Throw Me to The Wolves & I Will Return Leading the Pack
Summary: Morgan, the newest member of SVU hasn't had much luck with men, but her new partner might just be the one for her, if only she could let Sonny Carisi know. Men come much easier to her friend Riley, who's maybe not prepared for the challenge that Peter Stone provides.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Law and Order SVU, Morgan and Riley however are all mine.
Chapter 19:
Riley was tired, rightfully so. She had already worked a full day but it was either tonight her and Peter picked up paint or a few days from now when they were both free and Riley wanted to get on the house. They had already managed to pick out a bed and all she had to do was get the bedroom painted before it, as well as the matching dressers and night stands, were delivered to their house.
They had possession of it now and Riley was starting to get antsy about getting into it. She knew Peter was too, which meant that buying paint, and actually getting it on the walls, was a very important thing. That was the very reason she was at the courthouse, waiting for Peter to finish up, the two of them planning on grabbing dinner after buying some paint.
It sounded dull to her but she was excited. She wanted to get painting, she wanted to get their house ready for them to move in and honestly, any amount of time she got to spend with Peter was awesome, even if it was just to go to a paint store.
Sucking in a breath, she waited out in the hallway, knowing that she was going to be waiting for him for a few minutes. Sonny had informed her where he could be found and what he was doing, hence why she was waiting outside of the courtroom that he gave her.
She paced slightly, listening intently at the click clack of her heels, it wasn't until a low whistled echoed off the walls that she paid any attention to her surroundings.
Turning to where the noise had come from, she locked her eyes on Derek Delmonico, who looked way bigger than she remembered him looking at the bar, or even back in high school. He was huge, muscly huge, and his eyes sparkled with mischief.
Jesus Christ, like he couldn't just leave her alone?
"Hey Prescott." He called out to her and she threw her hand up into the air, shooting him the middle finger. Apparently, that didn't deter him though, he merely walked faster towards her, eliminating the distance between them. "I forgot to tell you the other night how sexy you looked."
"Fuck off Delmonico."
"Oh come on, no need to be like that."
"Totally a need to be like that." She argued, watching as he brought a hand up and pressed it against his heart, feigning hurt. "You should just walk away."
"I just want to catch up. You were one of the most sought-after girls in high school you know?"
Riley fought off the urge to snort at him. Yeah, okay, maybe she was pretty good-looking back then, but that didn't warrant him trying to get in her dress at prom, especially not after her date had abandoned her. Plus Morgan had made it blatantly obvious that he wasn't welcome near Riley, and he had walked funny for a week to remind her.
This was the very same guy who was being charged with rape, a case that Sonny was working. Everything about Derek Delmonico seemed alien and eerie. They had never been that close in high school, in fact, she was surprised he even remembered her name. Then again, her best friend had nearly twisted his balls off with her bare hands.
"I'm good." Riley forced the words out. "You really should be on your way."
Derek shrugged at her as if to say 'whatever' but before she knew it, he was even closer than before. Riley took a step back, trying desperately to put space between them but he matched her step for step until her back was pressed up against the wall. Shit, this wasn't what she had intended to do, in fact, this was the opposite of what she had intended to do.
He had her right where he wanted her and when his palm came to rest on her hip, she tensed and debated what her next move would be. Morgan wasn't going to be able to save her this time, but Riley wasn't a helpless little girl like Derek seemed to think she was. She could take care of herself, she just hoped she wouldn't have to.
"Last time I didn't get what I wanted from you, your little friend was there to stop me." Derek purred and his hand slid up her side higher and she pressed her lips together, still not sure how to handle him.
On one hand, she could fight him with everything she had and take off, going back to Peter's office to wait for him there, but she owed this man something, and she just had to play her cards right to get him back for prom all those years ago.
"Get your hands off me." She warned, her voice low and even. All he did was laugh in her face and lean in closer to her, so close that she could smell him; a sad mix of Axe and Old Spice. God some people never did grow up, did they? "Derek, I will not hesitate to break your fingers."
He licked his lip hungrily and moved his hand from her side to her neck, running his finger along her smooth skin. She tensed under his touch but didn't fight him, not yet. It wasn't until he rested his hand around her throat that she even recognized what he was trying to do. Well she wasn't about to let him.
"Prescott, you have no idea how long I've wanted you." Derek breathed, running his nose up the side of her face.
She grabbed hold of his shirt, fisting it in her hands before grinning at him. He was too busy trying to seduce her to notice the malicious smirk on her face.
Before he knew what was happening, she brought her knee up in between his legs as hard as she possibly could and sent him to the floor in a heap, the breath sucked right out of his lungs. She stood over him, watching as he curled into a fetal position, and planted her hands on her hips.
"Riley!"
She whipped her head to the side just in time to spot Peter jogging towards her, concern etched on his face. She tore her attention away from him and crouched down next to Derek Delmonico, roughly slapping her palm against his cheek.
"Next time you lay your hands on me, I'll cut your balls right off." Riley growled and slowly stood up, feeling Peter's hands on her arm, running down it to take hold of her hand.
She looked at him and let him study her, taking in the sight of her. She wasn't any worse for wear, yet there was a full-grown man curled into a ball on the floor at her feet. Okay, well if that didn't make him feel a little better about her being able to handle herself, he didn't know what would.
"Bitch." Derek managed to squeak and she let out a cackle at his lame attempt to get back at her with his words.
"What did he do?" Peter asked, glaring at the man on the floor. "Riley tell me-"
"I guess he never learned to keep his hands to himself." Riley snipped, glaring at the man on the floor. "Maybe next time he'll think twice."
"She…" Derek sucked in a breath and tried to ease the sharp, shooting pain in his groin, "kicked me."
"I kneed him." Riley corrected, an eerie calm to her voice. "I should've punched him in the throat."
Peter tugged on her arm and ripped her away from the fallen man, leading her back to his office. She jogged along behind him, trying to keep up with his quick strides and once they were securely in his office, his door locked behind them, she let out a huff and collapsed on the couch against the wall.
He was quick to sit beside her and when she leaned into his chest, he held her against him, whispering soothingly to her.
"I went years without thinking about him." Riley whimpered. "Years and now it's like I can't get away from him."
"Pretty soon he'll be in jail." Peter stated. "So long as Carisi does his job."
"And if he doesn't go to jail, for whatever reason?" Riley quipped, leaning her head back to get a better look at him. "Then what?"
"He walks free."
"So he'll just be able to come up to me on the street and threaten me again?" She growled. "How is that fair?"
"It's not, I can do my best to protect you."
"I can protect myself." She retorted, immediately regretting her tone. It wasn't like she didn't want Peter to have to protect her, she just preferred to not have to rely on anyone. Wasn't that what relationships were for though, so she could lean on him when she needed him? She had no doubt he'd fight any battles she didn't have the energy to fight, but did that mean she was weak? Not in his words, not in his eyes. "But I will gladly let you protect me."
"I know you can handle yourself." He pointed out with a small, reassuring smile. "It'd just be nice if you didn't have to."
"Yeah, well, it's a good thing my best friend is a cop then, she'll help me hide his body when I murder him."
"Hey no, you can't…we're going to get him okay, he's going to prison."
Riley sucked in a breath and hesitantly peeled herself out of his embrace. He looked into her eyes and gently lifted a hand up, setting it on the side of her neck, but she flinched at his touch and he pulled his hand back.
"Fucker threatened me." She confessed in a whisper. "He put his hand on my throat."
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged, "Derek Delmonico being a douchebag isn't your fault. Plus I think I kneed his balls so hard he won't be able to walk right for a while."
"As a lawyer, that probably wasn't the smartest decision." Peter reprimanded and she looked at him, eyes wide. "As your boyfriend, I wish I could've done it myself."
A grin took over her face and she leaned back into him, hugging him tight. She sucked in a breath, slowly got to her feet, forcing him to move with her, and took his hand.
"What do you say we go get some paint and some food, go to our new house and pretend this never even happened?"
"I can't do that." Peter shook his head.
"What? Why?" She stared at him, wondering what exactly his issue was with her-
"Honestly, you're really sexy right now."
Riley furrowed her eyebrows together but smiled at him, "that shit turns you on Peter?"
"Most of the things you do turn me on."
Well, buying paint was certainly going to be a lot more interesting.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Their bedroom was going to be a light gray, so light it bordered on white, but that was just fine by Riley. She knew Peter preferred neutral colours and he seemed to not be all that fond of dark colours. She didn't want their bedroom to feel like a dungeon anyways, so light grey had been their final choice.
The rest of the paint was pretty much soft neutral tones too, except her office was going to be a light lilac colour, which was something she had thought long and hard about.
Today was the day that Morgan and Sonny were coming over to help, Peter admitting that he had promised pizza and beer in exchange for their help. Riley had been adamant about doing it herself, but once Morgan had mentioned coming over to see the new place, and then help paint it, she had changed her tune dramatically.
The idea of showing Morgan around the house that would soon become her home was exciting. She had a house, a house that her and Peter would be sharing, a house that would be theirs for years and years to come. It was a big step, but it was a step Riley was comfortable with, a step that she wanted to take with Peter.
Since they had found the perfect place, it had made her transition from life without Morgan to life with Peter a lot less scary. Part of her wanted Morgan to have the same excitement deep in her bones because of a house, but if she was happy living in Sonny's apartment, then she certainly wasn't going to push.
"So no hot pink?" Morgan asked as the four of them stood around the island in the kitchen.
There was absolutely no furniture in the house and nothing other than paint and painting accessories. A small cardboard box was set up near the end of the counter for garbage, but other than that, the place was empty, ready for them to get working on making it their own.
"No, no Sonny Carisi blue either." Riley countered, watching as Sonny flipped the lid back on one of two pizza boxes. Peter was working away at getting bottle caps off of bottles without having a bottle opener anywhere in the kitchen. So far he was doing alright, using the drawer handles as leverage.
"What the hell is 'Sonny Carisi blue'?" Sonny asked, leaning against the edge of the island, taking a beer when Peter handed it to him.
"Okay so remember the dress Morgan wore to the gala last year?" Riley questioned and Sonny slowly nodded his head yes. "That was 'Sonny Carisi blue' since it was the same colour as your eyes, not that I noticed, it was all Morgan's doing. I don't tend to look people in the eye unless I'm fucking them."
"Or best friends with them." Morgan added with a smirk.
"Okay, I probably look people in the eye a lot more than I let on." Riley huffed. "I just don't want you guys to think I know what colour Sonny Bunny's eyes are."
"Blue." Morgan said dreamily and looked in his direction, taking in the colour of his eyes. "Dreamy ocean sky blue."
"Barf." Riley groaned.
"We mostly stuck to greys and beiges." Peter piped up, watching in awe as Morgan stepped in front of Sonny and pressed her chest against his. "Purple for Ry's office."
"Purple?" Morgan asked, but didn't dare tear her eyes away from Sonny.
"Light purple but yeah. I think we need to split them up." Riley said, looking sideways at Peter. "I don't think they should get to fuck in our house before us."
Morgan rolled her eyes but backed away from Sonny, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Riley. She reached out and grabbed a slice of pizza, taking a huge bite of it before Sonny did the same.
"The bedroom needs to get done first." Peter instructed. "It's already taped and there's a sheet on the floor, so it's basically ready to go."
"Aren't you handy?" Morgan teased, pausing between bites of her pizza.
"I did it." Riley deadpanned. "I took the day off work yesterday, googled how to get ready to paint, and got everything ready."
Morgan nodded her approval and Riley shot her a smile of pride. Well that was certainly the right way to start a painting party, Morgan loved the fact that everything was pretty much ready to go, all they had to do was break the paint out of the cans and put it on the walls.
Riley and Peter both grabbed a slice of pizza and a blanket of silence fell over them all as they ate. Once Morgan was done two slices, she took off out of the kitchen carrying an open bottle of beer, leaving the other three in the kitchen, Sonny working on slice number three while Riley finished her second. Peter was done two but made no move to grab a third.
"Should the four of us all paint the same room, or should we divide and conquer?" Riley pondered.
"Same room maybe?" Sonny countered but he sounded very unsure.
"At least for the bedroom." Peter agreed.
"Okay." Riley nodded with a grin. "Then Morgan and I can get to painting your office hot pink."
Sonny snorted at her and shoveled another piece of pizza into his face, all the while looking between Riley and Peter. It was really nice of them to have a house that they were going to move into. It sounded like a really great step for him and Morgan to make once they were married because there was no way they'd be able to fit kids in the apartment with them.
He didn't want to scare her though, he didn't want her to feel pressured or rushed into anything, he wanted her to be comfortable in their relationship. Bringing up buying a house, or at the very least a bigger apartment, seemed like post wedding conversation.
"Well I'm done here, I'm going to go grab Mo and we can get started. You two take all the time you need before coming to help us." Riley stated. "But not too long because that's not why you're here."
Sonny tossed her a smile and she took off in search of Morgan, finding her in the room that would be Peter's office as soon as they moved in and settled down. She was looking around, peering out the rather large window that looked out onto the backyard, her eyes wide with wonder and a smile on her face.
"I can't believe you bought a house." Morgan whispered, fearful that if she spoke too loudly, the whole picture would disappear in front of her very eyes, like a mirage in the desert. "And I can't believe you've been with the same guy for over a year."
Riley huffed at her words and stepped up beside her, setting her hand on her shoulder and leaning in against her. Morgan's hand came up and rested on top of Riley's, the two of them falling silent and just looking out the window.
"You and Sonny doing alright in his apartment?" Riley asked, genuinely curious as to how things were going between them.
"Yeah." Morgan nodded. "We're working through each other's habits, but its fine. He's definitely not as good of a roommate as you."
"Probably a better cook."
"I don't know about that. It's all Italian food, lots of carbs. He's going to make me so fat."
"Pfft, won't matter anyways, he's marrying you and is therefore stuck with you." Riley joked. "Frigging Italians."
Morgan nodded her head in agreement. He made dinner often and he made a lot of it when he did. She had so many leftovers in her fridge that she took for lunch at work that it was insane. She wasn't going to complain though, it was nice to have a home cooked meal while working, and when it was dinnertime. He was a great cook, but nowhere near as adventurous as Riley when it came to new recipes.
"Come on, let's go paint your bedroom. The sooner it's done, the sooner you can get into this house and start making babies."
Riley winced at her words but moved quickly to cover it up. Morgan didn't seem to notice, instead, she turned towards the door and headed back out into the rest of the house, bee-lining it for the stairs. Riley was hot on her heels and the two of them walked into the bedroom together, Morgan grabbed a long-handled roller and Riley nabbing a paintbrush for the smaller spaces and nearer to the window frames, which were, as promised, all taped and ready to go.
Sonny and Peter wandered in, Sonny immediately getting the lid off the first paint and pouring it into two trays before he grabbed a roller too, leaving Peter with another paintbrush. None of them were dressed very fancy, in fact, Morgan's t-shirt was littered with little holes and Riley's tank top was worn and faded.
Peter was in a t-shirt, the same as Sonny, but it wasn't anything super important. Painting usually turned out to be messier than anyone anticipated, and today was no different.
It was barely half an hour in when Morgan dripped a trail across the sheet on the floor and proceeded to step in it with her bare feet, leaving tracks from the tray to the wall. Sonny rolled his eyes and Riley let out a laugh, but she was soon covered in flecks of paint on her arm from painting.
"I feel like there are people you could've hired to do this." Morgan remarked, lifting her one foot up and wiping the bottom of it on Sonny's jeans.
"Yeah but that would've cost us money. You two we can just pay in pizza and beer." Riley retorted and rubbed at her arm, smearing the paint across her skin. "Plus this is totally fun. I love this."
"Liar." Morgan hissed, setting her one foot down and lifting up the other, swiping it down Sonny's pants like she had done the first time. He turned towards her and glared but she smiled at him and shrugged. "Honestly surprised you haven't start finger painting over there Ry."
Riley let out a growl at her arm and how fleck-covered it was. She pressed the brush against the wall but Peter was quick to set his hand over hers on the handle. She felt herself calming down almost instantly and offered him a quick kiss, which received a loud wolf whistle from Morgan.
"Shut your face." Riley snapped and before she knew what was happening, Morgan was rolling the paint roller up her back, coating her shirt in grey paint. "What the hell?"
"It slipped." Morgan feigned innocence.
"No, hey, we are not doing this." Sonny glowered and Morgan stared at him. Riley watched in awe as she slowly started to wander towards him, the roller going up the front of his pants and shirt as she closed in on him, covering him in grey. "Mo seriously?"
"What Sonny Bunny?" She batted her eyelashes at him and he stared down at the front of his clothes, taking in the sight of all the paint that he was now wearing.
"Maybe you could try to keep the paint on the wall?" Sonny fired back.
"I'm surprised it took her this long." Riley remarked. "I figured it'd be the first thing she did."
Riley cringed as she felt the cool liquid against the back of her neck, snapping her body around to face Peter, who was looking at her cautiously, the paintbrush in his hand.
"You're looking a little grey Riley." He said, stone cold serious.
"Whoa, Peter Stone has some bad boy in him." Morgan whooped, Peter breaking out into a grin, and attacked Sonny yet again, but Sonny raised his own paint roller and tried to get her before she could get him.
Riley let out a sigh and went right back to painting the wall around the window frame, trying to ignore what was going on around her. She just wanted it painted so they could move in, but when cool paint ran down the side of her neck, just under her ear, she shrieked and turned on her heels to level Peter with a glare.
Her eyes were locked on his and she brought her own paintbrush up, booping him gently on the nose with it, leaving a grey spot on his face. He chuckled at her and wrapped his arms around her, hauling her against him, their paintbrushes dropping to the floor as he leaned in and kissed the clean side of her neck, Riley shuddering at the motion.
Morgan's paint roller handle clicked against Sonny's as they used them like swords, splattering little flecks of paint everywhere. It didn't matter though, anywhere that wasn't supposed to be painted was covered or taped, but it would certainly make for a more difficult clean up.
When Morgan tripped on the wrinkle in the sheet on the floor, she flew forward but Sonny managed to catch her before she hit anything. She let her roller drop to the floor but Sonny wasn't done, not yet, and he brought the roller up, running it up her right arm and covering her skin in grey paint.
"Guys!" Riley barked, still in Peter's hold. "For Christ's sake, this is the first fucking room."
"I hope you're prepared to do a lot more of them on your own." Morgan cackled. "Because I don't think we're that great of a help."
Riley blew out a sigh, "no shit."
Honestly though, she couldn't help the smile spreading out across her face, merely enjoying the fact that she was having fun with her best friend.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
"Hey Stone!" Sonny barked, barging into his office without a second thought. When he was sure the man in question was looking at him, giving him his undivided attention, Sonny carried on. "Why didn't you tell me Delmonico tried to assault Riley in the hallway?"
Yeah, he knew about that, had to hear it from Morgan, then when he talked to Riley she had recounted the entire situation in vivid detail. It pissed him off to know that the man he was trying to prosecute had tried to threaten one of his friends. Riley didn't deserve that, but Sonny figured he deserved to know about it. So why hadn't Stone been the one to tell him? Why did he have to find out from Morgan of all people?
"Plausible deniability." Peter answered calmly, stopping his hands from typing on his laptop. He rested his palms against the desk instead and Sonny stared at him.
Okay, so maybe he was expecting a little more fight from the DA, but Peter Stone was calm, cool and collected. He had known all about what happened, he should've been the first one to tell Sonny, or at the very least get Riley to tell him. But that wasn't what he was claiming, hell he didn't seem sorry at all.
"I'm sorry, what?" Sonny countered. Peter waved for him to come in and sit down, which Sonny did after shutting the door to his office. If Peter was going to rip him a new asshole, he didn't want people outside hearing.
"I tell you about the incident in the hallway, you work twice as hard not to use it in court."
"Not unless Riley goes on the stand."
"You would do that to her?" Peter asked, but it was clear by his posture that he already knew the answer. Sonny slowly shook his head no, fully aware how vicious lawyers could be. "Right, so as long as you don't know about the incident, you can't accidentally use it where you shouldn't."
"As a lawyer I get that but as a friend, you didn't think to tell me that your girlfriend was manhandled by the very guy I'm trying to put behind bars?" Sonny barked. Once again, Peter seemed calm, too calm maybe, but who was Sonny to judge. He had been a lawyer much longer than him, maybe he knew some tricks that Sonny didn't- okay, guaranteed he knew some tricks that Sonny didn't.
"In her defense, she handled herself on her own." Peter remarked. "Morgan told you that part, right?"
"That she kneed him in the private parts."
"She would use the word 'balls' but yes."
"Derek Delmonico is a scumbag."
"A scumbag that you're going to put away." Peter leveled him with a look, a look that told Sonny that he better not fail.
Peter Stone, as good of a friend to him as he was, was technically still in charge. He made the final calls, he passed on the cases to Sonny, he advised him; ultimately, the job came before friendship, as sucky as that sounded.
"Yeah and what if I don't?" Sonny questioned, but he wasn't challenging Peter, he was merely asking a genuine question. He wanted to know what would happen if Derek Delmonico managed to walk away a free man.
"You take the next case and move on." Peter answered.
"And Riley?"
"She's a big girl. She'll be okay."
"You can't honestly tell me that this doesn't bother you?" Sonny pressed. He knew that if it was Morgan in Riley's position, he'd be ready to hunt the man down and castrate him himself, so why wasn't Peter bothered more by this?
Derek Delmonico threatened and assaulted Riley in the middle of the hallway, in front of god knows who, the guy wasn't scared of, well, anything really. What would stop him from going after more and more women, or going back to the ones that had rejected him before? What was keeping him from going after Riley again?
"I try to focus on the fact that he didn't actually hurt her physically." Peter said softly. "She's tough, she's been through a lot before I came into the picture and she turned out okay. I trust her to look after herself when she can."
"He's twice her size." Sonny snarked, angry at Delmonico and not Peter.
"Yeah and when I showed up, he was in a fetal position on the floor by her feet." Peter stated with the tiniest of smirks. Apparently, he was a little bit proud of Riley for that. "Focus on your job, put him away, and we won't have to worry about what happens if he doesn't go to prison."
"Yeah, yeah I'll put him away. For Riley." Sonny nodded and stood up, reluctantly turned his back to Peter. He sucked in a breath and knew that he had to win this case, he had to send the son of a bitch to jail because he didn't want his friend living in fear, he didn't want Riley to have to watch her back everywhere she went.
Derek Delmonico was a monster and he would go to jail, just as long as Sonny did his job- that was where his problem lay. He didn't know if the case against him was good enough, he didn't know if his witness was believable enough, he didn't know if he could put the scumbag away.
"Carisi?" Peter called to him and Sonny turned back around. "We all lose cases, you can't let that get to you."
"Not this one, I can't lose this one." Sonny mumbled and took off, striding out the door of Peter's office and heading right back to his own.
When he stepped inside, he was pleasantly surprised to see Morgan sitting at his desk, her feet up on the edge of it looking super casual and comfortable. She grinned as he appeared in her line of sight but when she saw his concerned look, her smile dropped away and she sat up straight, dropping her feet to the floor.
"What's going on Sonny Bunny?" Morgan asked, leaning against his desk. He shut his door and wandered over, leaning against the corner of it so that he was in front of Morgan, her head tipped back as she looked up at him. "Sonny, you can talk to me."
"Derek Delmonico." He answered, as if that as all Morgan needed. She let out a soft sigh and shook her head, knowing that Delmonico had Sonny rattled to the core. This was a guy that rightfully deserved prison time but here was Sonny, looking defeated before the trial had even begun. This wasn't good, not even a little bit.
"Okay, what about him specifically?" Morgan pressed, hoping that if she could get the details, maybe she could help him.
"What if he walks?"
"Street justice." Morgan shrugged.
"What am I supposed to tell Riley if I lose? 'Sorry I know he's a rapist but because of me he walks'?"
"Sonny, I nearly twisted his balls off once, I can certainly do it again." Morgan scoffed.
"No, you shouldn't have to."
"I shouldn't have to do a lot of things but I do. I believe in you Sonny, you're a big fancy lawyer now, you should start acting like it."
He stared at her, wondering why she wasn't being a little more understanding of his predicament. This was his fiancé, the woman he was going to marry, and she was telling him to act more like a lawyer- well maybe she had a point. There was a reason Stone was as good as he was at his job and there were very few times Sonny could recall that he knew the other man's confidence had faltered.
Fake it until you make it, wasn't that the saying?
"You've got the look down, what with your sexy suits, but there was a reason Riley was drawn to Peter when she first saw him." Morgan stated.
"What's that?"
"Confidence. Honestly, dude's kind of a little bit cocky." Morgan remarked with a smile. "Like you used to be when you were with SVU. I think Sonny lost his groove."
He let out a sigh and she stood up, leaning into his chest and feeling his arms come around her, holding her tight. He rested his chin on the top of her head and felt her relaxing against him.
This was his girl, and maybe she had a point. He had to start getting it together if he stood a chance at Delmonico. He didn't want the bastard to walk free, he wanted to protect Riley and show her that he had the ability to put him away so that he couldn't hurt more women.
He would get there, he had to get there, but there was still a small, teeny tiny, part of him that feared he couldn't do it.
God what was wrong with him? He had gone to law school, he knew the process, he'd been in court before, but this was personal. That was maybe where he had gone wrong. Personal conflicts as a detective weren't exactly allowed unless there were special circumstances, so maybe he could claim conflict of interest with this case.
But then who would it fall to? Someone much less invested, someone who had no real interest in watching him go away for a long time to come.
No, no Sonny would be keeping this case, and he was going to work his ass off to get himself a win.
"You done here?" Morgan asked, leaning back but remaining in his hold. "Or should I call Ry and ask her to be my substitute dinner date?"
"Oh Mo." He shook his head. "I think, if it's okay with you, I'm going to stay here a little longer."
Morgan let out a small sigh but threw a smile on her face, "don't work too hard, I want to see my Sonny Bunny sometime tonight."
"Definitely."
"Good." She lifted her hand up and gingerly poked the end of his nose, letting out a 'boop' as she did so. "Alright, I'll go call my bestie, I gather Mr. Stone is working late too?"
"You'd have to ask him."
"Maybe I will." Morgan's eyes lit up with mischief. She threw Sonny a wave as she left him in his office all alone.
When she was out of his sight, Sonny dropped down into his chair and blew out a breath, mentally chanting to himself that 'I can do this'. Over and over the words repeated in his head and slowly Sonny was starting to believe it, if only a little bit.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
As far as trials, Sonny knew he wasn't doing that great with his. Derek Delmonico's lawyer had totally ripped apart his witness, so much so that he wasn't sure he could recover. Peter had been busy with his own trial and Sonny found himself oddly grateful. There was someone else he wanted to talk to, someone who could maybe help him more than Stone ever could.
Finding himself at the familiar bar, waiting for the familiar person to show up, Sonny stole a glance around and let out a sigh. Yeah, court had been absolutely horrible, and there hadn't been much he could've done about it. Okay, maybe that wasn't entirely true, Sonny easily could've tried to prepare the victim more, let her see how brutal the stand would be, but he hadn't done that great of a job, at least not in his mind.
Ordering himself a beer, he sat at the bar and waited for the man he felt he needed to talk to.
When Rafael Barba wandered in and sat on the stool that he usually sat on back when he was ADA, Sonny couldn't help but smile just a little bit. This man was his friend, and he was the one person he felt like he could talk to about his massive screw up.
Morgan was close with Riley and would tell him things that he didn't want to hear, maybe even things that he didn't believe too, and Peter was his boss, he'd have to tell him to do better, and honestly, Sonny would've agreed.
He did need to do better, he needed to get Derek Delmonico behind bars.
"This better be good." Barba greeted and ordered himself a drink.
"Good is not the word I would use." Sonny countered, turning so that he was sitting sideways on his stool, looking at his dear friend. "I totally screwed up in court today."
"We all have bad days."
"Not you, not like this." Sonny huffed and lifted his beer to his lips, taking a giant swig before setting it back down. "My victim got completely ripped apart-"
"Nothing that hasn't happened to the best of us." Barba cut him off and turned sideways to face him. "Do you think you're cut out to be a lawyer?"
Sonny shrugged in response, not entirely sure if he could cut it. Sure he went to law school, but he was starting to understand that it took a certain type of person to work as an ADA. Barba was the prime example, and Stone had done a great job, but why was Sonny having such a hard time with this?
"Honestly, I don't know." Sonny answered, but he was too busy wallowing to catch Barba rolling his eyes.
"I didn't come all this way to be part of a pity party."
Sonny scoffed, throwing his head back, "well that's why I invited you."
Barba widened his eyes slightly and looked his friend up and down. It was clear that this particular case was getting to him, and sure who hasn't had a case that eats away at you? Sonny Carisi was a great lawyer, he just didn't realize it.
"Look," Barba said with a dramatic sigh, "you may have a lot of flaws- you're an idiot, you're loud, stubborn, slightly obnoxious at times-"
"Way to cheer me up."
"And you're constantly interrupting people." Barba paused just long enough to shoot Sonny a look. "But that's what makes you a great lawyer. So you got destroyed in court today, you drink, you regroup and you go back in there tomorrow and make them regret it."
Sonny merely stared at him, wondering where all that had come from. Jesus, he sometimes felt like Barba didn't really like anyone, let alone give them a compliment like that. Well if Rafael Barba claimed he was a great lawyer, he obviously had to see something in Sonny that Sonny didn't see in himself.
Was is that easy though? Would a drink and a regroup really help him?
"Hold on, you think I'm a great lawyer?" Sonny pressed.
"You're unbearable…but yes." Barba answered. Huh, okay, so maybe that was all he had to do. He wasn't entirely happy about his pity party, and he knew he could handle the tough guys he'd have to go against, hell, they were no different than the perpetrators back when he was part of SVU.
He knew this stuff, he had gone to law school, Barba had helped him through. If he wasn't cut out to be a lawyer, surely Barba would've told him back then, the man was definitely blunt when he wanted to be and there was no way he'd sugar-coat something just to spare Sonny's feelings.
"My guy, he went after Riley." Sonny explained. "He's scum, the worst of the worst-"
"You've dealt with scum before." Barba cut him off, fixing him with a pointed look.
"Yeah, at least this scum doesn't bite his victims."
"I heard all about that."
"You really think I can do this?"
Barba didn't say a word in response, instead he took a sip of his own beer and set the bottle back on the bar, picking at the corner of the label. Sonny wasn't sure what to make of the man sitting next to him.
He had been a great ADA but he had walked away. Was it possible that he had dealt with cases that were personal to him too?
It wasn't like he showed his emotions all that well, no they were usually covered up with smug sarcasm and cockiness. Was that what Sonny was missing?
"You've been in my court enough times to know what you have to do." Barba instructed and Sonny pictured some of his best performances.
Oh yes, Barba had a very good tactic, a tactic that rarely failed. Sonny just had to figure out what made Delmonico tick and then poke at it until he blew up. It seemed so simple, but he knew it was difficult. He'd have to toe the line between appropriate and unethical because if he crossed that line, Delmonico would walk free.
He knew what he had to do, and he could thank the man next to him for guiding him in the right direction.
"When's your next session?"
"Tomorrow morning, Delmonico's going on the stand."
"And did you ask Riley if she'd be there?" Barba quipped.
"Uh no, should I?"
"She might throw him off simply by being there."
"Huh, right."
"Remember, you don't always have to play cleanly." Barba smirked.
Alright, okay, Barba was definitely helping. Sonny knew he had quite a bit to do before court in the morning, but first, he was going to finish his beer with his friend.