"I'd like to offer my sincere congratulations to Amanda Rollins. You'd better watch out boys. She's turning into a real Racehorse out there. 5.30 mile. That's better than any of you've got." Amanda glowed with pride. Her eyes dared to glance around her, seeing the dumbfounded guys. Some very few, like Tavers had anger on their faces, but most looked like they were gearing up for some friendly competition. They'd seen Amanda's confidence mysteriously grow in the six months since the convention, seen her no longer be afraid to excel at the things she enjoyed. She could out shoot even the instructors, and her running was unmatched.

"Places." Instructor Shepherd called out, as the recruits scrambled around the starting line. As soon as the gun went off, Rollins was off like a light. She ran faster than she had in her life, swiftly leaving the others in her dust. Lap one was a breeze, and she all but sailed through laps two and three, easily a half a lap ahead of the others consistently. On lap four, she was up against Tavers. She saw him out of the corner of her eye, gaining on her, running faster and faster, neck and neck down the homestretch. She crossed the finish line first, beating him literally by one step.

"Well, That was awfully good for a lady cop." Tavers wheezed, his hand lightly grazing her behind as he stood beside her, she sidestepped off the track, untying and retying her shoes. She hated him, hated everything the man stood for.

"Well done Rollins." Greene beamed at her, his smile genuine, he was actually congratulating her. " Hey Tavers, maybe you could beat her if you lay off the cigarettes."

"Yeah, Well," Amanda saw the wheels turning in Tavers head, but it seemed the hamster was taking a nap. "My uncle says ladies and Negros don't belong in policework."

"That's enough." Instructor Shepherd ordered. " You're out of line Tavers. If you really believe that, why'd you let yourself get beat by a lady?" He winked at Amanda. Not a flirty wink, but the kind a big brother would give to a little sister. " Run another mile to cool off Tavers, then we'll see you in the chow hall."

Amanda smiled as she played with the spaghetti on her plate. She was unbelievably nervous. Tonight they'd get their Precinct assignments. In a week was graduation.

" Can we go to New York? " Amanda surprised herself by asking Greene.

"New York? Damn girl. You still sweet on that Lady cop? Manda, were rookies. New York ain't gonna take us yet. Well start in Georgia. Then in a few years, we can put in for transfer. Get some good collars first, before you go for SVU. Maybe you'll get lucky."

Amanda sighed. " Thanks." She twirled the spaghetti around on her fork, almost too excited to eat. " You really think I have a chance? I mean, honestly Greene, I'm me, and she's...well...Olivia Benson."

Greene laughed, smiling at Amanda. " You have a strength that no other I have ever known possesses. You've dealt with Tavers, your dad, Heck, you basically raised your baby sister. If Benson doesn't see that strength in you, she's an idiot." The passion in Greene's voice shocked her.

" Thanks..." Rollins sighed softly, smiling at him, trying her best to keep her anxiety down to a minimum at the moment. She felt sick, her stomach was tied in knots, and she was absolutely sure she was going to hurl sometime between now and receiving her precinct assignment. It wasn't so much WHERE she was going to be working, but WHO she'd be assigned to work with. She hoped against hope that she wasn't working with Tavers. Anyone, literally anyone, even Mason who was terrified of germs, guns and dogs, (specifically German Shepherds) would be better than him. Out of everyone here, she'd want to work with Greene. If she was straight, she was sure she'd probably have a desire to date him.

"All Senior Cadets please report to your designated hall for Precinct assignments." Amanda stood, absolutely positive she was going to hurl. With shaking hands, she pulled her wallet from her back pocket, taking the folded up magazine article from it, looking into warm, strong eyes. She felt steadied, like she could do anything.

Entering the large hall, Amanda chose a seat in the front, waiting for her instructor to hand her her assignment envelope. For some reason she couldn't fathom, a sense of complete dread was pooling in her belly, a lead weight replacing the innocent butterflies from earlier. An instinct deep inside her wanted to be far away from this place, far away from the assignment that awaited her.

"Rollins, Amanda May." The envelope felt heavy in her hands, dangerous, like she'd been handed a cotton mouth snake instead of a precinct assignment. She'd grown up with her Mama telling her she had a sort of sixth sense and now she felt like Mama was right. Whatever was in that envelope, Amanda was sure it wasn't good, not by a long shot.

She slid her finger under the flap, gasping as she felt pain slice across her index finger. If that wasn't a bad omen, she didn't know what was.

ALABAMA GEORGIA

CHARLES PATTON

Amanda felt the air go out of her lungs. She got to work with Patton? He was very well known for his success rate of the new officers from his precinct. Amanda had been hoping to work with him, because the number of recruits that went on to work for SVU at his recommendation was the highest in the entire department. Patton. Wow. THE Charles Patton.

" Good news Manda." Great. Way to ruin a moment. Amanda turned her head, groaning as Tavers flashed his paper at her. "Guess we're both working at Atlanta 31."