Out of the Dark
Author's Note: This story continues in the alternate universe of "Pretty Girl". I've taken some liberties in rewriting the timeline of Olivia overseeing the squad and Lieutenant Murphy being brought in instead. The chapters will be relatively short but I hope everybody enjoys.
"You doing anything tonight?" Olivia asked as she checked her watch.
It was late, it was time for all of them to call it a night and head home, and she was more than ready for that. It had been a long day, a long week, a long case which included far more paperwork than any human being should be subjected to fill out at any one time. After six weeks of investigating, they'd finally cracked open a pedophile ring that had all started with one child model photographer, and resulted in 20 men's arrests; and they'd wound up with enough evidence for the D.A. to put every last one of them away for up to 60 years. Of course the treadmill ran on, where one case ended, there were 20 more just beginning, and in between there were open cases with no current leads but a growing chain of more victims. That however, would have to wait until the morning when she was fresh and could think straight. Now that this case was all over, she was ready to go home and either collapse into bed or climb the walls, she'd decide which when she got there.
"Same old same old," Fin answered as he picked up his jacket.
Olivia looked to him and asked, "What is that anyway?"
"Beats me," he replied, "Seems anymore all I do is get in the door, crash on the couch and wake up the next day."
Olivia nodded, "I hear that." She finished putting away her paperwork for the night and thought to ask, "Hear from Munch lately?" Nothing had been 'the same' at SVU since Elliot left, but things really hadn't been the same since Munch retired, then Cragen retired. Olivia looked over at Fin and realized that they were the only two left out of the whole bunch. Well, now she was depressed, even more so than she already had been.
"I talked to him last week," Fin answered, "Said he was giving in and going down to Baltimore to visit his brother."
"Oh, right…the one with the funeral home," Olivia said, "Bernard."
"Yeah," Fin said, "Said he'll probably be back in town around the first of the month."
"Sounds like he's got a better social life than we do right now," Olivia commented.
"Got the time for one anyway," Fin said, "Course that still don't help his personality any."
Olivia laughed as she put on her jacket, "You miss him, don't you?"
Fin didn't say anything and Olivia figured it was because Rollins hadn't left for the night either and might still be within earshot.
"Me too," she said, "Maybe I'll give him a call when he gets back."
"He'd probably like that, but maybe you should anyway," Fin told her.
"Do you think there'll ever be another cop in this squad like Munch?" Olivia asked.
"Not if we're lucky," Fin replied, "One of that paranoid pain in the ass is bad enough."
"Well, see you tomorrow," Olivia said.
"Not if I see you first," Fin responded.
It was cold outside as soon as Olivia was out the door. Cold, and crowded, a squad car was parked out front and three unis were coming up to the entrance. They saw Olivia but didn't seem to be in any particular hurry to see her least of all, so she could only assume it was just routine work, nothing pressing.
"Sergeant Benson," one of the younger men said as he passed.
"Hi," she replied as she walked past them. Somebody running the night shift could help them with whatever they had or what they'd come to collect. After them, there was the foot traffic of several pedestrians passing by in the night either heading home to bed or out to drink and do God knew what else until the sun came up. Olivia managed to politely push her way past them one by one, getting elbowed a few times along the way. Once she got past all of those people, was just about to the street to hail a taxi when she heard a car horn honking from the parking lot.
"Hey pretty lady, you doing anything tonight?"
For a second, Olivia couldn't figure out who was talking or who was being addressed, but then it hit her, she knew that voice. It had been several months since she'd heard it, but she knew it, that deep, raspy, gravelly voice. She turned around and saw one of the cars in the parking lot with its windows down, and leaning out the driver side window with a knowing smirk on his face was...
"Sergeant Voight," Olivia was caught off guard and certainly surprised. She went over to the car just as Hank stepped out. She was surprised, and confused, "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here working on a case and I need your help," Hank answered as he stood in the cold with his jacket unzipped, looking very much like he was freezing but also like he was too stubborn to do it up. Very nonchalantly he asked her, "Do you mind if we go to your office and discuss it?"
"Ah," Olivia said, "I don't have an office anymore actually."
Voight gave her a funny look, "What happened, the termites get to it?"
"Uh no, actually, the department sent somebody else in for me to take orders from, a Lieutenant Murphy…I'm bumped back to my old desk again actually."
"I see. Well in that case, forget that, let's go somewhere else and talk about it over coffee," Voight told her.
Now Olivia was confused, "Can't you discuss this case with Murphy too?"
"Why should I? I don't know him, so I don't trust him, but I trust you," Hank opened the door to his car, "Come on, get in, it's too damn cold out here."
Olivia didn't get it, but she did know she could trust Voight, after what happened with William Lewis, she felt positive she could trust this man with her life, even if she didn't know what the hell he was doing. "Okay…"
Not feeling sure about any of this, Olivia got in the passenger side and clicked her seatbelt into place, she'd never had the privilege of driving with Voight and decided it wasn't worth taking the risk incase he turned out to be one of those 'it shakes once you clear 95' kind of guys. As Voight got in beside her, she asked him, "So what kind of case brings you back to Manhattan?"
Voight stuck his key in the ignition, turned the engine over and told her, "A missing person," then he pulled out of the parking lot and they took off into the night.
