Kathleen Stabler visits Kyra in her tiny office. "I'd like to take your course in the spring semester, but they tell me it's full. If you sign this form they will let me…" Kyra looks at the form. "I've already signed about ten of these. I'm afraid there isn't any more room." Disappointed, Kathleen starts to leave. "You're Kathleen Stabler aren't you?" Kathleen is shocked, but nods. Kyra hands the form back unsigned. "Why did you want to take a course on Sparta?" Kathleen responds "I heard you really made it come alive." Kyra smiles. "How did you know my name?" Kyra grins "First, it's on the form. Second, I met your father and he asked me to keep an eye on you." Kathleen shakes her head. "I'm sorry." Kyra leans back in her chair. "No reason to be. I told him I would, but I'm not going to spy." Kathleen lightens a bit. "Truth is, I told him I'd do it for free, that I've worked as a body guard and he couldn't afford me." Kathleen is shocked and gives a slight nervous giggle. It isn't often people dismiss her father like that.
"They are adding a second course to my curriculum. I'll be teaching a course on resistance to the NAZI's in the Balkans. It hasn't been made available yet." Kyra motions for the form and Kathleen hands it over. Kyra write a note on the back. "You're in if you want it."
"I was just about to leave for some practice. Do you want to come along?" Kyra asks. Kathleen is wary. "Practice?" Kyra nods. "Practice what?" Kyra smiles "Something that may help you develop more mental discipline…and make your father nuts."
Soon Kathleen finds herself in a cab with Kyra headed for a destination which is somewhat vague. "If you make such good money as a bodyguard, why do you work here?" Kyra shrugs. "I have my reasons."
When they arrive, Kathleen realizes that it is the shooting range many of the NYPD use, including her father and the other SVU detectives. Her stomach tightens.
Kyra gets a range assignment. As they walk in she hands a nervous Kathleen ear protection and takes one for herself. Kathleen watches in shock as Kyra withdraws a very large automatic handgun. "Is that one of those…Desert Eagle's?" Kyra shakes her head. "Forty-four…modified." With a grin she adds "The Eagle is for those to who are compensating for something." Kyra quickly takes aim and empties the magazine. When the target rides the track to the station for examination, the holes are close together. Kyra sends the target back. She removes the clip, checks that the weapon is clear, and takes a laser sight out of her coat and adds it to the gun. "Ever hold a gun?" Kathleen shakes her head. Before she can object Kyra puts her on the firing line and puts the gun in her hand turning on the laser. "What do I do?" Kathleen stammers starting to turn. Kyra stops her. "First, never point that thing at anything you don't want to kill." Kathleen's heart is racing and a few officers recover from their reactions. "I thought it wasn't loaded." Kathleen tries. "Always assume that it is. You can be right many times, but if you're wrong even once…" Kathleen nods. "Those guys nearly pissed in their pants when that little red dot started swinging in their direction. It could have put a round through several of them. It hits a lot harder than what your father probably carries."
Kyra puts Kathleen into a two handed shooting stance. Kathleen instinctively puts her finger on the trigger. Kyra cautions "Keep your finger on the side of the guard unless you are ready to fire. For right now, you are just going to keep that little red dot as still as possible." Kathleen nods and tries, but it is difficult. Kyra grins "Not as easy as you would think is it?" Kathleen nods. "It takes practice. Calm your mind." Kathleen tries some more.
"I don't think I can do it." Kathleen complains. She starts to turn, but keeps the gun facing her target. "I think you can." Kathleen says "Show me." They switch positions and Kyra holds the red dot nearly steady. "I was all over the target. You barely moved an inch." Kathleen says in astonishment. "It was tough. I rarely have to hold a target that long."
On their way back to the college, Kathleen asks "Have you ever shot anybody?" Kyra just nods and Kathleen knows enough not to ask.
Arriving at the squad the next morning Elliott is confronted by Finn. "I saw your daughter at the range. She gave a few guys heart attacks when she started to turn around. Seeing that little red dot crossing your target really gets your attention." Elliott is shocked. "My daughter…? Kathleen? She doesn't like guns…" Finn nods "That would be the one." Elliott is confused. "Was she with somebody? Tell me she isn't dating a cop." Finn shakes her head. "No. She was with that blond that has been showing up all the hot shots." Elliott nods.
Stabler gathers up Olivia. "First stop, Hudson. That crazy woman had Kathleen shooting at the range." Olivia follows him. "I don't think she's crazy. Their purposes may not make sense to us but…" Before she can continue Elliott says "If she's on her meds… IF… She's still a kid. You don't know my mother…" Olivia can't admit she knows more than she can say. "Just because she might be nearly bulletproof doesn't mean anyone else is. Did you see that cannon she carries?" Olivia nods. "I did actually. It was hard to forget. Except for hustling a few guys, she was very professional."
The detectives find their way to Kyra's tiny office. "You put a gun in my daughter's hands!" is Elliott's greeting. Kyra casually leans back in her swivel chair. "I did." Elliott fumes. "She's bi-polar!" Kyra nods and smiles "You let her drive let her drive a car…in New York. That means she's in control of essentially a large bullet traveling at lethal speed in tight formation with others only feet away from others some traveling in the opposite direction, all with drivers, some of them young, some impaired, and some distracted by electronic devices of all sorts, eating, drinking, doing their hair, emotionally compromised…" Elliott puts up his hand. Olivia suppresses a laugh. "I just wished you'd asked before arming my daughter. My mother once shot my father." Kyra nods. "The clip was out and I cleared it. She was just practicing holding the laser sight steady. The next time…" Stabler says "Next time?!" Kyra nods and continues. "The next time we go to a range it will be learning to fire a twenty-two single shot target rifle. She can develop a lot of mental discipline." Elliott starts to object. "She's over eighteen." Kyra cautions.
As they walk back to the car, Olivia says "She has a point Elliott." Elliott shakes his head.
Munch and Finn head out on a case. Finn complains "John, what is going on? You keep pining away after not getting a drink with some guy. Stabler is talking about Olivia's BF destroying a practice dummy. I keep seeing you and the others holed up like conspirators. A brother can start to feel left out." Munch squirms a bit in his seat. Finn continues "A guy gets decapitated in Central Park and they are making no progress." Munch doesn't answer and Finn gives him the cold shoulder.
That night, Alex joins Elliott for another stakeout. Elliott is still agitated about Kathleen and explains what occurred to Alex. "There's another one?" Alex asks. "Yeah. Adam says we would consider her one of the good guys…whatever that means…but he doesn't want to run into her." Alex process the information. "Makes you wonder about him…and Duncan." Elliott takes a sip of coffee and nods. "It makes me wonder about all of them." Alex nods "I wonder what it would be like…to be like them." Elliott takes another swallow of the now not so hot coffee before responding. "It feels like one of the westerns I used to watch as a kid…the ones with gunfighters who knew each other by reputation in their own world." Alex nods "And we'd be the town's people or settlers who didn't understand…?" Elliott says "Yeah" not happy about being in that role. "I always thought of myself as the sheriff or US marshal."
After a long silence, Stabler says "She said she isn't hunting." Alex is puzzled "Hunting?" Stabler nods "Looking for another one of their kind to kill."
When it is clear that Duncan and Melinda are in for the night, Alex heads home. Kyra again stalking her at a distance.
Olivia chats with Adam in bed. She explains that Kyra had taken Kathleen to the range and that Elliott was not happy about it. Adam says "She has a point. I wouldn't have, but she's more comfortable with guns than I am." Olivia rubs his chest. "You're not?" Adam explains "I'm a fair shot. Guns are sort of against our rules… I shot Duncan once." Olivia's brown eyes widen in surprise. "Yup, right between the shoulder blades. He went down like a rock…full on face plant." Olivia lifts herself up on her elbow "Why?" Adam shrugs "He was about to meet a guy that wanted his head but he wasn't in the right frame of mind. I killed him. I tried to talk the other guy out of the fight. But I ended up killing him too." Adam explains casually. "You killed two people?" Adam nods. "Not permanently." Olivia is relieved. She lies back down and throws her leg over him.
Kathleen calls home wanting to talk to her father, but ends up talking breathlessly to her mother. "It was a HUGE gun and I held it. She shot the hell out of her target. The other guys there weren't willing to bet against her. It was SO cool! And she signed me up for her new course which hasn't even been listed yet…"
After Kathleen hangs up, Kathy calls her husband demanding. "Elliott, Kathleen was shooting a gun with some strange woman who is a professor at Hudson. What do you know about this and why didn't we discuss it before?" Elliott winces. "I'm almost home. I'll talk to you when I get there." When Kathy isn't ready to let the matter drop, Elliott responds "I'm driving. It has recently been pointed out that talking on a cell phone and driving are more than just illegal, it's dangerous. Elliott notices red flashing lights behind him. "Kathy, I've got to go." He hangs up and pulls over. He breathes a sigh of relief as the patrol car rushes by apparently more interested in something else. Elliott mutters to himself "Well that's the first break I've had all day."