So here's chapter 3! Still writing, I have an idea where this is going, but it's probably not where some might think, especially after reading this chapter. Not going down the relationship road... Friendship/mutual respect is where I'm headed with this... A few curve balls might be thrown in for fun... Who knows! Thanks for all the reviews thus far!

Please R/R!

Chapter Three:

"She's deaf." Amanda sat down on the couch and stared straight at Declan. "And these bastards..."

"I know, and it'll be taken care of. How is she?"

"Asleep finally. I left Frannie in there with her, hopefully she'll stay asleep for a while after everything she's been through."

On getting back to the apartment, Amanda had Declan take the girl into the bedroom she'd put Frannie's dog bed in. Without saying a word to Declan, Amanda had known there was something more to it than the girl's having simply blacked out after being slapped around some. It had taken her an incredibly long time to get the girl to even look at her. Everytime she reached out to give comfort, the girl would flinch and pull away. It wasn't until Frannie had climbed up on the bed beside Amanda and laid her head in the girl's lap, that Amanda had even begun to get any other response from her. At first the girl only pet the dog's neck tentatively. Amanda had reached out a hand and began scratching Frannie behind the ears. Soon, the girl began to copy the movement. Now she was sound asleep, Frannie cuddled up beside her on the bed.

"Her name's Melissa, she's 10, and she's deaf. That's about all I could get out of her before she put her head down and cuddled up with Frannie. She fell asleep about 10 minutes ago. Frannie will stay in there all night with her until morning."

"Deaf? Are you sure?"

"Yes. She signs, reads lips... It explains a lot."

"OK, you said she signs. Do you?"

"I do."

"You'll need to use it. Gain her trust. Get her to open up to you. God only knows what all she's been through. Listen, since you gave up your bed, I'll take the couch. Take my bed for the night." Amanda started to protest.

"You don't have to go all white knight on me Declan... I'm a big girl; I've slept on couches before, even some really bad couches..."

Declan stood from his chair and crossed to the couch. He sat down beside her, took her hand and gave a little smile. He liked Amanda. She had enough guts and grit to achieve almost anything she wanted to... If she wanted it bad enough. They had a pretty solid working relationship so far. But this case, the way things were shaping up, was about to put everything to the test.

"Amanda, things happening with the girl the way they have are going to change everything now. We've got to find out what she knows. Then, we've got to get her out, get her to a safe place. Because not too many people know about her, and unfortunately more know about her than I'd personally like given she was with Carlos for the past three days, I can't in good conscience keep up that particular charade. We get her out and work the rest of this as discussed. I can sell it, but you're going to have to help me get her out..."

"The woman with the dog, yeah I remember."

"Not just that. You'll have to appear a bit more now. We need to find out what this little girl knows, get her out safely and without either of us going in to do it, and we need to find out what's so special about this woman with the dog and why she's so important to Johnny D."

"How did you find out about this mystery woman anyway?"

Declan thought a moment before he said honestly: "I didn't even realize she was a part of this until Johny D got word to me that he needed a very special favor. He wanted someone looked after; someone needed to keep an eye on this woman. He didn't say why or who she was to him, just that she was important. Even if the king is out of commission, when he says something needs to be done, it gets done."

Standing, Declan headed for the kitchen. Amanda followed and wasn't at all surprised to see him pull down a bottle of Irish whiskey and two glasses. Without a word, he filled both glasses and handed one to her.

"Thanks," Amanda said taking a sip. The whiskey burned going down, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. "Aside from that, we have got to shut this whole ring down. I know what happened tonight changes everything, and honestly, I agree. We need to get Melissa out safe."

"Is there anyone you trust who isn't in your squad who can do it? I can't pull anyone else from SVU in. Benson made it clear. I got you, but that was it."

Amanda thought for a moment. There was someone she could reach out to, but given the new position they held could they even play ball? "There is someone yeah... Used to be a sergeant with our unit, but he retired about a year ago... Right before we met."

"Sergeant John Munch, Special Investigator for the d.a." Declan said. "Given his job do you think he'll be willing to get involved only so far as we can let him and then not ask questions? We can't have anyone poking around in this..."

"Munch is cool. He won't push the issue if I tell him he can't. I have to reach out though. Do we have to do it tonight? Can we let her sleep at least?"

"Let her sleep as long as she will. In the morning we find out what we can from her, and then you need to reach out to your old Sergeant. With things going all to hell the way they did tonight, we need to get her out of this as soon as possible. No telling if there's a missing person's report on her somewhere, but given she's special needs it makes her too high risk to have around. Too much attention on her, especially if anyone knows she's special needs."

He looked at her for a long moment. He knew just how capable she was on the job, but he also knew from having kept an eye on her from a distance that she was still trying to deal with the aftermath of the Patten trial and all the old memories dredged up with it. Amanda, much like himself, had a genuine soft spot for children. If she was anything like he was, and he was pretty certain she was even if only in this instance, keeping both their emotions in check for the duration of this assignment was going to be a definite challenge.

Amanda drained her glass of whiskey and reached for the bottle. Declan considered it for a moment before shaking his head. He took her empty glass and rinsed it along with his own in the sink before stowing the whiskey bottle.

Before either of them had time to think about what Declan was doing, he leaned in, kissed her on the cheek, and headed for the living room. Amanda stood there stunned. She hadn't expected that, at least not unless they were in a situation where his acting like she was his was important. She almost called him back and then thought better of it. If they were supposed to act like a couple, then so be it. Two could play at this game, and she would just wait until her opportunity presented itself.

Without saying a word, she walked into the other bedroom and grabbed a blanket off the bed. Walking out to the living room and straight over to the couch where Declan sat, she held the blanket just out of reach and smiled.

"You have two choices. Sleep on the couch with this and run the risk of Frannie waking you up first thing in the morning by climbing up on you and dragging this away, trying to play tug of war with you, or you take your bed for the night and save yourself the trouble of trying to deal with a very hyper dog who is going to demand to be walked almost before you have your morning coffee."

"You looking to take care of me Amanda?"

"Uh, no... I made that mistake once... Remember?" A bright red flush crept across her features which didn't go unnoticed.

The hidden subtext of his words wasn't lost on her. She remembered how he'd revealed himself to her as u.c. when they'd first met. She mentally kicked herself for even considering offering herself to anyone, especially him, in exchange for not getting busted. Why she'd even considered that in what she could only classify as a moment of pure insanity, after what she'd gone through back home in Atlanta was beyond her comprehension. Though she never asked, and Declan certainly never brought it up, she wondered if deep down he held it against her or somehow thought less of her. She doubted it, but it kept gnawing at the back of her mind in uncertain moments.

"What is it?" Declan reached out a hand and instead of taking the folded blanket from her he rested it on her shoulder. "You cringed just now. Everything ok?"

She pondered her answer before opening her mouth. That was usually how she got herself either into or out of trouble, and she wanted the latter this time, not the former. Searching Declan's face for anything to hint he was remotely uninterested, Amanda found nothing. "I don't know if I ever apologized to you for..."

"Sit down a minute." Declan sat and motioned her down beside him. She sat, and he turned his gaze full on her face, never breaking their physical contact. "Amanda, you were in a pretty rough position last year. Granted, I didn't make it easy on you by any stretch, but unfortunately that's the nature of this job sometimes."

"I guess I've just been afraid in the back of my mind that somehow because of what I very stupidly almost did where you were concerned, you'd have a very different opinion of me even after the assignment was over."

"Not a chance. I see one hell of a capable detective, a strong woman who maybe didn't have the courage to stand up to someone in a high power position before but grew strong enough to do so now. We've all made our mistakes in life. God knows I've made plenty of them myself, most of them related in one form or another to this job. If anything, I'm proud of you for where you are now compared to where you were when we first met."

"I apologize to you for putting you in a compromising position," she said. "I definitely should have used my head and thought things through before I even got in with the club. I never apologized to you, and I should have."

"I know you think you owe me that apology; that you think you should have made better choices. But consider this. I might not have been able to tie Anton Nadari to the illegal club anywhere near as quickly as we did had I not had you working with me. Let me ask you something and I want you to consider this before you answer. If I had any doubts about you at all, personally, professionally... Do you honestly believe I'd have called your sergeant and all but demanded she let me have you for this assignment? I think you know me well enough by now to know I won't work with someone if I have even the slightest hint of a lack of confidence or trust in them." He removed his hand from her shoulder and lifted her face upso she was looking him in the eye. "It's late and we both need to get some sleep. We're going to have our work cut out for us with this assignment. God willing we'll get this done and over with soon. Contrary to popular belief, I'd kind of like to be back at SVU just as much as you want me back in charge."

Amanda smiled. Of course she knew Murphy well enough to know he had nothing but confidence in her and trusted her. She trusted him too, and not just because he saved her ass and her shield. She hadn't gotten this far in her career as a cop without being able to have the ability to read people to a certain extent. As much as aspects of working u.c. again might bother her, she trusted Declan implicitly and would do whatever was necessary to maintain both their cover and close down this ring once and for all.

"Hey before we call it a night, just to let you know whoever sleeps out here walks Frannie in the morning. The other one gets to make the coffee..."