Kate stared up at the looming building in front of her. The grey brick work and gloomy skies seemed to put a damper on her first day. She let out a deep breath. Everything would be fine, she told herself. She hiked her duffle bag over her shoulder and walked inside the building. The NYPD headquarters was just as busy as she imagined. Cops in their uniforms walked with detectives, handcuffed perps were being pushed along and sharply dressed lawyers powerwalked, as all lawyers did, in and out of the doors.

Scribbled on her hand in black pen were the words "SVU, Level 6." She ran to the elevator and caught it just in time. Her fingers tapped on the strap of her bag as the elevator rose. The mechanical doors slid open. The SVU squad room was quieter than downstairs. She pushed her way out of the elevator and walked along the hall.

Only two or three people were in the room. Behind shutters in a closed off office, she saw her new sergeant. She thought that would be the best place for her to go. She lightly tapped on the glass door three times.

"Come in."

Kate peeked her head into the office. "Sergeant Benson?"

"Kate Walker?"

"Yes, Sergeant." Kate said, moving inside.

"Take a seat."

Kate shuffled towards one of the two expensive-looking leather lounges. Sergeant Benson lowered herself into her swivel chair and laced her fingers together on the desk.

"Welcome to SVU." Benson smiled.

Kate returned her smile with a grin. "Thank you, Sergeant."

"Your Captain from Washington DC and Sergeant from Seattle gave you shining recommendations." Benson sighed. "To be candid with you, finding cops that can work sex crimes is almost impossible." She flicked through the folder on her desk. "But you…you've done two years as a victim's aid, two years in the sex crimes unit, and two years undercover. I have no doubt that you are strong enough. So, it leads me to ask: what are you doing here?"

Kate knew deep down that she was here to run, and to get away from what she had left behind. Instead, she gave another reason. "I've worked with every kind of victim there is, all different sorts of cases. It doesn't matter where you are. Every place you go has victims that need help."

"That's what I like to hear. Well, you'll be working with Carisi. Hopefully you can teach him something." Benson looked past Kate into the squad room. "Here's the team now."

Kate swivelled around to see a three men and woman walk in from the elevator. Benson stood up, opened the door and gestured for Kate to follow her.

Kate took a deep breath, and put a small smile on her face.

"Team!" Benson yelled. "Welcome our new detective – Kate Walker. Kate, this is Detective Finn Tutuola," He was a tall, black man with a face worn by life and the damaging nature of the job. He nodded at her with a smile.

"Detective Nick Amaro,"

An attractive, Latino man grinned a genuine smile with big white teeth. "Hey."

"Detective Amanda Rollins," The small blonde waved her hand at Kate as she placed her gun in her desk. "And your new partner, Detective Dominick Carisi."

The lanky, pale man with perfectly combed hair came forward and grabbed her hand. "Nice to meet you." His heavy Brooklyn accent was unmissable.

Benson tucked her hands in her pockets. "Now, she's worked in the sex crimes unit in Seattle and undercover in Washington DC. Make her feel comfortable."

"Where were you undercover?" Nick asked, wondering over to her. He gestured for her to let him take her bag. She smiled and handed it over to him. He placed it on the only empty desk in the squad room, then leaned on the corner.

"I was in a prostitution ring trying to catch politicians paying for sex with minors." Kate explained. She began unpacking her things at her new desk.

"Whoop." Carisi said. "She's been playing with the big boys."

"Were you involved in the take down of Senator Bell?" Finn asked. When Kate nodded, Finn let out a low whistle. "I'm talking to the girl who took down that bastard."

Benson gave a small smile. She wondered back into her office, confident that they would all get along.

Nick rolled up his sleeves as he talked. "I was U.C. for a few years in a drug ring."

Kate nodded. "I read about it in the papers."

As she unpacked, she placed two photos on the desk – a photo of a little girl and an older woman, and a picture of a dog.

Nick leaned over and glanced at them. "Is that your little girl?"

"That's me and my mother." She leaned back in her chair and pointed to everyone. "What about you all? Kids? No kids?"

Amanda stood up. "Me and Carisi here are flying solo." She clamped a hand over Carisi's shoulder.

"I've got a son. Twenty three. Most stressful thing in my life." Finn said.

"Yeah. I've got a little boy and a little girl." Nick explained.

"How do you ever find the time for them with this job?" Kate asked.

Nick's phone began to ring. He stood and still facing Kate, backed towards his desk. "They're my kids. They're everything no matter what." He picked up the phone.

Nick spoke quickly to the person on the other end. His voice got louder and louder. "Barba, that search was good."

The entire team watched the conversation.

"Well, the defence can argue that all they like, but it was by the book."

Nick listened for a moment to the person the other end, then his face turned into a frown. "Get screwed, Barba." He slammed the phone down.

Rollin's twirled her pen and looked at Nick. "He's not going away, you know. He'll just turn up here in an hour."

Nick sat down at his desk. "Well, that's one more hour that I don't have to deal with him."

Finn wondered over to Kate and whispered to her, "Our A.D.A Rafael Barba, he's…well let's just say he's hard hitting."

Kate was stirring her coffee in the break room, when she heard Nick's voice start yelling. It carried all through the squad room so every person there could hear it. Coffee in hand, she looked to see what all the commotion was.

Nick stood with hunched shoulders and clenched fists in front of a well-dressed middle aged man. Benson stood in-between them, obviously trying to be the voice of reason.

"The search of that car was perfect." Nick yelled.

"According to the defence attorney it wasn't. And there's no possible way to prove that it was because you weren't in a squad car or with a partner who could cohobate your story." The man said. He wasn't a tall man, but he carried himself in a way that oozed power. He presented himself impeccably – neat hair, an expensive suit, and an un-scuffed leather suitcase.

"She's just using previous accusations to get out of her mess. She killed Grandoni."

Kate had heard of the Grandoni case in the papers and around the squad room. A woman made it appear that her husband had raped her now deceased daughter in order to give her reason for killing him, when in fact she just wanted the life insurance money.

Benson raised both her hands to try to put some distance between them. "Guys, settle down. Barba, I know my guy. He searched that car by the book."

Barba walked over to the squad TV and plugged in a USB. A grainy security video began playing. The footage appeared to show Nick pulling the perp out of the car for no apparent reason and hand-cuffing her.

Kate stood from her desk and hovered behind everyone else watching the video.

"That's crap. She tried to flirt her way out, and when that didn't work she pulled a gun on me." Nick yelled.

"The defence attorney is going to argue that the weapon was in her glove box and once you found it, you figured it was the perfect cover up." Barba said.

Kate stared at the video and noticed something. "The car behind them is a Lancer Cx300." She stated.

The entire squad looked at her, most with a look of confusion.

"Who is this?" Barba looked at Benson and pointed an accusatory finger towards Kate.

"Our new detective, Kate Walker."

"Well, Detective Walker, while I am surprised at your knowledge of cars, I fail to see how this helps my case."

Kate just stared at him for a moment, shocked at his rudeness. She then strut forward to the screen and placed a finger on the Lancer. "Well, A.D.A Barba, while I am not surprised at your lack of knowledge of cars," She mimicked him. "You didn't let me finish."

Nick and Carisi scoffed with laughter. Barba watched at her, intrigued.

"In 2008, a report was released by the New York Times stating that Lancer's were the highest model of cars to be involved in insurance claims and crashes that resulted in an injury. Lancer decided that from the Cx220 they would put dash cams on the front and back of each car. The camera records, even when the car is turned off, and stores the footage its system until 3 months has passed, then its deleted."

Carisi, Rollins and Benson all stood there shocked. Nick and Finn grinned at her.

Barba looked at her smugly. He looked back towards the screen. "Okay, I want the footage from that car. Call me once you've found it." He picked up his briefcase and began walking out, however he stopped by Olivia's side. With his back to the rest of the team, he said loud enough that everyone could hear, "She's good."

The A.D.A strutted out of the room.

Kate shook her head and walked back to her desk. "I don't know what to think of that man."