Chapter 3 "Gentle Eyes"

"This will be your desk." Captain Cragen walked Jessie into the front part of the precinct. A fairly plain desk with a simple desktop lamp and chair was in the middle of two rather cluttered desks.

"You'll be between Fin and John." He said sympathetically. "We have to keep them separated."

"They can't be that bad." Jessie said with a spurt of optimism. Just then Fin and John burst through the doors, yelling, and carrying coffee. John carrying one cup and Fin carrying two.

"Just shut up Munchkin!" Fin said as he sat at his desk.

"I'm telling you! It's a conspiracy! Otherwise the curse would not have been broken and Boston wouldn't have won!" John exclaimed, rattling on about government cover up. Jessie cast Cragen a questioning look.

"Munch here is our resident paranoid conspiracy theorist." Cragen explained. Jessie nodded, turning to her desk and gulped. "Told you so." He said to her. "You two make her feel at home." And with that he went back to his office… laughing.

"I rooted for Boston." Jessie said carefully to John.

"Traitor!" He exclaimed and shook his index finger at her. Jessie laughed.

"No," She pointed at herself. "Southern! I was neutral between Boston and New York."

"Point taken." John nodded. He then sat and decided tackle some paper work. John got the feeling that Fin wanted to talk to Jessie. He smiled to himself. Fin and Elliot were both ogling Jessie back in Cragen's office and John knew that if Fin wanted a shot with Jessie that he had better hurry because Elliot had home court advantage…literally.

Jessie sat down at her empty desk and suddenly became very home sick. She remembered back to the days when her desk had been cluttered and full of over due paperwork like Fin and John's. She couldn't wait to go through the many boxes in storage and give her desk a little personality. Then Jessie was struck by a question.

"Who's my partner?" She didn't even know she'd said it out loud.

"All of us." Fin rolled his chair over to her desk and placed a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Wow, thanks!" She said appreciatively. He nodded as she took a big drink and sighed as the warm liquid went down her throat. "How are you all my partner?" She asked Fin. He chuckled.

"You're sort of a floater. You'll go where you're needed." Jessie nodded in understanding. She shifted her weight and the fabric of her jeans rubbed the bandage on her knee and she rubbed the injury. It didn't hurt, it was just the bandage was very annoying.

"Did I hurt you?" Fin asked quietly. Jessie looked at him in surprise. His voice was surprisingly soft, a lot different from the hard rough sound he usually spoke with.

"Me? No! You saw me trip." Jessie wanted to easy his concern.

"I mean when I pushed you down." He said.

"Oh," Jessie shrugged. "No big deal. You can make it up to me somehow." She smirked. He didn't look convinced. "Really, don't worry about it. You were doing your job." Jessie reached out and touched Fin's arms lightly. "I'd of done the same if not worse." She gave him arm a quick squeeze before pulling back her hand. Jessie smiled at Fin and rose from her chair and walked over to Elliot's desk to speak with him.

Fin shook his head and wheeled himself over to John's desk as he watched Jessie walk over to Elliot and start talking to him. He looked up to find his partner staring at him from over the top of his glasses. That look always made Fin feel like a little boy who was about to be punished.

"What now old man?" Fin asked.

"You've got it bad my friend." John said in a hushed tone. Fin leaned back in his chair.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, trying to play it off like he really didn't know. He knew his…interest in Jessie hadn't gone unnoticed by his perceptive partner.

"She is cute, I'll give you that." John smiled. "And she's got this mysterious quality about her. She must blend well with people if Cortez's people didn't catch on to her. She's got to be an amazing actress because people like that can just about smell a cop." He pointed out.

"She's intelligent too." Fin said in a far off voice. "And funny." He added.

"Admit it!" John said a little louder than intended. "You gonna' make a play for her?" He said a little more quietly.

"You're out of your damn mind you bony ass idiot." Fin said and began to wheel himself back to his mound of paperwork. John turned back to his own and said to himself, "I may be out of my mind but this is one theory I am right about."

"Hey," Jessie said to Elliot as she approached his desk.

"Hey yourself," He smiled. Nice smile, Jessie decided. "Wow, Don sat you between those two?" Elliot chuckled. Jessie turned to see John being hit in the head by a balled up piece of paper. Jessie laughed.

"I don't mind. They'll keep me entertained!" She said, taking a sip of the coffee Fin had brought her. That was awful thoughtful, she thought. Speaking of thoughtful… "Thank you for letting me crash at your place." Jessie said gratefully. "How much will I owe you for rent?" She asked.

"Just contribute to the bills and we're square." He said and leaned back in his chair and Jessie sat on the edge of his desk. She felt her hand brush against something cold and hard and she looked down. It was a frame with a photo of Elliot and four kids in it!

"Whoa," Jessie said, nearly hopping off the desk. "All four of these yours?" She asked nervously. She looked at his left hand and didn't see a ring but men didn't always wear wedding rings. He chuckled and scooted his chair close to her so that their knees were touching. He leaned over slowly across her and picked up the frame.

"Yep, all four." He laughed.

"Quite a tribe you've got going there!" Jessie glanced down at the picture, her eyes going a little wider. She loved kids, they weren't what was worrying her, but she wasn't sure how his wife was going to take her occupying the guest room! Elliot sensed her tension and quickly cleared things up.

"I've been divorced for a little over a year now." He explained quickly. "They come to visit when I'm not working… but that isn't often enough."

Jessie relaxed a bit. Still…four kids and divorced? How old was he? He didn't look over thirty-five! Then Jessie mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't care whether he was married, not married, old, or young. Did she care? Oh crap

"Maureen's my oldest. She turned nineteen a few months back." He pointed out each of his kids. Maureen, Kathleen, Elizabeth, and Dicky. Elizabeth and Dicky were twins. Lord, Jessie thought. Very brave man!

"It must be fun though." Jessie said smiling.

"Yeah, till report cards and sex talks come around." He laughed. Jessie cringed.

"Sex talks equal awkwardness times a zillion." Elliot nodded violently.

"Mind if I ask how old you are?" Jessie asked. "You don't look old enough to have four kids, one being nineteen!" Elliot laughed.

"Well thanks! I'm forty." He smiled. "How about you? You don't look old enough to be a detective." She shot him a dirty look. Jessie didn't like people poking fun at her for her age.

"I'm twenty-six." She said as calmly as possible, sipping her coffee. Elliot nodded.

"Why'd you transfer to New York?" Jessie felt all of her muscles tighten and she gripped her cup of coffee as tightly as possible. She rose slowly from Elliot's desk. Elliot looked up at her with a look of concern and curiosity on his face. She gave him a fake and much practiced smile.

"That's a story for another day." She said mysteriously, grinned, and walked nervously to Captain Cragen's office.

When Elliot saw Jessie walk into Cragen's office he immediately wheeled his chair over to his partner's desk.

"Olivia, listen to this…" He filled her in on Jessie's evasiveness about why she had transferred.

"Hmm… time for a huddle." She and Elliot rose from their chairs and walked over to Fin and John.

"What's up?" Fin asked, looking up from his paperwork. John rolled his chair over to Fin's desk where the group crowded around. Elliot told them what he'd told Olivia.

"It is odd," John said. "One doesn't usually uproot their whole lives and move across the country for a change of scenery." Fin rolled his eyes.

"You can't honestly tell me you're suspicious about Jessie?" He asked his partner. John shrugged.

"Just saying it's weird." John said in his defense.

"I don't get a bad vibe from her." Elliot said. He was famous for his gut feelings.

"It's probably just some personal reasons." Olivia offered.

"Yeah, and that means none of us are gonna' push her to talk about it. She will when she feels comfortable with us." Fin said sternly. He didn't like the air of suspicious around Jessie. She seemed like a decent girl. More than decent… Fin looked up to see his three co-workers staring at him. He cleared his throat. "Understand me?" They all nodded.

"Yes sir!" Elliot saluted him and the group dispersed to their own desks. Elliot felt a little guilty for thinking ill of Jessie's motives for being there. He just couldn't help it, seeing as the way she'd reacted to his question. He was a detective after all! But Fin was right. They'd just have to wait and see if she talked.

Jessie heard Cragen's voice tell her to come in and she nervously opened the door. She stepped through the door and smiled as she saw Cragen's head buried in a pile of paperwork.

"If you're busy I can come back…" He cut her off.

"Nope, just waiting for a call to tell me where Cortez is. I was about to ask you in here anyway. Please, sit." Jessie gulped and sat down. "Everything okay?" The Captain asked her.

"You know why I'm here in New York, don't you?" Jessie asked quietly. Cragen sighed heavily and sat back in his chair.

"Yes," He looked Jessie in the eyes. "It was in your file." Jessie nodded.

"I'll tell the others…eventually. In my own time." Jessie said her voice harder. She had to collect herself. She knew from the two years that she'd been in the Gang Division that emotion in this game could get you killed. She knew that the Special Victims Unit was considerably less dangerous than her previous position but still… she was forever on her guard.

Don studied Jessie's cool demeanor and saw right through it. She was an amazing actress, he decided, but she can't pretend pain away. He rose from his seat and walked around his desk and sat in the chair next to Jessie.

"Why did you choose this unit?" He asked her point blank. "You could had gone anywhere with your record. Why here?" Jessie sighed. It was true. She'd gotten offers from just about everywhere but she'd chosen New York's sex crimes.

"I came here because it was far away from Texas. There's a lot of crime here and I could do a lot of good." She sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. "And I want to help people that have gone through anything close to what I have." Cragen nodded in understanding.

"Captain… when you were twenty-six did you have a two body count to your name?" Cragen shook his head sadly. Jessie stood up.

"Jessie, here is your badge and gun." Jessie smiled slightly as she ran her fingers over the badge, her badge, which Cragen had just handed her. She picked up her gun and got the feel of it and then put it back in its holster.

"Thanks Captain!" She said with a grin. "I felt naked without a badge." Cragen laughed.

"In casual conversation please call me Don." Jessie smiled and began to walk out the door. "And Jessie," She turned her head back to Cragen. "If you ever need to talk…" Don shuffled his feet a bit awkwardly.

"Thank you Don. It means a lot." She gave him one last smile as she walked out of his office.

Jessie went back to her empty desk and put her gun strap on and then put on her blue jean jacket that that she'd left on the back of her chair. She put her badge in the inside pocket of her jacket, right where her old badge had been.

"Got your badge?" Fin asked. Jessie nodded.

"Oh yes, the symbol of our devotion to this fine city!" John said in a singsong voice, making Jessie laugh. Fin rolled his eyes. And then the door to Cragen's office burst open.

"We've got Cortez's address," Cragen handed the piece of paper to Jessie. Everyone had crowded around her desk in the blink of an eye.

"You and Fin go pick him up." She nodded briskly and Fin grabbed his black leather jacket and the two detectives were off.

As they were walking down toward the parking garage Jessie took a good hard look at Fin Tutuola. He was tall and nicely built, his hair slicked back into a nice ponytail, and despite his hard features there was something about his eyes that seemed almost gentle. He was dressed in all black, and to most, would probably look very intimidating, but he didn't intimidate her in the least. Aside from the fact that Jessie didn't scare easily, and she also looked very intimidating holding again herself, she was rather curious about him. Jessie had always prided herself in being naturally curious. That's part of the reason she'd always wanted to be a cop.

Jessie's attention did not go un-noticed. As they reached the car Fin got behind the wheel and fired up the engine he said, "So, what were you lookin' so hard at me for?" Fin had expected her to blush but she didn't.

"It was the first time I got to really look at you." She said honestly as if it were no big deal.

"And what did you see?" He asked, never taking his eyes off the road. Jessie sat back and looked at him once more. He squirmed a little under her stare. Fin looked like a man who had seen a lot and been through a lot. He was street smart and quick witted and not to mention dripping with attitude. At first glance his face said "Don't jack with me or I'll break your face," but his eyes told a different story.

"I see someone who has fooled lots of people into thinking he's this tough intimidating guy but you don't fool me." Fin laughed.

"You got me! What gave me away?"

"Your eyes." Jessie replied.

"Why my eyes?" Fin asked surprised.

"You've got a lot of gentleness inside. You just need someone to pull it out of you." Jessie said, turning her attention to the scenery outside of the passenger window. Maybe it'll be you, Fin thought.

Authors Note: Last chapter I'm uploading till I get some more reviews lol. And as you can see the plot thickens! Leave me some love folks!-Ali