Chapter 2: Warming Up

The next day they came in and Chris wasn't at her desk. It was only eight and they were early so they didn't think anything of it. Thirty minutes passed and she was officially late. It was only her second day and Benson didn't exactly like her so far, so the chances of her covering for her were slim. Five minutes later she walked through the squad room doors. She was wearing black slacks and a red shirt tucked into her pants, her badge and gun clipped to her belt. It was only eight thirty five and she was already on her second cup of coffee in thirty minutes. It had been a long night for her but she was up and at it this morning, working hard to get her sister to school and still make it to work on time.

"I know, I'm late. Sorry" she said to Olivia as she hustled over to her desk. She looked flustered as she sat her bag and coffee down on her desk. Everything in the room was darkly tinted and then she realized that she was still wearing her sunglasses. She moved them from her eyes and rested them on top of her head. She sat down at her desk with soft thud and rubbed her hands over her face.

"You know, it's only your second day and you're already late" Olivia said sitting on the edge of her desk, "You planning on making a habit of this?".

Chris looked up at her, "Of course not" she said. She cleared her throat and took a sip of her coffee. "It won't happen again". Olivia nodded and went back to her own desk.

"You look like you're getting the hang of this a little bit, newbie" Nick said to her on his way back to his desk from getting coffee.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Your wardrobe" he explained. She rolled her eyes then grabbed her coffee cup and headed over to fill it.

Amanda walked over to her, "Long night?" she asked grabbing a new styrofoam cup.

"Uh, yeah". Amanda watched as Chris took six packets of sugar and dumped them into the bottom of her travel cup before filling it with coffee.

"That's a lot sugar" she said.

Chris laughed, "Yeah, well, it was a really long night". She turned and went back to her desk and sat down to a stack of files that she assumed Olivia put there for her. Capt. Cragen came out of his office a minute later.

"We've got a victim at Bellevue hospital" he said holding up a sticky note.

"Fin, Rollins, you're up" Benson said from her desk.

They both got up and started to head out, "No" he said stopping them, "Rollins you go...and take Reyes with you" he said. Her head snapped around at the sound of her name.

"Uh, Captain I don't think that's a good idea" Olivia said standing up from her chair. "Uh, I second that" Amaro said walking over and standing next to Olivia. "She's gonna have to get her feet wet sometime. No better time than the present". Cragen handed the note to Rollins then turned and went back into his office.

"Come on" Rollins said prompting Chris to follow her. She grabbed her pen, notepad, and coffee and started to follow Amanda out of the squad room.

"Rollins, just hold up a sec" Olivia said as she went over to Cragen's office and lightly knocked on the door. She went in and shut the door behind her.

"Olivia. I'm guessing you have more to say on my decision to send Reyes with Rollins".

"Yeah, she's not ready". Cragen stood up and walked around his desk and stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets. "She doesn't know what questions to ask, or how to sympathize with the victims, or how to...".

He held his hand up to stop her, "How do you expect her to learn if she stays at her desk all the time?" he asked.

"She can watch the interview once the vic comes back to the station and she can get her feet wet here during the investigation".

"She's knows how to investigate, Liv. She worked homicide..."

Olivia scoffed, "Yeah for fifteen days" she said as if it didn't count.

"And she worked narcotics for three years. She was a star pupil, helped bring down a couple of drug rings. We can use her". Olivia opened her mouth to argue some more but Cragen put his hand up to stop her, "She has to start somewhere, just like you did". He walked back around his desk, "Now, I know that you and Fin are probably tired of breaking in new blood which is why I sent her with Rollins. She and Amaro have been here long enough now to help show her the ropes. You gotta give her a chance, Olivia", he said retaking his seat behind his desk. She sighed and went back out into the squad room.

"We good?" Rollins asked.

"Uh, yeah". Olivia started to walk back to her desk but then stopped and turned back to the door, "Hey, Reyes" she called after her. Chris turned and looked at her, "Why don't you let Rollins do the talking this time?" she suggested. Chris just nodded and turned around, took her sunglasses off her head to cover her eyes, and followed Rollins to the elevator to leave the building. On the drive to the hospital, Chris stared out the window. She was still trying to get familiar with New York streets. She looked at the landscape and took note of the street signs as Rollins drove. She could see her taking glances at her out of the corner of her eye and decided to try to start a conversation.

"She doesn't like me much does she?" she asked. Rollins was so busy trying to focus on the road and sneak glances at her companion that the question caught her off guard.

"Huh?".

Chris looked over at her, "Sgt Benson. She's not too big a fan of my being here" she said, not really asking this time.

"Oh...it's just gonna take her some time to warm up to you" Amanda said. "How long have you worked with her?" she said looking out the window again. "About three years now".

"The first time you went to interview a victim did she tell you not to talk?" Amanda stopped at a red light and looked over at Chris. She knew she was trying to make a point that it was obvious Olivia's behavior had nothing to do with needing to warm up to her. She just didn't like her, plain and simple.

"No...she didn't" Amanda answered. "But I worked SVU in Atlanta so I wasn't really a rookie. She knows you haven't done this before and she just want to ease you into it, that's all" she said trying to make excuses for Liv.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all it is".

Amanda pulled up to the hospital and parked the car. They went inside and walked to the nurses station. Rollins showed her badge, "Hi. Detective Rollins, my partner Detective Reyes. There was a call about rape victim".

The nurse nodded her head, "Yes. Rape kit's done but you might have some trouble getting a statement from her" she said looking at chart.

"Why's that?" Rollins asked.

"I think she may be illegal. She got agitated when she was told the police were coming. She's been asking to leave". She put the chart on a rack with a bunch of others and walked out from behind the nurses station. She pointed down the hall, "She's in exam three".

They walked down the hall then stopped outside a door with the uniformed officers standing outside. Amanda introduced them to the officers, "Either of you talk to her?" she asked as she looked into the room through the small rectangular window.

"I talked, she yelled. I thought it best we wait out here til SVU arrived" the male officer said. His female partner chimed in, "Name's Ariana Soto. Just a warning, her english isn't that great".

Amanda nodded, "Thanks". Amanda knocked lightly on the door before going in. Chris followed quietly behind her.

The girl was sitting up in the bed staring at them as they entered the room. Her legs were hanging over the side and she was still wearing her hospital gown. Finger shaped bruises were visible on her wrists and thighs and she had cuts and scrapes on her face and knees. She had a black eye and a split lip and they could tell that her nose had been bleeding. She didn't look any older than seventeen. "Hi, Ariana" Rollins said slowly approaching her, "My name is Amanda Rollins. This is Christina Reyes" she said gesturing to the woman behind her. "We're Detectives with the Special Victims Unit and we want to talk to you about what happened? Do you understand?". The girl stared back and forth between them, then looked down at her feet. "Ariana" Rollins said getting her to look at her again, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"No. I want to go home". She had a thick accent and sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I understand if you're scared but we can help you. It's important that you talk to us so that whoever did this to you doesn't hurt any other girls". Chris stood quietly behind Amanda as she tried to get the girl to cooperate.

"I not want your help. I say nothing". She had a lot of sass in her voice and Chris immediately thought of her younger sister.

"¿Cuántos años tienes?" Chris asked finally speaking up from behind Amanda.

"Dieciseis" she answered.

"Tengo una hermana de tu edad" she said as she walked a little closer to her.

Ariana rolled her eyes, "Asi que lo que" she said back. The amount of attitude coming off the girl was enough for Chris to stop trying to be nice and get down to business.

"Mira chica, estamos aquí para usted. Los dos sabemos que si se va a salir, te lo hubieras hecho antes de llegar aquí. Así que ¿por qué no se le cae la actitud y responder a nuestras preguntas, ok?" Amanda wasn't sure what Chris had just said to the girl but her no nonsense tone was very clear. "And don't think for a second that I can't see through this bullshit "I don't speak english" game you're trying to play". She looked down at her feet again and took a heavy breath.

"I was at a party last night" she started. Her accent wasn't as thick as before and she'd toned down her attitude. "It was a birthday party for my friend's brother, Monte. He turned twenty one. Their parents were out of town so he used their house and said that she could invite some friends. It was just so she wouldn't say anything. We were having fun, everything was good. Then I started to feel dizzy and sick. Raquel, my friend, she said I could go lay down in her room". Rollins took notes on what Ariana was saying and wrote down names as she said them. "It's all a little blurry. I remember feeling someone on top of me, holding my wrists and touching my hair. He was heavy and it was hard to breath. I tried to yell but the music was too loud". She stopped talking and started to cry.

"It's alright, honey. You're doing great" Amanda said. "What else do you remember?" she asked, encouraging her to continue. She took a deep breath before continuing, "Ummm...he was gentle at first and then when I yelled he got mad. That's when he started hitting me".

"Can you remember any details about him? Hair color, eye color, any distinguishing marks?"

She shook her head, "No. It was dark and when he...started I just shut my eyes". They talked to her for a while longer, getting as much information as they could from her before she got overwhelmed and asked to take a break. She begged them not to call her parents. They said they wouldn't but advised her to do it herself. If she was planning on moving forward with pressing charges they would find out anyway and it was best that they hear it from her. She asked Chris if she would help her tell them and she agreed that she would. They told her that she could shower and get changed and the officers outside would escort her to the police station when she was ready. Chris gave her a card then they left the hospital. When they got back to the precinct, Chris went to the bathroom and Rollins went back into the squad room. Olivia started questioning her before she could even take off her jacket and sit down.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked from her desk.

"Fine" she said not giving any details. Chris walked into the squad room and went to her desk. Just as she sat down her phone started to ring. She didn't recognize the number but answered anyway.

"Reyes" she said into the speaker. "Yes, Ariana" she said looking over at Rollins. It'd only been a little over twenty minutes since they left the hospital and the teenager was already putting her number to use. "Por que no?" Rollins waited while she was on the phone with the girl for her to tell her what the next move was. "No hasta que mi digas por que no quiere que los oficiales que lo lleve". Amaro and Olivia understood what Reyes was saying but Amanda and Fin only caught bits of the one sided conversation. "Por que no puedes contestar a mi pregunta?" She listened to Ariana talk on the other end for a minute before speaking again, "Ok. We'll come back". She hung up the phone and looked at Amanda, "She wants us to come and get her. She says the uniforms there make her uncomfortable" she said using air quotes. Rollins got back up and put her jacket back on before grabbing her keys and heading for the door with Reyes.

"Wait a minute" Olivia said stopping them, "what's going on?" she said wanting some clarity on the situation.

"The vic is sixteen year old Ariana Soto. She was possibly drugged and raped at a birthday party. We got as much as we could out of her at the hospital but she was starting to shut down so we stopped and let her get cleaned up. We were gonna have the unis that responded bring her over when she was ready but apparently, she doesn't want to ride with them" Rollins said giving Olivia the cliff notes.

"Uh, I thought we agreed that you would do all the talking? Why is she calling Reyes" she asked.

"She liked me better" Chris said speaking up. Rollins gave her a playful glare and Chris just looked away and laughed.

"She was hesitant to cooperate at first, pretending that she didn't speak english. Reyes stepped in and was able to get her talking" Amanda explained.

"Ok, well why don't you take Amaro and Reyes can stay here and get started on writing up her statement". Nick started to get out of his chair and put on his suit jacket to go with Amanda.

"Why?" Chris asked defiantly. "She didn't ask for him. She asked for us". Fin watched from his desk, interested in how this was about to play out. Olivia was trying not let her dislike for the newbie be so obvious but it was apparent in her body language that she wanted the girl out of the way.

"You're new. I'm just trying not to overwhelm you" she said. What she really wanted to say was she didn't want her to screw this up.

"I'm not overwhelmed. Not even a little bit". Olivia was staring her down but Chris didn't flinch under her gaze. She wasn't intimidated and she wanted to make sure Olivia knew it.

"Liv, we're all good" Amanda said trying to ease the tension. "I'll keep an eye on her". She turned and tapped Chris lightly on the shoulder with the back of her hand, "Come on. Let it go" she whispered. Chris held her stare as she took her glasses off her head and put them on her face before turning and walking with Rollins out of the squad room. They stepped onto the elevator and Amanda hit the button to take them to the first floor. Chris leaned against the wall as they rode down, "Still think she just needs to warm up to me?" she asked. The doors opened and she stepped out, not even waiting for Amanda to respond to her. Rollins shook her head, "This is gonna be interesting" she said to herself as she walked off the elevator and out of the building.

Spanish-English Translation

¿Cuántos años tienes?- How old are you?

Dieciseis- Sixteen

Tengo una hermana de tu edad- I have a sister about your age

Asi que lo que- So what

Mira chica, estamos aquí para usted. Los dos sabemos que si se va a salir, te lo hubieras hecho antes de llegar aquí. Así que ¿por qué no se le cae la actitud y responder a nuestras preguntas, ok?"- Look girl, we're here for you. We both know that if you were going to leave, you wouldv'e done it before we got here. So why don't you drop the attitude and answer our questions, ok?

Por que no?- Why not?

No hasta que mi digas por que no quiere que los oficiales que lo lleve- Not until you tell me why you don't want the officers to drive you.

Por que no puedes contestar a mi pregunta?- Why can't you just answer my question?