Hey guys,
Sorry for not getting this up sooner! And again, thank you for the kind reviews!
Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU or any of it's characters, however Meredith is mine, nor am I making any profit from this work.
Also, my case related knowledge is based off the show and the little bit of research that I do. Apologies if something's not factually correct, but I'm no expert! In saying that I do try!
Enjoy and please review!
It was a little after 1.00pm when they finished and Erin had finished her sketches. As they'd started, Meredith remembered more and more little details that had helped greatly. The two pictures were ones she didn't want to look at for much longer when she stood and stretched before following the two women out into the bull pen area.
Amanda's head snapped up from where she was hurriedly scribbling on some kind of paper work. She dropped her pen when she saw Meredith and offered a smile as Erin passed Liv the two drawings and gave a hopeful look.
"Hey, hope these help. Nice meeting you Meredith, good luck with the case." Meredith simply nodded at the artists words. She'd been kind, caring and had definitely been an interesting person to meet, but Meredith wouldn't say it was 'nice' meeting her. She didn't say anything as she found herself getting more worked up the more she thought about it. Moving over to her mother's desk she sat down at an empty chair, watching as Liv thanked her again before Erin left with a cheery wave at the group of them.
"You hungry?" Amanda asked Meredith then, pulling her thoughts out off the silence.
"I'm okay. A little thirsty though." She muttered with a small smile.
Amanda went to stand but Mere held her hand up. "It's okay Mom, I know where the coffee pot is." She gave a grin, hopping up and giving a wince before continuing over to the pot of freshly made coffee.
"Fin, Munch." Liv called over the dull chatter and the two men looked up to which she continued, "You want to take these, Meredith said she stopped for coffee at a diner. Go see if the waitress has seen them before."
"It was called, "Maria's Hot House." Meredith then piped up as she added sugar. "I guess the waitress I had was the owner. It was literally down the street from where, it happened." She went quiet after that and returned to her seat, staring downward at the old flooring.
The two stood and grabbed their jackets as Liv wrote down the address that they'd found Meredith at. She passed the two sketches and the address to Fin who gave a nod before looking to the teenager who was seemingly trying to ignore the unwanted attention.
"Hey, we'll get him Mere," He started and she looked up, a worried expression on her face. "We won't stop until we have his sorry ass in prison."
Meredith gave a small laugh at that, but it didn't meet her eyes, and she quickly resumed her down cast gaze. She heard Amanda thank them and she knew that her Mom was slightly antsy about not being able to go out herself, having been told to stay in the background on this one, seeing as it was family and all.
It was a little while later when Meredith's nerves became itchy in the ever lasting quietness that the precinct ensued. She'd finished her coffee not long ago and had since taken to watching the three detectives get on with their paper work, her game of Candy Crush no longer tempting.
Amanda sensed her daughter's growing unease as she finished off a case report from Friday morning. It had been an 8 year old girl, who had been raped by her math tutor, multiple times. It had made the blonde detective sick to her stomach and she thought back to what the young girl had said to her. 'I was getting good grades, mommy was so proud. I thought I was good, but it hurt.'
Of course as the girl had told her what had happened, as much as she'd tried not to, all Amanda could see in her was Meredith. It was one of the cases that simply got to her. The girl, Chloe had light blonde hair similar to Meredith, but she had chestnut colored eyes, unlike the blue ones of her daughter.
Perhaps it was Chloe's innocence and complete belief in the world that was so similar and so like Meredith who'd always been one to see the good in people, despite the actions that some of them had taken. It reminded Amanda of the time Meredith was picked on in grade school, how she hadn't said a word about it to either her or her father until the teacher had called her one day and asked to speak to her.
Meredith, at the time at been overly enthusiastic in seeing her mother, but had quickly quietened down as her teacher, Mr. Morgan had explained the situation to Amanda. With a smile on her face Meredith had confidently told her that the two girls responsible were in dire need of a hug and not a telling off. For such a young and naive girl at the time, she sure had been insightful.
Her daughters sudden words pulled Amanda back to reality and also drew the silent attention of Nick and Olivia to her desk.
"I miss Dad." Was all she said in a tone of voice that didn't really seem to expect an answer. Meredith had been extremely close to her father and it was then that Amanda realized that it had been some time since they'd talked about him.
"I mean I know me saying that isn't going to bring him back, but sometimes I just wish it would, you know?" She looked across the desk at Amanda who gave a knowing nod, her thoughts now drifting into one of the corners of her mind, the one filled with memories of her and Paul. One of the ones she tried to forget about.
"I know, I miss him to." She replied in a quiet voice and noticing the saddened look on her face Meredith leaned across the desk.
"I still remember the last day with him. He woke me up, we watched cartoons together and then he drove me to school. He kissed me on the forehead, told me he loved me and watched me walk away." Meredith gave a small laugh at the memory and leant back in her chair. She sat in silence for a moment and Amanda had just managed to pick up her pen when she spoke again.
"When will Fin and Munch be back?" She was checking the time on her phone and this time it was Nick who replied.
"Here they are now." He said and Meredith turned to look at the entrance, where indeed the two were approaching from. Fin had a triumphant expression on his face and Meredith noticed the papers that Munch was holding.
"We hit the jackpot, well sort of." Fin commented in greeting and Meredith hid a smile as Liv and Nick moved closer, listening keenly as they told them what they'd learnt.
"Maria not only remembered our lovely Meredith here, but she'd also seen our perp and his kid that night. A hour or so after Meredith left." Munch spoke as he sorted through what he was holding. Eventually he pulled out a photo print and passed it to Liv.
Meredith stayed seated, deciding that as much as her curiosity was killing her, she didn't quite want to see his face, yet.
"Son of a bitch." Nick muttered and Fin gave a chuckle.
"You and me both man." He voiced knowing exactly how the young detective felt, each of them were wanting to take a hit at this guy and Meredith gave a tiny smile at their protectiveness.
"It gets better." Munch drew their attention back to him as he held up another slip of paper that Meredith couldn't read, or couldn't tell what it was from where she was sitting.
"He paid by card?" Amanda asked, sounding amazed and Meredith then realized that it was some kind of receipt.
"I don't think he was that stupid." Meredith muttered and as they all turned to face her she continued, a little bit louder. "I mean, a creep, yeah. But he was not stupid." She looked away and she felt Amanda place a hand on her arm in a move of comfort. Meredith took it and reached for her hand instead. It was rare that the two would turn to physical comfort when it came to it and even though she was partly to blame, Meredith wished she'd allowed it more often.
"Is it definitely him though? Can I see the photo please?" Meredith asked, despite the anxiety gnawing anxiety that filled her chest.
"She printed us a close up." Munch told her before handing it to her and carefully Meredith allowed herself to trace his features with her eyes, the site of a small scratch on his cheek made her smile. It quickly disappeared when she moved her attention to the boy, who stood next to his father, not having any idea at what he'd just caused to happen. After realizing she'd been silent for a minute or so, she looked back up to see expectant faces watching her. Shrinking back in her seat, she placed the photo on the desk in front of her and swallowed.
"It's him. That's the man who raped me."
So some insight into their life in Atlanta kind of? I'll be uploading my prologue to this in the new year, so keep an eye out if you're interested in that!
Trying to quicken the pace of this a bit, and in the next chapter Mere goes to school and you guys get to meet Jamie!
Any requests will be taken into consideration so hit me with them!
Please let me know your thoughts/ideas in a review and thanks for reading!
Liv
