Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.
Office of Sgt. Ed Tucker, Internal Affairs Bureau, One Police Plaza, Manhattan, New York
"Well," Tucker sighed, pulling on his tie and leaning back in his chair, "I just got off the phone with someone at Quantico."
Cragen narrowed his eyes. "What? The FBI? What the hell does the..."
"Two-Thousand-Three," Tucker said, interrupting. "That was the year Alex Cabot, Assistant District Attorney was shot and killed, was it not?"
Cragen raised one brow. "You know she..."
Again, Tucker held up his hand and eyed Cragen, warning him. "That entire year...testimony, evidence, statements, from both Elliot and Olivia...gone. Do you know anything about that?"
Cragen let out a heavy breath and twisted his neck, rolling his shoulders as well. "I have an idea."
"Explain," Tucker said, narrowing his eyes. "You're supposed to protect them, not throw them under the fucking bus!"
"Since when do you care?" Cragen asked, confused. "Aren't you the one who's been trying to..."
"When they cause my migraines, yeah," Tucker said, pointing a finger and cutting Cragen off once more. "When the situation is out of their control, and they had no fucking choice in the matter? No, I'm not going to fuck them up for that." He rubbed a hand down his face and then across his chin. "They were pulled off the stand, they wouldn't have...no one was going to let them perjure themselves, but to erase every single mention of the case and Cabot? That makes them look fucking guilty as fuck!"
Cragen shook his head. "I didn't pull the records," he said, "But I know who did, and I know why. Alex...is coming back. Things cleared up, after the trial, and she was able to..."
"How the fuck does someone leave WitPro, and just walk back into their old life?" Tucker asked, not caring that, yet again, he stepped on Cragen's words. "Coming back? To this district? Like hell she is! She is a goddamned liability and you know it!"
"It's not my call," Cragen barked back. "McCoy gave the green-light, and like you told my detectives, they're up for review. You tell me. Would the Morris Commission overlook the concealment of evidence and ultimate entrapment? Even if the asshole was guilty as sin, they would throw the best team this city's got out into the dumpster without even blinking."
"And you want me to believe you didn't have this all stricken from their records," Tucker scoffed. "If you didn't, Don, then who the fuck did?"
Cragen sighed. "Like I said," he began. "She's coming back. Someone a little higher up on the food chain than me is allowing it to happen, and they didn't want anyone getting caught in the crossfire or hung out to dry because of a closed case that ended...well, it turned out all right for everyone involved, anyway." He bit his lip and turned his hat around in his hands for a moment. "Nothing else of note happened that year. You...you aren't missing any write-ups or disciplinary..."
"I know that look," Tucker hissed, interrupting Cragen one last time. "What else was there, huh? What don't you want the Morris Commission to find?"
Cragen held his breath and as calmly as he could, he said, "Nothing." He surprised himself. He didn't think he could lie that well.
Front Seats, Maroon Sedan, Parking Lot of the Sixteenth Precinct, Manhattan, New York
Elliot had been staring at her since he turned the car off. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second before even attempting to speak. "Are you..."
"Don't." There was a severity in the warning, one that any man would be wise to heed. "Don't fucking ask me if I'm okay."
"Liv, I..." he saw her head turn sharply, noting the anger and pain in her eyes. He swallowed hard and took the chance of grabbing for her hand. He gripped it tightly and said, "I know. I know how badly you...we're trying, and I swear to God..."
"How?" she asked, her nostrils flaring as she shot hot breath out in a seethe. "How the hell does a mother...a human being..."
"Breathe," he said softly, pulling her hand a bit and forcing her head against his chest despite the center console between them. "I know, honey. I know." He kissed the top of her head and brushed her hair back, and he heard the sniffles start before he felt her tremble in his arms. "Those people...are sick, and selfish, and we're gonna find every single one of them, but you can't..."
"I know," she said, sniffling again. "I'm sorry, I just...I don't know why I got so emotional, I just...they were just babies, El! And they were...destroyed...obliterated before they even had a chance to...and for what? Some experimental treatment, which wouldn't even change the fact that..."
"Honey," Elliot said, stopping her, "I don't understand it, either, but we can't change it. We can stop it, though, if you calm down."
She took a deep breathe and blinked away the last of her angry tears. "Yeah," she whispered. "I'm calm." She wiped her eyes and looked up at her partner. She held his gaze as her breathing slowed and calmed, and she nodded once.
He smiled at her, bent his head forward, and captured her lips is a sweet, soulful kiss. His left hand wound around her neck, holding her closer, tighter, as he deepened the kiss and moaned into her opened mouth. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you," she returned, and she smoothed her hands up and down his back. She pulled away but as she turned to open the door, she stopped. She raised an eyebrow and asked him, "What's the date today?"
He furrowed his brows at her. "The seventeenth, why?"
A slow smile spread across her face and she winked at him before getting out of the car with a small chuckle and slamming the door behind her.
Peace and Love
Jo
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