AN: Thank you for the reviews for Swipe Right! As challenging as it was to write Munch, I'm happy to see that you responded positively and thought it was funny. Here's another one that I hope will make you laugh at least once. :)
This next one-shot was a request from KBShipsRollaro where Nick and Amanda are out one night and Olivia and/or Fin catch them kissing or holding hands. Italicized parts are flashbacks.
Read, enjoy, and review.
"Still no sign of our perp."
Olivia sighed, leaning back against the uncomfortable seat in the back of their blacked out van. "And they've only got two acts left on the line-up."
Fin propped his chin on his hand, his eyes scanning idly over the feed from the surveillance cameras. Nothing of interest was shown in the grainy black and white footage; just a bunch of hipsters dressed in ridiculous outfits.
It was a Friday night – day one of three of Williamsburg's annual arts and music festival, and day one (of possibly three) of their stakeout. Special Victims was tasked to catch a serial rapist targeting young women with slender frames and blonde hair. So far, they had three victims who were drugged and raped in three separate incidents within the last five weeks. All his victims were attendees of the summer festival circuit.
When SVU received the calls on these cases, they hardly had any leads and, surprisingly, no witnesses even though the events were attended by thousands of people. However, when they pieced together the girls' spotty and repressed memories, the detectives determined that they were dealing with one MO and one rapist. According to their accounts, he lured them into the over-21 tents where they served liquor and surreptitiously slipped GHB into their drink.
His victims' next memories were waking up a few miles outside the festival grounds, usually in a grassy area or in the middle of a park. When they were picked up by EMS, the girls' clothes were torn, they had ligature marks on their wrists and ankles, and bruises consistent with sexual assault. There was no DNA and no sign of struggle, most likely because he had used a condom and raped them while they were unconscious.
Their latest vic, an 18-year-old incoming freshman at Hudson University couldn't remember a thing after she had slipped into the tent. A young, white male with brown hair and brown eyes offered to buy her a drink, which she accepted. Although the girl didn't have any visual or tactile recollection of her attack, she did recall the stench of grease and the loud buzz of a generator or an engine.
Olivia speculated that their assaults must have occurred in one of the food trucks. But at present time, the squad didn't have enough material evidence to question all the food vendors, especially when there were about fifty of them on average per festival. And most of those trucks were on the same circuit, having standing deals with the promoters who organized these festivals in the first place. He had access. He could provide an enclosed space for these rapes to occur. And he had the convenience of a getaway car to dispose of his victims.
They just needed to narrow down their suspects.
Coming in tonight, Olivia didn't really have high expectations of catching their doer since this was a much smaller festival in comparison to the others. Set in a paved parking lot turned weekend morning farmer's market, it didn't exactly attract well-known acts and large crowds. It was mostly just a community event featuring local artists and artisans. The festival had less than half of the concessions at other shows so the odds were stacked against their team to find this serial rapist.
"At this point, I'm just checking out all the blondes and seeing if some creep makes a move," Fin said, his voice laced with boredom but his eyes never veered away from the screen. "You know, there's a lot of these guys making moves on women, but nothing that would constitute as rape. Not even one grope."
Olivia arched a brow at her detective. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Hey, I just want to catch this motherfucker."
Fin rubbed his eyes and blinked several times to relieve his drowsiness. It had been a long week and they were all almost ready to head out for the weekend when Olivia got a call from upstairs, saying the brass had arranged for a van for tonight's stakeout. Since Carisi had night school and Rollins and Amaro had disappeared at exactly five on the dot (something about walking her dog, and something about catching his son's baseball game), it left Olivia and Fin as default lookouts.
When Fin opened his eyes, he was startled by what was on the screen.
"Hey! I know that blonde!"
"Who?" Olivia's eyes followed his finger to the small square on the screen. She squinted her eyes and tapped his knee in gratitude when he maximized the window and dragged it to another screen. She fixed her eyes at the moving image, her jaw coming unhinged as she watched two of her detectives appear on the feed.
Nick and Amanda were standing in line at a taco truck. She was leaning against his chest, his arms protectively wrapped around her midsection. He was holding his head down, pressing his lips on her exposed left shoulder. It was obnoxiously affectionate to the point where it treaded the fine line between adorable and nauseating.
Olivia exchanged a surprised look with Fin before they swiftly turned their attention back at the feed, ignoring all the other squares (where nothing was happening anyway) to focus on the one camera.
Amanda burrowed her head between his neck and shoulder, and whispered something in his ear. A cheeky grin spread across his face, his head lowering slightly to kiss her tenderly.
"Damn." Fin smacked his palm against his forehead.
"Holy shit."
Fin turned to look at Olivia, pulling his head back and quietly chuckling.
She placed a hand over her mouth and looked away bashfully. She could hardly help her little blasphemous slip considering she had just witnessed shameless public displays of affection between two of her detectives. Not only that; it was something she never expected from either one of them, being quite familiar with how serious they were at work.
But Olivia couldn't say that she was totally surprised to see the two of them together. She had suspected awhile that Nick and Amanda were in some sort of pseudo-relationship or, at the very least, sleeping with each other. She just thought it was in everyone's best interest not to say anything about it because she didn't want IAB involved, forcing her into a custody battle to choose which detective she wanted to keep on her squad. That, and she didn't want her bosses to think that, upon her promotion, she was way in over her head commanding her team.
"Come on, Liv. Don't act so surprised," Fin said. "You know Amaro's been boning her this whole time."
Ignoring his crude word choice, she cocked her head to the side and asked him, "How long have you known?"
"I suspected something was going on after they had that blow-up in the cribs."
"After she found out Nick went to that AA meeting and spied on her boyfriend?"
Fin nodded.
"Same," Olivia said, leaning forward to scrutinize the couple's interactions. They looked comfortable, perhaps even loving – a far cry from those days of tension and discord.
"But when did you really know for sure?" Fin asked.
She removed her glasses and set them on the small table. She pondered the question and tried to recall that summer day when she came to the definite conclusion that Nick and Amanda were, as Fin termed in such evocative language, 'boning'.
It was early August and the city was rife with tourists. Every other second, the precinct phones were ringing about some handsy street performer in Times Square, or a jogger exposing himself to girls armed with selfie sticks (it didn't end well for the jogger). The squad was busy and terribly understaffed with Nick stuck working the beat as a traffic cop. As much as Olivia needed him back on the team, she still didn't have IAB's stamp of approval. And that didn't really work in her favor because she hardly had a shred of patience remaining for Nick's incessant whining about his demotion.
Although it sucked for him to be bumped down the ladder, Nick scored with a consistent nine to five schedule that was the envy of any detective working for the NYPD. Especially Olivia, considering she had just fostered Noah and she wanted to spend every waking moment with her little man.
What started out as a favor one night, when Lucy couldn't stay over, turned into an unspoken agreement that Nick would watch Noah on nights Olivia was working a case. It was half past six; she just let Lucy go home when she got a call regarding two underage girls who were sexually assaulted at a boutique hotel in Greenwich Village. She swung by Nick's place to drop her son off, forgetting to call him and ask if it was ok until she was two minutes from his doorstep.
And of course, he said yes.
"Oye, mano!" Nick opened the door, greeting his two visitors. He picked up Noah from her arms and swung him around much to the baby's delight. Noah giggled as tried to reach for his Uncle Nick's nose until, finally, Nick blew a raspberry onto his little belly.
Olivia watched the playful interaction between her child and her former partner, warmth filling up her heart. But she didn't have much time for pleasantries because she needed to meet with Fin and Rollins. But she also couldn't leave until she made absolutely sure that Nick's place was baby-proofed.
The moment she stepped into his house, panic started to slowly rise in her chest. Nick always teased her and said she had nothing to worry about, pointing to the fact that Zara grew up in that house and she had turned out fine.
"Except that one time she thought she was Spiderman and she climbed up the shelf. Jumped off from about six feet off the ground and broke her arm. Had a cast for a month." Nick shook his head with a chuckle.
When he told her that story weeks ago, it only triggered the alarms to blare louder and flash brighter. Looking around the living room, she started scoping for potential hazards for her baby.
Preoccupied with the baby, Nick bounced him up and down and led him into Zara's room, where all the toys were kept and where he had set up her old crib. Knowing firsthand the erratic schedule of a detective, he knew that Olivia needed all the help she could get when it came to caring for Noah. So Nick was always ready whenever she needed him for nanny duty; he figured he could use the opportunity to ask her about coming back to the squad.
Olivia chewed on her lip as the boys disappeared down the hall and into the pink and purple bedroom. She looked around the living room and her eyes were zeroing in on sharp corners, uncovered electrical sockets, and choking hazards. Pressing a hand to her rapidly beating heart, she started retrieving small items from the floor and tables and putting them high up on the shelf, praying silently that Noah wouldn't get an urge to climb furniture like Zara. Then she moved two dining chairs in front of open sockets to make it a little more challenging for Noah to potentially stick his fingers into one of them. Crouching down beside the couch, she reached down to see if she missed any small toys or office supplies, or some broken pieces of plastic.
Pushing her arm into the dark void, her fingers felt around the carpet until something silky brushed against her skin. She trailed her fingertips over the shape of the object, feeling the curve of something thin yet rigid – like a wire. Slowly, she pulled it out from under the couch. Her eyes widened when she saw it was a bra.
Sky blue satin trimmed with white lace and a tiny ribbon sewn between the two cups. These were smaller than her cup size – maybe a B but no bigger than a C. Pulling it out the rest of the way, she felt it tug onto something. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed that the clasp had hooked onto peach-colored fabric. As she retrieved the rest of the garment, she realized it was a sheer blouse. And as Olivia stretched it out, she instantly recognized the silk chiffon bow draped along the neckline.
Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.
Hurriedly shoving the evidence under the couch, she stood up just in time to see Nick turn the corner. He had Noah resting on his hip; the baby alternating between squeezing a little stuffed puppy and bopping it on the side of Nick's head.
"Uh…" he looked around the room, his brows knitting in confusion. "I see you've rearranged my furniture."
"Sockets," explained Olivia; his little nod indicating that he followed but he didn't necessarily understand. "Well, I better go." She crossed the room to press a lingering kiss on Noah's head. She held his cheeks between her hands and gave him a wistful smile, which he (and stuffed puppy) returned with a bop on the nose.
"Goooooo," Nick groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Thanks again for doing this, Nick." She bowed her head and gave him a soft smile. At this, the corner of his lips curled up even further to reveal a pair of dimples.
"Anytime," he said, sitting down on the armrest of the couch and letting Noah bounce on his thigh. "Except tomorrow night." He grinned mischievously then added, "I've got plans."
Olivia froze. She knew exactly what he meant by that and now the obscene image of Nick and Amanda started to intrude her brain. She reached for the door and eagerly stepped out to welcome the warm summer air. Now, all she had to worry about was keeping a straight face when she met up with the blonde detective.
Fin laughed, wiping the corner of his eyes with his thumb; he tried to dial it back down but the laughs just kept on coming.
"Man," he said, shaking his head. "And you never told Nick what you found?"
"Knowing he wanted to return to the squad, I didn't want to complicate things by telling him I knew about their relationship," Olivia explained. "Otherwise, I'd be obligated to disclose that information to IA."
"Fair enough." Fin shrugged, shaking his head one more time before turning his attention back to the screen.
There was still no sign of their serial rapist. But at least they found something else to make up for the unsuccessful search.
Nick and Amanda had gotten their tacos and sat on a bench; Amanda's leg tucked underneath her as her body shifted toward Nick and she offered him a bite of her food. Suddenly, he took a large bite and chewed with an impish grin. She scrunched up her face, trying to reach for his taco. Twisting his body away from her, he held it out in his outstretched arms and laughed while Amanda struggled to reach for it.
"These two are going to make me throw up," Olivia groaned, just a hint of amusement laced in her voice. Even if it was pretty gross seeing Nick and Amanda act like two lovesick teenagers, there was something heartwarming about seeing them happy. After the hell they've been through in the last couple of years, they deserved that happiness.
"Speaking of throwing up," Fin said. "I gotta tell you how I found out they were doing the nasty."
Olivia's ears perked up. She rested her elbows on the table and cradled her cheek in her hands, ready to listen to Fin's story.
"Don't get too excited, baby girl. This doesn't end well."
It was the end of another grueling week and everyone just wrapped up on the reports on the Clare Wilson case. The sergeant left early to spend some quality time with her little man and Nick drove down to D.C. to repair that seemingly irreparable marriage. Fin always thought Nick's decision came out of nowhere, but he shrugged it off, thinking it was just some impulsive need to get his life back on track after he shot that kid. Still, it was none of his business. What concerned him though was the fact that his partner was looking down and out for someone who had the next two days off.
Fin invited Amanda out to Moran's so she could take the edge off. He was on his second beer when she was on her sixth shot of tequila. At that rate, she would have finished the entire bar's supply of Jose Cuervo by last call.
He knew that she was really hurting just going by her drink of choice. One time when they were at another cop bar, Amanda refused to drink the amber liquid, calling it the devil's piss. She then admitted why she vowed to stay away from the stuff. Apparently, when she was in college, she and her roommate got drunk on cheap, off-brand tequila and started dancing in the common room. When she felt like no one was paying her enough attention, she climbed on top of the Ping-Pong table to make her announcement. But the table ended up folding over and sending her face first to the floor.
In any case, Fin figured out that when Amanda knocked on the bar and asked for tequila, she was in the mood to drown her sorrows with reckless behavior. Normally, he didn't judge; but this was a cop bar and he didn't want word to spread around the department that his partner was a little crazy. Better that he was around to keep an eye on her than have her do this by herself. He couldn't help but let his protective side out that night; especially after Amaro aired his suspicions about Rollins having a problem. At the time, he didn't think much of it, but seeing her so bitter at the world definitely made him think differently.
As the night wore on, Amanda was starting to break down those walls she carefully constructed around herself. Now that she had some liquid courage in her, it, ironically enough, made her reveal more of her vulnerabilities.
"I hate men."
Fin reared his head back and narrowed his eyes. Her face was scrunched up as she scratched her neck.
"What about me?" Fin's hand flew to his chest as if he had taken offense to her statement.
She gave him a tight smile, resting her forearms on the bar. Cocking her head to the side to face him, she said, "You're the exception to the rule."
He shrugged, ready to change the subject since he assumed that was the end of their discussion. It sounded like she wasn't interested in explaining further. But Amanda let out a heavy breath, downed another shot, and signaled the friendly bartender for a refill. He tried to flirt with her, but she just picked up her empty glass and shook it. When her glass was full and she had emptied the liquid into her stomach, she turned back toward him and began rambling. And once she started, there was no stopping her.
"What kind of jerk sleeps with you, like, everyday for two straight weeks and then just up and decides to end things. No explanation! Just 'see you later, buddy' I'm going back to pretend to like my wife!"
Tilting his head to the side, Fin stroked his chin as he watched the animated expressions on his partner's face. At the mention of the wife, it suddenly became painfully clear who Amanda's mystery man was. She hadn't revealed his name but he was pretty damn sure that she was griping about Amaro.
"And I know what you're thinking," she said, pointing a lazy finger at his chest. "I deserve to get dumped because I went after a married man… But he was separated! And he said it was over a year since he last screwed her so I thought he was fair game." Amanda pouted, looking down at the bottom of her glass. "But maybe this is my fault because when it all started - when I first invited him up to my apartment - I told him not to fall for me. I told him it was just sex."
Oh shit, Fin thought to himself.
"He looked at me like a sad little puppy… You should've seen his face," she said, her bottom lip jutting out and quivering. "And then he agreed. Said that it wouldn't happen because it was just… release." She sighed.
Fin dropped his head before he took a long swig of his beer. It was going to be a long night.
"So we both agreed that it was just sex. But why am I this upset about him seeing his wife? Why am I acting like such a bitch baby right now?"
"I don't know, Amanda," Fin replied, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe you bit yourself in the ass when you told him not to catch feelings."
"But that was in the beginning," she whined. "Then we fucked… And, Fin, it was so fucking good. You have no idea."
"Yeah, I don't," he said immediately, eyes widening. "And I'd like to keep it that way."
Amanda stretched across the bar and hooked her fingers over the opposite edge. There was something subtly sensual about her movements, almost like a cat. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and savored the naughty images clouding her mind. Fin snapped his fingers. Opening her eyes, she saw him shaking his head like a disappointed father.
She propped her cheek on one hand, a sly smile fanning across her face.
"He does this thing where he, um…" She held her index and middle fingers up and slowly poked her tongue between her lips.
"Ok! That's enough," Fin interrupted, jumping off the stool. He helped Amanda off of her stool, but her heel got caught and she stumbled into his arms. "Let's get you home so you can, uh, take care of your situation."
Amanda giggled when she noticed Fin's eyes flicker below her waist.
He helped his partner into her coat, coaxing her arms into the sleeves and draping her scarf around her neck. All the while, she continued to give him rather graphic details about her and "mystery man's" sex life.
"I'm tellin' ya, Fin…" she trailed off, losing her dirty train of thought before she veered off to another track. "If it was really just sex then he wouldn't have stayed the night. He wouldn't have walked Frannie so I could sleep in. He wouldn't have made me breakfast…"
Fin shook his head. Conceivably, they had both agreed at the start that it was a purely physical relationship and they shouldn't get invested. It's not that he didn't think friends-with-benefits type relationships were impossible. It didn't always have to end messy if the terms were clear from the get-go and both people involved weren't the type to get intimate. He had his fair share of fuck buddies in the past, and they didn't all end in failure; so he definitely thought it was possible.
Maybe before all this, he could imagine Amanda being ok with that sort of arrangement. But it would have never worked out as long as Nick was in the other half of the equation. Even if he didn't mean to make her fall for him, the guy wore his heart on his sleeve. The whole no-feelings thing was a cop out right from the start. If anyone was tailor-made for intimacy, it would be Nick; and Amanda was just too foolish to think otherwise.
She chewed on her bottom lip, the hurt evident on her face.
"What he did – ending things with you and crawling back to his wife – that was a dumbfuck move."
Amanda chuckled softly, lowering her head to give her partner a grateful smile.
Fin held her by the small of her back and led her out of Moran's. They stood at the sidewalk and waited for a cab to come by. When he noticed the sheen of tears glistening in her eyes, he placed an arm around her shoulder, both to warm her up and comfort her. He squeezed and she leaned her head on his chest.
"I'm so stupid."
"No, you're not," Fin assured her.
"It was stupid of me to tell him not to get attached," she said, blowing out a puff of cold smoke.
"Because, now, you're the one attached," Fin finished for her. "You like him, it's ok to admit that."
"I like him?" She blew into her cheeks as the weight of her developing feelings really, really dawned on her.
Before Fin could react, Amanda hunched down and vomited on the curb, regurgitated alcohol and leftover pizza splashing on his brand new shoes.
"Damn it, Rollins!"
Olivia grimaced. "How long did she have to make it up to you before you forgave her for the shoes?"
"A week's worth of DD-5s and we were even."
"I can't believe Amanda's worst enemy is tequila," Olivia remarked, her mouth curling up into a mischievous smile. She wasn't actually going to use it against Amanda, but she liked hearing about the Ping-Pong table story. It reminded her that everyone in the squad had his or her share of embarrassing stories; and knowing things about them, besides all the broken childhoods and the vices, made her feel like they were all really part of a family.
"Did she really say all those things about their sex life?" She crinkled her nose.
Fin shuddered. "There was probably more detail; I just wanted to wipe it all out."
Olivia pushed her arms off the table and sighed. "Well, this stakeout was a bust. Except for the part where I got video proof that two of my detectives are seeing each other outside of work."
"Call it a night?" Fin asked, leaning back against the chair and tilting his head toward his sergeant.
She nodded once.
"Unless…" Fin trailed off, a bright idea flashing in his head.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Olivia asked, smoothing down her blouse. She already discarded the black blazer but she still felt overdressed among the young adults, who were roaming around in their cheeky denim shorts and crop tops.
"It's gonna be worth it, Liv."
Fin took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers. She held onto him while one hand wrapped around the stick of their cotton candy. They walked down the path of the festival grounds, passing by the food trucks and a small gathering of people who marveled at the live-action art show. It was a man in a rainbow leotard trying to Houdini his way out of a fiberglass box. The flashing red timer said he had been trapped inside for four and a half hours, and the panic present in his face said it would be a while before he could make his miraculous escape.
Pulling a piece of cotton candy between her fingers, she brought it close to Fin's lips. He took it into his mouth and gave her a flirtatious smile, which she returned with a coy smile and a flutter of her lashes. There was still some fluff on the corner of his mouth so she went ahead and swiped it away with her thumb. Fin wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, his dimples deepening as his smile grew wider.
When they turned back toward the path, they were met by the stunned faces of Nick and Amanda.
Fin was right. Those looks – the mouths gaping wide open, the knitted eyebrows, the eyes bulging out of their skulls; they were definitely worth it. And what made it all even sweeter than cotton candy was the fact that the cameras were still rolling, and they could replay this moment over and over. Olivia felt a strange flutter in her heart as she imagined playing it back to their future children. She mentally shook the thought out of her head, criticizing herself for thinking so far ahead for the, just now, outed couple. Was she actually rooting for them?
She linked her arm under Fin's elbow as they walked toward the younger pair.
Nick pointed at Olivia then at Fin, his words getting lodged in the back of his throat.
"You – you're together?" Amanda stammered out, her lip quivering as she tried to piece it all together in her head.
"Yeah," Olivia smirked, pressing her hand on Fin's chest and raising her eyebrow suggestively.
He winked right back at Olivia before he turned to Nick and Amanda, who both looked traumatized. "You thought it was just the two of you?"
"What?" Nick folded his arms over his chest and gave a nervous chuckle.
Amanda pointed at him and vigorously shook her head, her ponytail flying in all directions. "No! No! No!"
Olivia rolled her eyes and moved out of Fin's hold. "You two can stop pretending. We were on a stakeout and we saw you on the feed, engaging in some serious PDA."
"Liv, I can explain," Nick began, ready to defend his relationship if she was here to put an end to it.
She raised her hand and stopped him. "Don't worry. I'm not going to say anything. As far as I'm concerned, this never happened and I still have no idea that two of my detectives are breaking fraternizing policies." She cast a look at Fin and they both exchanged a knowing smile. "We just wanted to mess with you and see how you'd react."
Nick and Amanda both sighed in relief.
"Wait, so you're not really dating Fin?" Nick asked.
"And you're not with Liv?" Amanda stared at her partner.
"No!" Fin cried out, throwing his hands in the air. "You two dumbfucks deserve each other."