Disclaimer: I don't own Law & Order or its characters
Author's Note: This is where it stops being more than just peripherally Law & Order-esque, because, to be honest, I'm really just playing here, like a kid with a brand new toy. There's no plot outlined, not even in my head, beyond some things I think will happen. So if you're looking for intense suspense, I have to apologize and give you the chance to escape. That being said, enjoy?
The conversation kept running through Detective Lupo's mind, but he still couldn't believe the turn of events.
"You can testify under your call girl alias," ADA Cutter had conceded.
"Good. But I want protection. From what I what I know about Madello, I'm risking more than my career by testifying."
"Alright. Protective custody can be arranged."
"I want Lupo."
Why did she have to say it that way? Why did she make the request at all? Green's eyebrows had risen so high they had threatened to join his hairline. His partner would never let him live it down.
And now he had to babysit the so-called hooker.
The worst part was that he wasn't sure whether he was entirely resentful about the assignment. He hazarded another furtive appraisal of her appearance as she inserted the key into the lock and turned it with an audible click. Still in the same awful, off-putting hooker garb and cheap make-up as when they picked her up, but somehow she was more attractive. Perhaps it was because she had dropped the act, and that he found her genuine personality rather appealing.
He gently pulled her out of the way and entered the apartment before her, just in case. There didn't appear to be anyone in the main living areas, so he gestured her in.
"Which room is yours?" he asked. She pointed to a door a few yards from where he was standing.
He slowed as he approached, hearing noises from within the room. By the sounds of it, someone was trashing the place. Not a good sign for someone who hadn't wanted his life complicated by a protection detail in the first place. What was the likelihood that it wasn't trouble behind that door?
Not much.
Motioning for So-Called-Kandy to stay back, he took a deep breath before bursting through the door with his gun drawn. Within seconds, he ascertained that it wasn't a potentially life-threatening situation. Two women, done up only slightly less provocatively than his ward (probably because they were 'off duty') stood near the dresser through which they had been rummaging, their expressions fearful and shocked.
"Calm down, Lupo. They're my friends," Kandy announced, tiptoeing into what once had been her bedroom, avoiding stepping upon the remnants of what once had been her possessions. "But why my friends would be pawing through my things, I have no clue."
Play-acting for her friends, now…
Lupo holstered his weapon. This was the sort of problem that a man should know better than to allow himself to get in the middle. Judging from the looks in their eyes and the posturing that commenced as soon as the shock of his startling entry wore off, it could very well degenerate into a classic cat fight. And as So-Called-Kandy's designated defender, he would probably have to get involved at that point.
This did not look to be fun. Of course, wasn't this the theme of Penthouse forums and guys' fantasies everywhere? 'My day started off as usual…you know, taking a hooker-turned-witness into protective custody. We stopped by her place to pick up a few necessities she couldn't live without…and before I know it, there's three half-naked girls going at each other…'
"He's just a friend of mine," Kandy explained, attempting to placate the fury and contempt of the two women. Apparently the roommates didn't appreciate her bringing home an armed man who "had cop written all over him-and what the hell is going on here?"
"Normally, I wouldn't give a damn who you bring home, putita," said the olive-skinned one with straight red hair that was obviously not hers. Lupo couldn't tell if the Spanish pejorative was a term of endearment or insult, but she definitely seemed pissed at So-Called-Kandy. "But we found your papers, your little notes!"
So-Called-Kandy's face turned ashen, apparent even despite the concealer and rouge.
"You spyin' on us, bitch?!" the black girl with blonde plaits got straight to the point. She violently swiped up a pile of paper from the top of what probably used to be a well-organized vanity. And suddenly, it was raining yellow-business-legal-with-blue-ink in a flurry. Judging by the force at which she hurled them, the betrayed hooker no doubt meant for the wad of papers to somehow harm So-Called-Kandy. When they failed to do so, besides making her flinch, the enraged roommate spat on them where they fell at the contentious spy's feet.
"It's not what you think," the accused said softly, as if she knew there was no way to convince her once-friends.
"What are we supposed to think?" retorted the Latina, who seemed much less furious, or at least in more control. "You go missing, picked up by the cops. Then we find these papers about us. And to top it off, you sick the policia on us?!"
"C'mon, Carmen, Cherry! I didn't rat you guys out," So-Called-Kandy pleaded. "And I would never get you in trouble. You're my friends. You took care of me."
"Well, we ain't your friends no more, Kandy," the one Lupo assumed was 'Cherry' announced, seemingly over the rage portion of the row. With a deafening silence, the two women pushed past So-Called Kandy and her protector without even glancing in their ex-friend's direction. Lupo, however, received the evil eye treatment.
The door slammed behind them, issuing forth a gust of wind that sent papers fluttering about the room once more. So-Called-Kandy moved slowly to sit on the edge of her mattress, which was stripped clean of sheets and thrown off-kilter by the intruders' frantic scouring of the room. Her back was to him, but Lupo was fairly certain that silent tears were turning the cheap cosmetics into torrents of pigment upon her cheeks.
His instinct as a man was to back off. A crying, emotional woman was never a pleasant thing with which to entangle one's self. Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of employing avoidance tactics, seeming as he was being forced to watch over her, and for comfort's sake that meant dragging her home with him.
Sobbing could be a bitch to try to sleep through.
And then there was that part of him that he had tried to bury, but apparently was refusing to die. Frustratingly admitting to himself that he cared about this woman who was a virtual stranger, that the thought of her distressed unsettled him, he conceded to the compassionate side of his nature.
"Uh..." he hesitated, standing over her. Calling her 'Kandy' seemed somehow so inappropriate at the moment. That wasn't who she really was, and that wasn't who was hurting right now in front of his eyes. So, he just went with the usual, hackneyed utterance generally uttered in uncomfortable situations such as these. "Are you okay?"
A large sniffle belied her assurance that "Yes, I'm fine."
Fine? This was worst than he thought.
He sat down beside her, not knowing her well enough to feel at ease touching her. It could be that she was one of those people who never wanted comforting when they were upset. He hoped that merely his sympathetic presence close-by would be enough. If she wanted more, she'd have to initiate it.
And she did, taking him by surprise as she turned and threw her arms around his neck. His own hands flew away from her body, shocked and apprehensive to touch her perchance it was inappropriate. His resolve melted however as she began to sob heartily into his chest.
Holding her close, he let her cry out all the anxiety that had no doubt been building since she had first taken on her cover, suppressing her true self. It was the expression of nerves worn raw from struggling, from fighting her nature, from doing and seeing horrible things, things she'd probably never speak of to anyone.
Such stress, he could understand. Most of his life, he'd had nobody. Even when he had somebody, he had nobody; no one with which to share his secrets, his feelings. And he didn't mind it really. Rather, he'd grown accustomed to the isolation, so much so that he automatically distanced himself from those around him.
If she wanted to express without sharing, that was fine by him. He'd hold her until she'd recovered her composure.
Then he'd take her home and keep her safe. For something more than duty compelled him to do so…
A/N: As you can see, I am slightly unsure of Lupo's character…and I hope my OC isn't too awfully two-dimensional. There will be some Green-Lupo interaction later on, although Green is problematic for me, having been developed for years on the show, and my familiarity being rather limited.
A/N2: Also, pretty sure that her testifying under an alias and getting Lupo to be her protection would not actually work/be possible, but I really just wanted to play! Can you blame me?!