Disclaimer: Wow, if I owned SVU, Cassidy would definitely not have transferred to Narcotics. But he did, and therein lies the basis for this story.
A/N: All righty then, here's the deal - This fic takes place after Cassidy's transfer to Narcotics at the end of the first season of SVU (which my mother keeps referring to as SUV), so really, it's not a SVU fic, but since there's no Narc division of the Law and Order franchise, this will just have to do. Peace.
Brian Cassidy strode into Narcotics division of the one-six precinct, looking none too happy. Not only was it his first day at a new job, but it was one that required him being awake and functioning at inhumane hours of the morning.
He came to a stop shortly after entering, at a loss for what to do next. He had visited the place once before, when he was still with Special Victims, but didn't retain much. At the time, he hadn't had to. He stood there forlornly for a few minutes before someone noticed him.
"Can I help you?" A tall, rather handsome looking man in his late twenties to early thirties asked. Brian stared at him, thinking that he might have some competition for best looking in the office.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Brian Cassidy, I'm supposed to start here today."
The other man's face lit up.
"Oh, so you're the newbie. Great. I'm Kyle Masters, and my partner is somewhere around here." Kyle looked around for a moment before spotting a slightly shorter, stockier man. "Hey Scott! Get over here!"
The proclaimed Scott made his way over to where Kyle and Brian were standing, cup of coffee in hand.
"Yeah? What do you want?" He noticed Brian. "Oh, so you must be the newbie. I'm Scott Porter, nice to meet you." Scott stuck out for Brian to shake, which he did.
"Brian Cassidy," Brian said. "So, you guys like it here?"
Kyle and Scott exchanged looks.
"You can't be in this kind of work if you don't. Wasn't it the same in Special Victims?"
Brian was taken aback by the unexpected question. He didn't think people here would be aware of the conditions of his transfer. He recovered quickly, however, and responded.
"Yeah, I guess."
He was saved from having to go any further when a portly, balding man who reminded Brian oddly of Cragen stuck his head and torso out an office door.
"Porter! Masters! Is Sam in yet?"
Scott shook his head in the negative.
"No, but the newbie is."
The man exited the office, smoothing his wrinkled tie in a vain attempt to look somewhat presentable. He strode over to where the other three now stood and looked Brian over hard. Finally, just as Brian was starting to worry, his face broke into a smile and he pulled Brian into a tight embrace.
Brian, initially shocked at the sudden - and not to mention public - display of emotion, recovered quickly and reluctantly hugged the man back. Kyle and Scott sniggered silently behind their hands.
Eventually, the older man pulled away and introduced himself as Captain Timothy (Tim) Jefferson, not to be confused with Thomas Jefferson. Apparently his parents had had a cruel sense of humor.
Once the introductions were over, Tim turned to the door.
"Where the hell is Carson? She was supposed to be in half an hour ago, and she knew it!"
Brian was momentarily stunned by the mention of a "she." He realized he shouldn't be, since there were indeed women who were police officers - and damn good ones, too - and as a matter of fact he had worked with a number of them. All right, it was three, but it was still more than zero. He supposed that there was just something about the atmosphere of the place that made him think that the place was male-dominated.
"You know Sam, Captain," Kyle stated with a smirk, "She probably stopped for coffee and pretended to blow a tire to cover up for being late."
As if on cue, a blur of color came flying into the office, stopping abruptly by the boys.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" The blur, who, now that it had stopped moving and being so blurish, was indeed a female. And a rather attractive one at that, Brian thought, noting the way her long brown hair was pulled hurriedly back into a messy bun that still somehow managed to look good. "My tire blew out on the way here, and it took the repair guy forever to get there to fix it, and-"
"And you used the spare tire when this happened last week so you couldn't just fix it yourself?" Tim volunteered. The newcomer flashed him a wry smile.
"Exactly."
"And somehow you managed to find the time to stop for coffee, eh Sam?" Kyle gave her a roguish wink.
"Well, uh, you know how those repair guys are, always wanting their coffee and all."
"Uh huh." Skeptical looks were exchanged all along. Brian was just beginning to feel rather lost and unnoticed when the woman turned to him.
"And you would be...?"
For what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, Brian was caught with his shorts down. It took him a moment before he was able to provide his name, which was supplied for him courtesy of Scott.
"This would be the newbie. Brian Cassidy. Brian, this is Samantha Carson."
"Ooh! I feel enlightened." She turned to Brian. "And it's Sam. Nobody calls me Samantha unless they want a swift kick in the groin." She glared pointedly at Kyle, who had a pained expression on his face, as if recalling a particularly unpleasant memory.
"So," Sam said, taking a deep swig of her coffee, "I suppose we'll be working together, then."
This took a moment to sink in with Brian, who was still trying to wrap his mind around everything that had happened thus far.
"You mean...?"
"Yup, that's right!" Kyle said cheerily, draping an arm around both Brian and Sam. "That's your new partner. Good luck, and believe me, I do not envy you, my friend."
Sam glared at him.
"You just wish your partner was a good looking and charming as me," she shot back, "Just because you got stuck with him" - she jerked her head in Scott's direction - "doesn't mean that you can try to convince every noob that I'm a horrible person just so you can work with me."
"Oh, burn!" Scott laughed, obviously used to such antics. Brian just looked on in amazement. He had always thought the the people in Special Victims were close, but these guys had a relationship that seemed to be on an entirely different level.
"Yeah, and you're so modest too." Tim teased. Sam's response was to stick her tongue out at them all in a mature fashion. Brian wondered how it would be possible to be accepted into such a group; they seemed so close, more like a family than anything else.
Before the insults could go any further, however, the phone rang. Sam jumped at the chance to answer it, literally. She vaulted over a chair and leaned over a desk to get to the ringing phone and picked it up.
"Carson." She fell silent for a moment, presumably getting information. Her hand moved to write an address on a piece of paper that was sitting on the desk. "All right, we'll be right there."
"We got something?" Kyle asked.
"Nah, that was just my salon calling telling me that they can take me for a hair appointment later today. Yes we got something. Come on now, let's be real."
The idea of such a girl going to a salon seemed rather absurd, even to Brian. She was clad in grey sweats and a red tank top, and her hair was still rather disheveled. He thought back to Olivia. She never would have worn something like that into work, unless there was no other option. And even then, she would have borrowed something from someone.
"Let me go change and we'll jet, all right?" The question was directed at Brian, who didn't have the chance to answer as Sam took off in the direction of the staff lockers.
Minutes later, she reemerged, now wearing black dress pants and matching jacket. A dark green tie complimented the ensemble. Even so, it was something considerably more appropriate for this line of work than what she had previously been wearing.
Tim rolled his eyes.
"You can never just wear decent clothes, can you?"
Sam gave him a look and he answered his own question.
"Apparently not." He turned to Brian, who was still standing in the same place that he had been before. "You ready for your first case?"
Brian nodded, swallowing hard. He wasn't really sure he was ready for anything around this group.