Montserrat could lie and say she had no idea how they ended up forgetting about their couch date with a movie and take-out dinner, but she had no desire to do so. Right now, her desires and senses were inflamed with Rafael's kisses. He hovered over her, lips working hard against hers until he decided to grace her with a trail of kisses down and around her neck.
"We should at least" — Montserrat giggled — "turn the television off. Save yourself a little something on the cable bill."
Rafael stopped altogether and looked deep into her eyes. "If that's what you're thinking of right now, then I have seriously failed."
Montserrat slid her hands over his face, fingers gently stroking his cheeks. "You never fail me," she said. "I'm in heaven right now."
"Really?" Rafael couldn't help the doubt that filled his tone. He couldn't help feeling slightly unconvinced each time they were together like this that perhaps he would end up pushing Montserrat too far and make her close off again. Yes, she was always reciprocating his advances. He kissed her, she kissed him back. He hugged her, she hugged him. And yes, when he touched her, she touched him. But when those advances became stronger—even if they were considered as simple as fooling around on the couch—Rafael always had doubt in the back of his mind. That doubt scared him. He didn't ever want to do anything that would push her over the edge; anything that would make him lose her. He was in too deep to lose her.
"Course I am," Montserrat said, lifting her head to kiss him. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Rafael didn't want to say it so...clearly. Why sour her mood?
"If you're overthinking things, then I'm failing here," Montserrat said, letting go of Rafael's face. "How to fix things, hmm…"
Rafael rolled his eyes at her. She really couldn't help being so sarcastic, could she? He silenced her hums with another kiss. He heard her giggles every now and then but they would lose their strength as well. He took that as a win. She'd forget about giggling and everything else when he kissed her.
She leaned into his touch, wherever his hands and lips were. When his fingers danced over her chest, she pressed her hand over them. She dragged his hand until the top button of her shirt got in the way. Whether it had been for the rush of feelings or maybe for something of the past, Rafael felt when Montserrat flinched. He stopped altogether, pulling himself off her even when he heard her soft 'no'.
"I'm sorry," she apologized fast and sat upright.
"It's fine," he assured her but she wasn't convinced. She helped initiate things and she was the one who stopped it. "Montserrat."
She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not being fair."
Rafael couldn't help the soft laugh that came out of him. "Fair? For what?" Montserrat couldn't put her words together but even then, he understood her perfectly. He straightened himself up then tugged Montserrat up to him until she was sitting on his lap. "I'm feeling pretty good right now."
Montserrat wanted to believe him. She knew that he wouldn't lie about these things with her. It was just frustrating that she kept pulling this crap on him. "I was too," she said, promising him. "I-I don't know what that was…"
"Involuntary reaction," Rafael helped her out. "It's perfectly normal for…" Even if he meant to avoid using the word for Montserrat's sake, she went ahead and said it.
"Victims," she whispered. "I'm over that term, you know. I feel like I'm too far gone to use that."
"Montserrat…"
"It's been almost 2 years!"
"So what? That doesn't mean you have to automatically stop having lingering feelings about it. Montserrat, c'mon, you're allowed to feel whatever it is that you feel." Rafael ran his fingers through one of Montserrat's curls. They were a little more out of place because of his constant interventions but in his mind, it made her look even more radiant. She just had that pesky pout on her face.
"I just feel like I'm not being fair to you," she insisted. "I love the way we were but I always have to go and do something to ruin it."
"You're fine," Rafael reiterated sternly. He didn't want to keep entertaining this conversation when all Montserrat felt was senseless guilt.
Montserrat thought he was too good to her. On some level, he had to be at least a little frustrated with things...but of course he would never admit to it. He always made it about her and her health. "You're so good to me," she sighed. "And honestly I don't deserve it all the time."
Rafael thought that was nonsense. It was just her guilt talking. "I just do what makes you happy, dear. I always want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy."
"And you deserve to be happy too," Montserrat said, "You've been with me for half a year now—you've known me for a whole year. You've handled my stuff way before we got together and you never once got angry with me when I lashed out."
"I do recall being slightly snappy," Rafael said, holding up his thumb and index finger for her to see how "slightly" he was talking about.
Montserrat rolled her eyes and pushed his hand down. "Snaps is all I got when I yelled at you. And you always forgave me."
"Hey, I'll always forgive you," Rafael said on instinct, smiling brightly. In his mind, there wasn't anything Montserrat could possibly do to make him think twice about his statement.
There were a couple things Montserrat could think of that would put his faith in her into question. "Would you forgive me for anything?" she asked him.
Rafael didn't even think for a second before he nodded. "Anything."
"No you wouldn't," Montserrat said with a shake of her head and a slight smile.
"I would!"
"No, because there are just some things that are unforgivable."
"Yeah, but I doubt that you would be capable of doing something considered 'unforgivable'."
"I lie," Montserrat offered up that reason a bit too fast.
Rafael stared at her for a better explanation, at the very least a 'kidding' would've deflated the terse air that'd fallen over them. But she never said anything else. Suddenly, Rafael was transported back to the very moment he deduced that Montserrat had gone through something similar to the victims he often worked with. Just like that evening where Montserrat didn't explicitly say it, she implied that something happened to her and she didn't—or couldn't—say it.
And tonight, she was doing it again.
Rafael thought as quickly as his skills allowed him to—he wanted to try and figure out wha was left for her to tell him—but then a little voice in his head cautioned him not to cross that line because once upon a time, Montserrat had said that to him directly. Don't cross where you're not welcomed, she had told him. If Montserrat wasn't talking now, it was for a reason.
Drawing in a breath, he slid his hands over her face. He leaned close to her; he was able to see those light sprinkle of freckles over her face. "There are just some things that you can't say. Nobody is owed your secrets, remember that?"
How could Montserrat forget? He only told her that a thousand times before they were together. "But you'd be mad with me for sure," she said with noticeable fear in her tone. "And Raf, if you were ever that mad with me...I don't know what I'd do. I don't want to lose you." It genuinely terrified her to even think about that moment happening. She loved him. She'd actually gone and fallen in love with him. She couldn't lose him.
"Montserrat Irene," Rafael gripped her face just slightly enough to keep her still, "You'll never lose me."
"But—"
"Shh," Rafael dragged his thumb over Montserrat's lips, "You want me to go all courthouse on you? Because I'm ready to deliver several pieces of evidence to back my case." Montserrat smiled lightly. "I'm here hasta el final."
Montserrat's smile had widened, her entire face nearly brightening up. It was exactly what Rafael wanted to see. "You're willing to go that big for me?" she asked. "Hasta...final?" She tried her best to mimic his perfect Spanish but of course her lack of knowledge gave her a sharp accent.
Rafael adored her attempt nonetheless. "Hasta el final," he said for her again. "Until the end."
Montserrat's stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies. 'I love you' wanted to spill out of her but a tiny part of her knew this wasn't the right moment. She wanted it to be the perfect moment, not soured by her problems. "You're prepared to stay with me that long, then?"
Rafael nodded. "Are you?"
"Of course! Hasta el final!"
"We're going to work on that," Rafael said with a light laugh. Montserrat tried saying it again but her accent was too heavy to get it right that time. Rafael was more than happy to keep repeating it for her. "Hasta el final," he pressed a kiss on her lips.
"Hasta el final," Montserrat dutifully repeated after him. She got another kiss. "Was that better?"
"Sort of. We can keep practicing." The more they practiced, the more kisses he could give her.
~ 0 ~
Montserrat barely stifled a yawn behind her hand. She fixed her gaze on her laptop screen, intending on finishing up her paperwork before lunch.
"Here," Amanda stopped by with a cup of coffee to put on the desk. Montserrat was eternally grateful for it and drank a good amount in her first go.
Amanda laughed teasingly. "Why are you so tired?"
Montserrat's shoulders slumped. She felt like a child being questioned.
"I don't want to be a snitch…" Sonny started, tapping his pen against the edge of his desk and completely ignoring Montserrat's warning look, "But last time I heard from Kara, you and Barba were out on a date…"
"Watch your words very carefully, Carisi," Montserrat glared. All Sonny did was smirk.
Already, Amanda and Fin were cackling with the new piece of information. It was as if Sonny didn't already know how childish and teasing their squad could be!
Montserrat let out an exasperated groan. "You guys are worse than my four year old niece!"
"Isn't she five now?" Sonny asked and received a very sharp 'shut up' in return that had Amanda and Fin laughing even harder.
Montserrat had some pretty good words prepared for all her lovely coworkers but a stranger walked into the bullpen asking for help. At best, she was better off tending to the man instead of getting pink slips. She got up from her desk and headed towards the man, sneaking in a smack against Sonny's arm on the way. "Hello," she greeted the man, "Can I help you?"
The man seemed to be looking around for someone, and confirmed it. "Yeah. Where's Nicky?"
"Who?"
"Nicky Amaro."
"Oh, Nick?" Montserrat blinked. The man nodded. "Um, he's sort of in the middle of an interrogation right now. May I ask who you are? Just so I know what to tell him?"
"I'm his father," the man said with a big grin.
Montserrat's eyes widened. Her head flipped over her shoulder. The others had stopped laughing instantaneously. Suddenly, Montserrat felt like the pink slip would've been ten times easier to deal with instead of what she now had to do. Because of course as soon as the others knew, they offered to stay with the man until Montserrat came back with Nick.
Montserrat mouthed an 'I hate you all' to the group before leaving.
Since both Nick and Olivia were inside the interrogation room, Montserrat couldn't come out with it. She figured Nick would have enough trouble dealing with the fact his father was there — no criminal needed to know that too.
"I just need Nick for a moment," Montserrat said to Olivia, ignoring the interested way their current suspect was gazing at her. It was disgusting but unfortunately part of the job. "It might be two, actually," Montserrat added, thinking about how long it would take for Nick to come back from all this.
As far as anyone knew, his father was no good man.
"Really? Now?" Nick asked, failing to see the urgency behind Montserrat's quiet tone. She nodded at him, making eyes with Olivia for help.
"It's okay, I got it," Olivia told Nick, gesturing to him to leave with Montserrat. He didn't have much choice after that.
"What's so important that you had to take me out of an interrogation?" Nick didn't fail to ask as soon as the door shut behind them. "In the middle of it too!"
"Don't shoot the messenger, please," Montserrat said, beginning their walk back to the bullpen. She made sure to take slow steps too. "Someone's here to see you."
"What, who?" Nick asked.
Montserrat's shoulders rose in anxious anticipation for her answer. "Your father…" She had said it so low that Nick didn't hear the first time.
"What?"
"...your father…"
"Montserrat, I can't hear you!"
"Your father!" Montserrat finally exclaimed, immediately taking a step back from Nick. He would need ample space.
"My fa— he's here!?" Nick scowled. "You let him in!?"
Montserrat's entire posture changed at the stupid accusation. "What!? It's not like I have the keys to this place!? We don't exactly keep people out!"
"That's my — you couldn't have said I wasn't here!?"
"He wasn't going to leave if I had said something!"
"I don't want to see him!"
"Then go tell him that!"
Nick stared long at Montserrat, and for a second she wondered if he was coming up with more things to blame her for. How bad was his relationship to his father? Montserrat wished that she knew and yet at the same time she wished she never learned.
"He's in here?" Nick asked again, his tone much calmer although Montserrat suspected it would take very little to push him again.
She nodded. "He's asking to see you."
"Did he tell you why?"
"No."
Nick shook his head, heaving a heavy sigh. It was clear as day that he would rather be anywhere but here right now.
"Look, if you don't want to see him, go tell him that," Montserrat suggested again. "Because if you don't go out, he won't get that message. You have to leave sometime."
Nick hated that she made sense. His muttered 'fine' came out like a child but given the situation, Montserrat wouldn't point it out.
The two returned to the bullpen to find that Nicolas had somehow enraptured the whole bullpen with a story. It marked an even deeper scowl on Nick's face. It didn't help when he was forced to go have lunch with his father, albeit a really short one at that.
"It was his father?" Olivia couldn't hide her surprise when the others told her. She had finished their interrogation on her own and was only just now understanding what happened.
"It was his father," Montserrat confirmed and nodded. "Kinda felt guilty for going to grab him knowing he wouldn't want to come."
"Yeah, but it's not like we were going to be able to let the man stay here all day," Fin said, shrugging, "Amaro was going to have to come out anyways."
"Well, how bad do you think it's going to be when he comes back?" Sonny asked, genuinely curious.
Nobody was sure how bad it would be but that it was just going to be bad. And sure enough, twenty minutes later as Nick had promised earlier, he was coming back full of rage.
"Nicolas Fiorello Amaro is getting married!" He dropped his coat on the back of his chair haphazardly. "Again!"
Everyone else at their desks exchanged looks. Their silence didn't deter Nick at all.
"To a child bride, and he wants me to come!"
It was obvious what his answer had been.
"And since going would require pretending that he and I have a relationship, or that what happened in our home didn't actually happen—"
"Nick," Olivia was the brave soul who dared to intervene, "You have every right to be upset, okay?"
Nick didn't hear quite right. He wasn't hearing anything at times. "He doesn't get to wipe the slate!"
"We know—"
"It's not fair—"
"We understand, but—"
"Nick, it's not about him," Olviia finally managed to speak over Nick, at least for a moment. "This is about you holding on to your anger. Okay? I've learned that in order to heal, we have to let go."
"Oh, so, what, you've forgiven your father? Or William Lewis?" Nick snapped before the words he spoke even registered in his head. Before Olivia could react to the thrown questions, Montserrat stepped in to help both of them out.
"Letting go and forgiving are two very different concepts," she said, eyes directly on Nick. He turned to her and she half expected him to throw something at her as well. "I don't know which one Olivia picked but I can tell you what I chose."
Nick seemed to contemplate but at the same time he was willing to listen.
"My mom? Regina?" Montserrat reminded him. "She skipped out on our family. I was four and I really needed a mom. Hell, half the times I'm pretty sure I could still use one. I have not forgiven her for abandoning us like that and I probably never will. But at the same time, I'm not going to spend every day of my life being angry at her because she's not worth my time. I let it go, Nick. I know what she did, I hate her for it, but I'm not spending my energy on it and her."
Nick nodded slightly, perhaps to acknowledge that Montserrat had tried helping him out, but whether or not it worked was still unclear. Montserrat leaned back in her chair, waiting to hear the verdict. In the end, however, Nick stormed away from the group.
~0~
"I don't think he liked my words very much," Montserrat later relayed the story to Rafael over dinner.
It was one of those nights where he couldn't get away from the office so they had dinner right there.
"Well, how'd you say it?" Rafael half laughed at his joke, much to Montserrat's annoyance. "You tend to speak loudly sometimes," he added but that didn't make it better either.
Montserrat promptly reached across the couch and took the last piece of chicken she had so graciously given to him because it was his favorite. She made a show of dropping it into her mouth.
Rafaep nodded at her. "Very mature."
"You're one to talk! Did you even listen to me!?"
Rafael pointed at Montserrat. "See? There you go!"
"This date is about to end a lot sooner than you think."
Rafael set his plate on the coffee table and raised his hands in front of him. "Okay, okay, I'm done."
Montserrat scooted closer to him, showing her grand pout. "Seriously, do you think I overstepped with Nick?"
"Nick's got a hard attitude anyways. Don't worry so much about it." Rafael knew he sure wouldn't.
"The only reason you say that is because you and Nick have similar attitudes," Montserrat said. "It's why you clash so much."
"Even then, I don't think you said anything wrong," Rafael shrugged. "You offered a different perspective. A good one, I'll say." He smiled at Montserrat, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "Noble of you." She smiled at him. "And if Nick has anything to say about that, he's going to have a word with me."
Montserrat chuckled. As much as she liked to believe he was joking, she knew it took very little to get him and Nick started. She was just an excuse but even then, she felt a tad special.
"Now about my chicken…"
Montserrat's eyes widened.
"That was my favorite part of the plate," Rafael said, pointing at Montserrat. She raised her hands in defense and yet her growing smile gave very few implications that she was not sorry at all.
"I needed to make a point," she said, trying to back away as he scooted closer to her.
"Mhm, and that meant eating my dinner?"
"It was mine first!"
"Mhm, you're such a thief," Rafael reached for Montserrat's waist to keep her from backing away.
"Am not!"
"I should prosecute you!"
"Fine but I'll get Rita as my defense attorney!"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Or Buchanan!"
"Don't you dare!" Rafael yanked Montserrat up to him. Her head fell on his shoulder, laughing.
~0~
As it turned out, Nick's meetings with his father did not end after their first lunch together. One week later at half past midnight, Nick got a call. The following day, SVU was taking over the case.
"You mean Nick's father did this?" Sonny did very little to keep his voice down, although Montserrat chucking a balled-up paper at his face served to remind him for future references.
"Rollins is over at the hospital talking to the fiancee right now," Fin told the two detectives. They were the only ones in the bullpen for the moment. "But listen, Liv just got a heads up that the parademics think Nick forced the fiancee to change her story."
"What? He wouldn't do that," Montserrat made a face, "It is literally the last thing he would ever do."
"Why do they think that anyways?" Sonny asked.
"He was the outcry the victim spoke to and apparently Nick and her talked in spanish for a bit. They misinterpreted it."
"Big time," Montserrat nodded. "How's Nick doing right now? Is he coming in at all?" It was no rocket science that Nick would have to sit this case out given his extremely close ties to it, but it didn't mean that he would go quietly..
Sure enough, a few hours later, Rollins returned with the details of the victim's - Gabriella - story, Olivia and Nick walked in together with the latter looking none too pleased. He was back on desk duty until further notice.
"Look, if my father did something, I don't want anyone here risking anything on his behalf," Nick made the announcement as he begrudgingly sat down at his desk.
"No one said you were…" Sonny mumbled only to get another paper ball thrown at his face. At his questioning gesture, Montserrat mouthed 'stop talking' at him.
Men could really be an extra type of clueless when they wanted to be.
"Well now she's claiming that another guy sexually assaulted her," Amanda said, "So we need to follow that lead as well."
Olivia agreed and started passing out assignments. "We need a timeline, witness statements, cell phone pics, any video footage from that party!"
"And so who's the guy she's accusing now?" Sonny looked over at Amanda as the blonde had already began working at her desk.
"Hm," Amanda smiled sourly, "Javier Arenas. And look at this. Up until a year ago, he was on the registry. Statutory rape."
"Start there," Olivia gave the order.
Soon enough, they would be interviewing Javier to discuss the matter of his trouble with the law. He didn't take it so seriously.
"Statutory rape?" He scoffed at the pair of detectives. "I was 19, she was 16. Her father was a cop. Took me ten years to clear my name!"
"And yet it took only one night to mess it up," Montserrat said wryly, "Gabriella Nuñez claims you assaulted her."
Javier scoffed again. "Come on. We did some dirty dancing. I had my hands on her, but she was backing up that bus on me pretty good first."
"That's it?" Sonny raised a brow at the man.
"I whispered to her that I could do things without needing a blue pill. She caught Nicolas looking at her. She freaked out, took off."
"Downstairs, where you followed her?"
"No. I'm a lover, not a fighter—"
Montserrat made no attempt to hold her scoff in.
"I stayed on the dance floor... ask anyone."
"And Nicolas' daughter...Sonya?"
Javier nodded. "Yeah, whatever. I danced with her next. She didn't just back up the bus. She parked it. Better yet, ask Gabriella's father, Luis. He saw the whole thing."
"I think we're done," Montserrat couldn't have said any quicker. She did not like the man in across her and if she stayed there, she might lose her job.
Sonny led the way out of the interrogation room, leaving Javier inside to dwell on his misfortune. "What do you think?" He asked Montserrat and Olivia, the latter having watched everything from her side of the office.
"I think he's just about every jock in high school," Montserrat answered before Olivia's mouth even opened.
Olivia hummed at the image. She could very well agree with Montserrat's claim. "Rollins and Fin just came back from talking to the vic's father right now."
"What he say?" asked Sonny.
Olivia looked like she struggled to answer. They were all struggling with the case knowing who was being tormented every minute until it came to a close. "Mr. Nuñez claims that Nicolas hurt his daughter."
"Did he see it?" Montserrat asked, unsure if she even wanted to hear the answer. On the one hand, if they had a witness who could place Nicolas at the scene it meant the victim would have an easier trial but it also meant that poor Nick would be dragged under it too.
Olivia shook her head. "He didn't but he says he saw the looks that Nicolas gave Gabriella. He also saw Nicolas go downstairs after Gabriella. He saw Nicolas coming back and rubbing ice on his knuckles."
"Ah, so he saw but he didn't see," Sonny finally got it.
~ 0 ~
When it was time to bring in Nicolas at the station to talk, the squad decided it was best for Nick not to be in. Olivia gave him the day off — he wasn't happy about it one bit.
"Do I have to be one of them in there?" Montserrat asked Olivia once Nicolas was inside the interrogation room waiting for a pair of detectives to go in and talk to him. Montserrat didn't feel like she should be one of them. "It's weird."
Olivia guffawed slightly. "This is the job, Novak. Did you forget that?"
"Course not but he's just so...not Nick." Montserrat shuddered. "Nick's actually genuinely sweet? And a gentleman?"
Olivia seemed like she was ready to say something but ended up closing her mouth and smiling rather strangely. "You know what, I'll send Rollins and Fin instead. I've got another job for you."
Montserrat blinked. She didn't think that would actually work. "Um, okay! What is it?"
Olivia's strange smile widened. "I'll tell you in a bit. Barba, just in time."
Montserrat turned in time to see Rafael coming up to them. "Hey, you."
"Where's the fire?" Rafael went straight to the point.
Olivia gestured the way to her office, making a point for Montserrat to follow as well. They watched Rollins and Fin go back and forth with Nicolas, the latter keeping up his charade of a good guy. He even seemed to believe it.
"He's contradicting himself," Montserrat said in the middle of the interrogation. "If he hit a wall because he was trying to hit Javier, then Javier would have defensive wounds."
"And does he?" asked Rafael.
"Nope," went both Montserrat and Olivia simultaneously.
Rafael figured he shouldn't even have asked. He resigned to watch the rest of the interrogation before it got too unbearable and he called it quits. "You know, Cubans come to this country, and within one generation, we're doctors, lawyers, CEOs of major corporations, but the only headline you ever read in the paper is 'Crazy Cubans in wedding brawl'. I hate this."
"Yeah, we can tell," Montserrat remarked, eyeing him with some decent concern. It wasn't often that a case affected him more than it should.
"Look, none of us want to be here, but this guy is guilty," Olivia's reassurance was too...urgent, for Rafael's taste.
"You seem awfully sure…" He said slowly, giving the impression there was a question coming. He offered the Sergeant the chance to tell him before he actually asked but since it appeared like Olivia was stalling, he went ahead and asked. "Is there anything else I need to know?"
Olivia's gaze landed on Montserrat for some reason. The detective in question straightened up and waited for Olivia's sure to be coming instruction.
"Remember that other job I wanted you to do?"
"Um, yeah," nodded Montserrat, "What was it anyways?"
Olivia wore that strange smile she had when Rafael first showed up. "I'll let you fill in the blanks for him." She patted Montserrat's shoulder on her way into the interrogation room.
"Oh, no, no, no," Montserrat shook her head fervently. Doing the interrogation sounded a whole lot better now. "You can't do thi—" Olivia shut the door behind her. "Maybe she can do that," she said with a huff.
Rafael tilted his head at Montserrat. "I'm sorry, are we back to hating each other at work?"
Montserrat playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Look, you're not going to like what I have to tell you about this case."
"Didn't you hear me?" Rafael gestured towards the glass wall beside them. "I already hate this. What more can you tell me that'll make this worse?"
On another day, Montserrat would've loved the opportunity to prove Rafael wrong. But, given the situation and his feelings that he made clear, Montserrat decided to play it nicer. "Okay, um, so...Nicolas—" she gestured at the man in the other room currently trying to sweet talk Olivia, "—is, uh...well….he's Nick's father."
Rafael froze altogether. His eyebrows shot up. Montserrat patiently waited for the information to fully register in his head. She supposed it would take a while.
But Rafael was a prosecutor above all and that meant he was quick to come back on his feet. "Sorry — what? That man is Nick's father!?"
"...yeah…"
"I stand corrected, this is even worse than I thought!" Rafael turned completely to the glass window and watched the interrogation under a whole new light. As tensed as his relationship to Nick was sometimes, Rafael couldn't imagine Nick being related to the man in front of him right now.
"Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe it either," Montserrat sighed, as if she had read Rafael's mind. "They're so different. Although, I'm not going to lie, I can see where Nick gets his headstrong trait. The father's worse."
"Given the situation, yeah, I can see that."
"Sorry."
Rafael could've heard the wince in Montserrat's tone and that was unfair. "No, it's — this is hard." He raised his hands and turned from the window. "Where's Amaro right now?"
"Officially — off the case," Montserrat said, "Olivia thought it was best if he wasn't even in the precinct today."
Rafael nodded. "Yeah. That was a good call. He needs to stay far away from this case."
"He knows—"
"But he needs to actually do it," Rafael reiterated. "I know the track record of this squad and I'm guilty myself of doing the same thing when it was about Alex so I need you all to understand this. If Nick gets too close to this, there is no case."
Montserrat nodded dutifully. "I know, I hear you. We'll talk to Nick."
Talk. Rafael almost sneered at the idea. He knew how it would go. Nick would still try to do something even if it was with good intentions.
A/N:
As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)