From New York to Boston: A Special Victim's Homicide Case

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own R and I or SVU or the characters associated with either show.

Jane polished off her second beer ignoring the way Maura watched her as she slowly sipped from her glass of wine. She had a long day and the beer was cold, wet and just what the doctor ordered after the long, hard day she had just finished. Homicide was hardly ever a rewarding job even when the case was solved and put to bed. There was always death, grief and despair and it was hard to leave the precinct without smelling defeated in some way.

"Did you want to talk about it?" Maura always offered, Jane rarely accepted. Today would be no different as Jane simply shook her head. It was a struggle to leave the job at work some days, but those days made it that much more necessary.

"I want to sleep. I want to completely pass out to where I can't even hear my phone. I want to wake up feeling guilty for not responding to a call, but well rested as I get my ass chewed." Jane smiled at Maura before beginning her third beer.

Maura laughed knowing better. Jane was programmed to hear that phone and she hardly ever drank more than three beers after work. She also ate well when she drank and Maura could only shake her head as Jane looked like a little kid waiting for her burger to be served. Jane had already warned her to keep her hands off her fries, threatening to order a side order just for her. Maura said no, Jane ordered them anyway.

The women ate quietly, each trying to erase the day with each others company and their drink of choice. Maura enjoyed watching Jane when they were alone. She imagined Jane as a child, untouched by the horrors of her world as they both knew it now. Maura knew the look as Jane slowly put her half eaten hamburger down on her plate. "I want to ignore it."

Maura could only offer a sympathetic look as Jane pulled her phone from her hip. "Rizzoli." Jane listened carefully glancing up at Maura, warning her to expect a phone call of her own. She then continued to eat while Maura finished up her call.

"It never ends." Maura knew how tired Jane was but still the detective pulled herself together and cleared out of the booth.

It was dark and the cool air made it seem even darker as Jane stepped out of Maura's car. They often arrived at crime scenes together and Frost met them before they could get too close to the house. "Jane, hold on a minute."

"What do we got?" Jane responded to her partner's stalling with irritation which only made Frost nervous. Maura walked around the detectives, showing her identification to get on scene.

"Jane, it's a young girl, college age maybe." Frost stepped in front of Jane as she attempted to get into the house. "Jane..."

"Frost, what is the problem. I need to get in there." Jane ignored her partner as he was left to follow her in. She took in the scene carefully before making her way over to the victim.

Maura stood, initially blocking Jane's view of the young woman who had seemingly bled out on the floor they stood on. "Jane, it appears her death was caused by strangulation, but she was cut as well. There are also signs of sexual assault."

"Okay." Jane searched Maura's eyes, not recognizing the uneasy way in which Maura delivered her determination. "Maura, let me see her."

Jane bent down to examine the victim only to have her attention drawn to the note that was held to the floor by a scalpel. She stood without touching the scalpel or the paper. "Maura, how do you know she was strangled to death and didn't bleed out." Jane's voice wavered when she spoke.

"The cut is not very deep; almost as if it was done for effect. There would be much more blood." Maura gently touched Jane's arm in hopes of shaking her out of the instant trance she seemed to fall into.

"Frost!" Jane didn't seem to notice Maura as her eyes were trained on the note she refused to get to close to. "Make sure that scalpel and note are bagged separately for evidence."

Frost knew procedure and knew that Jane was trying like hell to keep her composure. He motioned for Korsak who had been briefed before arriving on scene. He was quick to take Jane by the arms and lead her away from the victim.

"I can't do this again, Vince. I can't." Jane was coming unglued and she was finding it hard to breathe.

"It's not him, you know that. Jane, look at me." Korsak gave her a few minutes to focus on his eyes. "It's not him."

Jane watched as the note was bagged, nervously looking back at Korsak. "See one, do one, teach one." Jane's voice was deeper than usual as she recited the note out loud. She looked for Maura who had returned to tend to the victim.

"Jane, Hoyt is dead. We knew this was a possibility. We had no way of knowing how many he trained." Korsak watched Jane as she processes his words. "Maybe it's not even that. Could be a coincidence."

"Come on, Vince!" Jane lowered her voice when she drew the attention of the responding officers. "You and I both know it's not a coincidence. I will never be free of him."

Maura looked up as Jane stormed from the house. This was not at all how she had hoped their evening would go tonight. She was looking forward to spending a quiet evening together knowing one or both of them would pass out before the halfway point of any movie she picked. It was her turn to pick the movie and Jane always complained about her choices knowing she would fall asleep a few minutes into it anyway. "Sargent Korsak. I'm ready to remove the body."

"Yeah, okay." Korsak struggled with whether to chase Jane or begin investigating the scene. Frost waved him on as they both knew Jane shouldn't be alone. He found her leaning up against Maura's car, having just finished emptying her stomach.

"Korsak, I can't play this game again." Jane was breathing heavily trying but failing to keep her composure.

"Jane, we'll get to the bottom of it. We always do." Korsak moved with Jane in an attempt to stay within her line of view. "Cavenaugh will probably pull you before you even get started."

"No! No, he can't. I have to be involved." Jane's panic was evident as she began to pace, her breathing becoming even more erratic.

"Jane, it's not my call." Korsak was almost relieved to see Maura approaching knowing she would know how to calm Jane. He traded off thankful that Maura loved Jane the way she did.

Maura stepped in front of Jane instantly stopping her pacing and forcing her to look her in the eyes. "In through your nose, out through your mouth." Maura put her hand up stopping Jane from arguing with her.

Jane did as she was directed, immediately feeling herself calm with Maura's presence. Once she was still Jane could feel the cold night air as it quickly dried the sweat from her forehead. "Maur, I can't do this."

"You can and you will." Maura spoke in a no nonsense tone that Jane responded to. "It's just a shock right now, but you'll regroup and you'll figure out who's behind all this."

Jane continued to take deep breaths in through her nose. "I should probably get in there. It's going to be a long night." Jane didn't move despite stating her intentions.

"It is." Maura stood tall in front of Jane almost if shielding her from what was to come involving this case. "I need to get going. I'm sure you'll be pushing me for answers sooner than later."

Jane looked through Maura as she spoke. She slowly nodded at a statement she only half heard.

"Are you going to be okay? Maybe you should come back to the precinct with me." Maura didn't try to hide her concern as she moved a little closer to Jane. Jane immediately gave Maura her full attention knowing that was the effect she was going for.

"No, I have work to do." Jane spoke with conviction. Maura had managed to get her back on track and Korsak stood in the doorway of the house awaiting Detective Rizzoli. He knew if anybody could turn Jane around it would be Maura and he let out a deep breath once he realized she had done just that.

"Please be careful." Maura doubted Jane heard her as she was already walking up to the house with her game face on. She knew how Jane fought constantly with her memories of Hoyt and the trauma she endured at his hands. She prayed it would end for her, yet here they were staring at what appeared to be another apprentice.

Maura looked up as Jane stopped short of entering the house. The look on Jane's face told her that she had indeed heard her and she was always careful. Especially when it came to Charles Hoyt, whether he was dead or alive.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia Benson was no stranger to late hours, pulling more than her share over the last few months. It beat the alternative of going home to an empty apartment. She missed the chaos and clutter of Calvin, still amazed at how fast that kid captured her heart. She had stopped trying to contact Elliot, finally accepting that he simply wasn't going to return her call. She tried to understand his need for complete separation, but she was failing miserably when it came to accepting his total abandonment. It hurt when she thought of him which was all the time it seemed. She needed to work and that is what she did, often sparing her new partner of the tedious paperwork that every detective despised.

"Benson, Amarro!" Cragen called from the doorway of his office. As much as Olivia hated what they fought everyday, sometimes she was thankful for the workload.

"Nick's gone for the night, Captain. What's up?" Olivia stood looking around the squad room suddenly surprised that just about everybody was gone for the night.

"Call him. Rape/murder east side. It's yours." Cragen delivered the paper with the address and immediately turned to return to his office. Olivia watched her boss as he seemed more and more frustrated with the job with each day. Elliot's departure affected him more than he would admit. Olivia knew this because she too refused to admit how much she missed him.

Benson arrived at the same time as Nick, both showing their badges to gain access to the scene. Olivia talked to the first responding briefly before joining her partner who was crouched down by the body of the young woman. "Liv, what do you know about this?"

Olivia stood when Nick did unsure of what he was seeing that she wasn't. She watched as he slowly held out a typed letter on plain paper. She recited the words as she read them, her voice trailing off at the end. "Call police or Olivia Benson."

Nick watched Olivia carefully as she read and reread the note that was left on scene. "What is it? Who is it?"

Olivia forced her eyes from the note and tried to focus on her partner. "I'm assuming she was raped?" Olivia knew before she asked.

"Olivia, talk to me. What's going on?" Nick tried to block Olivia's view of the body by stepping in front of her.

"Was her throat cut?"

"Yeah, but it looks more like she was strangled. Cut wasn't very deep." Nick was confused as he watched Olivia as she looked from the victim back to the note. "Liv?"

"Everybody has their own personal boogie man, right?" Olivia's voice shook with her words causing Nick to move closer to his partner. "Well, Patrick Mann was mine. This is his work. This is him." Olivia handed the note back to Nick before bending down to get a closer look at their latest victim.

Fin and Rollins arrived on scene only to be held back by Nick. "What's up, man?" Fin wondered why they were called as additional detectives on scene.

"Patrick Mann?" Nick questioned Fin hoping he knew something of who this man was and more important who he was to Olivia.

"Shit!" Fin pushed past Nick, making his way over to Olivia. Nick watched as Fin gently pulled Olivia to her feet and guided her away from the body. He watched as Fin took control, barking orders about preserving evidence and processing the body. Olivia made her way over to where Nick stood with Rollins. The distracted look was made it hard for Nick to read his partner who was obviously affected.

"I'm going to head back in. I want to get the scalpel and this note checked into evidence immediately." Olivia took the note from her partner, not giving him a chance to ask anymore questions. She headed to her car, refusing to answer him as he called to her.

"Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on? We have a rape/murder and a note with Olivia's name on it. I'm her god damned partner, I should know. Right?" Nick looked at Rollins before grabbing Fin's arm as she attempted to pass them both.

Fin stopped, waiting long enough for Olivia to get into her car. "Patrick Mann was a serial rapist. Murderer. Olivia was the one that got away. Then he got away."

Nick stared Fin down asking for more information. Fin hated saying much knowing it wasn't his place. "His trail went cold, the murders stopped. Seven girls raped and murdered with no justice. And now it looks like he's back."

"With his sights on my partner." Nick caught on quickly as he headed back over to the body. He didn't expect Olivia to be involved in this case, in fact, he expected Cragen to pull her as soon as word was out.

Olivia made it back to the precinct where she quickly made her way up to the cribs. She was thankful to find the room empty as she took a bottom bunk. Her head was spinning which was upsetting her stomach. She pulled her phone from her pocket, quickly scrolling down to Elliot's name. She dialed hoping, but not expecting Elliot to answer. She had never wanted to hear his voice more than now.

It had been nearly five years since the trail went cold on one Patrick Mann. She and Elliot had been forced to abandon the hunt when every lead turned cold. Their services were needed elsewhere and Olivia had only recently managed to erase his face from her dreams. Olivia never gave up the hunt and she knew Elliot hadn't either, but any work on the case had to be on their own time. The last two years especially had been hectic and there was little to no time left to search for Mann. Olivia reluctantly gave up the hunt, Elliot being the one to convince her to move on.

"Liv? You in there?" Olivia jumped at the knocking on the door to the cribs. Nick knew she was in there or he would've opened the door by now.

"Yeah, Nick." Olivia sat up, trying to look as unaffected as possible.

"You okay?" Nick sat on the bunk across from his partner. "Fin filled me in as to who Patrick Mann is. We don't know for sure this is him. I mean, why would he start back up after so many years?"

"It's him. I have no doubt." Olivia stood, giving herself a minute to get her balance. "He's taunting me."

"Tell me what happened. I can go back and read the reports, but you know as well as I do the report only holds half the facts." Nick's accent was thick and Olivia felt for him as the exhaustion of his first year in SVU was showing clear.

"Patrick Mann was...is a serial rapist/murderer. Murdered seven girls within a six month period. We were close. So very close to catching him, to stopping him." Olivia's voice trailed off as she forced herself to finish her statement. "Nick, not now, okay? Please?"

"Yeah, sure." Nick watched as Olivia forced herself to stand tall. She was strong, probably the strongest woman he knew, yet he knew she would need him more than she would ever admit. He followed her out of the cribs cursing Stabler under his breath. How could he abandon her like this. She was his partner for over twelve years. He owed it to her to at least be available.