I'm baaaaaaaackkkkk. This is slightly AU. Rather than Ed being in IAB, he's in HNT. Olivia is the same. This takes place after Elliot's departure; Amaro and Rollins are now in SVU but Carisi has not yet arrived. Things will be *shudders* complicated, but not in the bullshit way that the show has half-assedly attempted. In the end, I adore Tuckson.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that you recognize yada yada yada. Mistakes are mine.
"Benson!" Cragen's voice boomed across the squad room; she looked up from the paperwork on her desk for just a moment before he added, "My office. Now." Sighing, she rose. No matter how many times this happened, she always felt a little bit like a schoolgirl being called to the Principal's office to be disciplined. Entering the room, she closed the door behind her quietly, expecting the worst though she couldn't recall a recent instance of wrongdoing.
"You asked to see me Cap?"
When he motioned for Olivia to sit, she couldn't resist the quip, "So this is serious, huh? What'd I do this time?" His pointed look shut her up immediately; she used to be the golden girl. She was only ever yelled at when her partner, former partner, had dragged her into something or vice versa. They'd covered for each other, had each other's backs for years, and ever since he left her without a goodbye Olivia had been floundering for solid footing. Cragen knew how deeply Elliot's departure had affected her, but he couldn't let her keep sulking forever.
"Detectives come and go, Liv. I know that we never expected Elliot to go out this way, but you have to let him go… if not for you, then for the vics. They don't deserve anything less than your best. I need you to do better, and part of that means playing nice with the newbies." Don squeezed her shoulder lightly before walking away, hoping that his mini speech would do the trick, knowing that it would take a lot more than that for her to let Elliot Stabler go. The two were like fire and gasoline, a dangerous combination that grew heated quickly, consuming all in their wake, including them. A connection that ran so deep didn't just disappear.
Shaking off the memory, he cleared his throat and began. "A seven year old girl and her thirteen year old sister were taken by their mother's boyfriend, four hours ago, from their brownstone in Murray Hill. Maria Anders, thirty-seven, was found raped and severely beaten and her daughters are missing. Amber alerts were issued and we've had reports of Callie and Leah with Evan Bronsen, thirty-six. They're holed up in an apartment on 36th and 3rd. A friend of mine runs the 17th, and he wants the best Liv. The mother is adamant that Bronsen is going to hurt her children and you're the best with kids Olivia. I need you in on this."
"You got it Cap."
Her head was in the game and she almost didn't hear Cragen add, "Olivia, I've heard that HNT isn't the easiest to get through to sometimes, so don't be afraid to hold your ground. I trust your judgment and Captain Kosinski will take that into account." She nodded and quickly left, grabbing her jacket and gearing up for whatever situation was waiting.
"Detective Benson, SVU," she flashed her badge. Maneuvering through the cops rearing to take this guy down, she found Captain Kosinksi.
"Benson," he held out a hand in formal greeting, "Glad to meet ya. Don says you're the best with child vics."
She nodded in greeting while shaking his hand and dove in. "What do we got in there?"
"Looks like Bronsen has the Callie, the older one in the bedroom, and Leah is tied up in the living room." She stiffened immediately, wanting to race in and save those girls from any possible harm, knowing she was likely too late.
"Any contact?"
The seasoned cop shook his head sadly. "He hasn't responded to any of our attempts yet." Kosinksi wiped his forehead in frustration. "He has a gun according to the wounds inflicted to Maria. Looks like she was repeatedly hit with it. We have a sniper ready to go, but I want to do everything we can to avoid that. I don't want these girls traumatized any more than they already have been, but I refuse to let them die."
"Understood."
"Hey Captain. The boys are getting antsy out here. We need to make contact soon or I say we head in. Standing out here not negotiating anything isn't gonna get us anywhere." The gruff voice was laced with impatience and Olivia wanted nothing more than to erase the smugness from it. She spun around immediately, trying to ignore the icy blue eyes that sent shivers down her back; she did always have a thing for blue eyes after all.
"If you go in there, guns blazing, you might as well pull the trigger on those girls yourself. We should wait. Make contact in any way we can. We cannot let those little girls die just because you have someplace you'd rather be," she snapped.
"Do I know you?" he fired back. "Oh, you're the SVU cop from the 16th. Benson, right? Well let me inform you how his works. Bronsen's not making any effort to contact us. If he doesn't have demands, he's made up his mind about how this is gonna end. There's a good chance those girls are already dead." Turning back to Kosinski he continued, "Cap, at least if we gear up and go in soon we have a chance of getting Bronsen alive."
The captain watched as the female detective scoffed and tried to not yell at Tucker. The situation would have been amusing to watch had there not been three lives at stake, two of which were children, the other the one he desperately wanted to rot in jail.
He was about to respond to the two before him when a voice rang out behind him from behind.
"Cap! The mom is awake at the hospital," he called out. "She spoke to Smith and Caruthers and said Callie told her that Evan Bronsen raped and threatened her. Maria flipped and confronted him, told him to get out but he beat her, hit her with a gun. He told her that he was taking both girls and was gonna quote 'do that little bitch Leah too before blowing their brains out.' Cap I think we gotta get in there soon."
Olivia's blood boiled. That piece of shit had raped a thirteen-year-old girl, her mother, and was planning on doing the same thing to a seven year old. Fire burned behind her eyes and she turned, grabbing Tucker's wrist.
"Let's go get that bastard now."
"I'm all for your change of plans, but we have to play this smart. We need to lure Bronsen out in front of the window and get Callie away from him. Then we'll have a clear shot."
"Alright, so…" Olivia and the others listened intently while Tucker and Kosinski formulated a plan. Knowing the kids were already traumatized and not likely to come with a man, Benson was going up too. Luckily they saw the logic in the situation because she was determined to go up there whether or not they approved.
Everything had gone according to plan as they entered the building. They'd even manager to open the door without too much issue, but Bronsen wouldn't let Callie go. Tucker tried reasoning with him, but Evan was too far gone, and nothing he said would change the situation. Knowing exactly what would, Olivia stepped into the apartment against all orders and demands. Ed Tucker was fuming behind her, gripping his gun even tighter. She's such a pain in the ass. What the fuck does she think she's doing!?
"Bronsen, I have a question for ya," she called. She stopped just inside the threshold, far enough away to keep him from doing anything drastic but close enough to shake his composure. "Why Callie? What, you didn't want a fight?" Evan shifted on his feet, angry nowhere close to describing him. He was keyed up, his eyes red and frantic, his jaw clenched. "Were you afraid that a real woman would reject you and hurt your little feelings?" She prayed to a god she didn't believe in that Callie and Leah would tune out her voice. "Oh, I get it. You're not strong enough to handle someone like me are you," she stared him down, challenging him.
"You bitch, you don't know—" he stepped forward, letting go of Callie who promptly fell to the floor. The gunshot rang out inside the apartment and everything went still for the briefest of moments.
Reacting as quickly as she could, Olivia reached Callie first, holding her close and telling her that she was safe, that she'd be okay. First responders rushed in, untying Leah and assessing her injuries.
It all went by in a blur. The fog of destruction loomed like a cloud over them, a mix of feelings swirling in their minds.
The girls were quickly loaded into ambulances and just before Olivia hopped into the back, she felt a hand on her arm. Pausing, she turned unhappily to great the face of Ed Tucker.
"You know how lucky you were back there? What the hell was that vigilante work Benson?" he spat angrily. "We had orders."
"We did," she acknowledged, but never one to back down continued, "I got him to move, just like we needed."
"You could've gotten yourself or anyone else in that room killed!" Determined to get to Bellevue, she hopped into the back of the bus, almost missing Tucker's last jab.
"You screw your partner over like that, too?"
Fuck him.
Frankie's was an offbeat bar usually frequented by a few regulars and some travelers looking for a homey feel. She wasn't in the mood for the cop bar she favored or any company tonight, though a few men had approached her already. She'd sent them off immediately, sipping on her glass of merlot. That had been an hour ago. Now she was on her third glass, deciding that she'd just take a cab home. Her pleasant buzz had just started to take the edge off the day when a familiar voice snapped her back into reality.
"Hey Frankie. Can I have my usual?"
"Sure thing, Eddie." Frankie, the older gentleman nodded at Tucker and poured him a glass of bourbon, sliding it to the man.
Ed sat down a ways from Olivia, throwing back his drink.
"Tough day?" Frankie always asked, despite Ed's answer remaining the same.
"Always is Frankie. Always is." Tucker leaned back and noticed a woman he hadn't seen in the bar before. Her brown hair fell down to her shoulders in soft waves covering her face, and he took the time to appreciate her appearance. A maroon blouse clung to her curves, and dark pants accentuated her long legs.
The bartender watched Ed's face as he admired her, and was only slightly surprised when he nodded his head toward her drink.
When a fourth glass of wine appeared in front of her, she had half a mind to drink it, however, the look of question in her eyes was returned with a nod at none other than Ed Tucker. He raised his blue eyes to meet the storm in her brown ones and was stunned to see that he'd sent a drink to Benson, the pain in the ass detective from the 1-6.
Standing, she moved to grab her jacket but was stilled by Tucker's hand, yet again.
"Benson wait! I'm sorry about my comment earlier. I was out of line."
"Yes. You were." If looks could kill, he was sure he'd have about twenty-five bullets in his chest. Seeing that he wasn't willing to let go that easily, she sighed and sat back down, this time with Ed Tucker next to her.
"For what it's worth, I don't think Kosinksi is going to say anything to your captain." Her brows furrowed as she turned to him.
"What do you mean?" She knew she'd gone off-script. She also knew that she did what she thought was best for those girls, but that it could've easily gone the other way.
Ed cleared his throat, "I uh, I told him I gave you the nod to go ahead." His gruff voice was almost shy in the answer, but he continued before she could press him. "It wouldn't have done any good. We, you, got the girls outta there and we took down that bastard. I'd call that a win."
Heaviness settled over them and silence engulfed the space as they drifted into their own minds for a few moments.
"It's not a win for the Anders. Not really. They will never be the same. Their childhoods are over now...it's just… they're too young." Changing her mind about the wine, she reached for the fourth glass and welcomed the way it felt.
"You're right. But they are alive, Benson. That's more than I can say sometimes."
It wasn't long before more patrons gathered in the small space. The room was filled with conversations and a lighter air prevailed. Frankie asked Olivia about her time in the academy; his son had been Ed's best friend growing up and the pair had graduated together so Frankie heard all about their adventures. The wine had loosened her up and she surprisingly told a few stories, causing Frankie's laughter throughout the bar and Ed's eyes to crinkle with joy.
She loved his eyes. He had a good poker face, but his eyes told a different story. They were expressive in their own right, a beautiful blue that betrayed him. The alcohol had dulled the hardships of their jobs, and Olivia hadn't been so relaxed in a while. She wasn't thinking about Elliot and how he'd abandoned her. She wasn't dwelling on her struggle to accept the new additions to SVU. She wasn't caught up thinking about work at all. Instead, she just was. The relief of just being in the moment wasn't lost on her.
Tucker was surprisingly funny; he wasn't at all like what she'd expected. Olivia had heard stories from colleagues that had worked with him: he'd make the perfect IAB rat. He played by the rules and didn't accept anything else, was keenly aware of his surroundings, and didn't mess around. The man had been rumored to be completely uptight, straight-laced, and utterly boring. She'd encountered a man vastly different from how he'd been described. He played by the rules, but accepted that sometimes things didn't go that way. His smirk was devastating and his shy confidence intrigued the hell out of her.
Realizing the time, she stood to grab her jacket again, this time determined to actually make it home. After all, she did have to work in the morning. Tucker stood with her and gently guided her out of Frankie's, his hand on the small of her back.
She turned to face him and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "You are not what I expected Ed Tucker."
"I can say the same for you Benson." He shifted almost nervously with his hands in his pockets. A group of drunken men passed by, one bumping into Olivia causing her to lurch toward him. Reflexes kicking in, Ed stepped forward and steadied her. His hand was around her waist and hers relaxed on his arm. He inhaled the not quite flowery but sweet scent of her shampoo before she raised her head.
"I had a nice time with you tonight Olivia. I'm glad you weren't what I expected." Her eyes watched his lips as he spoke, meeting his gaze after he spoke her name.
"I… I did too," she whispered. He moved imperceptibly closer, desperate to close the gap between them. She threw him off-balance; he'd always been a confident man. This though, this woman who seemed to be the strongest yet most sensitive person he'd ever met did not afford him the courtesy.
She wanted his lips pressed against hers but the thought petrified her; the last man who'd kissed her had... No. No Olivia do not go down that road.
He could feel her breath.
His smelled like a mixture of bourbon and cinnamon and she wondered how that could be so intoxicating.
Their lips were mere inches apart when she suddenly stopped.
"Goodnight Ed," she rasped, before turning away.
Thoughts? I'd love to hear what you think one way or another #tuckson