Title: Unexpected, Chapter 3
Author: Sorsha711
Fandom/Pairing: Fin/OFC; Munch/OFC, O/E
Rating: M, for language and references to violence; some adult situations
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Dick Wolf. Sigh!
Summary: Across a crowded squad room… Yadda Yadda Yadda… a Fin-centric sequel to Making a Connection. The oh-so-sexy Fin, a beautiful ACS counselor, a heartbreaking case, and Munch/Arwen playing matchmaker. What more do you need? OK, a little OE.
Feedback appreciated!
Unexpected, Chapter 3
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Fin glanced out of the corner of his eye at the woman sitting beside him as he drove toward the Manhattanville neighborhood of west Harlem. Against his better judgment, he had allowed Christine to talk him into making a run through the area in hopes of finding the abandoned tenement rumored to be used by a gang for child prostitution. He had alerted John of their destination, promising not to attempt to enter the building without backup.
"Assuming we find the place, you know I'm not letting you go inside under any conditions, right? We're just going to scope the area and see if we can ID a couple of possible places that they may be using," Fin warned, wishing the hat and jacket he had given her to wear did more to protect her than simply hiding the fact she was a woman. "I know you want to get the girls out if we find the place, but I'm taking you to the nearest precinct to wait while I organize entry. We clear on that?"
Tilting her head to watch him, she countered, "I can wait in your car…"
"Hell no!" Fin bit out. "I know you too well, Christine! You'll come running in as soon as I turn my back. I know you want to help these kids… it's what makes you so good at what you do, but you have to let me do my job without having to worry you'll get in the middle of a things… maybe get hurt."
Frowning, she retorted, "I'm neither foolish or helpless, Fin Tutuola! I've been a caseworker for fourteen years, so I've been in plenty of dangerous situations. I can take care of myself!"
Gritting his teeth to still an angry response, Fin counted to ten… then twenty. After reaching one-hundred, he growled, "I never said you were helpless, much less foolish! I've seen where you go and it scares the hell out of me some days, but I know you can take care of yourself… most of the time. Damn it, Chris, you don't have a weapon and you aren't wearing protective gear. Help me and the girls by letting me do this my way, OK? I won't be able to focus on the job if I have to worry you might get hurt in the bargain."
That got to her. Slumping, she agreed. "OK, but if we find the place and you go in, promise me you'll call once the coast is clear. I don't want to put you in any more danger than you'll already be in by distracting you, but I need to do my job too. The girls will need me. I'm a familiar face they trust… not to mention the other children. OK?"
Reaching over to catch her hand, he nodded. "I promise, baby. Now where do we start looking?"
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"That has to be the place, Fin. The guys guarding the front are wearing the colors of the gang Mike heard was behind the prostitution," Chris argued, her eyes fixed on the front of a rundown tenement down the street from their vantage point. "And, there have only been men going in and out of the place… white males. That building is boarded up, so there shouldn't be anyone going in there… well, maybe a few homeless people squatting there to get out of the cold, but none of the men we've seen go inside look like they've been living on the streets."
"Could be drugs they're selling, Chris, not the place we're looking for," Fin observed, "thought none of them fit the profile for someone that would be buying at a pit like this. Looked more the type to 'indulge' in a little recreational coke purchased from their personal dealer, but not a serious user that would come to a sewer like this place looking to score."
"Fin, check out the guy that just walked up. He has to be here for something illegal. He's hesitating before going in… looks nervous and is scanning the area to be sure nobody has followed him. And look… the guys at the door know him. They're letting him in without any of the hassles they gave the earlier arrivals," Chris noted. "Whatever is going on in there, this guy wants it badly enough to go into a place that clearly scares the hell out of him… and he's been there before."
"I agree." After watching the man disappear inside, Fin eased his car into reverse so that he could roll quietly away from the corner where they had been watching the house. Once they had backed around the corner, he turned on the engine and flipped on the headlights.
Keying John's number on his cell phone, he requested, "John… I think we've found the place. We're heading to the local precinct to see what they can tell us. Can you call Cragen… Liv and Elliot and let them know what's up?"
"Thanks, man. The tenement is located at…."
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Fin held the front door of the precinct building open for Christine before following her inside. As the two approached the front desk, the sergeant on duty greeted them. "Can I help you?"
Flashing his badge, Fin identified himself, "I'm Det. Tutuola with Manhattan SVU. This is Ms. Christine Dupree with ACS. Ms. Dupree contacted us tonight about a child prostitution ring operating in Manhattanville. There's a tenement a dozen or so blocks over that fits the description in her report. I need to know what your officers may have observed that might help us get a feel for if we're on to something or just wasting our time with that place."
"Child prostitution? Damn!" the sergeant frowned, clearly disgusted by the prospect. "Give me the address and I'll see what we have."
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"Fin… what have you found?"
Looking up from a recent sector report filed by the uniforms that patrolled the area, Fin greeted his captain. "Chris came to see me tonight about a possible child prostitution ring operating here in Manhattanville, Cap. She's heard that two girls that went missing from one of her foster homes may be among the children being held inside. Liv and Elliot handled the case last summer."
"I remember it," Don replied. Glancing at the woman seated next to his detective, he added, "Evening, Chris. Fin put you to work I see."
Nodding in greeting, she offered, "I want to help all I can, Don."
Handing Cragen one of the reports they had found, Fin pointed to a specific passage that seemed to support their hunch the tenement was being used as a front for illegal activities. "The patrols in the area marked the building we think may be our location as a possible drug house. Narcotics has it on their list to check out, but haven't had time to get to it yet."
"So, why do you think it's the place you're looking for?" Cragen asked, quickly reading the report.
"Chris and I watched the place for about half-an-hour from well down the street," Fin admitted, knowing he was in for an ass-chewing for allowing her to accompany him on the search. "We saw a dozen or so men… all white, going in and out, but no one else. If it was drugs or standard-fare prostitution, the clientele would have been more mixed. Dump like this place wouldn't attract the men we saw. They're offering something a little harder to find, so their customers were willing to risk going into that pit to get it."
Holding his detective's gaze in a stern glare, Cragen ordered, "We need to set-up surveillance on the place. I want film on the clientele; I want them collared if this pans out. If the pattern you've seen holds, we'll pick one up leaving the place and give him a chance to help himself by offering up the evidence we'll need to get a warrant. I'll wait until tomorrow to discuss the fact you put a civilian at risk by letting her accompany you into the field."
Glaring at Cragen, Christine proclaimed, "I'm not exactly a civilian, Don, and I was the one with the intell on this place. Fin didn't want to bring me, but I didn't give him a choice. If you have a problem with my being there, take it up with my supervisor. Otherwise, stop acting like I'm a helpless Barbie doll! There could be kids being raped and exploited in that hellhole as we speak! No way I was going to wait meekly at the office to hear what he found."
"Like I said, I'll discuss this with Det. Tutuola after we resolve this situation," Cragen responded, his voice taking on an edge. "ACS isn't involved in that discussion… but I would be happy to have a conversation with your supervisor regarding you overstepping and involving yourself in police business. Now, back off and let us do our job."
"I am not…" she began, only to have Fin lay a calming hand on her arm.
"We can hash all of this out later, baby," he began, deliberately ignoring the surprised expression on Cragen's face at the personal form of his address. "Show Cap the references in the other patrol logs we found. They match what we observed pretty closely."
Turning her glare in his direction, both men noted the intensity of her anger dropped noticeably as she met his gaze. Still grumbling about chauvinist men, Chris pulled the requested documents from the stack in front of her. "I think these are the ones you mean, Fin. The patrols noted the clientele seen going into the tenement all appeared to be male except for a few teenage girls that were with gang members. All but three of the men were white. One of the officers noted that none of them looked like they had a serious drug habit… they were all clean, well-dressed, and seemed to be in full control of their faculties. Other than looking nervous, they appeared to be pretty average looking men."
"It sounds like you two have found something that needs to be investigated. With luck, it's our place and we nail the bastards." Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly dialed a number. "John... if TARU can spare a truck, get it and a team up here, ASAP. The night is quickly getting away from us and we need to start surveillance immediately."
After listening for a moment, he concluded, "OK, I'll tell him."
Looking over at Fin, Cragen instructed, "John was on go waiting for my call. He is on his way here with a surveillance team. They will meet you out front in 20, so you can show them where to setup. We'll train the listening devices toward the building from well down the street and start rolling tape."
Cragen next fixed Chris with a determined stare. "Christine, I don't need to remind you that you're not going with us."
Fin quickly interjected, "We've already discussed that and Chris is cool with staying here. I told her I'd call as soon as the building was secure and it was safe for her to enter. I know she's worried about her kids."
"All right, but I make the decision when it's safe enough for her to enter, understood?" Cragen insisted. "I don't want to see her hurt because her good intentions put her at risk."
"Understood, Cap," Fin agreed, rising from his chair. "Chris, Sergeant Matuszak said you could wait in the break room up on the next floor. Want me to finish going through them while we're gone? It will give you something to go other than worry."
"Probably a good idea," she agreed.
"I'll give you a hand carrying them up," Fin offered, picking up the stack of files closest to him. "You'll be a lot more comfortable waiting in the break room. He said they have a couch and a TV up there."
Hoping to have a moment alone with him before he left to join the stakeout, Christine nodded. Gathering the files in front of her, she gave Cragen a terse good night before following Fin from the room and up a flight of stairs. Spotting a large table on the opposite side of the room from the TV, Chris dumped her share of the files next to a chair with a view of the door.
"Cap didn't mean anything, Chris," Fin offered, adding his files to her stack. "He respects you and the work you do. Hell, you've been a big help to us all in improving our dealings with ACS. I knew I was in for an ass-chewing when I agreed to take you with me. Rules are rules, beautiful."
Turning to lean against the table, she studied the man before her. "OK… I know I tend to get a little defensive when I think someone is doubting my ability to take care of myself. I'm not foolish. I know there are places I have to leave for the police. I'm just worried about you and my girls. Be careful, all right?"
Stepping up to her, Fin smiled down at her upturned face. "Do my best. I have even more reason to be careful now that I have you waiting on me."
"Glad to help all I can if it keeps you safe," she whispered, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Can I have a kiss before you go?"
Several minutes later, a surprised laugh from the doorway broke the moment. "Now I see why Cap asked us to find Fin. He was worried he might embarrass himself by wandering in on this."
Looking over his shoulder, Fin mock glared at the two women watching them. "What are you doing here, Casey?"
"Cragen called and asked me to be on hand in case you found grounds for a warrant," the ADA replied, a smirk on her pretty face. "While I'm glad to see the relationship between SVU and ACS has improved a lot in recent months, I naively thought it was better communication that had achieved that. What about you, Liv?"
Laughing again, the female detective quipped, "I'm just happy they finally realized they're nuts about each other. Elliot and I have been worrying one of them would snap and jump the other in the squadroom… or that John would get fed up with them and lock them both in the supply closet until they came to their senses. All things considered, Cap should be relieved they are only making-out in a break room."
"Ha ha, very funny," Fin grumbled. Looking back at his new lady, he added, "At least you'll have Casey and her twisted sense of humor to keep you company while we're gone."
Tugging him back down for one last kiss before he left, Chris murmured, "No offense to Casey, but I prefer your snarky sense of humor."
"Glad to hear it."
After a couple of minutes, Casey mused, "I wonder if the water out of that tap will be cold enough to do any good? I think we may have to toss a bucket of water over them to get them apart."
"I doubt they'd notice tap water; I think we'll need some ice to get their attention," Olivia teased. "John has to be here by now, Fin, and you know how much he complains when you keep him waiting. By the way, does he know about you and Chris? If he doesn't, can I tell him?"
Rolling his eyes as he finally lifted his head, Fin pressed a final quick kiss to Chris' lips. "Ignore them, baby… they're obviously jealous. Elliot and Ben must be lacking in the passion department for them to be taking such an interest in a simple kiss."
Following him out the door, Olivia snorted with amusement. "I promise you my man is lacking in NOTHING… and that was no simple kiss. Who do you think you're impressing…"
As their voices died away down the hall, Casey turned back to study the woman still leaning against the table. "Screw those files… I want dish. When did you two…"
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