Author's note: Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Thea is pronounced like Tee-uh or Tia (rhymes with Mia).

When he parked in front of his brownstone, his mobile phone rang. A smile came to his mouth when he read the caller ID.

"Hello Sambath," Don warmly greeted her as he left his car.

"Hi Don, sorry for calling so late," her voice had a hint of embarrassment. "Things were just so hectic at work today."

He entered his home, "Don't be. I'm always up at this hour anyway."

"Doing what?"

"Usually paperwork, but tonight John and I went out to eat and yes, I told him about Thea."

She put her free hand on her hip and asked, "And how do you know that I was going to ask you that?"

"We've been friends for forty years and I know that you are a big worrier, especially when it comes to Thea."

"What do you expect she is my daughter and my only child? And thank you so much for reminding me how old I am," she sarcastically answered.

Without thinking he said, "Well you haven't aged one bit since that day I met you," he felt his face and his baldhead becoming warm from embarrassment when he did not hear an immediate response from her.

"Umm..thanks, Don," she smiled. "Time has been good to you too."

"Except for my head," he grinned when he heard her chuckle.

"All right, enough with the old jokes. Do you honestly think that Thea is ready for this?"

He sat down in his living room, "I do and so does her Captain, and the Chief of D's. Trust me, ok?"

"You know I do, Don," she sat on her bed.

"Likewise," he paused before continuing, "Look, John has been on the job as long as I have. He's an incredible cop and a great guy. I'll never have to doubt if he'll have Thea's back because I know he will."

A heavy sigh came from her, "I thought I got over this when she was sworn in. I mean, I was a wife of a cop and then a mother of one."

"It doesn't matter; she's still your daughter."

"Would it be ok if I visited the station tomorrow?"

"Of course you can…how about lunch?"

"I can't, I have to meet one of my clients tomorrow for a business lunch…Dinner?"

He nodded, "Dinner it is. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok. Night Don."

"Goodnight," he waited until heard her hang up to set down his phone.

Alone in his living room, he listened to his air conditioner. He tried to remember the last time he had been excited about having dinner with a woman; he could not.

For over a decade, Melinda Warner had been a medical examiner and thought that she had seen the worst of the worst. There were still times when she found herself disgusted at the horrific and cruel things that people do to each other. The corpse in front of her was no exception.

"What do we got?" Elliot asked Melinda. He walked down the hill with Olivia by his side.

Melinda covered the body with a sheet, and said, "A young Caucasian boy, about ten or twelve, at the oldest. There are signs of sexual assault but I won't confirm anything until I get him to the lab. From the rigor, I would guess the time of death at around ten to twelve hours. "

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other, sensing a noticeable uneasiness in her voice.

"What's the cause of death?" Olivia inquired.

Her eyes briefly fell to ground before she replied, "Some sick bastard tore the skin off his face, gouged his eyes and heart out then cut off his penis..Pre-mortem."

They both shared the same look of utter repulsion.

"He was tortured to death…" Olivia said trying to register the horror that the victim went through.

Before Elliot could respond, his mobile phone rang.

His answered with his usual greeting, "Stabler," he looked at Melinda and then at Olivia. "Where? Ok."

She already knew what her partner was about to say, "They found another body."

Nodding, he told her, "It's a couple blocks from here. Major Case is already there."

"Why?"

"Because the victim is Judge Tremer's son."

"Logan, you're late," Captain Danny Ross said when he saw his detective approaching the crime scene.

"There was traffic, sorry," Logan apologized. "Catch me up?"

He matched his stride, "Judge Tremer's son, Collin, he was reported missing this morning when he wasn't in his friend's bedroom. He spent the night."

"And we found him," Logan said knowing that he was dead.

"Unfortunately you're right. Before you go see Rodgers, I have to tell you that the Chief of D's is kicking this to SVU."

His dark thick brows furrowed, "So why are we here?"

"Because the judge wanted my best detectives on this one along with SVU because they handle rape homicides. So, you've been temporarily reassigned."

"Detectives? I thought Wheeler was in Virginia for her grandma's funeral?"

"She is. Your temporary partner is talking to a witness," he gestured with his head to their right.

Logan's mouth dropped open when he saw his partner, "Barek?"

Ross looked at his surprised detective, "She transferring back to Major Case and since Wheeler is MIA this week, I thought you two could work this one together."

"Uh yeah..we will, Captain," he said while trying not to sound uncertain.

"Good. The Chief of D's is here," he walked away.

He then went into the alley and approached Rodgers.

"What happened?"

In her usual flat voice, Rodgers stood up and said, "Collin Tremer, 11-years-old. We found his school ID in his pocket. Thank God we did, there's barely anything left of his face."

"Was he beaten?" He knelt down and lifted the sheet. His stomach dropped when he saw the victim's mutilated face and body. "God.."

"I know. Whoever did this was definitely wasn't a doctor or even a butcher…just a morbid psycho with a knife."

"SVU is on this too..Sexual assault?"

With a little nod, she replied, "Looks like, his penis was removed. I talked to ME Warner, and her victim was identical to Collin. I'll be able to tell you more once he's at the morgue."

"Logan," Detective Carolyn Barek said to her former and temporary partner.

"Barek, it's been awhile," he dryly stated as he stood up.

"Yeah well, Brooklyn homicide wasn't all it was cracked up to be," she immediately changed the subject. "I already looked at the body..what this SOB did, he was furious while doing it."

"But he was careful.."

"Not so much, I was talking to a witness who saw someone leaving the alley before the body was found. Our sketch artist is talking to her now."

"Great," he stared blankly at her before answering his phone. "Logan. All right, we'll be there. Captain Cragen needs to see us."

"Ok let's-"

He walked off before she could finish her sentence.

With a resigned sigh, she followed him.

John's eyes immediately went to the desk across from his when he arrived at the squad room. He saw two picture frames at both corners of the desk before he could take a closer look, he heard the Captain's office door shut. He turned and saw a young Asian woman. Black wavy shoulder length hair framed her face while her dark eyes and smile shone.

"Good morning John," she greeted him as she placed a cup of coffee and a white paper bag on his desk. When she saw the questioning look on his face, she explained, "The Captain told me that you like free food."

"You must be Thea," he shook her hand which had an unexpected firm grip. "And I do..but I can't be bought off the easily."

A small smirk touched her full lips, "I'll buy you a lobster dinner some other time."

He held back his grin. "How old are you again?"

"Twenty-eight, why?"

"You look twenty-two."

"I guess that's why my cover was never blown."

He arched an eyebrow, "Quick, what do you think about Dick Cheney?"

"Well, if Hell exists and I somehow end up there, I know him and Karl Rove will be the first ones to greet me."

A brilliant smile came across his face, "I think this is going to work out beautifully."

Before starting the car, Elliot turned to Olivia and said, "The Captain wants us back at the house. Major Case has a witness."

Olivia simply nodded.

"You ok?" He asked her.

"No..are you? You saw that kid's body and face..what kind of a sick asshole does that to another human being?" Her beautiful dark eyes were big with distress.

His hand rested on top of hers, "I don't know Liv, but we're gonna find out who he is..maybe the witness can help."

"I hope so," she cupped his hand and felt some relief from his touch.

Feeling as if his hand lingered longer than it should have, he withdrew from her and turned on the car.

She stared out the window to distract herself from what just happened.

When Elliot and Olivia arrived, Don came out of his office.

"Elliot and Olivia, I'd like you to meet Detective Sothea Ma, John's new partner," he introduced them.

"Call me Thea, it's nice to finally put faces to the names that Don has been telling me about for years," Thea told them as she shook their hands.

"How long have you known the Captain?" Olivia asked.

"All my life."

With a half smile, Elliot said, "And how old are you?"

"Twenty-eight and before you ask, I was sworn in when I was 22. I transferred from vice, Bronx."

"Thanks," Elliot said with a little nod. "Well, it's nice to see that Munch finally has a partner that's more mature than him."

"Thanks a lot Dane Cook," John said from his desk.

"Ouch," Elliot joked.

"Anyway, I have the LUDs on Judge Tremer's phone. Two calls were made last night at 10:30 to a pre-paid cell phone," Thea told them.

"Which we can't trace," Olivia stated as she dropped her shoulders.

"But we do have a sketch, thanks to our witness," Logan said as he lifted a piece of paper as he and Barek joined everyone. His face brightened when he saw Thea. "Hey kid!"

"Mike!" Thea excitedly shouted as she went over to hug him.

Looking confused and surprised, Barek asked, "You two know each other?"

"Thea was a beat cop when I was at Staten Island," Mike explained with a grin on his lips.

"And he dated my mom," she added.

"Two dates," he clarified as he let go of her.

"I'll scan this," she took the sketch from his hands and went over to the wall of LCD screens also known as the electronic tack board.

"Logan, Barek meet Stabler and Benson, " Don said to them.

"Hey guys," Chester Lake greeted them as he went to his desk.

"I thought you were on vacation?" John asked.

"I am, I just forgot my phone," he reached into his drawer and got his mobile phone. "Who's that?" He gestured to electronic tack board with his chin.

"My new partner, Thea."

"She's young," his eyebrows lifted in quiet surprise. "Definitely better looking than your last partner."

"And she probably wears a ponytail better too."

"I heard that!" Fin shouted while walking in.

"Aren't you supposed to be in court?" Lake questioned him.

"The jury is deliberating and I don't have my ponytail anymore so you can't knock it."

"I knew I recognized him," Thea said as they all looked up at the center LCD screen.

"Is that your perp?" Lake asked.

"Could be," Logan said while looking and sounding confused.

"He doesn't look human," Barek commented.

"Who is he, Freddy Kruger?" Fin walked over to the screens.

"Close," Thea said as she typed.

A screen capture with an image identical to sketch appeared on the screen.

"He's a horror movie villain. The Skin Crawler," she told everyone.

They all looked up at the images in absolute shock.