A/N: I have been really disappointed with the dry spell of any Amanda-centric fics lately so I took the liberty of putting one of the many plot bunnies running in my head down on paper. I have been wanting to write a story based on the Forgiving Rollins episode for a long time, even though this story takes place at least a year later.
"God it's hotter than a goat's butt in a pepper patch," Amanda said as she sat roughly down in her chair fanning herself with some loose paperwork from her desk.
"Amanda" Olivia slightly chided trying to hide her smirk. Fin didn't bother to try and hide it he simply chuckled at his partner's idiom. The elder detective realized years ago that when his partner was tired or stressed her southern habits tended to become more pronounced and he loved it every time.
"What?" Amanda responded to her Lieutenant's tone while still fanning herself "you try and chase down a perp for 6 blocks in this heat and tell me you wouldn't think the same"
"Well I would bet the Lieu wouldn't think about a goat's behind, Amanda" Carisi laughed as he himself was also fanning at his face. The two youngest detectives were out serving a simple arrest warrant when the perp decided to run a marathon in the middle of the summer's worst heat wave.
"Alright," Olivia broke through the laughter of her detectives "that's enough guys get back to work" she paused as she came to stare at her youngest detective. She noticed how flushed she appeared "Amanda, why don't you catch a cold shower in the locker room. You look a bit red, last thing I'd want is for you to pass out from heat exhaustion"
"Nah, that's okay Liv," Amanda said as she waved her hand in dismissal "I just need a few moments to catch my breath is all, no need to get worried" she finished before Benson had left the room and closed the door to her office.
"No don't you see Rollins, " Fin said looking at his partner with a dead serious expression on his face. Amanda stopped fanning herself to give him her complete attention "Benson is not worried about you. She is thinking about all the paperwork she'd have to fill out if you passed out on the job"
The blonde detective picked up a pen from her desk and chucked it at the laughing man before her. She herself couldn't stop the smirk from forming on her face. Her smirk stayed until Olivia came out of her room "Amanda I need to have a word with you"
The blonde's smile instantly fell and she quickly rose from her desk to comply with her Lieutenant's request. Her heartbeat increased as she feared the reprimand that was coming. Olivia could be an understandable boss but she ran a tight ship and if she said 'get back to work' that was supposed to be the end of all horseplay. 'Oh, why did I have to throw that pen at Fin, now I have to sit through another lecture about being responsible in the workplace' Amanda thought to herself. She had always believed that Olivia was slightly harder on her than the rest of the squad, but she didn't mind it too much for it pushed her to be the best detective she could be. That is until she would be singled out for small infractions such as this.
Amanda quickly shut the door behind her once she entered Olivia's office. She did not want to stay in the room any longer than she needed to so she lingered by the door as she waited for the elder woman to reprimand her. However, that was not the reason why Olivia had called the young detective into the room.
"Do you remember anyone by the name of John Cunnings?" Benson asked out of the blue and Amanda was surprised by the sudden inquiry.
"Umm... I think that's the name of the ADA I used to work with back in Atlanta" Amanda answered finally able to place a face to the name after a few moments of thought "why do you ask?'
"Well it seems like he's going to be in town tomorrow and he asked to have a sit down meeting with you here" Olivia explained as Amanda kept a stoic face. "Apparently you have some information regarding a case of his that'll be going to trail soon and he wanted to get your input"
"A case that's only now going to trial?" she questioned "I've been away for five years now surely there must be someone down there with the same information I could possibly remember" Amanda questioned, for a reason she could not yet determine she felt some form of anxiety about this old colleague. She remembered the last time members of Atlanta's law enforcement came up, a woman was raped and her secrets were forced to be revealed, albeit only a handful of individuals ever found out the truth and even then only one knew the full story.
"He didn't tell me which case he was going to ask you about, only that it was urgent" Olivia explained. Amanda nodded her understanding and left the room. The young blonde detective wished she could skip time ahead two days so she didn't have to meet with the ADA. She had left Atlanta and all of her ties to that city behind, nothing good ever came of her by bringing up the past.
It was just after one thirty when Amanda and Fin returned from their lunch break. Fin nearly ran into the back of his partner when she suddenly stopped at the entranceway to the squad room. "Hey watch it 'Manda," Fin said as he side stepped to get in front of his partner "I can't risk damaging my beautiful face by running into your hard head" he stopped to look at his partner as he didn't hear a response or felt her jokingly hitting him. Fin noticed her eyes focusing in on a man sitting in Olivia's office "Everything okay partner?"
"Yeah," Amanda waved her hand flippantly "I just wish my past would stop coming up from Georgia" she finished as she took a deep breath and headed into Olivia's office 'better to just get this over with' she thought to herself.
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation the ADA was having with the SVU Lieutenant "Amanda" Cunnings said with a bright smile as he reached out to shake the blonde's hand "How has the big city been treatin you?" he asked easily, the familiarity of his southern accent causing her to almost let down her guard - almost. However, there was something that put the blonde detective on edge, perhaps it was that look in the back of his eyes, one that portrayed deep sorrow that didn't match his friendly tone.
"It's great here, makes me feel like I'd never left home," Amanda said easily. Cunnings nodded his head in approval... but there it was again. She was sure that her old ADA was giving her sympathetic looks. This made her stomach turn. "Is it Kim?" Amanda asked suddenly afraid that her sister had once again gotten herself into trouble "Or my mom?"
"Oh no detective," Cunnings said quickly to assuage her fears "this visit has nothing to do with your family" he looked around the room "but is there someplace I can talk to Amanda in private, Lieutenant?"
"Yes of course" Olivia said as she rose from her chair and opened the door to the more friendly interrogation room, the one they used for victims and their families "and don't worry the speaker is off so I won't be eavesdropping on your conversation" with that Olivia watched as her youngest detective followed her former ADA into the interrogation room.
The Lieutenant sat back in her chair and began to work on the large pile of paperwork that had gathered on her desk since that morning. She would periodically look through the window to see how the pair inside were doing and resisted the urge to eavesdrop. Olivia was deep in her work when a sudden flash of movement caused her eyes to be drawn towards the interrogation room. Inside she saw Amanda standing unsteadily on her feet and the ADA from Atlanta next to her in case she fell. In the next moment, Olivia was through the door as she watched her detective became ghastly pale and crumble to her knees.
"Amanda!" Olivia shouted as she knelt beside her detective. She placed a soothing hand on Amanda's back and couldn't help but notice how she flinched away in fear. Olivia grabbed onto Amanda's face in order to look into her eyes and the emptiness in them scared her. She appeared to be stuck in some sort of trance. "What happened?" Olivia demanded of the ADA. He paused and did not respond "What did you do to her?" she yelled
"I didn't do anything," Cunnings said "Amanda please, I'm sorry it has to be like this but you have the opportunity to do something here"
"What are you talking about?" Olivia asked, angry with the Atlanta ADA for causing her detective so much distress. The man in question bit his lip not wanting to discuss the case without Amanda's approval.
"It's okay... ju..just tell her" Amanda was able to get out as some light finally made its way back into her eyes.
"Amanda?" Olivia questioned as she helped the blonde to the chair she was previously sitting in "What happened?"
"I just told her that Patton had struck again and that I wanted her to testify against him" Cunnings let out once he was sure Amanda was looking better.
"Again!" Olivia said with disdain. She hated the man for what he did to her detective and despised the fact that he was able to walk away with barely a slap on the wrist. The ADA only nodded at her exclamation "but how did you even know that Amanda would have something to say against Patton? Her own issues with him were never brought out in public"
"It doesn't matter about it being private or public anymore," he said cryptically. He sighed deeply before continuing "In the course of this investigation we found certain physical evidence which proves that Patton raped Amanda"
"What type of physical evidence?" Olivia questioned. She looked at Amanda who had her head cast down and held her arms around herself tightly
"A video recording of her assault" Cunnings said flatly "It shows everything from her trying to get up, how Patton pinned her down and threatened her, to her continuously begging him to stop" he finished with pure sorrow within his eyes.
At that moment Amanda's head popped up "wait! You watched the whole thing?" she questioned in fear and embarrassment. The ADA simply nodded his head in response. "Who else saw it?"
"Well the detective's who were on the case, Jennings, Taylor, and Washington, as well as your old captain"
"Sam?" Amanda whispered. She remembered how he had not believed what had happened to Reese Taymor and accused her of being a slut.
"I'm sorry Amanda," Cunnings said abruptly gaining the attention of both women in the room "I know about the rumors Patton spread about you two after the indecent. At first I initially believed them too, but now I realize that it was just his ploy to discredit you if you ever wanted to press charges" he silently shook his head in disgust "I'm sorry you felt that you needed to leave the state because of this, that we allowed him to run you out. But right now you have the chance to stick it to him good... you don't have to decide right now but please tell me by tomorrow night what you decide to do" Cunnings gathered his belongings and thanked Benson for allowing him to take up so much of their time. Before he left he cast one last look over his shoulder and said "remember Amanda, the statute of limitations for your case is almost up, if you want to charge the bastard then you need to decide quickly"
Once the door shut the room was enveloped in silence. Amanda was afraid to raise her head and Olivia was determined to not leave the blonde's side until she knew that she would be okay. "Amanda..." no response "Amanda, Sweety please can you look at me" Amanda mumbled something incoherent and Olivia had to ask her to repeat it.
"They saw it" Amanda said and Olivia could feel the tremors racking through the blonde's body "They all saw how I couldn't defend myself, and everyone's going to see it now because he's going to use the video of my ra.. my... assault as evidence in that new trial to prove Patton was and is capable of hurting women"
"It's going to be okay Amanda, with this he'll go away for a long time" Olivia tried to offer in hopes of easing the blonde's pain but she could tell nothing at that moment could take away the stress she was feeling.
"You can't be so sure. Patton has a lot of pull in Atlanta, that's why he wants me to testify. Cunnings is afraid that this whole case might be swept under the rug if I don't" Amanda said as she stood on her feet. Olivia stood with her in case she might fall again.
"Remember you don't have to do anything," Olivia said as Amanda began to pace the room
"He made a video, Liv" the blonde detective exclaimed as she went to hold her face in her hands in an attempt to hide her shame "it wasn't enough that he had to rape me the first time but he had to record it so he could watch it again and again, maybe even share it with his sick twisted friends" she said as she tried to stop the tears from pouring down her face. Olivia just stood back and watched, she knew that Amanda had things that she needed to say but if she was pushed she may just shut down completely. "I don't think I can do it"
"You can do anything Amanda, I've seen you take on some of the worse New York has to offer without blinking. I know you can do this too"
"But to testify, to press charges?" Amanda shook her head slowly "For years I pretended that nothing happened, no one believed me anyway. I was just the office slut who moved to New York to get away. How can I face them now that they know, they all saw that I couldn't defend myself. What if news spreads to up here, what if 1PP gets ahold of the recording and deems me unfit to do my job..." she was rambling now.
"Amanda, stop please, " Olivia said as she grabbed ahold of her youngest detective's shoulders. She then embraced Amanda in a deep hug. At first, the younger woman tried to squirm free but soon relaxed in the safe comfort of her friend "I would never let them take your job away, you have nothing to fear on that front. But regarding your choice to testify, to press charges. That all depends on what you want to do. And just know that no matter what you decided I will support you one hundred percent. The team will support you one hundred percent"
Amanda was quiet for several seconds before she decided to speak "if I don't press charges now... now that I actually have a chance at justice, I don't think I could continue to be an SVU detective" Amanda said as she finally pulled away from the older woman "I wouldn't be able to look any victim in the eye and tell them that pressing charges was the right thing to do... it would make me the biggest hypocrite of all. To expect them to be brave and have courage when I couldn't even do it myself" she took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice "I'm going to do it. I'm going to make Patton pay for what he did to me, to what he keeps doing to all these women"
"And I'll be here with you every step of the way"
A/N: Well I hope you guys liked my little one shot, i really love to see Amanda and Olivia comforting each other and overall just getting along. It makes me sad that the show has very little scenes with the two actually in agreement, you would think that since they are the only females on the team and especially both single moms they would have more positive scenes together, Oh well i guess that's what Fanfiction is for then :) please tell me what you guy thought of the story.