Chapter Twenty One – A Worthy Cause

Olivia fidgeted restlessly in her seat and tried to stop herself from willing the car to go faster. She didn't have telepathic powers, so no matter how desperately she wanted to get there wishing wouldn't work. Since she wasn't the one driving the car, and probably never would be again, she had no control over it.

"A bit excited there?" Nick teased from the driver's seat as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Olivia couldn't help looking a bit sheepish. She'd been found out rather easily, not that she should have been very surprised. The entire hour of the trip so far had tried her patience and her nerves. By this point she was employing all of her NYPD training to stay still, or at least not to fidget too much.

"Maybe a bit," she admitted.

Nick smiled in amusement. He suspected she was a lot more than "a bit" excited. Cragen had told him Olivia had come to life at the center, but Nick hadn't expected quite this much life. They hadn't even arrived yet either. After the painfully quiet and hollow behavior she'd been demonstrating for months, the excitement was great to see. Even if the service dog didn't help Olivia too much, Nick was already calling Cragen's plan a win. Just seeing her excited again was good enough for him.

"We're almost there."

"I know."

And she did. They probably had another fifteen or twenty minutes. She may not have been excited the first time she'd come, but she'd used the surroundings on the drive to avoid talking to Cragen. It made it easy now to identify where they were.

The fact that she did know surprised Nick. She hadn't shown this much awareness or interest in anything for a long time. When they reached the center Olivia guided him to the entrance while he carried her luggage. There were far more cars in the parking lot than Olivia remembered there being on her last visit. When they got inside she understood why. They weren't the only ones there. Two other people that Olivia assumed were together were already in the office area. Olivia hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do until Marshelle spotted her. She separated herself from the couple she'd been talking to and came over to Olivia.

"Welcome back."

Olivia mirrored Marshelle's smile with only slightly less enthusiasm than Marshelle was showing her.

"I see you brought a new helper."

Olivia glanced back at Nick for a brief second and then nodded.

"This is Nick Amaro, my former partner."

Marshelle recognized the name from the list of people that had filled out the personality survey for Olivia. He'd been the one to describe her as unbreakable if she remembered correctly. She reached out a hand to shake his.

"Marshelle Braxton. It's nice to meet you, Detective."

"Already figured that one out, huh?" Nick asked with a smile.

"I read all of the information you gave about Olivia in the early stages of this process. Since she gave me your name, it wasn't hard to put together. Plus, she did say partner."

Nick's smile grew. She did have a bit of a point though. Still, there was one thing he was curious about after what she'd said.

"Are you that involved with all of your clients?"

"With special cases, yes."

"Special cases, huh?"

"Military, first responders."

Nick met Marshelle's eyes steadily then glanced over at Olivia. Hopefully she would understand everything he was trying to get at in his next words.

"Thank you."

For Olivia. For giving her this chance. For being so involved that she would do anything she could to help his friend believe in herself again.

Marshelle understood exactly what he'd been trying to say. She offered him a tiny, silent bow of the head in reply.

"Let's get you set up in your room, Olivia. Then you can meet the others. Nick, you're welcome to stick around."

"Liv?"

"You can stay if you want, Nick. I don't care."

"Good because I want to see this place."

After Olivia put her things in her room and told the staff member that would stay at the center with the trainees overnight where her medications were and the requirements for medical treatment Marshelle started showing them around the temporary living quarters. It was set up similarly to a dorm complex except that every program participant had their own room. The rooms were on the smaller side, but Marshelle assured Olivia she wouldn't be spending much time there. Training to use a service dog took a lot of time and even more work. The entire ten days would be packed full of training both at the center and in the outside community. She'd really only be spending time in her room to sleep.

Just as they were about to head into the main room to meet the others Nick's cell phone rang.

"Amaro."

Olivia watched Nick's face as he listened to the explanation on the other end. She could tell right away what the call was about. When he glanced over at her she didn't hesitate to mouth "go" to him. Nick wasn't quite as ready to accept leaving as she was. After all of the time as partners Olivia could read the look he was shooting at her. He didn't need words, and she didn't either. Olivia nodded at him in final encouragement. Going to work a case was far more important than staying here with her. He looked at her firmly one more time before nodding and heading for the exit.

Olivia tried not to let the disappointment that she wouldn't be going with him show. It was hard, and she needed to find a distraction soon or her control would crack.

"Where's everyone meeting?"

"I'll show you," Marshelle told her gently. "Come on."

As Marshelle led her back through the facility toward the training room she told Olivia about the other participants she'd be training with. There would be ten of them total. Some would have family staying with them until the end of the day. Once everyone had arrived they would begin.

"How many are we waiting for?"

"Four more after you arrived, but we could have everyone now. I'll leave you here so I can go check in and make sure everything is ready."

"Okay."

Now alone, Olivia found a spot by herself on the far wall and took the time to look around. There were a surprising number of people gathered. Her cop instincts and detective skills kicked in, and she began evaluating the others as she looked them over. There were quite a few staff members milling around. With their navy blue and white shirts they were easy to identify. Knowing which of the others were participants and which were family was much harder. One man in a wheelchair was likely there for a dog. The same could be said for the woman walking with a cane and a limp. Olivia spotted another man that she suspected was military based on his stance. While she knew the center worked with military personnel, she had no idea if he was there to support someone or there for a dog. It could have been either one. Other than that Olivia couldn't pick out anything specific about the others. Any of them could be participants.

About twenty minutes later Olivia spotted Marshelle walking back into the room and waving to one of her workers. She suspected that meant everyone had arrived and they were ready to go. Olivia had to admit she was rather curious about what being ready to start actually meant. Within moments silence reigned throughout the room. All eyes were focused on Marshelle.

"Welcome to Paws with a Cause."

The next thing Olivia knew doors were thrown open and dogs were pouring into the room. She could only gape at them in surprise as they happily ran a lap or two around the room. Before she had time to process what was going on, the dogs were gone. As she looked around the room she saw that almost every face had the same stunned expression she had. Marshelle and the other workers were all beaming. When most of the eyes had drifted back up to Marshelle she continued.

"In ten days one of those dogs will be going home with each one of you. There are two things you need to remember. First, you will be working hard here. Second, don't be worried if your first dog doesn't work for you. It usually takes a few tries. Some people need to try a large number of dogs before they find one that fits them. Don't be discouraged if this happens to you.

We're going to start off by showing you around the facility. After that we'll be discussing the laws involving service dogs and what you might face, followed by lunch and training about dog care. There's a lot to do so we're going to get you split up into the groups you'll be training with and get started."