Author's Note: I was really tempted to be evil and hold onto this chapter until after I got back from vacation since it's the first indication of where this story is actually going, but I took pity on all of you and decided to update on schedule.

Chapter Fourteen – Last Bet

Cragen hadn't wanted to reveal what he'd been working on for Olivia quite yet. While many of the details had been worked out there were still a few questions he'd wanted to get covered. His last couple concerns were going to have to wait. He had enough to move forward, and from what Fin had said moving forward on this was a necessity. As Fin gathered the other detectives and they started to trickle in, Cragen began looking through his desk to find the information he wanted to share.

When Amanda entered she gently touched her partner's shoulder, and when he looked up at her she could see the pain deep in his eyes that he couldn't even begin to hide.

"You okay?" she asked softly so only he could hear.

"Been better."

She didn't have a chance to ask anything more before Nick walked in to finish out their group. After Nick had joined them he glanced around at the other faces in the room, looking for answers. Amanda shrugged at him, unable to offer any insight. About all any of them knew was that Cragen wanted them and Fin looked like he'd been kicked in the balls. Nick also knew not to push for answers from Cragen, so he waited patiently.

"Have any of you heard of Paws with a Cause?"

Cragen received general head shakes all around which wasn't that surprising. While the name itself probably meant nothing to them, the concept behind the agency shouldn't be unfamiliar.

"Is that one of those places that trains service dogs?" Nick asked.

"A couple of those groups work with military vets," Munch added.

Cragen nodded confirmation to both responses. They were on the right track. He handed Paws' brochure over to Nick. Amanda moved toward him and glanced over at the pamphlet as well.

"They've worked with vets before. A few first responders too. Olivia would be a good candidate."

"And if they don't agree?" Munch asked.

"They already have. I've talked to the program director, Marshelle Braxton. I told her about Olivia, who she is and what she's dealing with right now. She agreed that Olivia would likely qualify for the program. There's a chance a dog could help her after her seizures too."

"How long you been workin' on this, Cap'n?" Fin asked.

"A few weeks. I had a couple more questions about how a dog could respond to her seizures, so I was waiting to bring it up."

"Think about how much that could help her on the days she's so shaky," Rollins said excitedly.

"Promoting laziness?" Munch asked sarcastically.

"Nah, man," Fin corrected. "Promotin' independence. She's got nothin' left right now."

"It's worth a try," Amanda agreed. "She doesn't want to go out alone in case somethin' happens. If she had a dog with her that could get help we might be able to get her out of her apartment."

"So what do we gotta do?" Fin asked.

"Fill out a lot of forms about her, but that's the easy part," Cragen replied.

"And the hard part?" Amaro asked.

"Convincing Olivia."

He wasn't all that sure Olivia would go for the idea no matter how much convincing they did. Not only did Olivia not seem to care about much of anything anymore, having a service dog wouldn't stop the seizures.

"Good luck with that," Munch told him.

"What, you really don't think she would go for it?" Rollins asked in surprise.

Munch glanced over the top of his glasses at her.

"Would you want a glaring sign of your disability parading around with you all the time?"

"That's not what a service dog is," Rollins protested.

"It could be seen that way," Nick admitted. "And Liv likes to keep things hidden."

"Like she's hidin' in her apartment? We have to at least try."

"No one is saying that we won't, Amanda. We're just saying it's going to be hard," Cragen soothed. "Now if anyone has ideas on that count now's the time to share."

Silence filled Cragen's office as the detectives took a moment to consider their options. No fantastic ideas made themselves known.

"I got somethin'," Fin admitted, "but it ain't great. Don't know if it'll do any good."

"Better than what any of us have. What have you got, Fin?" Cragen asked.

"Get all the paperwork done, all the forms. Use it to our advantage. We did all the work; does she really want to waste all the time we put in?"

"Bit underhanded don't you think?" Munch pressed.

"You got a better idea?"

Munch shrugged but didn't answer. He didn't have another idea, better or not. When none of the others offered anything else either Cragen took over.

"Okay, for now we go with that. While you work on the paperwork for her keep thinking. We might need every trick in the book."

"And a few that haven't been invented yet," Munch muttered.

"Then for Olivia's sake, John, go invent them."

Fin clapped his former partner on the shoulder and grinned.

"Have fun with that, man."

"Alright," Cragen cut in before another flurry of arguments could begin. "I'll get all of you the paperwork as soon as I can. Hopefully we can have it all done in a week. We can talk to her then. For now, back to work, all of you."

O . o . O . o . O

"This… is a lot of paperwork," Nick said as he flipped through the various pages he'd been given. "Especially when we don't know if Olivia will even agree to this."

"Personality survey, questions about describing her, an essay? Really?" Munch mused.

"It doesn't have to be long, John. You've known her sixteen years. Longer. I think you can manage," Cragen explained calmly.

He'd already completed half of the paperwork himself. It hadn't been easy, and he's spent quite a bit of time considering each answer. Before her injury Cragen could have answered the questions about her faster than he could have answered them about himself. Now though he wasn't sure. Her personality was so different.

"Captain, what are we supposed to be basin' our answers on? Rate her one to ten on how assertive she is. A nine or a three?"

"I was trying to figure that out myself, Fin. Do whatever you think will work best. Two forms, two answers, answers with explanations, averages. It's up to you."

"You want 'em when we're done?" Rollins asked.

"By the end of the week as long as you don't get too swamped here. This has to be done on your own time."