Disclaimer - Maria Frank is created by me. All others belong to Law and Order: SVU.
There was nothing worse than having to shower in a place that wasn't home, especially when it's the showers at work. After a rough three days straight trying to catch a serial rapist, Maria Frank had to take a shower to get the street grim and disgusting feel off of her. Feeling around in her locker for a clean shirt and possible extra pairs of undergarments, Frank stuffed her soap and shampoo into a bag and headed to the female shower room.
It was separated by meager stalls, but that was it as each woman in the room was able to still see each other in the flesh while the barrier only showed from the shoulders up. It still wasn't good enough for Maria, but she had no choice. Bugger...
"Hey, wait up!" Olivia Benson jogged up behind her with a similar looking bag, hopefully looking for a chance to rise off the three days, too. "First time in three days, too?"
Maria nodded her head and undid her work blouse. "Sadly, yes. I smell like something that was pulled from the gutter from the way we've been going to the streets lately."
Liv reached behind her back and undid her bra, tossing into an empty bag she had stashed in her first one. "Hopefully, this won't take much longer."
"I hope so. I want to go home and cuddle my dog," She agreed wrapping her towel around herself and heading toward a free stall, shampoo and soap in hand. "You?"
Benson turned the nob to the water, feeling hot water hitting her skin for the first time in days. "I want to curl up with a good book and a glass of wine."
"Oh, that sounds so good right now!" Maria laughed and stepped under the steaming water of the shower head, soaking in the heat. "This feels really good right now."
Chuckling, Liv soaked her head and glanced over at Maria, noticing a mark on her right shoulder. "Hey, what's that? Did you fall during the chase yesterday?" She leaned closer and noticed it wasn't possible. "You've got an impressive bruise right there."
Maria glanced at her right shoulder and her eyebrows rose. "Whoa. That's still there?"
"What do you mean?" Liv asked, her voice etched in curiosity and slight concern for her friend.
She waved her hand, carelessly waving away Benson's concern. "It's okay. It happened a few days ago and I figured it would have been gone by now." She reached for her shampoo bottle and lathered up, lowering her voice. "It's from John. No worries."
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No," Frank replied quickly with her brows furrowed. "He doesn't and won't hurt me. Not on purpose," she explained, shrugging her shoulders. "We were goofing off - as we do - and he gripped my shoulder too tightly."
Liv tilted her head slightly, not quite understanding. "What do you mean, 'goofing off'?" She stepped closer and noticed the faint bruising of fingers, like she had been grabbed from the back. "I've seen enough bruising to see finger marks, Mar. Are you sure you're okay?"
Glancing around to make sure no one had walked in, Maria stepped closer and whispered even quieter. "John's rough sometimes and I don't tell him no unless I mean it, okay? I know better than to stay in an abusive relationship and John would rather shoot himself than hurt me out of anger or abuse." She lathered up her soap and rubbed it along the bruise."I'm still surprised that's still there."
Smirking, Olivia leaned closer and whispered, "I don't mean to pry, but... that bruise isn't from him grabbing you face-to-face. That's from the back."
Giggling to herself, Maria felt her face grow red and she glanced around sheepishly, knowing she could trust Liv not to say anything to John - or anyone else. "We're not just a missionary couple, Liv." Hinting to her what had happened to cause the lingering bruise. "Missionary's fun - don't get me wrong - but there's nothing more amazing than feeling submissive to a guy who comes up from behind."
Olivia Benson roared with laughter, clamping her hand firmly over her mouth as tears started to roll. Her face grew bright red rather quickly and leaned against the stall barrier to catch her breath. "For real?"
Maria nodded and placed a hand over her mouth when she started to giggle. "Just...don't tell anyone, okay?"
"My lips are sealed, Mar." She promised, making a motion of zipping her lips shut. "I just never thought of John being so adventurous. He's always seemed so," Benson paused while trying to think of the word. "I guess mellow might be it, but that doesn't sound right."
Frank smirked to herself as she finished her shower. "He may seem mellow, but that guy is a totally different person in private. It took him a while after we first met, but he's an amazing guy, Liv."
"Think I'll meet an awesome guy like him one day?" She asked, wrapping her towel around her while using another to dry her hair. "I mean, I've had so many dates, but they never work out."
"It'll happen. Just think about it, he didn't find a gal until he was in his forties and I was in thirties. Just keep looking." Maria assured, knowing her friend was lonely without a loving partner.
"Thanks, Mar." Liv smiled. "Hey, I've got another question. How many suit jackets does he go through? I mean, Zev's got to drool like a maniac and with him bouncing around John, that drool has to land somewhere."
Giggling as they reached their lockers, Maria opened it and reached in for some clothes. "This morning, he went through three jackets. Once Zev started to really drool as he grew, he knew to get extra suit jackets just in case because of that dog." She pulled on some clean clothes and tapped on the photo taped on the inside of her locker door. "It took four tries to get that photo of the bloodhound since he couldn't sit still. He just had to chance the snowflakes and couldn't contain himself."
"He sure is a good dog, though."
Nodding her head, Frank agreed. "He sure is. He doesn't replace Ace or Alex - he's more of a successor."
"I like that way of describing it." Benson thought over it for a moment. "Successor. It has a nice ring to it."
"He's our best buddy." Just like how John is my best buddy.
-End