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The current case is an episode, one picked at random, just put a DVD on and there it was. Other episode cases will come up, but I've picked those to manipulate the storyline deliberately, hope it keeps it interesting :/
Posted: 17/11/13
Better
The 16th Precinct
Thursday December, 10th
"I've been checking online. A violin bow like the one used on Tyler cost over three thousand dollars" Rachel told the team. Santana just groaned, her old partner always sounded too perky for first thing in the morning "Bernard Spiers doesn't make that in a month" she told them, and the captain, letting them know she'd already checked that out.
"He could have stolen it" Captain Cragen suggested, not wanting his team to eliminate any suspect just yet "Or it was just handy, did Tyler play the violin?"
"I checked with his dad; nope" Tutuola answered, far simpler.
"Captain." Rachel perked up again "Only one place in the city makes these fancy violin bows, and they sold one last semester to a student at Wallace university. Names Nathan Angeli, he's a pledge at Tau Omega"
"Good work Berry, you and Benson go find him, bring him in for questioning" The Captain ordered. It was a busy start to an early morning.
Q~Q
They got to the Tau Omega frat house, to find a few students lined up outside, standing to attention like soldiers. The two detectives furrowed their brows at one another but approached confidently, none the less. "Gentlemen, we're looking for Nathan Angeli" Benson asked straight out. They didn't move, they were barely swaying in the cold winter breeze... it was eerie. She pulled her badge out from inside her jacket, and showed it to them. She wore hers on a chain round her neck, where as Rachel kept hers clipped to her belt. "Guy's police, Nathan Angeli" she prompted again... still nothing.
"Not a word pledge, eyes front" they recognised the voice and then the face as Rob, the boy who'd reported the victim missing, came out of the frat house the boys were lined up outside. He didn't seem as down as he did the other day when he found out his dear friend was no longer. "Sorry about that it's quiet day, pledges aren't allowed to speak" he explained.
"Make an exception, we need to talk to Nathan Angeli" Rachel ordered, this wasn't time for frat house games.
"Nathan's history, the brothers voted him out last week" Rob told her with a shrug.
"Why?" Benson asked again, starting to get irritated. If they just told them where they could find Nathan everything would be sorted and they could leave.
"What happens during our pledging stays within the fraternity, I can't get into it, sorry" he said with semi reluctance, but there was a rich boy smirk there that Rachel didn't like, one that said he just liked pissing people off.
"Come here" Rachel gestured with a finger wiggle. The boy gave in quite easily. She may have been shorter that him but she knew how to intimidate. She walked away from the frat house with him a little, then threatened; "What I suggest you do is get into it before I arrest you for obstruction, what do you think of that." Olivia overheard and for a moment she could hear a hint of her old partner in her new one.
Rob nodded quickly, finally getting the message, he turned yelled drill sergeant like order "Pledge Patsy, tell the officers why Pledge Nancy was withdrawn." He looked smugly back over his shoulder when the pledge didn't speak up "You may speak pledge patsy."
"Sir, Pledge Nancy's bid was withdrawn because he didn't understand the concepts of unity and bonding, Sir" 'Pledge Patsy' yelled back like a good little soldier. Maybe Rachel didn't get it, it was a frat thing, a brotherhood thing, but she thought this was all so stupid and time wasting.
"What the hell does that mean?" She asked irritated before Olivia could.
Rob liked to shrug, he was doing it again already. "Meaning no one wanted him around if all he was gonna do was whine"
"Where can we find him?" Benson asked the only question that every really needed asking.
"Webster dorm"
Q~Q
After asking a few others they finally found Angeli's room in the dorm. They knocked on the door and waited... it wasn't long before it was opened by a chubby boy with curly floppy blonde hair. "Nathan Angeli?" Olivia asked, not sounding as hopeful, that the trail was over, than she actually felt.
"I'm his roommate" The boy answered sleepily.
Benson poked her head inside the room to get a glimpse, they wanted o search it. "Do you mind if we come in?" The floppy haired blonde boy just stepped out of the way, not seeing the harm, and too sleepy to really know what was going on. "Kinda late to be getting out of bed" Olivia commented lightly, thought it was only just gone 11 am, so for a college student maybe it was early.
"I pulled an all nighter. Nathans not here, I can tell him you came by..." he drifted off as he saw the shorter detective pull a pair of disposable gloves from her pocket and slip them on. She then started poking around, looking behind things, in between things, but barely touching them to do so.
Olivia didn't pull out a glove until she saw something interesting. She slipped the white glove on over her hand before picking up an interesting item off of the desk "Chemistry experiment?" she asked the blonde boy as she presented the bong to him.
The boy cringed, as he froze to the spot "Oh man, you can't tell my parents about that, they'll freak"
"Olivia" Rachel disturbed, only because it was important though. The senior detective turned to her partner to see her putting a violin case on a second desk "Look at this... this yours?" she asked the boy still standing in the open doorway.
"It's Nathans, he used to play, but he quit last month when he started pledging" The boy quickly told them, anything to get their attention off him and the evidence of drug use.
"You mind if we take it with us?" Rachel asked casually.
"Well, um, you can't, it's not mine" he stuttered, he couldn't just let them take his roommates things without permission, right?
"Well I tell you what, how about we take that bong and you?" Rachel suggested, lightly. The Narc cop inside her still wanted to bust him for it, but she had to remind herself she was after a different target this time, and this kid wasn't dealing so she could walk away this time.
"Well-uh, no the violin's cool" he decided quickly, much to the satisfaction of both the detectives.
"Where's your roommate?" Benson asked again. They had the evidence related to the murder weapon, now they just needed the suspect himself.
"He's probably with Alicia this chick, girl- woman," he corrected, not wanting to sound juvenile or offensive in front of the two female detectives "he's been dating."
Q~Q
"Excuse me, we're looking for Alicia Morley" Olivia called out to a girl in a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up. They knew they were on the right corridor.
"I'm Alicia" the girl volunteered easily.
"I'm Detective Benson, this is Detective Berry" Olivia introduced for both of them
"I was just gonna brush my teeth, what's up?" she was keeping rather cool, better than the boy they'd just spoken to.
"Do you know where we can find Nathan Angeli?"
"Is he in trouble?" Alicia asked as she removed her hood, revealing pink hair.
The pair of detectives shared a look before looking back to the girl. They recognised her now, she was in one of Tyler's videos. "Just want to talk to him about a friend of his, Tyler Henry, you know him?"
The girls eyes narrowed a little, her shoulders dropped, she spat her answer. "No" she then turned away and walked back into her dorm room.
Detectives looked to one another again, trying to gauge if they were on the same lines of thinking, before they followed Alicia into her open dorm. "Then how did he end up with a video of you and him having sex?" Olivia asked bluntly.
"Oh my god" the girl cringed "You saw it?"
"Um, yeah" Rachel, said, letting the girl know they'd both seen it... not sure why that was necessary. As Rachel looked around the room she noticed some pictures, photographs on the wall... the place captured in the photo's was familiar.
Alicia huffed and threw her towel and tooth brush onto her bed, "He's a total pervert, I didn't know he was taping us. I dumped his ass as soon as I found out"
"Alicia, did you take these pictures?" Rachel asked suddenly, getting Olivia to look at the photographs too.
She nodded and furrowed her brow "For a class, I'm an eco science major. Why?"
"Does Nathan know about this place?" Benson asked, as she inspected the pictures too. It was definitely the water treatment plant where Tyler's body had been found.
"He drove me there" she explained... then realised what they were getting at, she wasn't as slow as Nathan's roommate "look Nathan had nothing to do with Ty getting killed, he was with me"
"We didn't tell you when Tyler died" Benson pointed out.
"Whenever, he's been with me every second all week" she explained, a little more frantically. Her laptop behind her chimed, getting all their attention. Before Alicia could investigate Olivia was by her side, reading the latest message on the chat room screen.
"Thought you were meeting me?" she read aloud "is this from Nathan?"
"Hey" Alicia tried to close the laptop but Olivia held it open.
"Where were you meeting him?" she asked more forcefully, enough with all these games and winding trails of clues.
The pink haired girl just sighed before reluctantly answering. "Cafe, by the book store"
Q~Q
They quickly located a boy sitting outside the cafe, with a laptop, it must have been him. He had his feet resting up on the chair opposite and headphones on his head so he didn't hear when the detectives approached and Rachel called out "Nathan Angeli." She kicked the chair out from under his feet, getting his attention. Startled, he ripped his headphones off his head "Are you Nathan Angeli?"
"That's me and you are?" he stood up and offered his hand for a hand shake.
"Arresting you. Turn around" Was All Rachel did as she pulled the handcuff off the back of her belt and slapped them round his wrists.
Q~Q
The 16th precinct
Interrogation room 3
They had Alicia's video with Tyler playing in one of the interrogation rooms, to rile Nathan up. Lopez and Tutuola and been told to interrogate this boy, while Olivia and Rachel were two rooms over talking with Alicia.
"Okay turn it off, I've seen it" He snapped, wanting to smash the TV set on the wheelie stand next to him.
"Where?" Tutuola asked as he paced behind the boy.
"Tyler showed it to the pledges. Me and Alicia were a thing so it was like 'Lets watch a tape of me doing it with Pledge Nancy's girlfriend'" he spat, then held his head in his hands.
"Just to piss you off, huh?" The senior detective pushed.
He looked at Fin, then Lopez who was sat opposite him, her arms folded across her chest as she leant back in her seat. "I was a pledge, making me miserable was his mission in life"
"So Nathan, what did you do to get kicked out of pledge class?"
"Tyler didn't like Pledges who spoke their minds" he sneered "best thing that ever happened anyway, Alicia hated the fraternity" he muttered, concluding that it was no big deal that he'd failed.
"So that's why you killed him, Alicia put you up to it?" Santana suggested, spinning and twisting his words.
Q~Q
The 16th precinct
Interrogation room 1
"You've got to freakin' kidding me! Ty was a pig but that was no reason to kill him" The girl with the pink hair yelled at the detectives, how could they insinuate such a thing.
Berry stopped pacing and turned on the girl, "So who dumped his body at the water treatment plant, last Saturday night?"
"How should I know, we were at the movies" She explained, her tone aggravated.
"So it was just a coincidence that Tyler ended up at the same facility you'd been researching" Benson scoffed.
"I don't know, I can't explain it"
Q~Q
The 16th precinct
Interrogation room 3
Lopez opened the file sitting on the table and shoved it forward "How do you explain that?" she asked, gesturing to the photos taken of the microscopic fibres that Dr Warner had found.
He just screwed up his face "What's that?"
"Fibres we found inside Tyler. They match your violin bow" Lopez said, as she made sure to gauge his reaction, seeing as she had a front row seat. This was supposed to be the point that closed the case.
Fin leaned over his shoulder as he accused in an almost threatening way "You shoved that bow so far up your buddy's backside you left wood and horse hair up there"
"That is sick, a-and it wasn't me. My bow is in its case" he explained frantically, the detectives weren't exactly buying it though.
"The fancy one's missing, the cheap replacement one was in the case" Santana cut off whatever new story line he was going to come up with.
They could see it as a new story came to his mind "O-okay so I stepped on the old one and threw it out, I wasn't going to spend 3 grand to replace it"
"You should have replaced your violin strings too." Santana smirked across the table as she saw his face drop a little more, closer to panic, "Your bow left hair residue on them, it matches the hairs we found inside Tyler"
Q~Q
The 16th precinct
Interrogation room 1
"I didn't kill Tyler" Alicia protested.
"But Nathan did, didn't he?" Bensons asked "Now you better start telling us what happened, or you're both going to jail, you hear me?" she threatened.
Alicia swallowed thickly, she knew she was trapped, no way out. "... It was Will" she muttered reluctantly.
Olivia looked to Rachel as she just asked "Nathans roommate?" The boy known as Will had barely introduced himself when they met him, just calling himself the roommate. It wasn't until they were leaving they'd been sure to get his name.
"He called my place around midnight, he was freaking out and saying he needed to talk to Nathan" she sighed. Game over.
"How did Will know Tyler?"
She furrowed her brow, they were the cops, they seemed to know a lot already, didn't they already know. "He pledged with Nathan but quit last month"
Q~Q
The 16th precinct
Cragen's Office
Two hours had gone by since Alicia's confession, they'd had officers trying to track down Will, while Fin tried to grill Nathan about his friends whereabouts and Olivia stayed with Alicia, seeing if she could get anything more from her. Though they'd both seemed to clam up now. "Nathans still not giving us anything, you get hold of Will?" Captain Cragen asked Detective Berry as she met with him and Detective Lopez in his office.
"Nobody on campus has seen Will in the last few hours" she reported. She'd been out on the streets trying to get hold of him with the uniformed officers, while Santana had stayed at the precinct and directed officers based on other incoming information. "Not in his room, not in class, not in the library" she added. They'd checked the three most likely places and then some.
"What about Nathan and Alicia's alibi?" Don checked. He was keeping his eye through the one way glass though, through to one of the interrogation rooms his Office shared a wall with. He watched as Nathan remained silent.
"Checks out, the concessions manager at the theatre remembers pink hair" Rachel added, she really had been everywhere in the past couple of hours.
Santana then showed what she'd been up to, too "We've also confirmed a phone call from Will's cell phone to Alicia's room, 12.55 am"
"So Will's our guy" he muttered assumingly.
They were then disturbed by a desk sergeant entering the office "Sorry, captain, but the ER at Belleview just called in on Nathans confiscated Cell, Will gave Nathan as his emergency contact, he just drove his car into a wall"
Q~Q
"Police" Rachel said as she presented her shield at the front desk of the ER. It was unnecessary though, she and Santana spotted a familiar face being wheeled pass on a gurney. Santana only recognised him from the drivers license photo they'd pulled after Alicia had pointed him out. "Excuse me where are you taking him?" Rachel asked, still waving her badge to the attending doctors and nurses pushing the gurney.
"To Surgery, he's ruptured his spleen" The doctor explained quickly, wanting these detectives out of the way.
"Give me one second with him, please" Rachel asked, even Santana wondered if she was going too far right now, the boy wasn't moving. The doctors gave her a second though. "Will, Will can you hear me" the boy blinked and moved head.
"Hey, its the violin cops" he smiled sleepily up at them, then cringed form the pain he could still feel, despite all the pain killers they'd put him on.
"Will, did you kill Tyler?" Rachel asked, but the boy looked like he would just fade into unconsciousness at any second.
Santana asked, it would be faster to shake the information from him. "Will, we know you called Nathan, and we know he went to help you, did you Kill Tyler?"
He groaned in pain a little, his eyes kept shut "... Yeah, I'm sorry" he muttered, before the medical staff had to take him into surgery.
{}=-=
Belleview Hospital, Prison Ward
Monday December 14th
Judge Arthur Cohen, a heavy and balding man sat in the hospital room in the prison ward. Will Caray the perp, was unable to leave the hospital thanks to his severe injuries. So they were introducing the first part of the trial in the hospital room. The SVU's ADA was present and Caray's Attorney. The Judge started the usual proceedings. "Docket number 101771. People Vs William Caray, 1 count of murder in the second degree. Let the record show that we are at the Belleview Hospital prison ward, where the defendant is recovering from life threatening injuries. How do you plead Mr Caray?"
"Not guilty" The boy protested, rather defiantly, from his hospital bed, where he lay in so many casts and bandages.
The blonde ADA sighed. "The Defendant seems to have forgotten that he confessed to the crime, your honour. His parents are extremely wealthy, he's a significant flight risk, people request remand" Quinn demanded really, it wasn't a request.
Roger Kressler, Caray's Lawyer was straight in there with excuses. "He's looking at 6 months physical therapy in a rehabilitation centre. He is not going anywhere"
Luckily, for the young ADA, the judge wasn't so easily manipulated "Let's make sure of that. Mr Carey will surrender his passport and wear a monitoring device at all times. Bail is set at $200,000. And if there's nothing else, I'd like to get back to my court room"
{}=-=
"So how did it go?" Quinn wasn't surprised when she strolled into the SVU office at the 16th precinct and found her dear aunt and other colleague waiting there, with the collection of detectives and their captain.
"Fine" she sighed "He's had his passport confiscated, and will wear a monitoring device." She sounded a little more satisfied at that, but it wasn't going to be an easy case, as the new information that had come to her in the hospital after the initial hearing. She looked tired so Rachel was quickly out of her seat and offering the chair to her. She smiled carefully as she took it. "Thanks."
"So, nothing else came up?" Novak checked, the senior ADA.
"I can handle this, Casey" she told the woman, trying her best to not eye roll at any insinuation that she couldn't handle this. The new information had thrown her but she could deal with this. "But nothings easy is it. I was barely out of the door when Caray's Attorney was on my heels" she sighed again and rubbed her temples.
"Anyone we know?" Alex asked, trying to scope out the case so that if at any point Quinn wasn't ready, she or Novak could take over.
"Yeah, Roger Kressler" As soon as she shared the name she saw the other ADA's deflate a little "Have you faced him before?"
"Yes, just the usual weasel-y type, will do his best to get his client out of any trouble" Casey told her, but she didn't sound too worried. Kressler wasn't the celebrity type, who'd publicise his cases and make the cops out as the bad guys, so there shouldn't be too many irregular problems.
"Well he was trying to make a deal as soon as we stepped out of Caray's room. He wants man one, and that Caray spends five to seven" Quinn looked at the detectives, captain and ADA's sat at their desks, or on spare chairs, or Rachel who was perched on her own desk next to Quinn.
Santana snorted from her desk diagonally across from where Quinn was sat "Yeah right, with a confession and a pile of evidence, no deal"
"That's exactly what I said" Quinn agreed "But then Kressler comes forward with a whole new story" she sounded sceptical but had to report it, it was important to the case "Apparently Will Caray is the victim, he attempted suicide because he was suffering from rape trauma syndrome"
"He what?" Rachel scoffed first, though they were all thinking it. "Rape trauma syndrome?"
"Since when was Will Caray raped?" Olivia asked the obvious as usual.
"Kressler said that Caray told him in confidence that Tyler Henry sexually assaulted Will when he was making his pledge for Tau Omega" Quinn explained to them all, they had nothing but Kressler's repetition of his clients word but they couldn't dismiss it because there was no evidence. Someone cries rape, they investigate.
Santana creased her brow, "Why didn't Will go to the police?"
"Because he was ashamed and embarrassed, like most rape victims" Fin assumed. Rachel just tried to dismiss the sensitivity she felt for the subject right now. "What happened to him then?"
"Kressler tried to embarrass me by asking if I knew what tea-bagging was" the team around her all grimaced, including the captain, "He then said how Caray told him Tyler Henry made pledges get on their knees so he could rub his testicles across their faces"
"Disgusting, but not rape" Casey pointed out.
Quinn just nodded in agreement, she'd said something similar at the time. That wasn't the worst of it though. "Then he said Tyler sodomised Will with a pledge paddle, and that is rape" Quinn added more bluntly and the room seemed to feel more silence than it had before.
"Can it be proved?" Benson asked.
"We've only got Carey's relayed word, we need to know more" Rachel explained.
"We could have Huang talk to him, borrow him from the FBI again" Olivia suggested. "Captain" she looked to the leader, to see what he thought.
The leader thought about if for only a moment, before he concluded it was the only way forward "Okay, I'll be in touch with him, set something up. I'm not sure how long it will take"
"The trial will take time, it will be a while until Mr Caray is moveable to attend court anyway"
"Okay then, I'll talk to Huang"
...
Before the ADA's left Rachel managed to drag Quinn away for a moment, she pulled her to a quiet corner in the circling corridors and spoke quietly "Are you free this Friday evening?"
"Sure, I think so" Quinn creased her brow before realisation hit her "Oh, our date" she whispered as a smile crept onto her lips.
Rachel bowed her head shyly, for a moment before meeting the young Lawyers eyes again. "Yes, so are you free?" she asked again, wanting a real answer.
"Yes, I'm free... and even if I'm not, I can cancel whatever it is for you" Quinn decided softly, not wanting anyone to overhear, seeing as Rachel didn't want anyone to overhear.
"Good, I'll make the reservations then"
"Okay then" they just stood there smiling at one another, like a pair of idiots., both unsure what to say next.
Luckily they didn't have to, Cabot's voice distracted them. "Quinn?" She looked back over her shoulder to see both of her colleagues waiting by the elevators. She just nodded to them before looking back to the woman she was going to go on a date with.
"I'll see you later" She said softly, again, before leaving.
"See you later" Rachel called after her.
...
Bellevue Hospital
Prison Ward
Friday, December 18
"Why do we have to do this? My lawyer already told you what happened." A battered and Bruised Mr Caray said from the confines of his hospital bed.
George Huang, the FBI criminal profiler and forensic analyst stood at the foot of Will Caray's bed. He knew that a lot would be given away in the emotions Will displayed. Even if the boy had trouble opening his eyes, he could still form many faces. "Yes. He said you and Tyler went down to the basement of the frat house where Tyler sodomised you. Did he force you to go down there?"
"No, just grabbed his paddle, and said it was time to make me a man" he spat angrily. He didn't want to revisit the memories trapped inside his mind, torturing him daily.
"He ordered you to take your pants down and quote: 'Assume the position' and you did. Why?" Huang kept his voice smooth and calm, the questions themselves would set the tone of the 'interview'.
Will just sighed, then groaned as he felt some pain. It was amazing he wasn't feeling worse with the extensive injuries he had suffered. "Pledge master says jump, you say how high."
"So you were just going to take whatever punishment he dished out, even if it meant being sodomised with a paddle" Huang continued to push. Will's jaw was set firmly as he reluctantly nodded positive to the statement. "Did you tell him to stop?"
"No" he muttered.
"Why not?"
"I was afraid he'd hurt me worse if I complained" tears started to form in his eye as he revisited the surreal trauma.
"Why didn't you quit?" Huang prompted.
"I didn't want to be a wuss" he spat, but it wasn't as defiant a protest as it had been before. He was starting to break down.
"But you quit later"
"I was sick and tired of his crap, I didn't want to take it anymore" Will was becoming with what felt like an interrogation, more than a therapy type session. He didn't want to share these things, he'd said them once, wasn't that enough.
"Is that why you killed him?"
"I didn't meant to" he began crying now, panic, worry, shame, all setting in "He came over to my place, he started yelling, calling me a quitter, pushing me around, I thought he was going to rape me again so I grabbed a blender and I hit him"
"Will, he was just lying there, why did you sodomise him with a violin bow?" Huang just watched Will fidget and struggle with what happened.
The floppy blonde haired boy returned to his anger, he clenched his teeth, "I wanted to do to him what he did to me"
"Because you were still angry?" Huang, always one to point out the obvious and use it just to flare more emotion from his subjects.
"Yes" the hospital bound student seethed.
"You let him rape you didn't you, Will?"
"Yes"
...
As soon as the Psycho Analyst, Dr Huang, was finished at the hospital he reported back to the SVU team. He met with Captain Cragen, ADA Fabray, and the four Detectives working on the case.
"He's a text book example of rape trauma syndrome. He was raped but, like most victims, he blames himself for not trying harder to stop the attack" The FBI agent reported.
Rachel swallowed thickly, she couldn't relate, this wasn't like her case, she couldn't have fought back. She just had to remind herself that. Maybe she could have prevented it, if she'd taken Quinn's advice, or even plea, for her to take a Taxi- but that was in the past now, it was done with, and it was time to move on. The young headstrong lawyer was a step in the right direction, in finally doing that, Rachel was sure she was ready.
Quinn's voice bought the Detective back to the discussion. "Except Will didn't fight back. All he had to do to stop the alleged rape was quit pledging," Quinn furrowed her brow.
Tutuola could speak from a guys point of view, but not exactly a Fraternity Brotherhood type point of view. "And make himself a social outcast? None of his frat rap buddies would have gone anywhere near him. Doesn't get worse for a scared freshman"
"The initiation is all about making the pledges prove themselves as a man. If you fail you're not a man" George Huang continued his analysis.
"How does shovelling a paddle up anyone's tail pipe prove anything?" Santana asked with less tact. She hadn't not realised how quiet Rachel had fallen... it happened sometimes when they talked at depth about these cases.
"It's about dominance, like a rapist wanting to feel power over a woman" Huang pointed out what the senior Detectives were already familiar with... and one of the Junior Detectives was too familiar with.
"So its the same reason they give the pledges girl names?" Olivia half asked.
"Exactly" Huang agreed.
"Okay, say Tyler did sodomise Will" Quinn conceded at this point. "Where's the paddle? I'm not considering a plea without proof"
"We're going to need warrants, search orders, phone records" The Captain told the young ADA, letting her know what they expected to get their job done.
"You'll have them," she told him confidently, "but find the paddle or a corroborating witness, otherwise I'm inditing Will for murder two" she warned, she couldn't be soft on this case, Will Caray was still a murderer, and word of mouth wasn't good enough.
...
It wasn't Caray's case that kept them late, it was one of the various others. They got new cases daily, small ones and farfetched ones. It kept them busy, except when they were revisiting Caray's case.. It wasn't necessary to stay late, Olivia and Fin had already crawled home once they'd closed one case at about 8 that evening. A woman had been raped, and then a week later there had been a failed rape attempt on her. They'd worked hard, fearing for her safety if the same rapist had come back. They caught him in the end, a scrap of DNA left at the first crime scene and a partial print at the broken window of the second. They tracked him down after a long few days, carrying the leather gloves that had left their own unique print where ever the perp had touched.
The ADA's had had their work cut out on this one too, organising everything in preparation for the initial hearing, and the paperwork to search the perps apartment to ensure their case was solid. That and all the other cases that were being taken to trial had kept them sufficiently busy, spoiling Quinn and Rachel's evening.
"San, you can go" Rachel muttered from her desk. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Santana wasn't actually doing work; she was just waiting for Rachel to finish up. Rachel actually looked at her friend to find the woman now narrowing her eyes at her "What?"
"Berry, it's your birthday, don't you, me and Britts usually get wasted and crawl home at some stupid hour?"
Her birthday wasn't a big deal to her anymore, having a lot of attention on only her wasn't her thing anymore either. She'd be seeing her dads the following week, when she headed home for the holidays, so they'd 'celebrate' with her then. "I know but... just not feeling it tonight, maybe tomorrow or something" besides she needed to phone Quinn and talk about the date they'd missed.
"You sure?" The Latina had been growing increasingly worried about her best friend since they'd started this job... and since they'd spoken about moving on.
"Yeah, go home to be with your woman," she said playfully "I've got a few things to finish here first" they'd driven separately this morning anyway, Rachel had been called in earlier when Olivia got a lead.
Santana switched her computer off and got up, she grabbed her jacket off the back of the seat and clutched it in her hand. "Rach... you don't have to do that you know" she wandered over to Rachel's desk and sat on the edge, looking down at her old partner.
"Do what?" She looked up at Santana, oblivious.
"Separate yourself from us so often." She said like it was obvious, and kept going when Rachel looked like she was about to protest "And don't say you haven't because you've been doing that more often lately, since I told you Britt and me want to find a new place"
"I'm just trying to give you some space" she shrugged defensively.
"Have you even been looking at places?" Santana asked, not aggressively or disgruntled.
Rachel suddenly felt nervous, which didn't happen often, even with all the case talk lately. "I have, but I haven't had a chance to really look, with work-"
Santana just cut her off, she had to confess too. "It's cool, I'm just as bad, Britt keeps showing me places online and I just keep avoiding it"
"Well maybe you should sit down tonight and have a real look at some places, and arrange some real viewings, because otherwise... things could turn bad" she didn't want Santana to lose Brittany on her account.
"Yeah" Santana agreed, glumly. She didn't want it to get to a point where it felt like it was a choice, because it had to be Brittany... but Rachel was like a sister to her now, so it made it hard. If only she could just tell Brittany... but she'd never betray Rachel like that.
"Go home" Rachel said more forcefully. "Look at places to move to with Brittany. And we'll go drinking tomorrow"
"Yeah, okay," she sighed and slipped her jacket on "celebrate you turning 30" she smirked as she turned and made her suave exit.
"29" Rachel corrected bluntly as she just watched Santana walk away. She shook her head, amused, to herself as she went back to work. She still had a call to make too.
Santana was sending a text to her girlfriend on her cell when the elevator doors opened, she didn't notice anyone walking out the elevator, head also down looking at the files in their hand, until they walked into one another, knocking shoulders.
The pair muttered their apologies before looking at one another, "Oh hey Q, what's up?"
"Oh, just some last minute paper work I need to get checked." She gestured to the file in her hand.
She nodded over to the office "Well Berry's still hanging around, she can help you out." She'd already been given freedom, she didn't want to sacrifice it now. She backed into the elevator to ensure she didn't get stuck at work any longer.
"Oh right, thanks. See you later, tell Britt I said hi" The blonde woman called after her as the door started to close.
"Yeah" Santana reached out and caught the elevator door, making them retract again "Bout' that, we should all get together, for a drink, or something. B would like to catch up some more" and Santana would like to really catch up with Quinn too, but they hadn't spent that much time getting reacquainted yet.
"Sure, we'll sort something out, maybe after this case" they were all hoping for a little time off over the holidays, maybe they could get together then.
"Sounds good" Santana nodded "Okay, see ya" she let go of the door.
"See ya" Quinn called back before the doors completely shut. Then she realised she was free, she could relax, the papers in her hand, that could have waited a few days, weren't needed as a cover up anymore.
She knew Rachel was nervous about this, though she wasn't really sure why, but that's why it had become secretive. She had got a call from Rachel shortly before they were supposed to be at some mystery restaurant, having to cancel, because of work. And Quinn completely believed her... mostly. And now that she'd just seen Santana leaving, she really could believe Rachel had cancelled with the truth. She walked into the quiet office space to find just Rachel sitting at her desk, eyes focused on her computer screen, eyebrow furrowed, just how Quinn remembered it doing sometimes.
"Hey" she said softly from the doorway, not wanting to startle the eager worker.
She looked up and the brow un-creased "Hey, I was just about to call you again, what are you doing here?" not that she minded. She'd been preparing herself mentally for the date since she'd confirmed the evening with Quinn, so it had been a huge let down for her that she'd had to cancel.
"Well we missed our reservation" Quinn said as she wandered further into the room. She took a seat on the spare chair next to Rachel's desk, the one victims and witnesses sat in when they were briefly interviewed shortly after arrival at the precinct.
Rachel cringed, worried Quinn thought she was being played "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, it's one case after another and before I know it I should have been home 3 hours again, and-"
"You know its fine, they're my cases too now anyway, and I even have one I have to personally prepare for" she smiled, sympathetically. It hadn't really been a surprise that work had got in their way.
"I know congratulations" Rachel smiled, "How do you feel?" she asked, abandoning the few loose ends she had wanted to tie up before she went home.
She fiddled with the meaningless files in her hand, as a nervous distraction. "Nervous, actually, guess I feel like I'm having to prove myself all over again"
"Well you must have done good so far for them to hand over the reins" Rachel tried to say, encouragingly.
"I guess" Quinn agreed lately.
"So... we missed our reservations" Rachel went back to that point, conveying her true disappointment.
"Yeah..." Quinn bit her lip as she thought about their options. "Reschedule?" she suggested hopefully.
"Yeah, right."Rachel scoffed as she started shuffling papers again. She missed the drop on Quinn's anxious face. "We reschedule and then another case will get in the way" she pointed out.
"Oh... right" Quinn just nodded.
Rachel quickly shut down her computer and locked the papers in her desk. She then roughly pushed back her chair and grabbed her jacket, "Come on."
"What?" Quinn looked at her confused. Rachel just took the file of her and slipped that in her draw before she locked that too, whatever it was Quinn could get it back the next time they were at work, which at this rate meant over the weekend.
She smiled confidently at the confused woman still sat in the spare chair. "I'm taking you out for our date, I promised dinner"
Quinn was almost at a loss for words, "Yeah, but-"
"Unless you changed your mind" Rachel quirked a Quinn like eyebrow.
"You really think I'd change my mind" Quinn just chuckled.
"Okay, good, come on" she offered her hand to Quinn, who quickly took it, so Rachel could encourage her out of the chair, and then out of the office, towards the elevator.
C\_/
"A cop bar?" Quinn said in hushed tones, not wanting anyone to think she was being offensive. "You bought me to a cop bar"
Rachel just smirked a little. This was like home to her, she could be calm and cool, and herself... well this version of herself: 'Detective Berry'. "Don't tell me you feel out of place?"
"No, just... sorry I'm still getting used to the fact you're a cop" the lawyer chuckled lightly. They sat in the corner of the crowded cop bar. Despite the amount of people it was relatively calm. They'd found a small tall top table, and a couple of bar stools, Rachel had got in some drinks and they'd ordered and received their food from the bar.
"That's Detective Berry thank you very much" She corrected playfully.
"Okay then Detective Berry," she humoured the other woman, "yell me... how much do you love being called Detective?"
"How much do you love being called Counselor?" Rachel asked right back.
Quinn laughed lightly, "I asked first"
"Honestly... 10 years ago I didn't think I'd be here, but I love being 'Detective Berry'" she replied honesty. The beginning of this path had been rough but the further along she got the better she believed she got, "Just... the job and the title feels so responsible. I mean, back at the beginning when I wanted to join the NYPD my dads they were so disappointed even if they tried not to show it, but they came around."
Quinn scoffed a little, "Your dads were always so supportive, I can't imagine them not being happy if you were happy" she sipped at her usual house white wine, wishing she'd just gone for the beer like every other man and woman in the bar, including her hot date across from her.
"Well I did throw 3 and a half years of NYADA away" Rachel reminded her date and old friend.
"Oh yeah, good point" Quinn muttered. That part wouldn't go down well with any helpful and generous parent.
"I'm paying it off though myself, still, but I love my life, well the majority of it." Rachel defended, she refused to let them continue paying off her college loan like they had while she was still at NYADA, and she'd already paid them back what she owed them. "Just not some of the scum I get to meet"
"I know how you feel" Quinn said lowly.
"Of course you do." Rachel added reluctantly, in the same tone. She quickly got them back to the earlier subject. "So tell me Counselor Fabray, what's it like knowing your return to the court room is just around the corner"
Quinn widened her eyes a little as she thought for a moment "It would feel so much better if this wasn't such a conflicting case" she sighed. She then chuckled, mostly to herself, as she realised something, "... you know, I'd say we should avoid talking about work but..."
"I don't think I have anything I can talk about" Rachel easily finished the thought off for Quinn, she completely agreed.
"Exactly, me neither. My job is my life... except my past and you were there for most of that, seeing all my crazy" she nervously chuckled, hoping Rachel didn't still hate her for that. They'd worked through that past when they'd become friends during their college years... before Quinn ran scared.
"Or all my crazy" Rachel added, lightly, letting Quinn know it was a relaxed and forgiven subject.
"Your crazy was determination," Quinn defended Rachel against her own words. She looked to her glass as she searched her mind for more truths. Telling the truth and getting people to tell the truth was what part of her job was about. She couldn't help that she was such an open book lately. "Mine was... I don't know what, my mom, my dad... Beth... my unrealised feelings... all of the above" she immediately cringed, regretting part of what she said "Sorry I shouldn't say things like that"
"No, it's really flattering" Rachel told her honestly, the more she was around Quinn the more she felt excited nerves, and comfort... similar comfort she remembered from years ago. She also realised the last time she ever felt truly safe had been in Quinn's arms. F she was going to move on, Quinn was the perfect option. This wasn't a game though, or a test, Rachel had already decided she was all in... she just hoped another part of her didn't betray that.
"I am still very surprised you asked" Quinn said after another sip of her drink.
"I was surprised you hadn't moved on" she meant in the short term, though she was surprised in the long term anyway.
"It's not that easy to find someone interested" Quinn tried to play cool with some honesty. She missed out the point that she hadn't been looking that hard as well.
"What about officer Moreno?" Rachel used a teasing tone to hide her detective, investigatory, one.
The blonde adopted a more serious expression, "I don't play with things like that. I went out with her for a couple of weeks, but when you showed up and I was... um, distracted, it wasn't fair to Juliana"
"Juliana?" Rachel furrowed her brow. She already knew who that was, she was just very surprised that that was their name.
"Officer Moreno's first name" Quinn told her plainly.
"Yeah I figured" Rachel nodded.
Quinn couldn't help but smirk and tease, almost flirtatiously, "Those Detective skills at work?"
Rachel couldn't help but grin back, "You bet."
The blonde nodded, liking the confidence in Rachel. "I have one more question"
"Sure?"
"Why did you pick today?" She watched the detective carefully, Rachel wasn't the only one capable of a little interrogation and investigation.
The brunette furrowed her brow, with faux confusion, and shrugged, "It felt like a good day for a date"
"It's your birthday" Quinn accused.
"Oh, is it?" she just felt like shrugging again and took a sip from her glass.
"Like you'd forget" Quinn narrowed her eyes on her date, then raised an eyebrow as a new accusation came to mind, "Like you're best friend, Santana, would forget"
"She didn't" Santana was more interested in Rachel's birthday that she had been, as usual. "And it could have been you, you could have been my best friend" she did warn Quinn. It made her think though, what life might have been like if Quinn hadn't disappeared.
"I was interested in us being more," she smirked again but of course it faded as she regretted the words, "and that scared me," she added, shyly.
Rachel swallowed thickly, an almost excitement bubbling in the pit of her stomach. "And how about now?"
"... This is the nicest date I've been on for a while" she admitted, still shy from her sudden confident words before.
"Why?" Rachel asked, abruptly.
"You know why" Quinn rolled her eyes. Did she really have to spell it out... Rachel looked like she was waiting for an answer. She sighed before reluctantly saying it. "Because it's you."
Rachel looked at her sceptically "Even in this bar, eating fries from a basket?"
"Especially because of that" Quinn told her with a warm smile.
"Oh you're a cheap date, good" Rachel couldn't help but joke.
The young Lawyer quickly cut off every joke. "Don't you dare think you're paying, it's your birthday"
"Quinn" Rachel was about to reason, that she didn't care, and that she'd been the one to take Quinn out.
"Seriously, Rachel, let me pay" Quinn tried softer "I insist"
The detective decided to turn on some of her own confidence, and try to flirt, even if it was a cheap attempt. "How could I say no to such a beautiful woman?"
Quinn's head immediately dropped, she wasn't expecting that. "Well you don't have to be all sarcastic" she muttered.
"Whatever Quinn, you know you're beautiful" Rachel laughed nervously.
She peered up cautiously. Only Rachel could make her feel this weak and shy. "You think I am?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I think that?" The brunette furrowed her brow
"Just... nothing" Quinn shook her head. If she kept questioning Rachel on her reasons for wanting this date, she'd probably just give up on Quinn right now. It was easier to stay quiet... for now.
...
"You didn't have to walk me to the door" Quinn said, still feeling shy, as they got to the front of her apartment building. She hugged her thing coat round her, trying to keep warm. She had no idea how Rachel was just standing there in her jacket, and wasn't even shivering.
"I wanted to, the streets can be rough sometimes, better if you've got a tough detective to escort you" Rachel kept it playful with a little cockiness.
"A tough detective?" She raised that signature eyebrow.
"You bet. I've floored my fair share of perps" the detective nodded, looking pretty smug while she did. I was all in part jest though. They'd had a good evening, they'd flirted a little, even held hands on the table top at one point. And now it was the end of the date... only a first date though, so there were no assumptions, not in Rachel's mind.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it" Quinn held out a hand of surrender in case Rachel wanted to show off.
"Or the next time Santana's around I could do a demo" The brunette suggested jovially.
"Even better" she smiled and chuckled. And now they were just standing there, nothing to talk about... "So I had a great time tonight, even though we missed out reservations, everything worked out great anyway"
"Yeah? You didn't mind the bar"
"No, it was nice." It had been a reminder of how this wasn't going to be like any of Quinn's little fantasies from the past. Rachel wasn't a Broadway Star, she was a damn good Detective, and that job was closer to home for Quinn. "I'll just have to save that little black dress for another night" she tried to tease a little more, and encourage a second date.
"You'd like to do this again?" Rachel checked. She knew she would.
"Of course, if you do" she didn't want to be over eager like she had already in the lead up to the first date.
The detective just nodded. So far so good, Rachel wasn't sure what she'd been worried abaout in the first place. "I'd love to."
"How about I make a reservation for early next week and we'll see if we make that one" Quinn suggested.
"Sure I'd love that"
"Okay then" Quinn nodded... then bit her lip "Goodnight Rachel"
"Good night Quinn"
"Um..." Quinn slowly closed the space between them. Rachel swallowed thickly, her breathing and heart rate quickened when she realised where this was going. Quinn bowed her head as she slipped a hand under Rachel's long brown locks, skimming across her neck before cradling the side of her head. Rachel found her nervous self tilting her head too, to meet her.
As Quinn's lips initially brushed hers Rachel gasped, inhaling sharply through her nose as Quinn pushed a little more. She tensed as Quinn slipped her other arm round Rachel's back. Quinn's lips were so soft, so gentle, as they tenderly caressed her own.
And before their kiss could become that little bit deeper and more intimate, Quinn was pulling away, and releasing her hold on Rachel. "Good night" Quinn muttered again, quickly, with yet another shy smile before she headed towards her door. She unlocked the front door to the apartment block before smiling back at Rachel again, and then she finally slipped inside.
Rachel did her best not to grin like an idiot. But inside she was beaming, that had gone better than she'd expected.
Let us know what you think...
Sorry! Correction made 10 hours after posting. NZgleek91 pointed it out (thank you!). I left my notes in again -_-