Joined Forces
By: maninblue88
Copyright Notice: "Joined Forces" is a crossover story between "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and "Law and Order: Organized Crime", and I'm also including one main character from "Law and Order: Criminal Intent". Therefore, all characters, story elements, etc. are the official property of the NBC network and any other related entities unless otherwise noted. Additionally, since this story takes place in and around New York City, any agencies, and locations (especially the NYPD) are the official property of the City and State of New York. No infringement is intended by my use of these elements in my story.
Author's Note: This story takes place between Seasons 23 and 24 of SVU and Seasons 2 and 3 of Organized Crime, so respective episode spoilers for those various seasons are implied. There are also some rather obvious references to Episode 8X14 ("Dependent") and Episode 16X6 ("Glasgowmath's Wrath"), so expect spoilers for those, too. Additionally, as you'll see, I'm bringing back both Kat Tamin and Dani Beck for this story. I'm aware that these two ladies have their detractors within the L&O fan base, but personally, I'm a huge fan of both Dani and Kat, and I wanted to shine a light on what they could've potentially been doing since their distinct departures from the Special Victims Unit. For example, when Kat was shot and later decided to move on at the beginning of the 23rd season, it seemed unclear to me whether she resigned from the department outright or just transferred divisions, so I decided to create a more favorable continuation of her story here. Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy the story!
This story in its entirety is Rated "M" for some language, violence, and references to violent and sometimes graphic sexual content.
Chapter 1: The Warrant
852 8th Avenue, Manhattan
New York City
July 10, 2022
4:30 AM
A nondescript black panel truck opened its back doors in front of a 3-story brick apartment building on Manhattan's 8th Avenue early on this clear Sunday morning, at which point a team of tactically dressed and well-armed members of the New York City Police Department's Emergency Services Unit filed out of the truck. At the back of the line was Lieutenant Dani Beck, the commanding officer of the 15th Precinct's Warrants Division.
Lieutenant Beck was a stunningly beautiful and 5'10 statuesque brunette woman in her mid-50's whose hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. She was dressed in a dark blue NYPD windbreaker with a light blue sweater underneath, blue jeans, and black boots.
Filing out of the truck was Detective Katriona Tamin. Known as "Kat" by her closest friends and colleagues, Kat was a dark-haired tan-skinned and hazel-eyed woman in her late 30's who stood at 5'9. She was dressed in her NYPD windbreaker with a black turtleneck underneath, black athletic pants, and gray running shoes. Her hair was put back into a neat bun.
Tamin had recently joined the 15th Precinct after two months of medical leave to recover from an on-duty shooting that occurred while she was a member of Manhattan's Special Victims Unit. Feeling overwhelmed by her personal trauma, the state of the world, and department politics, she departed from SVU, and was later offered a spot in the Warrants Division by Lieutenant Beck.
Rounding out the division's trio was Sergeant Quincy Ming, Beck's second in command. A 5'6 hazel-eyed Asian male in his early 40's who sported a dark-haired buzzcut, the sergeant was a native of New York City's Chinatown, so much so that he spent the rookie years of his police career as a member of the department's 5th Precinct before transferring to Warrants, where he was mentored by Lieutenant Beck and has worked with her ever since.
The 3 officers were accompanied by 6-man team from the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit, all of whom were dressed in tactical vests, boots, and helmets. They were also armed with submachine guns and carrying ballistic shields. They entered the building ahead of them with each of them quietly but hurriedly marching up the stairs toward the second floor.
"Which apartment, Lieutenant?" the ESU team leader whispered to the back of the line where Beck stood.
"Two-C", Beck quietly replied.
Both the team leader and the officer directly behind him looked slightly ahead and eyed the door to Apartment 2C, at which point the leader looked back at Beck once again and nodded affirmatively.
The 9 officers all advanced forward together just before the ESU team set themselves up at and around the door. Lieutenant Beck moved up next to the team leader and began loudly pounding on the large green metal door.
"Enzo Ricci!" Beck called out in a very authoritative tone, "NYPD! We have a warrant! Get your ass to this door now or we're coming in!"
A loud ruckus was heard inside a few seconds later. "Someone help me", a male voice groaned from inside.
Beck shot a look at the ESU officers. "Take the door," she ordered.
The third ESU member moved forward carrying a large metal battering ram. He struck the door hard 3 times before it finally burst open, at which point every officer flooded the room.
"NYPD!" Tamin called out as she stepped into the living room with her police-issued Glock handgun at the ready, "Anyone in here, show us your hands and come out slowly!"
"Help," the evidently pained male voice seemed to respond.
Kat very carefully moved forward into the apartment and found a dark-skinned Italian-looking man who appeared to be in his early 20's laying supine on the kitchen's linoleum floor wearing nothing but a pair of white boxer shorts that seemed to now be soaked with blood. The young man was holding his groin area for dear life.
Tamin's mouth dropped before she promptly holstered her weapon and grabbed a towel from around the oven door handle. "Guys!" she called out, "I need some help in here! Call EMS now, we've got a man down!" She promptly moved the man's hand away and applied pressure to the injured area with the towel.
Apartment of Olivia and Noah Porter Benson
5:30 AM
Olivia Benson awoke to her ringing cell phone. As such, the 5'7 olive-skinned brunette Manhattan SVU Captain reluctantly rolled over and scooped it off the nightstand before answering.
"Captain Benson," Benson groggily answered.
"Hey Liv," Detective Elliot Stabler replied from the other end of the line, "It's me. Sorry to call you so early. It sounds like I woke you."
Benson grabbed her wristwatch off the nightstand and grimaced when she noted the early hour. "No worries," she said, "I was just getting up for the day anyway. What's up, Elliot?"
"That young white shield cop, Kat Tamin" Stabler replied, "If I remember correctly, she was one of yours for a while, right?"
"Mm-hmm," Benson replied as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed while holding the phone to her ear, "She transferred out just after Chief Garland left. Why do you ask?"
"Well," Stabler began explaining, "It turns out she took a spot on the Warrant Squad at the Fifteenth Precinct. You'll never guess who their lieutenant is over there."
"Dani Beck," Benson replied, "I already know. I attended her promotion ceremony. She's come a long way since being my hard-edged substitute at SVU back in the day."
"Well," Stabler said, "Dani's the one calling us in at Kat's insistence. They were serving an arrest warrant over on Eighth Avenue earlier and found a guy stabbed in the crotch."
"Wait a minute," Benson interjected, "What do you mean by 'us'?"
"Dani pulled some strings with the Deputy Inspector and asked for both SVU and our task force to be brought in for this one," Stabler said, "You remember the Truex case from back in Oh-Six, right?"
"Oh yeah," Benson replied, "The mob lawyer whose wife was killed by their daughter's boyfriend."
"Right," Stabler said, "It turns out that the stabbing victim from this morning was the son of that guy Lucio Ricci, the pool hall guy we interviewed back then. The Deputy Inspector is aware of the Ricci family's mob ties, so she asked us to join you guys on the case. She'll be meeting us personally at the One-Five to brief Dani and her squad."
By now, the veteran policewoman was in the process of crossing to her hallway. She was dressed in a black sports bra, black athletic shorts, and was barefoot. "Okay," Benson replied with the phone now loosely cradled on her shoulder, "Do me a favor and call Fin. He'll get everybody else together for us and I'll meet you at the One-Five in about forty-five minutes. I still have to wake up Noah and take a quick shower."
"No big deal, Liv" Stabler said, "I'll call Fin right now and we'll see you down there soon."
"Sounds good," Benson replied, "Thanks, El. See you soon."
Benson promptly hung up the phone and softly knocked on the door of her son, Noah. Hearing a frustrated groan in response, she cracked open the door to find the young, curly haired young man turning over in his bed to face her. "Hi Mom," Noah softly greeted.
"Hi honey," Benson said, "Sorry to wake you up so early, but Eliott just called, and I have to go into work, okay? There's plenty of breakfast stuff in the kitchen and there's orange juice in the fridge. Are you still going to Central Park with Annie later?"
"Yeah," Noah replied.
"Okay," she said, "Just be careful in the subway and stay together at all times."
"I know, Mom" Noah said in that typical adolescent tone, "We'll be fine."
Benson chuckled. "Alright," she replied, "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too," Noah said, "I'll call you when Annie and I leave for the park."
"Okay," Benson replied, "See you later."
She then softly pulled the door closed and crossed to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
