. I'll get better. Please, no flames.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.
Not Again
One-shot
New York
A disembodied laugh caused Fin to snap to his right, gun poised and ready. His eyes squinted, focusing for a single movement in the dark. Behind him, the familiar steps of his partner, Sam Granger, crept towards him.
Sam's own fun was raised, his pale face mirroring Fin's almost to a tee. Muscled arms stayed steady, eye glaring into the darkness. He was easily twice Fin's size, so a lot of people got a chuckle out of it whenever Fin would mutter that his partner looked like a damn WWE star.
The lights in the warehouse snapped on, causing Fin and Sam's eyes to blue at the sudden onslaught. Through the haze, their perp stepped out, his gun firing and a bullet flying towards Fin. Fin shot his own gun a second after, but had no time to dodge.
Something heavy smashed into Fin's side and he toppled to the ground, whatever hit him, falling on his chest. His eyes closed, Fin felt his shirt grow wet, but no pain. He opened them a sliver, popping them open when blank blue stared back.
"No, no, no, no, no," Fin repeated, sitting up and pushing Sam off him. From the corner of his eye, he could see the perp dead on the floor, but that didn't matter now. He shook his partner's shoulder harshly, another hand searching for a pulse. "Sam, come on. SAM!"
Fin shot forward in his bed, chest heaving and eyes glassy. "Not again," he muttered. He sat there for a moment before pushing himself off the bed and towards the bathroom, his eyes barely catching the time on the clock.
2:03.
He'd gotten home maybe an hour ago, but that little sleep was nothing new to Fin. He'd been getting those nightmares for weeks now, only functioning on a couple hours of sleep. It had been like that for months following Sam's funeral.
Moving on auto-pilot to the shower, Fin let his mind drift back. Sam had been twenty-nine, a newbie. He'd left a wife and two kids; three people Fin still couldn't bring himself to face.
Seconds later, Fin was under the shower head, scalding water pulling him away from memories of that day in the warehouse. A wet lock of hair fell into his face, and he pushed it back without really registering that he had. Waiting until he was sufficiently awake, he turned off the flow of water, grabbing a towel just in time to hear the phone ring. He almost slipped as he ran from the bathroom, catching the phone a ring before the machine. "Tutuola."
"You catching tonight?" Munch asked.
"Yeah."
Fin listened to Munch tell him the details as he got dressed, throwing in his input when necessary. He pulled his hair pack into a lazy ponytail as he grabbed his keys. He'd fix his hair later. "I'll be there in five minutes."
---
Stepping from his car, Fin spotted Munch walking over to him and gave a nod of acknowledgment.
"Nice hair," Munch said as his partner tried to smooth out the bumps made from unruly curls.
"Shut up," Fin muttered. "What do we have?"
"You ever seen The Black Dahlia?"
Fin cursed under his break, shaking his head and walking towards the crowd.
---
The killer had been relatively easy to identify—he'd left plenty of DNA. But when they'd gone to pick him up, he'd shut himself in his house. Police had the place surrounded when Elliot, Olivia, Munch, and Fin got past the door.
The curtains were drawn with what looked like black-out curtains, no light leaking through from the outside. Elliot and Olivia searched downstairs, Munch and Fin searching up.
Munch looked at the hanging skeleton heads with a raised brow, fingering one lightly and watching it swing. "Great. A die-hard Halloween nut."
"Because those are always fun."
Halloween music turned on around them, a different song drifting up from the floor below. Fin rolled his eyes as Munch muttered that the kid was missing a few screws. The lights began to flicker and blur their eyes, pushing Fin's thoughts back to his dream.
"He's making this into a fun house."
Fin nodded, eyes searching the parents' bedroom. "Fuck."
"What?"
Fin pointed across the room. "Dad's gun case is empty."
"Perfect," Munch said sarcastically. "An armed psycho. Just what the world needs."
Behind them, a gun cocked and shot. The bullet flew towards Munch and Fin moved, pushing the older man out of the way.
This pain was worse than that time in the bodega, much worse. He felt the bullet rip through, could feel the impact of the floor, saw the darkness creep in. What he didn't hear was Munch yell or Elliot radio for help.
---
The first thing Fin did hear was the beep of the heart monitor as he woke up. He blinked his eyes open, squinting against the glaring light. Once his eyes adjusted, Fin glanced around the room. Olivia was curled up on a couch across from him, Elliot asleep on a chair beside her. Munch sat in a chair next to the bed, a book in his hands, but he lowered it when he saw Fin move.
"You're an idiot."
"What the hell happened?" Fin croaked.
"You got shot," Munch said, handing his partner a cup of water, "again. What is with you and getting shot?"
Fin laughed hoarsely. "Guess I like hospitals."
Munch glared sharply. "Then you should have become a doctor." He pushed down on Fin's right shoulder when he tried to sit up. "Trust me, you don't want to do that."
"How bad is it?"
"You've been out for a week," Elliot said, stepping up on Fin's other side with Olivia beside him.
"A week?"
Olivia nodded, putting a hand over Fin's and squeezing gently. "The bullet nicked your heart. You coded during surgery."
"So no running into meth labs two days after you get out of here," Elliot joked while still being completely serious.
Fin chuckled, letting his head fall back onto the pillow.
Olivia smiled softly. "Get some rest."
Fin nodded slightly, more out of habit than anything as his eyelids drooped.
"What were you thinking?" Munch muttered under his breath.
"Wasn't gonna lose another partner," Fin mumbled as he began to drift off. Right before he gave in to sleep, he was fairly certain he heard Munch call him an idiot again.
The End