Churlish left the bar around 9:30pm. Teddy being a gentleman walked her out to a cab and made sure she got in safe. Walking back into the bar, his sister and Velasco had gotten up from the table and were also ready to leave.
"You heading home already?" Teddy asked. He was meeting up with an old buddy of his at around 10pm.
"Yeah some of us have an early morning tomorrow" Muncy said.
"Alright but how you gonna get home?" Teddy questioned.
"I'll grab a cab or an uber. I'll be fine, don't worry"
"I can drive you" Velasco suggested.
Surprised, Muncy turned to him and asked "Are you serious? That's almost a 40 minute round trip for you"
He shrugged, "It's no problem…honestly." Muncy looked back at her brother who smirked at her.
"Works for me. Thanks bro. Nice meeting ya" Teddy patted his shoulder and Velasco smiled at him.
"Come on cowgirl, let's get you home" She laughed leading the way out of the bar.
They got into his SUV and he started making the commute to Queens.
"You really didn't have to do this you know…" Muncy looked over at him.
"I know….but at least this way I know you'll be getting home safe" He smiled back at her.
She felt butterflies in her stomach. She'd never had someone besides Teddy fuss over her before or care the way Velasco did.
The trip didn't take long at all seeing as the streets were quieter at that time of night.
He pulled up to her apartment block and put the car in park.
"You gonna walk me to the door now too? Now that's service" He laughed and got out of the car. She followed suit, leading the way to her front door.
"Nice place" He admired the townhouse.
He stopped at the door and she turned to look at him. "Thanks….and thankyou for driving me home" She had really missed her partner the last week and it was so good having him back and being able to talk to him again.
"You okay?" He noticed the sad look in her eyes.
"Yeah…I'm just happy to have my partner back" He opened his arms, walking closer to her. She melted into his arms and instantly relaxed, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Her head was tucked under his chin and he couldn't help but think how perfectly she fit there.
"I'm sorry…about this whole mess" He wanted to explain everything to her still but it just wasn't the right time. He had to sort it out first and actually find Chilly so he could regain Benson's trust and loyalty.
"It's okay." She pulled back. Her heart was racing and she knew she'd better get inside before anything happened.
"I'll see you tomorrow okay?" He was falling for this girl hard and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow" She turned and made her way inside.
Muncy made her way into work the next day and headed for the coffee machine. Velasco had beat her to it and was already pouring them both a cup.
"Ah. Just what I need" She said, smelling the freshly brewed batch.
"Here, just how you like it" He handed her the cup as they made their way out of the tea room together.
"Well, that was fun, last night at the bar. You two seemed to get along" He said casually, smirking.
"Yeah, we barely talked" She stated.
"That's a lot more than yesterday"
"Thank god my brother was there"
"Yeah, Terry's cool"
How had he forgotten his name again she thought to herself. "Teddy!"
"Huh?" He was confused.
"It's Teddy"
Oh shit, he thought to himself. She'd only told him several times last night "Oh" he smirked, walking over to his desk.
He watched as Muncy said her good mornings to Bruno and then tried with Churlish but got nothing back.
"So rude" She whispered over her desk at him.
"You don't have to say everything you think out loud" He whispered back, hoping Churlish couldn't hear them.
Benson came out seconds later, hearing them whispering to each other. "Muncy, Velasco. Anything you two wanna share?" She didn't look impressed.
She asked Muncy and Churlish to swap desks. Muncy happily obliged, not really caring as she could now simply slide on over to him rather than speaking over their desks.
Velasco disappeared into Benson's office and she wondered what they were talking about.
Their case was heating up, they'd gone to the hospital to speak to the vic as she explained about going to the Housten Brewery and woken up after being drugged by a group of men. As they were going through what evidence they had, Churlish has brought up the bartenders socials, showing them the photo of Teddy and Arlo together.
Muncy knew her brother very well, they'd lived together their whole lives, she basically knew everything about him. He couldn't be involved in this, even though he knew Arlo, there had to be more to this. She wanted to talk to him privately first but Benson had told her it wasn't possible as he was now a witness in the crimes.
Velasco and Bruno interview Teddy and found that he didn't know anything about the actual operations that were going on, he'd just heard things from Arlo and a few of the other guys at the gym he went to.
Churlish had suggested they use Teddy as bait to try and get to the bottom of who was running the operation. She had failed to mention to any of them that she had also used herself. As soon as her picture came up on Teddy's phone, shock filled Benson as she turned straight to Muncy.
"What! I didn't have anything to do with this?" She exclaimed. Just what she needed, Benson thinking she was working against their case.
"I believe you" Velasco said, no hesitation whatsoever in his voice.
Churlish piped up, admitting it was her that set herself up.
Things were tense between all of them as Benson had harshly spoken to Churlish after this all went down. They couldn't back off using Churlish as bait though now because of Teddy already showing her picture to Arlo and planning the whole set up.
Carisi had arranged the warrant to set up the bar and get what they needed as evidence from them, so it was go time!
Velasco and Muncy were undercover as a couple, Bruno was there as a guy flirting with Churlish at the bar and Benson was in the undercover taxi out front.
Velasco turned to Muncy at the bar and smiled. She was looking irresistible tonight with her tight black low cut top and her hair down. She smelt like vanilla and it was intoxicating.
"So Teddy's pretty protective over you. I feel like he was kinda eyeing me off the other night at the bar"
"What are you talking about? He's my brother" she laughed.
"I know" He said.
"He's always been protective of me, ever since we were little. He's just trying to make sure any guys I'm around are decent…which he does think you are by the way"
"Good to know he approves. You think he's gonna be able to pull this off?"
"Yeah. He'll be fine. As soon as Churlish gets there we'll be there soon after" She reassured him.
"Good. You look great by the way" He knew he was playing with fire, if he pressed the button on his mic, Benson could hear everything, but he was thankful that they were undercover as a couple in case of a slip up.
She blushed, moving closer to him as their shoulders were touching. "So do you"
They looked up and saw that Churlish was about to drink the Tequila shot. Muncy suddenly sprung up from her seat and yelled out that she was buying every unemployed person at the bar a drink.
Arlo came up to her, "What's the occasion?" He was intrigued. He'd seen her sitting there but hadn't bothered going to talk to her noticing she was with her boyfriend.
"Uh…I got my yearly bonus" She managed.
"Sugar mama huh?"
"Yeah" She smiled sweetly at him. "Umm…you wanna celebrate with us later?"
"Sure your man won't mind?" Arlo questioned, 'your man' she loved the sound of that. Velasco looked over at her, he sure as hell didn't mind being called that, even though they were undercover.
"Oh, I'm housebroken" He stated, taking another swig of his beer.
Churlish had managed to slip out and head for the bathroom after pouring out her tequila. The only problem was, she was not feeling good. 'What the hell was happening' she thought to herself. Her vision blurred and she felt nauseous beyond belief. A lady was suddenly in front of her and she blacked out completely.
Benson stormed the bar with Bruno, bringing it to attention that it was closed and now under investigation.
Things weren't looking good, Churlish was gone, but they still had Teddy waiting at the hotel room as planned. The case ended up working out for the best. Teddy had successfully played his part in the plan and Churlish despite being drugged was alright once the hospital pumped her with fluids and the drug wore off.
"What a case huh" Velasco said, looking over at Muncy from his desk.
"Yeah. I'm just glad we got the guy so this won't happen to any other women…and Churlish is okay so I'd say it was a success"
Churlish came over and sat down at her desk and began typing away.
Bruno walked in shortly after smelling of freshly sprayed cologne. Muncy teased him about seeing Rose later and he brushed her off. They all knew about his divorce and the fact that he was trying to make amends with Rose.
"Good. Take Muncy with you. Maybe you two can go out for a drink after" He suggested as Churlish told them about her recent breakthrough and wanting to tell the victim Abby in person about the update.
Velasco looked up from his desk. He'd been hoping to go out for a drink with Muncy again after their shift.
"First round's on me" Muncy said. She wasn't over excited about this but knew she had to start making an effort to get along with Churlish now that she was a permanent member of SVU Manhattan.
She walked out with her arm around Churlish's shoulders.
They made their way to the local bar, grabbing a small bite to eat too.
"So how are you feeling after being drugged?" Muncy started.
"Mostly just tired, the doctor said the affects won't last long though"
"You did good…even though Benson seemed pissed, she was happy how it all turned out in the end" Muncy said.
"Thanks. I really don't mean to step on anyone's toes, and I'm sorry about how this all went down with your brother, I was just trying to do a good job"
"I get it…I didn't at first…but Velasco talked some sense into me"
Churlish nodded. "You two are pretty close huh?"
"He's just taught me a lot since I joined…and had my back. I trust him with my life. I've never fully had that with any of my previous partners. Even when I was working under Duarte, I never fully felt like I could trust the guy you know"
"Yeah, I know what you mean" Churlish said. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out to see who had text her. Teddy. She'd been messaging with him since that day they met in the bar, not thinking anything of it, until now. He had taken care of her in the hotel room, given her respect and privacy when she asked for it, and now he was asking if she was okay. He really was a good guy.
She quickly read the message, noticing Muncy looking up at the tv screen as the basketball played in the background. 'Hey T. Hope you're doing alright. If you need anything let me know. Teddy' She felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside but felt awkward at the same time. There was no way she could let Muncy know she was speaking to her brother privately.
Quickly putting her phone away, she'd text him back later. They finished off their meals and Muncy paid despite Churlish trying to insist on them splitting the bill.
"It's fine…I got this" Muncy said, tapping her card.
"Thanks. You really didn't have to do this. I appreciate it though. So are we good?" She asked.
Muncy turned to her, "We're good."
Later that night as Muncy lay in bed, her phone buzzed. She was just about to fall asleep but read the message anyway. It was Velasco.
'Hope your night with Churlish went alright. Glad you two are trying to get along. Sleep tight cowgirl"
'We're good. Thanks for always having my back partner. x' She debated whether or not to take that x out but decided on leaving it in there. She couldn't deny that she had romantic feelings for her partner. Laying down in her bed, she dozed off.