Writer's Note:

G'day mate!

I know it took me a while to post this next chapter but I've been really busy lately, so sorry for that. I also want to thank everyone that reviewed, urging me to keep going with this story after my little rant. I'm sorry for that, I was just very frustrated. But thanks again guys, you're all awesome!

Anyways... along with the story.

Chapter 5

Being grounded and suspended makes your week go very slowly! I was forced to wake up at early hours in the morning, then my mother dragged me down to the precinct with her. I was stuck there doing the school work I'm missing while drinking numerous cups of coffee, hiding them from my mother. And if I'm not doing that I'm bored out of my brains in the bunkers, either napping or bouncing a tennis ball repeatedly against the dull cement walls.

But it was Friday at last!

The last day of my suspension, and the last day of being grounded.

My eyes slowly fluttered open landing on the alarm clock on my small black bedside table. They were about to flutter back closed when I realized what time it was. My eyes shot back open, looking at the red lights that read 10:17 am. I was confused. My mother should have dragged my ass out of bed about three hours ago.

Maybe my mum over slept… no, she never does that. I pulled my blanket off me and pulled on my comfy over sized grey hoodie over my boxers and tee, the jumper reaching my knees as I left my room. I was about to check if she was still in bed when I saw her sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

"Mum?", I called her name in a questioning tone since I didn't understand why she was sitting at home in her pajamas rather than at work.

Olivia put her mug down, turned to me and grinned. "You're finally up", she said a little too chirpy.

"Why aren't you at work?", I asked totally confused.

"Well, we finally closed the case yesterday and I convinced Cragen to give me the day off", she smiled, happily. "And I know this is the last day that you're grounded but I really think you've learnt your lesson", she said, having a very mischievous look on her face. I rose my eyebrow in question, totally confused.

"What's the catch?", I asked, skeptical that she'll let me off for no reason.

Olivia jumped up from her chair, disappeared to her room and came back holding a box.

"No you didn't!", I yelled, a smile automatically plastering on my face.

"It was on sale and I thought: what better way to spend the next three days", Olivia smiled, placing the complete series of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. box set on the kitchen counter.

"I like the way you think, Detective Benson", I grinned as I delicately tore open the plastic off the box set.

Olivia chuckled then her face grew serious making me stop what I'm doing and turn to her, "Jaime, I know that I've been really busy lately because of work, and we haven't had a lot of time together", she said in a regrettable soft tone as her soft brown irises looked into mine, "It's just been really hectic since Elliot left and I guess I'm just throwing myself into my job to distract me from that", she said, a hurt expression on her face as she placed her hand on my arm as she bent down slightly so we were at eye level, "I haven't been making enough effort to make time for those girls nights we used to have, just you and me. I'm sorry"

"Mum...", I breathed out as I placed my hand on top of hers, giving it a little squeeze. "What you do is important, you don't need to apologise. I'm not a little girl anymore. You don't always have to make time for me. I'd rather have you out there helping people", I confessed truthfully, letting her know that I've sacrificed my mother for the betterment of the world.

"You think I have to make time for you?", she scoffed, "I need to. Seeing you everyday is the only thing that keeps me sane", she smiled lovingly, "I never would have survived SVU for this long if it wasn't for you", she said serious.

And by the look on her face, I didn't doubt her words one bit but I had the urge to challenge them. "Come on, Mum. You're badass all by yourself", I smirked.

Mum rolled her eyes and chuckled before she placed her hand on the back of my neck, pulled me forward and gave me a kiss on my forehead, "You make me badass", she grinned.

I smiled, never feeling safer then with my mother. She was my rock. She always made every one of my worries disappear. And even though I yearn for the father that I never got to have, sometimes in times like these I tell myself, 'she's enough'.

Olivia dropped her hand, "Now, how about we get some breakfast, grab some snacks from the store and come back and start on season one?", she suggested with a contagious grin.

I nodded, grinning in agreement as I piled up all the individual DVD boxes for each season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. on the kitchen counter, "I'll go get dress!"

The next three days were awesome. My mum and I would go out during the day. We went to the park, went movies, went shopping and some other fun places. And at night, we were watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episode after episode. We consumed loads of takeout food, chips, chocolate and don't forget the ice-cream.

So now it was six pm on Sunday night and the sun was starting to set. I asked my mum if Danny could come over because I haven't seen him all week and she said yes so he should be here soon. I missed him so much. It was weird going a whole week without talking to my best friend. My mother confiscated my phone, so I couldn't even do that. Luckily, she gave me my beloved phone back on Friday so I've at least caught up with Danny a little. A small part of me even missed school. Being cooped up in the house and in the precinct during the week made me miss hanging out with Danny at school. The only thing that made me really not want to go back to school tomorrow was Lena. I really don't want to deal with her.

"So, Mum. What are we having tonight?", I asked, standing in front of the fridge door with my hands on my hips as I looked through the takeout menus we magnetized to the fridge door.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Whatever you feel like, hun", mum replied as she walked past me to the front door.

"Hi, Ms. Benson", Danny grinned in the doorway, holding a plastic shopping bag in his hand.

"Hey, Danny", Olivia smiled as she stepped to the side, welcoming him in, "And I've told you countless times, just call me Olivia", she grumbled with a smile.

"Well, I respect you too much for that, Detective", he smirked as he walked inside.

"Danny!", I grinned as I saw him and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey, shrimp. I see you missed me", he chuckled, squeezing me tightly before releasing me.

"Don't act like you didn't have the worst week at school without me", I teased as we pulled away.

"You're not wrong there", he grumbled honestly.

"So what have you got for the Benson ladies?", I asked, eyeing the plastic bag that he still held in his hands.

"Oh, I came prepared", he winked as he hopped on the bar stool and placed the plastic bag on the kitchen top as he begun to unpack it. "I got the biggest bag of peanut M&M's I could find", he said as he pulled out the big yellow bag, "Your favourite cookie dough ice-cream", he nodded at me as he thud the bucket on the counter, "Red Vines and salt and vinegar chippies", he grinned proudly as he put the rest of the fattening food on the bench.

"You did good, grasshopper", I grinned, giving him a pat on the head which he quickly whacked away.

"Danny we're going to order takeout. What do you feel like?", Mum asked as she walked over the fridge, looking over the menus.

"Whatever you're getting, Ms. B", he answered.

"Hmm...", I mumbled as I popped up on the stool beside Danny, "I'm feeling like Thai", I said, looking between Danny and my Mum.

"I can do with some curry puffs", Danny nodded in agreement.

"Thai it is", Olivia said picking up the cordless phone from its spot on the end of the kitchen counter. "What do you want?"

"My usual", I told her feeling like my usual of Hokkien noodles with stir-fried chicken and vegetables.

"Danny?", Olivia asked, turning to him still gripping the phone in her hand.

"Uhh... just my usual too then", he nodded as he picked up the ice-cream he brought and put it in the freezer.

I grinned with a slight shake of my head, realising just how much Danny was part of the furniture here in the Benson household.

My mother nodded and dialed in the number for the Thai restaurant into the phone before pulling it up to her ears. She began giving them our order and address as Danny and I grabbed the snacks he brought and plopped down on the couches in the living room.

Danny peeled open the packet of Red Vines as I pulled out the next F.R.I.E.N.D.S. CD from its case and put it in the DVD player. I grabbed the remote and lounged back on the couch beside him.

"We just finished season two, and now we're on to season three", I told him as my mother walked over and sat beside me, leaning over me to grab a Red Vine from Danny. "All good?", I asked my mum, my finger hovering over the play button on the remote.

"They said they'll be twenty minutes", mum mumbled as she chewed on the sweet licorice.

"Then we shall continue", I yelled, throwing my fist excitingly into the air before pressing play and relaxing back on the cushions.

"Dweeb", Danny mumbled as he plopped bundle of colourful peanut M&M's into his mouth, his eyes locked on the TV as the opening scene began to play.

"Douche", I rebutted.

"Language!", Mum scolded, turning to both of us.

"Sorry", we both mumbled in unison.

Monday morning came and Danny and I were riding our bikes smoothly through the streets on our way to school.

It was freezing cold, I had the thickest thermal black stockings under my school skirt, a long sleeve shirt under my white blouse and my leather grey fleece hoodie on top. My black beanie was on, leaving my wavy hair out to warm my neck and I pulled my hood on top which seemed to warm me up.

The cold wind was blowing in my face as I rode on my bike, causing my nose to ice up. Danny and I finally got to school and we locked down our bikes before walking through the entry.

"It's freezing!", I mumbled, blowing into my palms and rubbing them together, trying to get some warmth back into them.

"No shit, Sherlock", Danny groaned, zipping his hoodie up tighter as he dug his hands into his pockets.

"Hey, wanna hit Billy's after school?", I asked him as we walked through the buzzing school hall towards our lockers.

'Billy's Ring' is the Muay Thai gym that Danny and I go to. We both stopped at our lockers, a small gap between the two as we unlocked them, quickly shoving our heavy school bags inside.

"Yeah...", Danny nodded with a grin as he grabbed out his math exercise book and textbook, "You've been grounded for a week so you need the workout".

I nodded in agreement, "I think I put on ten kilos alone from the amount of junk my mum and I consumed this weekend", I grumbled in regret as we both shrugged off our jackets and shoved them into our lockers, before they get confiscated because they're not uniform.

Yeah, private schools have suckish rules.

Danny and I grabbed our things and we were making our way to our roll call room when I felt something thud into my shoulder, making my books tumble in a heap to the ground.

"Sorry, didn't see you there", Lena smirked, holding her own books tightly in her hands.

My blood instantly boiled by the sinister expression on Lena's face. I took a step forward about to open my mouth to spit out a very pissed out remark when I felt Danny's hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Walk away, Lena", he hissed through clenched teeth as he glared at her, his hand still on me.

Lena's face didn't falter, her grin just grew wider as she cocked her head to the side and batted her eyelashes, "Anything for you, Daniel", she spoke in a smooth velvety voice, turning back to me and giving me one last smirk before she walked away.

Ugh, she gets under my skin.

I shook my head. I needed to keep my calm around her. I can not afford another suspension. I don't think my mother would be so forgiving again if I threw another punch into Lena's deserving face. Taking a deep breath in and then out, I tried to forget this little incident as I bent down and picked up my books from the floor.

Danny bent down beside me, helping me out but quickly stopped him, "I could have handled Lena", I grumbled before picking everything up and standing back up.

"Maybe, but I wasn't going to take that chance, Firecracker", he smirked, trying to break the tension and put a smile on my face.

Danny had a tendency to call me many names. Dweeb, Shrimp and Firecracker were just the wee few.

I rolled my eyes, "We're definitely going Billy's tonight", I groaned, having the urge to punch something.

"All right, now I want you to jab straight twice, hook left, uppercut, uppercut, grab, knee left, knee right, step back and high right kick", Dawson, my trainer instructed as he stood behind the punching bag, holding it so it wouldn't move too much when I hit it.

I gave him a nod, my fists raised to my chin as sweat trickled down my nose. I took a deep breath in from my nose and let it out through my mouth, trying to calm down my rapid heart that was beating heavily from the workout.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, grab, thud, thud, BANG!

"Good!", Dawson encouraged, "One...", he counted, getting me to do the routine again. "Two... Three..."

My heart was beating so fast, as I blew out a forceful breath with every punch for extra momentum like Dawson taught me. I kept doing the routine until he counted to ten and by then my arms and legs were aching. They felt like jelly and I just wanted to collapse into a heap on the ground.

"I think that's enough for now. Good job", Dawson said as he let go of the punching bag.

Dawson was my favourite to train with here. He's probably in his late twenties with a shaved head and heavily scruffy beard and hazel eyes. He's from Samoa so he has a nice caramel skin colour. And every time I see him in the gym he's wearing shirts with the Samoan flag on them or with Samoan tribal drawings. He's very serious when we train, and he pushes me to the limit. He's always encouraging me to keep going and when I complain at the end of our session about wanting to collapse on the floor he says, 'If you've really worked hard enough, then at the end you should feel like you've been hit by a truck'. And when I say that I do. He says, 'No, you only look like you've been hit by a bicycle'. That's when I roll my eyes, and usually flip him off.

"T-Thanks, Awesome Dawson", I huffed out breathless, wiping away the driblet of sweat that was tickling my nose about to trail off.

"I told you not you call me that", He growled giving me a threatening glare that would scare anyone since he's a very big guy, nearly double my height and definitely more then double my weight. But he didn't scare me since I know that he's really a softy compared to his big boned muscly exterior.

"Why not? Trust me, the ladies like rhyming names", I teased, still a little breathless as I unwrapped my MMA fingerless boxing gloves.

"Real funny", he muttered before he shoved me in the shoulder with one hand so hard that I tumbled to the ground. I should have seen that coming. I was so out of it that I couldn't even stop my fall.

Dawson just stood over me, arms crossed with a huge grin on his face. Luckily the gym floors are matted because that would have hurt. I grumbled, giving him my fiercest glare as I pulled myself up into a sitting position.

"You're a bully", I frowned, forcing my still weak muscles to pick myself up. I put my head down, acting upset as Dawson took a step towards me.

"Oh, don't be like that, Jaime", he soothed guiltily, as he laid a hand on my shoulder.

As soon as his hand made contact, I rose my head, turned and lifted my knee. Dawson groaned so loudly, grabbing his manly bits as his knees buckled and he tumbled to the ground.

I laughed so loud that I almost lost my breath. "Now, do you feel like you've been hit by a truck?"

He groaned, still clutching his crotch not even moving as his eyes were clenched shut in pain, "Y-Yes", he whined through a shallow breath.

"Then we're even", I grinned with a nod.

"You're so dead, Benson", he threatening in a weak tone as he finally opened his eyes to glare at me which wasn't so threatening since he was still lying pathetically on the floor.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Awesome Dawson!", I chuckled before turning on my heels , heading for the showers.

Brushing my fingers through my freshly showered hair, I pulled it up into a messy bun and secured it with a hair tie. I shoved my sweaty workout clothes into a plastic bag before I put them in my duffel. The women's showers here are pretty small compared to the men's but it was awesome because there's always a stall empty since there's only a handful of females that train here. I walked out into the small locker room and sat on the long wooden bench in the middle and laced my Chuck Taylor's on properly.

I was almost done when my phone started ringing and I quickly pulled it out of my duffel, checking the caller I.D before I answered.

"Hey, Mum", I said, placing the phone between the crock of my neck and my cheek, holding it there until I finished with my laces.

"Hey, hun", Mum mumbled into the phone sounding breathless and busy. I could hear papers being jumbled around and loud chatter. The precinct sounded really busy. "I'm going to be really late from work today. We just got new evidence that has totally changed this whole case around. There's still some money under the snow globe on the microwave, so just order takeout. I'm so sorry", she said genuinely sorry, and sounding really tired.

"It's alright, Mum. I knew hibernating for three days straight watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. wouldn't last. I was actually planning to eat out with Danny tonight if that's okay", I said, waiting for her confirmation as I dropped my now laced shoes from the bench.

"Yeah, that's okay, Jaime. But don't be any later then nine-thirty, it's a schools night. And please call me when you get home so I know you're okay", Olivia ordered, repeating the rule I knew all too well.

"I will, Mum. Just don't work too hard, okay", I mumbled softly, sympathy in my voice. I knew my mother was tired and I hope she had it easy with the rest of her case.

"I'll try. Love you, hun."

"Love you too, Mum", I mumbled into the phone before I closed it. I grabbed my duffel, pulled on my leather jacket that I wore on top of khaki jeans and a shirt and walked outside.

"I heard you took down, Dawson", Danny grinned, pulling off the wall that he was leaning on with his duffel around his shoulder.

His light brown hair was still wet from his shower and slightly gelled into its normal short faux hawk hair do. He finished his session before me and has been waitinf for me to finish so we can go eat.

"I sure did, my friend", I nodded proudly and before I could react, something very heavy tackled me to the ground. "What the!", I groaned as I took in the large man that got off me, jumping up to his feet.

"You mess with me, you mess with Samoa", Dawson growled with a smirk as he pointed to his shirt with the Samoan flag printed on it. "And no one messes with Samoa!"

I looked at him in bewilderment, "W-What?", I breathed out complete astonishment and in pain, holding my arm that got hurt in the tackle.

Dawson just gave me a smirk before trodding off satisfied. Danny didn't even help me up, he just roared in laughter, holding his side breathless.

"Very funny, Danny. You want me to knee you too?", I grumbled, picking myself up from the floor and grabbing my bag that I dropped when I was thrown to the ground.

Danny suddenly stopped all laughter, giving me a serious glare as he took a cautious step back out of kneeing distance, "Don't you dare", he pointed his finger threateningly at me because he knew that I wouldn't hesitate.

"Then can it", I grumbled letting go of my aching arm as I walked towards Billy, the owners office.

"Y-You can it", he mumbled pathetically, having no comeback as he followed me, "Where you going?", he asked confused, seeing how we were meant to head out for Sushi.

"My mums going to be very late tonight, so I thought Billy can organise me a match", I answered, as I thud my knuckles against his door.

"Come in", I heard a grumble from behind the door.

"I thought we were gonna go eat", Danny groaned.

"Well, that was before I knew my mum's gonna be home late."

"Jaime, you haven't trained all week. Are you sure you're ready for another match?", he asked cautiously.

"I'm fine, but if you don't want to go with me then you don't have to", I shrugged.

"You know I don't like you going alone", he gave me a warning brotherly look.

"Then you're stuck with me", I grinned mischievously.

He rolled his eyes, "I'll wait for you outside", he mumbled before disappearing.

I pushed the door open, "Hey Billy, you busy?"

"Not for you, kid. Come on in", he smiled, dropping his pen that was hovering over a stack of papers on his desk.

Billy was a nice man. He was in his late fifty's, though still fit for his age which isn't surprising since he owns a gym. He was a pretty good MMA fighter back in his youth, won a lot of trophy's which are stored on shelves here in his office. He has long jet black hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a clean shaven jaw. He's usually wearing Adidas sport pants with his gym's custom shirt that had 'Billy's Ring' printed on it on top of a sketch of boxing gloves. It's a pretty neat shirt, I own a couple.

"How have you been? I haven't been seeing you around", Billy asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Danny and I usually come and train at least three times a week and since I've been grounded it's only been Danny. So I'm sure he's notice my absence since Danny and I are practically joined at the hip.

"I was grounded", I shrugged, wanting to change the subject. "But I'm back now. I'm wondering if you have a match for me tonight", I asked, sitting down on the uncomfortable wooden chair across from his large oak desk.

His eyes light up at this as he leaned forward on his desk, "Actually I do. Riley was meant to fight tonight but she cancelled half an hour ago. Told me she got the flu", he huffed with a roll of his eyes.

I snorted. Riley was one of the girls that train here and for some reason she's always getting sick. She's in her mid-twenties and for someone that is very athletic, she has a very weak immune system. This isn't the first time she has had to cancel a match because she's fell ill.

"I've had to cancel her match, but if you're up for it I'll call Tray and you can fill in", Billy suggested, already picking up the ancient looking office phone on his desk, the long black curly cord slapping against his forearm as he picked it up.

"Yeah, I want it", I nodded in excitement. Finally some action. "Who am I fighting?"

"One of Tray's new girls, her names Angela", he replied, dialing in the number and pulling the phone up to his ears. "I'll text you the whereabouts of the venue, okay?"

I nodded before getting up from the chair, "Thanks Billy. I'll see you later tonight then", I said and he gave me one final nod before talking into the phone.

"Hey Tray, it's Billy...", I heard his voice cut off as I walked out of his office and closed the door behind me.

So I know you're asking what I mean by 'match' and 'fighting'. Well, there's something my mother doesn't know and as long as I can avoid it, will never know. She thinks I go to Billy's gym to work out, and I do. But that's not all. Billy organises illegal underground cage fights. They have a couple of them a week and they are at a different venue every night. They keep changing locations every time because it's less likely to get caught. They've been matches in large empty fields, abandoned warehouses, old office buildings and once in an illegal casino. And the stakes are high too. The place gets packed and a lot of money is exchanged on bets. People have lost thousands of dollars on a match. The more money Billy cashes in on bets, the more I get for my winnings. It's a pretty goog system.

I know it's a little crazy but I love it. I've hit a punching box many times, but there's something exciting about hitting something that can actually hit back. You're whole body is pumping with blood so fast that you can hear your heart rate thumping hard against your chest. Hearing the yelling of the crowd, roaring for you to win. And listening to the lull of their fists repeatedly banging against the metal cage, as you zone them out and focus on your opponent. Watching your opponent very closely, their every action, their every twitch, and their every step, as you try to predict their next move. And the satisfying feeling of getting in that jab, hook, uppercut or kick that you were aiming for. And the best feeling, when you're opponent can't take anymore more and the announcer walks in, grabs your hand and pulled it up in the air, announcing you as the winner. That feeling is what I long for.

Being in those four caged walls, knocking it out with someone is my therapy. When I have a bad day, it's my cure. When Lena has given me a rough time at school, that cage is my release. Those days when I ache for the father that I've lost, it's my remedy. All the anger, the hurt, the pain, it's all let out in that cage.

That cage is something that my mother can never find out about. I don't know what she'll do if she ever does. But one thing I know for sure, it won't be pretty.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of that scary thought as my eyes scanned the gym looking for Danny. I found him by the front door speaking to Cassie, one of the females that trains here. She's the best female fighter here. She's in her early twenty's and has short dirty blonde straight hair, and green eyes. She's very pretty with full lips and sun-kissed skin.

But we've never got along. She's stuck up and usually is an ass, or she just acts that way with me because she finds me a threat. Even though I'm a lot younger, I'm her competition and every one knows it. She's been doing Muay Thai a lot longer then me but one day I will verse her, and I will kick her little blonde ass.

I gripped my bag tight as I walked up to them. Cassie saw me coming and her nose twitched up into a scowl as soon as her eyes landed on me.

"Hi, Jaime. Haven't seen you for a while", she forced on a smile as she turned to me.

"Been busy", I replied bluntly as I turned to my friend, "Ready to go, Danny?"

"Yeah, sure", he nodded, already knowing that we have tension as he looked over at me with a smirk and then back at Cassie, "I'll see you later, Cas", he gave her a smile before he turned and walked out the door.

"Bye Cassie", I gave her a sarcastic grin before I quickly followed behind him, not wanting to be next to her any longer.

"You could be a little nicer", he chuckled as the door shut behind us.

I groaned, rolling my eyes choosing to ignore him as I fell into step beside him as we walked to the Sushi restaurant that we always liked to hit after the gym. "You're jail bait to her Danny. So don't even bother", I shook my head, turning to him. He went to open his mouth to defend himself but I raised my hand to stop him, "Don't deny it", I told him knowing that the main reason he talked to her is because he found her hot.

He groaned, closing his mouth in defeat with a frown.

I smiled victorious, "It's okay. Sushi always makes you feel better", I soothed, tapping him on the shoulder.

"It does", he mumbled softly, nodding in agreement.

"Good. Now...", I mumbled and took a quick step forward, "Last one there has to pay", I yelled quickly before bolting it down the street towards the Sushi restaurant that was around the corner, just out of sight.

"Not fair!", he yelled and quickly chased after me, already knowing the rules.

Writer's Note:

Tell me what you think.

Rose x.