A/N: Just for a heads-up, the story is going to start coming to a close after this chapter. There'll be a few more chapters in this fic, but muse is already moving straight onto the next one, so there you have it.

"Technically speaking, they didn't have any right to take him to that house. It could be considered coercion."

"You're joking, right? That wasn't coercion. It was your client being stupid enough to open his big mouth and tell the police exactly what he did."

There wasn't any real way to get around the tension that seemed to be filling Casey Novak's office, but at the same time, it felt like both lawyers there were either avoiding it or didn't realize that it was there. Even so, it made no difference; there was still a case at hand, and before Trevor Langan could say anything, Casey picked up where she'd left off.

"What the hell does this complaint against Detective Logan have to do with anything?" she asked. Trevor gave her a look.

"You know damn well that my client didn't 'fall' anywhere, no matter what the police have to say about it," he retorted. "Honestly, Casey, I'm surprised that you haven't seen through that little ruse."

"There's nothing for me to see through," Casey said evenly, "If your client can't be bothered to watch where he's going, that's not my problem. This complaint isn't going to hold up."

"Be that as it may, the Major Case Squad still had no right to take my client to Detective Stabler's home. They had to have known what would happen," said Trevor. Casey gave him a look.

"So they're mind readers now, is that it?" she asked. "Or maybe you are, since you seem to think you know what their intent was."

Trevor glared back at her. "It's clear that their intent was to get Jake Fannin to confess," he said. "You can't tell me that they didn't know what they were doing, Casey. They provoked him."

"Yeah, and he told Captain Deakins and Detective Logan that he waived his right to counsel. Whether or not you like it, they had every right to talk to him, and where they talked to him doesn't necessarily matter."

"He was being held on vandalism charges on Staten Island. They took him all the way to Queens."

"And besides falling into a doorframe and ending up with a broken nose, nothing happened to him, therefore not only is the complaint against Detective Logan completely moot, but your client quite effectively hung himself by admitting to three cops what he did to Elizabeth Stabler."

"Never mind the fact that one of the cops present was the victim's father. I'm sure that'll go over real well in front of a judge, Casey. He shouldn't have been involved in this case at all."

Casey didn't answer. Trevor had her there, and she knew it. Any way she or anyone else looked at it, there was no way that Elliot should have ever been allowed to stay on this case. Whether it was because of his own stubbornness or someone else's oversight, she didn't know, but it was enough to throw everything off.

"Whether or not it goes over well in front of a judge doesn't matter; there were two other cops present who have no blood relation to the Stabler family whatsoever," she said finally. "I highly doubt that argument is going to go over well, either."

"You can look at it however you want, but it doesn't matter, Casey. All of the cops involved have had a personal relationship with the family for years," Trevor pointed out. "Don't sit there and tell me that doesn't look strange to you."

"How exactly does it look strange?" Casey asked, an annoyed look crossing her face. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that these cops wouldn't have gotten involved in one way or another? Whether it be as some kind of support system or actually looking into the case, it doesn't matter so long as no lines were crossed."

"My point exactly. Taking my client to Detective Stabler's home and speaking to him there was crossing a line."

"So you say. But unless you can prove that your client was assaulted instead of simply falling, which is what the reports say, you've got nothing." Casey got to her feet and pulled her coat on. "And now if you'll excuse me, I've got to head down to the precinct."

However screwed up things might have seemed at the DA's office, they seemed that much worse in Manhattan, if only because Olivia found herself standing around on the 12th floor of one of the federal buildings, waiting this time to go inside an office instead of a conference room. The text message she'd gotten two hours ago was the only thing that had her there; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered. There had already been enough trouble with the Feds as it was.

The door to the office opened, and she jumped, having been lost in her thoughts until right that moment. Dean cast a half-amused look at her.

"You haven't been sleeping lately, have you?" he asked. She glared at him.

"No, not that it's any of your business," she said. "I have more important things to worry about. What'd you call me here for?"

"It'd be best if we talked in the office," said Dean. He turned to go back in; Olivia cast a suspicious look at the back of his head, but followed him anyway, closing the door behind her. There was another figure standing inside, looking out the window. The reflection was one that she recognized immediately.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked, and John turned around to face her.

"I go back to Baltimore and put up with their crap just so we can solve this case, and all you can do is ask me what I'm doing here?" he asked in reply. "You wound me, Liv."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I thought you were staying down there until this was over."

"So did I, but the brass were starting to wonder why I'd been gone for so long. I couldn't ask Captain Cragen to cover for me any more than he already had; therefore, I'm back in New York," said John. "Meanwhile, Baltimore is still trying to get a warrant into the apartment building where we think Sam Garret is."

"Then what's the hold up?" Olivia asked. "It's already Wednesday. Didn't you say they'd try to have it by the end of the week?"

"Yeah, that's what I said, but I told Elliot I couldn't promise anything. They're doing everything they can, but the Narcotics ASA is stalling them."

"Any idea why?"

"None whatsoever. Homicide's trying to see if they can get around it with their ASA, but right now it's looking like neither squad is going to be able to."

That didn't leave them with very much. Olivia frowned slightly and came to sit in one of the office's empty chairs.

"That doesn't leave us with any real options," she said. "Homicide and Narcotics were our best bets for getting into that building."

"Actually, there might be another way," said Dean. John glanced over at him with raised eyebrows but said nothing; Olivia, too, looked at him, and waited. After a brief moment, he went on. "Sam Garret has been on our Most Wanted list for a while now."

"What?" Olivia demanded, startled by the news. "You knew and you didn't tell us?"

"That wasn't my decision to make. I wanted to tell the unit, but people higher up than me said it was in the Bureau's best interest to keep that bit out of the investigation."

"Meanwhile, you and your lot could have been doing a hell of a lot more than chasing after me, and instead, you've been wasting your time," John said, annoyed. "How many days d'you think we've lost because you've been watching us chase our tails?"

Dean looked away. "Too many," he said. "I'm not even supposed to be telling you this now, but we've already wasted too much time."

"Now you grow a conscience," Olivia snapped, glaring at him. "All this time you've known the Bureau's been chasing Garret for a lot longer than we have, and you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't have a choice! I could lose my job as it is, telling you now without any clearance," Dean retorted. "I'd rather lose my badge than watch this guy walk away again."

"What does the Bureau want him for?" John asked, coming to sit in the chair next to the one Olivia was in. Dean sighed.

"You already know part of it," he said. "He's wanted for the same things you want him for, not including the home invasion and abductions, and he's wanted for torching government buildings up and down the East Coast over the past two years."

"So he gets a kick out of setting fires?" Olivia asked. "How the hell do you not mention something like that, clearance or not?"

"You don't know how the Bureau works."

"Yeah, and you don't know how the NYPD works. I don't care about the damned Bureau, I care about my partner and his family, and right now, you're pissing me off."

Silence. There were a number of files on Dean's desk; now, he reached down to open them and picked up where he'd left off. "The last two buildings he torched were in Maryland," he said. "One in Annapolis, and one in Baltimore, right before he came to New York and took your partner's family."

"The Arson squad's still got that case open on their board," said John. "Jennifer Whitmore's the primary. The building was one of the stationhouses on the Southwestern district. In fact, it was the one I walked a beat from."

"Baltimore's Arson squad might be the only other way we have to get into that building," Dean remarked. "We already know Garret's got a habit of torching places, and the statements you've gotten all say that he was going back to where it all started."

"The original apartment building was burned down, the one we're looking at was built in its place," said John, and then, "I don't suppose it matters."

"Garret told the guys who helped him here in New York that he was going full circle," said Olivia, realization suddenly dawning over her. "He said that it was going to end where it had all begun, and she was going to burn."

"Do you think they can get a warrant based on that?" Dean asked, turning to face John. "It's all we have to go on right now."

"They should be able to. Usually they don't get involved until after a fire's already been set, but I think they can make an exception this time," John replied. "I'll talk to them and see what they can do."

"…yeah, and I'm not in the mood for your politics. I don't give a damn what he did in New York, he left a dead cop here in Baltimore for our detectives to find."

Extraditions had never really been her favorite thing in the world to handle. Once she'd become a senior ASA, it was one of those things that she'd usually assigned to someone else, but every now and then, a case came along where she didn't trust anyone else to do it. This was one of those cases, and at present, Baltimore City State's Attorney Abigail Williams found herself quite annoyed with her colleague up in New York.

"I heard you the first time," she said, after a brief pause. "Yes, I'm aware of what he did, and I'm aware that it involves another New York cop, but the fact remains that he murdered one of his fellow officers down here in my city, and I intend to see that he pays for it."

"Then you're prosecuting this case yourself." On the other side of the line in Manhattan, Jack McCoy leaned forward in his chair and continued. "Is that what you're saying?"

"There's no law that says a State's Attorney can't prosecute cases," Abby said tartly, "Neither is there any law stating that a District Attorney can't, as you've already managed to prove, and as a matter of fact, yes, I am saying that I'll prosecute this myself."

"And you want me to agree to send Officer Bennett down to Baltimore in order to stand trial."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, and you know it. Quit trying to give me the runaround, McCoy, it didn't work twelve years ago, and it's not working now." Abby trailed off and cast an exasperated look at the phone, as if Jack could see her through it. "Even you can't deny that he's likely to get a fairer trial here in Baltimore than he is up there in Manhattan."

"How do you figure?" Jack asked. "He was an instrument in abducting a detective's family here in New York, and yet he murdered another New York cop in Baltimore. Either way you look at it, any jury you get isn't going to look at him favorably."

"That depends on the picture that the defense can paint. It doesn't matter to me how a jury looks at him, so long as they can decide whether or not he's guilty without any sort of bias," said Abby. "Do you or do you not think that he should be made to own up to what he did here?"

"I would rather have him answer for what he's done to Detective Stabler's family," said Jack. "If it turns out that Officer Applegate knew anything and that's why he murdered her, don't you think that would help your case? It would prove that he'd escalated."

"Three of your detectives heard Officer Bennett admit to the fact that he murdered Officer Applegate," said Abby. "It's an airtight case down here."

"They also heard him admit to leaving Detective Stabler's youngest son on Detective McKendrie's doorstep, something he couldn't have done if he wasn't involved in the abduction in the first place," said Jack. "Both cases are airtight. It's a matter of which one matters most."

"If all you've got on Bennett is the abduction charges, then I should think a first-degree murder charge would trump that. We try him here, get our conviction, send him back to New York, you hang him there, he serves his time with your Department of Corrections."

"You have this all figured out, don't you?"

"Jack, you and I are both city prosecutors. We've always had to have it figured out before we actually move ahead with anything. Don't tell me you haven't realized that yet."

"Of course I've realized it. You're going to have to send one of your ASA's up here in order to get a judge to sign the extradition papers."

"I'll come up myself; in fact, I'll be there tonight. Try to see if you can keep from fighting me on this, will you?"

Jack laughed. "Go on then, Abby, what would be the fun in that?" he asked. "I thought that was what we lived for."

"That might be what you live for, but I've got a redball case on my hands, and I'd rather not be jerked around," Abby said mildly. "I've got to go; two detectives just walked in. I'll catch up with you tonight. Tell Anna hello for me."

And with that, she hung up and turned to face the two figures standing in front of her, leaning back in her own chair as she did.

"What've you got for me?" she asked.

"The Feds are looking for a local warrant," Jennifer Whitmore replied. "They wouldn't tell us why, but they did say that Manhattan's sex crimes unit is backing them up, so we're assuming it's got something to do with this redball."

"I would think so, yes," said Abby. "Manhattan SVU's had a hard time of it lately; it's about time the Feds started cooperating with them. Did they give you anything to go on?"

"Besides the fact that Sam Garret's been on their Most Wanted list for a couple of years now?" Mike Kellerman moved from where he'd been standing near the door and came to stand behind Jen, who'd sat in one of the empty chairs in front of Abby's desk. "They think he torched the stationhouse on the Southwestern district, and he's wanted for torching a building in Annapolis, too."

"Government building?" Abby asked. Mike nodded.

"Apparently, this guy's the main suspect in a string of fires set in government buildings up and down the East Coast," he said. "Only problem is, the Feds didn't bother saying anything until this morning."

"I wonder why," Abby muttered, sarcastically. "They probably didn't want to screw up their own case, and because of it, we've lost how much time now?"

"However long it's been since the Feds got involved," said Jen. "Manhattan's not too happy about it, either."

"I should think not," said Abby. "What exactly is this warrant for?"

"We think we know where Sam Garret is. Narcotics had a line on an apartment building in the Southwestern as a possible headquarters for this small-time drug gang they're trying to take out, but ASA Fulton said they didn't have enough to go on," said Mike.

"McFadden told Homicide the same thing. She said that without a specific apartment number, she couldn't send them in because there were too many doors to kick in," said Jen, picking up where Mike left off. "She's got a point, but we don't even know the number of the original apartment Garret was in the first time around."

"So they send me the Arson squad," Abby said dryly. "What's your claim to all of this?"

"Stopping a fire before it can actually be set," Mike replied. "I know that's not how we normally work, but we have reason to believe that Garret's going to light that building up again."

"Coming from where?" Abby asked, leaning forward. "Anyone we can trust not to lie to us?"

"That depends. Manhattan SVU got the information from someone who was involved with the initial abduction, but now they have proof that it didn't go the way he told them it did," said Jen. "According to what he said, Garret was going to come back to where it all began, and 'she' was going to burn."

"They think Garret was talking about Kathy Stabler, which means if we're right, she's in that apartment building, and he's going to light the place," said Mike. "We need the warrant to get in there and find out where he is before he has the chance."

"Any idea why the Feds didn't go through their own channels?" Abby asked.

"Munch said that they didn't want to tip Garret off. He notices a wave of Feds appearing out of nowhere, he's gonna know something's up," Jen replied.

"I don't suppose it occurred to him that seeing a wave of cops coming out of nowhere is going to tip Garret off just as well as a wave of Feds." Abby trailed off and shook her head. "I really wonder about him sometimes."

Jen had put the application for the warrant down on the desk; she picked it up and now and read through it before nodding.

"Tell the Feds they'll have their local warrant," she said. "All three squads will be able to go in by tonight."

"Three down, two to go. Where are we on getting Bennett down here to Baltimore?"

The shift lieutenant's office had become somewhat of an official meeting place for those who were involved on the Baltimore side of things. Second shift was on now, which put Tim behind the desk, Meldrick and Kay sitting in the chairs in front of it, and Mike and Jen leaning back on either side of the doorframe. They had been the last to arrive, just as Kay finished speaking.

"Williams says she'll get us our warrant," Mike replied, as he pushed the door closed with his foot. "Says all three squads will be able to go in by tonight. She's headed to New York to play semantics with their DA's office about getting Bennett down here."

"How much of a chance do we have?" Tim asked.

"Depends on how stubborn New York is going to be. Williams sounded like she'd be able to talk them into it, but there's no telling until a judge signs the order," she said. "Either way, we're still going to be able to get in that apartment building tonight."

"Only problem is that we don't actually know what apartment Garret is in. Has Narcotics heard anything?" Kay asked. Mike shook his head.

"Not about a specific apartment number," he said. "Then again, the only way they were getting into that building was if it turned out that their small-time drug ring set up headquarters there."

"Any word from Detective Scott about that, then?" said Kay.

"She says they've got someone willing to testify that the building is where the ring's been hiding out," Mike replied. "They're one of the squads that's going in with us."

"Do we know if the Feds are coming along, then?" Meldrick asked.

"They should be; they're the ones who called us to get the warrant," said Jen. "They said they'd contact the field office down here and get a few guys to come along with the rest of us."

"So, we're counting on at least three Feds, then," said Tim. "If Garret's alone, he shouldn't be hard to take down."

"That's what we said when we went after Glen Holton, and look what happened," said Kay. "We got ambushed by someone we didn't see. I won't have that happening again."

She had a point. The redball case that had fallen straight on them after a botched attempt to serve an arrest warrant was something that none of the three members of the original Homicide first shift wanted to remember. It was also something that had stuck with them, long after it had happened.

"We don't have time to wait for Manhattan SVU to get here, so we move in as soon as Abby hands down that warrant," said Meldrick, picking up where Kay left off. "Do we have enough people to surround the building?"

"We should," said Tim. "There are five of us here, and if Detective Scott brings her current partner with her, that's seven, along with three Feds…"

"You're leaving out Homicide," said Kay. "Garret had something to do with Kari Applegate's murder, and he's going to answer for it. Which shift is coming with us?"

Tim and Meldrick exchanged glances. The call had come in the middle of a shift change; first shift had gone, but the second shift had not yet started coming in. Kay noticed this, and sighed.

"Shift change?" she asked. Both men nodded, and she bit back a smirk. "Fine. Take two from both of your shifts. That leaves us with fourteen."

"Never mind the uniforms that always seem to be around that building," said Jen. "They'll be able to help us out."

That put them at better odds than they thought they would be. It was only about nine in the morning now, according to the clock on the wall above Tim's head. That gave them until at least the afternoon to organize, figure out what they were going to do, and how they were going to go about it.

"The warrant's coming through the Arson squad, right?" Kay asked, turning to face Mike and Jen. Both of them nodded, and she continued. "Good. You let us know the minute you have it in hand. We'll meet up at the building and go from there. Everyone's going in with Kevlar; you don't have it, you stay behind, so make sure you do."

"We'll head on over to Narcotics, then, and let them know we'll be able to move tonight," said Mike, already halfway out of the office. "Need us to take care of anything else?"

"No, that's it for now. Just make sure everyone starts heading towards the building the minute you two get the warrant," said Kay. "We move as soon as we're all there."