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Chapter 7 – Review and problems.
A few weeks later
"You understand why this review was undertaken don't you?" The Captain asked Amy as she sat down in front of him and 3 other people.
"Yes Sir and I want you to know that I truly regret what I did, my only excuse is that I let my anger get the better of me and I acted in an inappropriate way. I know that doesn't in the least justify what I did and I promise I do my best to ensure it never happens again." Amy replied.
"Detective Novak, you must appreciate that you do not in the least have a spotless record, the number of discrepancies since you joined the Vice Squad three years ago alone suggests there is a problem." The Captain said.
"Yes Sir, I know and I can't explain away or excuse my behaviour, I reacted to situations in a way that is sometimes wrong and displayed behaviour that goes against my training."
"Dr Huang seemed very impressed over your evaluation results, and he couldn't see any problems in you continuing in this particular line of work. However, your actions and record need to be taken into account; it won't be easy for us to reach our decision."
"I am willing to accept whatever punishment you see fit Sir; I assure you that I will not act in that way again."
"Pending our decision your suspension will remain now that your dealings with Special Victims have concluded. We'll let you know at the end of the week, in the meantime Detective Novak, I ask you to consider if this career really suits you. That will be all."
"Yes Sir." Amy replied leaving.
- - -
Office of ADA Casey Novak
"So are there any more questions you want to ask?" Casey asked Della, they'd gone through the court process so she knew what to expect.
"Where's Amy?" Della asked, only Olivia and Elliot were there.
"Erm she's gone back to her normal unit, she's working real hard on another case but she said you could contact her at the centre." Elliot replied.
"I thought she was going to be here, that's the only reason we agreed to do this." Mrs Reeves stated.
"This was out of our control I'm afraid, the powers that be sent her elsewhere but Amy promised you that she'd be there for you to talk to, just leave a message at the centre and she will get back to you. One thing I'm sure of with regards Amy is that she keeps her word." Olivia replied, more to Della than her mother.
"I've known Amy her whole life and I've never known her break a promise." Casey added.
"Novak? I can't believe I've only just realised." Della said looking at the name plate on Casey's desk.
"What?" Elliot asked.
"You have the same last name as Amy; I can't believe I only just noticed." Della said to Casey.
"Amy is my younger sister, and there was no reason for you to notice, we don't go around referring to people by their last names here." Casey replied.
"So you know what it was like for Amy, going through everything?" Della asked.
"I suppose so, why, what do you want to know?"
"Did she manage to get over it; I don't think I'll be able too." Della urged, the look in her eyes was such that there was only one answer Casey could possibly give.
"It took a bit of time but she managed it in the end, she knew that she had done nothing wrong and that was all that mattered. Now look at her, she's doing the job she loves, lives in an apartment I'd love to live in and she's a fantastic person who I love very much, but then I'm biased as her big sister." Casey replied, half lying half telling the truth but it had the desired effect.
"Will you tell her thank you from me, and I promise I won't let her down?" Della asked.
"I'll make sure I do." Casey replied nodding.
- - -
"You know there's every chance of Amy being demoted back into uniform or even being fired?" Elliot asked Olivia once they'd left Casey's office.
"How bad was the assault on the pimp?" Olivia asked knowing that Elliot had gone over every inch of the file in detail.
"Broke his jaw, pretty impressive when you take into account that he's 6ft 5 and she's a tiny tot at just over 5ft 1. Do you think Amy knows just how serious the situation is?"
"I hope so, but like everything else to do with this case you just don't know, there's a lot going on beneath the surface that I don't even want to think about that is possibly impairing her judgement on things." Olivia replied as they got into the car.
"You're beginning to sound a lot like Casey; you've been hanging out with her too much. I don't think there's a problem with Amy; if the guy had grabbed my ass I'd have probably done the exact same thing."
"But thing is Elliot you don't have a rape in your history, I bet it's thrown her relationships and experiences with men well off. A bad date sets me back months."
"But she was fine with me, George even said so, what's turned you into Casey mark two all of a sudden, Amy has enough family members to worry about her, the last thing she needs right now is someone on the force saying she has problems."
"Well in that case you can talk to her." Olivia replied.
"What and why?"
"She needs informing about the case and you can have a chat with her about things."
"I thought Casey was going to do that, and what can I talk to her about, we don't have a lot in common, I can just picture us chatting about periods, can't you?"
"If she doesn't have a problem with guys then she'll talk to you."
"Is Casey putting you up to this?" Elliot asked raising his eyebrows at his partner, she was acting completely out of character, true Amy had grown on them and she was becoming a friend but still they barely knew her. They knew details about her past but that wasn't exactly knowing about her. Also what right did they have to interfere with her personal business, if Amy had a problem with guys then so be it, if any of his daughters reached 26 without brining a guy home he'd be thrilled. But then again, he knew how much the job meant to people in it, and he'd been in as much trouble as her, and he would have done the same in her situation, over the punching the pimp thing anyway.
Olivia sat watching Elliot deep in thought, she thought his frown lines were sweet, she also knew she was likely to get what she wanted from him, as was their custom. She could see what Casey saw in Amy's eyes and that was enough for her to know that intervention was needed, her own past experiences also told her that what she was doing the right thing. And although she hadn't approved of Casey's methods in the first instance she was quickly warming towards them, she could put herself in Casey's shoes wanting to protect her younger sister, I mean, there were times when she herself thought of Casey as being her younger sister, if that was the case then she also had a responsibility to protect and ensure the wellbeing of Amy, her baby sister. Olivia also knew that Amy had also grown on Elliot, and she could rely on his protective instincts at any time.
"Ok, you win as usual, I'll do it, I don't know how I'm going to do it but I'll give it a go. I'll have to remember to never get put up to something by you and Casey ever again." Elliot sighed.
"What makes you say that?" Olivia asked with a smile after getting her own way.
"Because I get the feeling that Amy's reaction to my questioning will be another well timed and well aimed punch."
"I doubt that."
"Oh really, then why don't you volunteer to speak to her, after all Liv it is your brilliant idea?"
"Because I'm a woman, and yes I know before you say it that women talk to each other, but this isn't testing Amy's relationships with women we're testing it with men."
- - -
Apartment of Detective Amy Novak
Once again it was Jack who answered the door, only this time he had jeans on but no shirt and it was Amy who was wrapped in a towel dripping wet. Elliot made a mental note to tell Olivia and Casey about seeing them both in a state of undress, he'd picked up on the fact that Casey and Olivia had taken a good look at Jack the first time they'd seen him unclothed.
"Hi Elliot, sit down I'll just be a moment." Amy said dashing off to get dressed whilst Jack showed Elliot into the lounge.
"So how long have you and Amy been together?" Elliot asked trying to get his answers without asking Amy.
"We're not, we were about six years ago but we're not now." Jack replied pulling on his shirt that was on the couch, it was then that Elliot noticed that his hair was wet. "So you here about the review board or the case?"
"A bit of both, rumour has it the decision could go either way." Elliot replied.
"Yeah, she's even had her uniform dry cleaned in case she's demoted to traffic or something. She's also prepared for the worst, spent all morning trying to figure out how she'd explain it to her parents without them freaking out, which they will of course, they panic every time she gets a cough."
"I'll bet, everyone at special victims has their fingers crossed for a good result, she made quite an impression on us."
"She does with everyone; it's easy to become attached to her. I met her 8 years ago when she was just a rookie, in a matter of minutes I was hooked and luckily for me it wasn't a left hook, I haven't looked back since. She's as much a part of me as; I don't know how to explain it, it's just a bond we have." At that point Amy emerged fully dressed with her hair wrapped in a towel.
- - -
"So, what can I do for you?" Amy asked apprehensively sitting down opposite Elliot.
"I figured you'd want to know that we go to court tomorrow with Della."
"And what the phone wasn't working?" Amy asked raising her eyebrows, she knew there was a different reason for him turning up, and Casey could have told her how the case was going after all.
"To get to the point Casey and Olivia are a little worried about you, your involvement in Della's case can't have been easy, and you've got the review board hanging over your head too. They just don't want you pushing yourself too hard, that's all, they both heard what George said about you being fine like I did but you know what women are like. No offence." Elliot hastened to add.
"I know what you mean, we are tough to talk to and make up our own minds, guys can be just as bad though." Amy sighed.
"True, so Jack says you and him used to date?" Elliot asked trying to get back to the matter at hand, the moment he'd asked it however Amy was on to him.
"I knew it, they put you up to it, I can't believe it. Or should I say I can't believe Casey, you know I should as someone from the DA's office to ask her if she's had sex recently, maybe then she'll get the hint. What do you think to that?" Amy asked standing up.
"As long as I don't have to ask I don't care, but whilst you're doing that you may as well send someone to ask Olivia and Munch, I think it would go down a treat." Elliot joked making her smile; he could tell it was genuine as there was a twinkle in her eyes.
"What are you going to tell them?" Amy asked sitting down again getting serious.
"I don't care what the answer is but I've got two pre menstrual women waiting for me, any ideas?" Elliot asked referring to Casey and Olivia.
"When you arrived you found both Jack and I in states of undress, which technically speaking is true, I mean you could have interrupted anything if you think about it." Amy replied with a cheeky grin.
"Sure, sounds feasible, and I won't be lying to them, I'll just feed their overactive imaginations. So, are we ok, what with me being the pawn in their game and all?" Elliot asked.
"I know how persuasive my sister can be, and I can imagine that Olivia won't take no for an answer either. We're fine Elliot; my career however is another thing entirely."
"Don't worry, the charges against you were dropped, you've said sorry and convinced George you were sane, don't sweat it." Elliot added with a smile.
- - -
"Benson?" Olivia asked answering her phone, she was just about to head home, Elliot hadn't yet told her how it had gone with Amy, she hoped things were going well, against her better judgement she'd picked the phone up.
"It's Martha Reeves Della's gone missing!" Mrs Reeves sobbed hysterically.
"Calm down Mrs Reeves, we'll find her don't worry." Olivia replied.
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