A Monday morning was just as busy as any other day in SVU. It was a miracle they still had Sundays off. Montserrat had come in at the time Olivia told her the day before. She emerged into the bullpen and saw some familiar faces along the way, but it didn't hit her until she was spotted by the detectives.

"Miss Novak?" Amanda Rollins was the first to notice the familiar ginger coming into the room. At her call, she had the other detectives follow her gaze towards Montserrat.

With all eyes on her, Montserrat meekly smiled at the group and waved her free hand at them. "Morning Detectives."

"Look at you, showing up unannounced," Fin leaned back on his chair, scrutinizing Montserrat for a clue of her sudden presence. "Last time we heard you were having a baby in Barba's courtroom."

"While that would have been awesome" — Montserrat sarcastically began, pointing at Fin as if she were truly sorry it wasn't the case — "I decided to wait until the trial was over."

"Impressive," Fin gave a nod.

Montserrat continued on with the charade by pretending to accept the compliment. "Thank you."

"We tried to visit you," Sonny said, sounding a lot like Rafael in that he was apologetic for not following through. "But, uh, your cousin didn't want to tell us where you were at."

"Yeah, she said your couple had some weird traditions or something," Nick said, still seeming doubtful of it.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But thank you," Montserrat was touched by their efforts when they hadn't even known each other to be considered friends.

"Was the baby alright?" Amanda asked out of curiosity. No one knew what happened except that Montserrat had indeed given birth to a baby.

"Yes, a health boy who had me in agony for twelve hours," Montserrat pretended to shiver, making the detectives laugh.

"Yeah, that's why I'm not having kids," Amanda shook her head.

"Never say never," Montserrat truly meant that. No one ever knew what might happen to those perfect plans one made for life.

"Montse," Olivia emerged from the hallway, holding a paper in one of her hands. "Glad you're here."

"Sorry, I was on my way in and I got sidetracked," Montserrat nodded over to the detectives.

"They do a lot of distraction," Olivia's comment earned herself mock glares from her team. "You didn't bring coffee for everyone though…" her serious comment made Montserrat stop for a second until she remembered she'd playfully joked during their lunch meeting that she would bring coffee for everyone come Monday.

"Oh, right," Montserrat laughed in embarrassment. "Tomorrow."

"So, have you told them?"

"Uh, no I have not," Montserrat shook her head.

Olivia motioned if she wanted to go ahead and do it but Montserrat allowed Olivia to break the news instead.

"Well, guys, Montserrat is joining the team today," Olivia put a hand on Montserrat's shoulder. "Please show her the ropes, not that she needs a lot of training, but you know…"

"Show the new kid around," Nick got the jist, giving a smirk that indicated Montserrat was in for a spree of new kid jokes.

"Carisi, you're finally off the hook now," Fin confirmed Montserrat's thoughts with that and made her laugh when Sonny cheered with his hands in the air.

"Thank you for coming," Sonny oh-so-seriously told Montserrat.

"Thank you," Montserrat loved the type of dynamic the team seemed to have despite the atrocious crimes they dealt with every day. It didn't always happen.

"So, Detective Novak…?" Fin tested the name out with a bob of his head. "It's going to take some getting used to considering the only Novak we knew chewed our asses for not giving her perfect cases."

"But now we have Barba who has the perfect attitude towards our cases," Amanda said in the same sarcastic tone Fin had used.

"...I miss Casey," Fin quietly said a minute later.

"Okay," Olivia said in a tone that indicated she was switching gears to business. She showed Montserrat to her desk, which turned out to be opposite of Sonny's. "We did just get our latest victim to help us with a sketch of our perp…" but as she turned around the paper in her hands, the entire group agreed it was rather generic.

"That sketch is useless," Fin's blunt remark made Olivia sigh.

"Yes, I know but let's give it a shot, alright? We're gathering backup so start preparing - this is going to be an all day search," she started to turn but stopped midway, her index finger pointed at Montserrat. "And someone fill in our newest recruit please."

"Oh geez, definitely feeling like the new kid," Montserrat nodded to herself, missing the few smiles from the other team.

"Alright new kid," Sonny rose from his chair, stopping for a moment to take in what he said. A great big smile spread across his face. "Hey, it does feel good. I get the appeal now."

Montserrat cleared her throat, raising a finger in the air. "Yes, um, I believe there's a rapist out on the streets so if someone could get over the high school new kid thing that'd be great."

"Alright, c'mon Detective Novak," Fin was the one to get up this time. "These children don't know when to play and when to work," he said as he walked past her.

Montserrat followed him across the room and soon had the rest of the squad coming along with Olivia's sketch. At first glance she could see the case was pretty generic in that they didn't have outstanding evidence to nail one perp, but what they did have allowed for a search with some guidance.

"He has three victims so far but that's not going to last," Fin took the sketch from Nick and pinned it to the board. Montserrat made a face behind him - the sketch really was generic. "All victims have been white women over 40, raped in their doorways. Their attacker's young, black, male. Six-foot, wears a hoodie and a baseball cap."

"Starting to see the problems in the case...among other obvious stuff," Montserrat walked up to the board to see the details up close. "Had a gun…'I know you want it'?" she crinkled her nose and looked at the squad.

"That's more or less the basis of almost every case," Amanda warned her. "Be prepared for a lot of frustration."

"Duly noted," Montserrat nodded, glancing back at the board. Homicide was full of frustration too but she never really had to deal with cases where the suspect swore the victim wanted to be murdered.

Only a short moment later did Montserrat understand why the station had been so busy when she'd come in. Olivia had already started the preparations for the back up and search. The bullpen flooded with officers, tip line takers, and people Montserrat assumed were the higher bosses of SVU. She didn't recognize anyone and frankly, while the squad prepared to head out, she never felt so out of place. It would take time to get used to people, to really get to know them, but today was no day to dwell on her loneliness. There was a rapist who needed to be stopped and she would do everything in her power to help catch him.

~ 0 ~

Morning turned to afternoon and by the time it grew dark, everyone was exhausted. Still, they went all into their search. Stop-and-frisk wasn't the fastest things a cop could do but there was only going to be an end until they found the perp.

"How long this gonna take, man?" went one potential suspect as an officer forcibly turned him around for the search.

"What? You late for the opera?" Fin's response was a calm sarcasm Montserrat assumed was just part of the man's responsibility. She could see why Olivia suggested she should ride with Fin for this particular job. He was the next most experienced detective in the squad so he knew all the tricks and snarks from suspects.

"I already got a cop-and-feel from one of you people this afternoon!"

"Then you should quit complaining and just follow the instructions so you can go home quicker," Montserrat doubted the man would go home if given the chance. The street was filled with people intending no doubt to have fun on this Friday night.

"That's if he's going home," Fin corrected her then moved closer towards the man. "Live around here, honey?"

"Close enough, man!"

"Got any I.D.?"

"I don't have to give you that!"

"Sounds a bit defensive for someone who's got nothing to hide," Montserrat sarcastically mused. She got an agreeing nod from Fin.

"Huh, it's a nicely rolled blunt," said Fin a minute later after retrieving said item. "Party tonight?"

They heard a gunshot from a distance before the suspect couls answer. Both Montserrat and Fin forgot about the suspect and dashed towards the noise. They arrived at the scene to see a woman dressed in a sparkling, gold dress aiming a gun at a person who was already on the ground.

"Drop the gun! Put the gun down now!" Fin took the lead and pointed his gun at the woman.

Montserrat rushed to see who the shot victim was and pulled the hood to see a teenage boy. "I've got a pulse but we're going to need a bus now!"

"He was following me!" the shooter frantically cried, still lowering her gun as Fin instructed her. As far as she knew, she'd done nothing wrong. "He was gonna rape me!"

~ 0 ~

At the hospital, Olivia had both Fin and Montserrat relaying the situation to her because if things were wrong - even if it was the smallest of things - all of them would be in deep trouble.

"Suspect's Mehcad Carter, he's 16, he was shot once in the chest by the vic," Fin explained. "He's still in surgery, his parents are on the way."

"Sixteen?" Olivia repeated, already feeling the gravity of the situation turning against them. "Did he have a gun?"

Because that was exactly what the victim/shooter was claiming.

"No," Montserrat shook her head. "We recovered a cell phone from his pocket…?"

"Okay...and the victim? What about her?"

"Ms. Jolene Castille, the celebrity chef. She told us that she shot him in self-defense."

"Is this kid our serial?"

"Similar M.O. and description. We're waiting on an I.D. From the other vics," Fin said, reminding Olivia where Carisi was at the moment.

"The parents…" Olivia stopped when she spotted two frantic looking adults coming into the emergency room. She sighed. "Go talk to Jolene again and get her formal statement."

~ 0 ~

The victim was a blonde woman who did seem anxious about her encounter with the suspect. As she described the happenings to Fin and Montserrat, the ginger took a special interest in what Jolene was saying. The word choice was off, in Montserrat's opinion.

She kept this to herself and probably would have kept it away if no one had caught onto her the next day. She was sitting at the table in front of the pin board where all the squad's evidence for the case was set out. As Olivia once again had the detectives run her through Jolene's statement, Olivia noticed Montserrat constantly scrunching her face.

"Detective Novak, something you want to say?" Olivia's sudden call startled Montserrat.

She looked up from the table with an unsure expression. "Uum…"

Olivia sensed her hesitation but attributed it to the fact Montserrat was brand new to the team. "It's okay, you can say anything you want."

Montserrat looked at the other detectives and saw their agreeing nods. "Well...I don't want to start off on my first case with the impression that I don't believe the victim, but…"

"You don't believe the victim," Amanda finished for her. She was smiling in a knowing manner. "We've all had that in some cases. Why do you think Jolene is lying?"

"I don't - I mean, I don't know if she's lying," Montserrat took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I mean...when she told Fin and I how she just knew that Mechad wanted to rape her…" she trailed off, making a hand gesture to her side, "Who actually knows when someone wants to rape you? Jolene said he didn't physically attack her. And she's claimed there was a gun that hasn't appeared. Maybe I'm not thinking right…"

"Nah, we get what you mean," Amanda nodded and looked at the others who were also digesting Montserrat's perspective.

"We still have the dates that match with Mechad's outings," Sonny reminded just as a pure fact. "Not to mention two of our three victims already ID him."

"I know," Montserrat planted her elbows on the table then dug her hands into her fiery hair. "Listen to me, picking at a victim's statement."

She felt awful, yes she did. Her first case and she was trying to dismantle a statement she had no evidence that contradicted with Jolene's words. The ping of self doubt started and once that happened, there was a threat of spiraling.

~0~

The next day, Montserrat took herself to the only person who could offer some help.

"I didn't expect you for lunch," Casey Novak smiled at her cousin who'd unsurprisingly dropped by her office without a call. Montserrat's smile was sour as she gave a wide wave of hello with one hand. "Uh oh," Casey put down her pepsi bottle on her desk. "What's wrong?"

Montserrat dropped into the chair across Casey's desk. "Me, my integrity, my empathy, my sympathy—"

Casey raised a hand to stop Montserrat in her long list of what Casey considered dramatics. "Please, my workday ends at five. And this lunch is just comfort food."

Montserrat gazed down at the Chinese food sitting on the edge of the desk. "Case not going so well either?"

"Oh, he's an interesting one but…" Casey tilted her head, a ghost of a smirk playing at her lips, "...I don't think you came to the DAs office just to see how one of my cases is going."

Montserrat made a noise a child would when something wasn't going their way. "I think I'm screwing up on this case."

"Already? It's only been two days," Casey went for another bite of noodles. "What could you possibly get wrong in the span of two days?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Montse, what's wrong?" Casey asked again, this time putting down her food to listen.

With a sigh, Montserrat straightened in her chair and began to divulge the contents of the case. "And I don't want to be known as the SVU detective who doesn't believe a rape victim but...the words this woman chose don't sit well with me."

"So you have doubt, big deal," Casey gave a light shrug. "Working at SVU can do that. Every case is different and, yes, sometimes you do get victims who lie and turn out not to be victims at all."

"She shot a sixteen year old boy, Casey."

"Oh, believe me, I know," Casey said with an exceptional emphasis on her knowledge. "Rafael is already getting the push from the DA to get this case moving. I would not want to be in his shoes." Montserrat's flat face reminded Casey of the problem she was having. The ADA made an apologetic face. "Sorry."

"I mean, she claimed he had a gun but as it turns out it was just a cell phone. And said cellphone had nothing but a typical teenage boy's interests."

"So there's nothing to put him at the scenes of each rape?"

"GPS puts him in the West 80s every night that rapist hit…"

"Anything else?"

"Two out of three victims ID him."

Casey made the same face anyone sane would. "This sounds like it could be a case…"

"But it could also circumstantial," Montserrat quickly said but immediately regretted it. Another noise slipped through lips before she threw her head back in annoyance. "There I go again! There's no stopping me!"

Casey rolled her eyes while her cousin practically had a melt down. She took some seconds for herself to finish her lunch; noodles and chicken and finally a long swig of her pepsi. Montserrat kept rambling on about how she was a terrible SVU detective and should just go home. She didn't even notice when Casey had cleared her desk off and gathered her belongings. It wasn't until Casey tapped her on the shoulder did Montserrat realize her cousin had moved.

Casey stood behind Montserrat's chair, hands clasping her briefcase. "If you're done being dramatic, I have a plea deal to make."

"You know, I was under the impression that family was supposed to help each other out," Montserrat glumly stood up.

"I am," Casey's laughter didn't exactly make Montserrat believe her. "But you're being completely paranoid. It's your first case. You can't know the ins and outs of SVU in one day so you're bound to have doubts about everything. We all have different ways we start." She led Montserrat out of the office, past her assistant, and into the corridors.

"So how did you first start?" Montserrat knew of Casey's extensive history with SVU, including how she was disbarred for the mishandling of evidence, but she never really learned of Casey's first case with SVU. Casey had been young and originally wanted to be an ADA for Homicide.

Casey stopped with a momentary reluctance. "I went in too intensive. I put a victim who was just a kid to ID a suspect when the squad repeatedly warned me she wasn't ready. I actually ended up saving another kid who was stuffed inside a cooler and I...I ended up asking for a transfer that same night. It was too much for me."

Montserrat was surprised to hear the stress got to Casey in so little time. Naturally, Casey took things head on. Nothing shook her. "But obviously you didn't get the transfer then, so...what did you do to...get over it?"

"Well, first, Liv talked to me. She made me understand that someone needed to do the job and it should be someone who cared. I cared," Casey nodded, a ghost of a smile on her face. "My first case was, as I have pointed out, a rocky one. We all have them. Olivia herself had her first rape case get a little too close to her. Hell, you want to know how your current ADA first started here? With a belt. Around his neck."

Montserrat gaped while Casey took off on her own. "What!? Wait a minute - Casey!" she chased after her cousin with the intention of getting the full story about that one.

~0~

"Willie Smith, level three sex offender," Amanda pinned the mugshot of the indicated man onto the pin board. "Just paroled in Michigan."

"How did we miss this guy?" Montserrat was looking into the computer Amanda left on the table. "He's been sleeping at a shelter for the last two weeks and it's within ten blocks of each rape. Not to mention the fact each rape fits his old M.O."

"Sometimes they slip through a crack there shouldn't be," Sonny said the only thing he could. Fact was, they probably shouldn't have missed such a big detail but sometimes it just happened.

"There really shouldn't have been," Rafael agreed in that tone indicating he was more than irritated with the squad and the case in general. Olivia was beside him, wearing a face that said she'd already heard his lecture on the way.

Now it was their turn.

"In our defence, we were focusing on Mechad since he is still in critical condition at the hospital," Nick's sour tone didn't help anyone. "With Jolene's statement we put aside other cases for the moment."

"How'd that work out?" Rafael felt Olivia's hand on his shoulder, meaning for him to take it slow. However, she wasn't the one already getting word from picky, anxious bosses. He gazed over the evidence the squad had set out but momentarily diverted to the ginger smiling just a bit out of the ordinary for the situation. "Detective Novak, you're here…"

Montserrat briefly looked up from the computer, that odd smile still playing at her lips. "Yes, trying to work on this case…" she dove her gaze back on the screen and it seemed like she was struggling not to continue smiling.

"Something the matter, detective?"

Montserrat once again looked up to meet his inquisitive stare, along with the others, and felt an urge to laugh. She quickly shook her head and cleared her throat, hoping to force her laugher down her throat. "You mean besides the fact we're possibly looking at a woman who shot an innocent kid, no nothing."

"Uuh...should we bring back the victims to ID Willie…?" Fin made the question after pulling his gaze from the ginger. Newbies. Always so damn weird.

Rafael also switched back to business. "And if they do, then they'll have I.D.'D two different suspects. That just about defines reasonable doubt."

Fin raised an eyebrow. "So you don't want us to bring them in?"

It was clear at the moment even Rafael wasn't sure of the next right move. "I don't know…." He was taking a moment to think when Olivia reminded him of one important detail.

"There's the one vic who did not I.D. Mehcad. We could bring her in…"

"What? And just throw out the other two cases?" Amanda's finger pointed back to the pictures of the two victims.

"Do we have anything else to tie him to them other than M.O. And cross-race I.D.S?" even as Rafael dug for more details he could see the case wasn't going to get better even if it turned out there were more details they suddenly gathered.

"Willie said that he recycles cooking oil," Fin recalled and figured it was the best way to start again. "We'll get CSU to check their clothing and his for lard, oil residue."

"And if we do get a match...Jolene may have shot an innocent kid," Olivia pulled her glasses off to rub her tired eyes. She didn't even want to think about that roadway... but as usual, Rafael was already one step ahead.

"Question is, did she know that?"

That was the winning question, wasn't it?

~0~

"Kara, what the - what are you doing!?" Montserrat had opened the door to her apartment only to be met with burning smoke. She coughed and waved a hand in front of her face to clear the air.

The roommate question was dumping burnt bits of food from a pan into the trash. "Sorry! Sorry! I wanted to make a cool dessert!"

Montserrat spotted part of dinner neatly placed on the table. "So what happened?" She walked over to the windows in the kitchen to open them up.

"I found something tasty looking on YouTube," Kara pushed her dark brown hair behind her shoulders then proceeded to scrub the pan at the sink.

"Kara, I say this with love, please stay off the internet," Montserrat took a seat at the table and decided to pick at the dinner Kara made.

"The salon was empty and I got bored," Kara switched off the sink after putting the pan on the drier. She grabbed a towel to dry her hands then headed over for the table. "I thought I'd surprise you with something good after whatever you go do in that God awful job."

Montserrat was in the middle of chewing on a grape when Kara said that. "Gee, thanks." A minute later her cell phone pinged. She took a spoon of mashed potatoes, then fished her phone out of her back pocket.

Kara was pouring herself some soda when she noticed Montserrat's sudden pause mid-chew. "What?"

"... Mehcad died," Montserrat put her phone on the table. She brought a hand to her mouth to think about where their case was now headed.

"That's exactly what I mean," Kara shook her head. "I know you said you worked homicide but SVU takes a terrible twist with murders. I didn't even know that was possible."

Montserrat didn't pay much attention to her friend's words. Kara meant well and she knew it was just concern for her recent behavior. Montserrat was still working on being confident and a lot of other things Kara had no idea about, as well as anyone else besides Montserrat's shrink.

"Fin and Olivia are gonna go talk to the woman-"

"-you mean the shooter," Kara took a sip of her orange juice. "Because we both know that's what you think she is.'

"I am trying to see both sides but...now we're really going to see," Montserrat took her fork and went around the plate picking at the chicken. "I have a feeling this case is going to become a really heated one."

"I don't need to be a cop to know that," Kara snorted. "So if this does go to trial, can anyone go?"

Montserrat issued another look, this one signaling Kara's strange question. "Why?" Kara's widened smile was enough to make Montserrat conclude there and then it was a personal agenda that Kara had.

"I am not gonna miss any chance to see that ADA in court, up close," Kara made a hand gesture, matched with a face of 'duh'.

Montserrat silently put her fork down and stared at her roommate for a minute while Kara rambled on about Rafael. She actually described him in great detail, down to what he'd been wearing the night they saw him at the restaurant. "Amazing," Montserrat finally said after Kara took a pause (only to drink more soda). "You literally can never remember anything after getting hammered so why is this an exception?"

Kara swayed her head then dramatically stopped on a tilt, expression flat in seriousness. "I know you're like swimming in a pool of self doubt but that does not include blindness." Montserrat shook her head, but her laughter made Kara smirk. "You know I'm right. I've always got a good eye for good looking men."

"You're out of line, Kara Mackie" Montserrat pointed her fork at Kara. "And for the love of God don't you step near any courthouse. Ever."

Kara smirked widely and continued to eat. "You're lucky, Montse."

"And why is that?" Montserrat reached for her phone on the table again. She was probably going to be getting more updates on the case's situation. At the very least they would be taking a much closer look at Jolene's shot.

"Because you got to spend afternoons with him - wow!"

Montserrat raised an eyebrow of hers and slowly put her phone down on the table. "Kara, I was deadass nine months pregnant. If there was ever a time to look awful and unattractive in my life it was during that period. I couldn't even sit down on my own! Nor get up!"

"Hey, if anyone wants something to happen, it will."

Montserrat rolled her eyes, about to reject the idea when an image of her first prep session with Rafael popped into her head. She'd almost tripped and would've had a nasty fall if Rafael hadn't caught her so swiftly. It made her face feel warm when she remembered the close up of his eyes. He really did have nice eyes...and his arms - he was strong.

"Montse…?"

"What?" Montserrat flinched when her roommate spoke her name. She felt her face get even more warm realizing she'd actually drifted off thinking about something that was supposed to be no big deal.

Kara watched with a growing smirk on her face. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing!" Montserrat made a dash to finish her dinner, practically stuffing her face.

"Oh, sure," Kara bobbed her head, mimicking Montserrat. "Your face is almost as red as your hair. Admit it, you considered him."

"Shut up and eat your dinner, it's actually really good."

Kara laughed loudly.

~0~

Despite the protests on the streets against Jolene's act that made it impossible for a clean entrance into both the SVU station and the DAs office, Montserrat and Sonny pushed their way into the latter. It also didn't deter Sonny from making his best case on why it would be beneficial for him to shadow an ADA. Apparently, he was getting ready to take his bar exam. Interestingly though, Montserrat bore witness to the case being made towards her cousin, Casey.

The Homicide ADA had the two detectives trailing after her - well, Sonny was right behind her and Montserrat purposely lagged behind him. Sonny never realized when Montserrat left for their own ADAs office. He was just glad that Casey wouldn't mind his shadow if it was alright with Olivia.

Montserrat made a light knock against Rafael's office door just as he was finishing up a 'conversation' over the phone. It didn't sound like a regular conversation.

"Yes, sir. I do know what a long, hot summer is," he was also facing the window that probably overlooked the decent sized protest crowd outside. "Understood…"

"That did not sound like a good conversation," Montserrat remarked once he'd ended his call. "In fact that sounds more like somebody's in trouble and it's not Jolene."

"I guess it's an election year," the strained smile on Rafael's face was full of incrementing stress the case was putting on him combined with the DA. "No comment."

"Right," Montserrat knew he had a lot of comments but was holding himself to a professional level. She didn't blame him. Casey often times described just how the DA was on the inside...and Casey would know given her suspension period.

"Weren't there supposed to be two of you?" Rafael's finger pointed to the empty spot beside Montserrat.

"I'm not that new - I could have come alone," Montserrat made a face feigning offence. Of course it didn't help that Sonny came rushing in a couple seconds later. Rafael smirked at Montserrat, not needing to say what he was thinking. "I could have," the woman insisted with a frown on her face.

"Could have what?" Sonny cluelessly looked down at her.

"Nothing!"

"So...Willie Taylor. He's good for all the West Side rapes?" the ADA inquired from the two. It would solidify what needed to come next.

"Palm oil, olive oil, peanut oil, and lard on Willie and the vics. Mehcad was just a kid in a hoodie," Sonny was sorry to say for the dead kid. "Wrong place, wrong time…"

"And he was wearing the wrong skin," Montserrat's input made the two men stop and stare. "What? Everyone is thinking it and they're too afraid to say it out loud. I went with Finn and Olivia to Jolene's restaurant and I saw how she recoiled her hands when Fin reached just to motion them into a different room to talk in."

"Okay, devil's advocate, what was he doing in that neighborhood?" Rafael asked.

"His friends told us that he lost his metrocard. He was walking home," Sonny replied. He shared Montserrat's sentiment but even he knew the situation was too conflicting for one clean perspective.

"Okay, then why did he follow her to the gate?"

"His parents said he liked watching the cooking channel. Maybe he recognized Jolene, wanted an autograph."

"And Jolene, she's still sticking to her story?"

Montserrat made her input known with a scoff. "Try embellishing. Now she's claiming that Mehcad told her, 'you know you want it' as if we didn't know she just pulled that coincidentally a day after it was leaked to the press."

"How'd she react to the M.E. Report?"

"She doubled down. Even though not one neighbor heard her scream."

"Her story's a house of cards. But she's just still hiding behind self-defense," Rafael wished it could be easier but it hardly was in this division.

"Look," Montserrat began again, this time more calm and serious, "I've seen my fair share of hate crimes in Homicide. I'm not being dramatic, I'm not blaming a victim just because...this just feels racially motivated."

Being more professional made Rafael take her more serious. She reverted back to the detective Casey talked eons about. "If it is, she'll have a history. Find it. This isn't going away."

"We'll get on it," Sonny dutifully nodded and motioned Montserrat to follow him out.

"Detective Novak?" Rafael stopped the ginger woman just as she was about to cross the doorway.

She turned back but gave Sonny a nod to wait for her out in the hallway. "Did I say something wrong back there?" was her immediate guess on why she was being held back. "I have a problem, I know-"

An unusual smile came to Rafael's face as he responded with some familiar words. "You have problems alright: your integrity, your empathy, your sympathy…"

Montserrat's eyes widened in horror as she recognized her previous lists of concerns she'd given Casey. "I'm gonna kill Casey Novak."

"This is literally the worst place to say that," Rafael laughed at her.

Montserrat was nowhere near amused. She came back - stalked over - and planted her hands on his desk, leaning forwards. "How did you know that?"

Rafael sobered agonizingly slow - in Montserrat's opinion - but retained a smirk Montserrat figured was just part of his natural self. "Your cousin loves to pop in whenever the DA is breathing down my neck." Seeing her face getting redder from anger, he decided to throw in something that could possibly save Casey from actually being attacked. "She was just worried about you and she stopped by to see how the case was going. She's mentioned you had doubts about your competency here-"

Montserrat suddenly slammed her hands on the desk, effectively cutting him off. "She had no right to do that! If I come to someone to talk - to vent - that's automatically private!" she shrugged when she reached her conclusion and withdrew her hands from the desk. "I'm gonna kill her! The DA is gonna have to find a new Homicide ADA because I'm about to kill the one they have now!"

Rafael had kept quiet throughout her long ramble, unbeknownst to her he was in his examination mode and he'd come up with a good solution. Of course, he knew what he was going to get into when he opened his mouth again but he couldn't listen to Montserrat's ridiculous cries of self doubt. "I did not take you to be a woman with such low confidence in herself."

Montserrat blinked in response. Her head gave a light tilt while she decided whether or not she'd heard right. His straight face was answer enough. "I do not have low confidence in myself," she responded a minute later, much more calm than before.

Rafael made his doubt known with a bob of his head. "The woman I met two months ago was a...what was it?" he pretended to think about it for a second before he nodded and answered himself. "Oh, right, a 'badass in general'. Wonder what happened to her…"

Montserrat released a breath borderlining an offended laugh. "Well excuse me but I literally withheld labor in a courtroom, in a trial. So yeah, I had my moment. That was different. That was two months ago. This is me now, in a completely different setting. This is my first case as a detective in SVU so excuse me for having some doubt in my choices. I want it to go perfect."

"You're in SVU, nothing will ever be perfect," Rafael would've guessed Olivia to be the one to tell this to Montserrat before anything else. Apparently, it was going to be up to him to tell her the truth. "I've only been here a year and it took me only the first case I took on from them to figure out the structure of the division. You shouldn't - why the hell are you smiling?" he couldn't figure out when Montserrat had suddenly garnered a wide smile that seemed to be on the verge of laughing.

He wouldn't figure out that she was thinking about what Casey said in regards to first time cases, specifically his first case with SVU.

Don't you dare laugh, Montserrat. Montserrat pursed her lips together, pressed them hard, to swallow down that threatening laugh in her throat. "You're right," she said in a strained tone. "Everything you said is right - I gotta go."

"What was so funny—"

"Nothing!" Montserrat answered before he could even finish the question. The fact was she was staring at the desk with trembling lips. Don't laugh, she warned herself. "I have to go, Sonny's waiting. But thanks for the real life talk. Oh but I'm still killing Casey." She turned on her heels and walked straight out of the office, withholding her laugh until she was in the hallway.

Meanwhile, Rafael was left with the impression that Montserrat was an even stranger Novak to deal with.

Sonny, on the other hand, had to deal with a partner who had such an endless laughter. "I didn't think anything was funny right now," he admitted in hopes of being let in on the joke.

Montserrat took in a deep breath and hoped to God she was done. It was ridiculous, honestly, to even be doing this and she was sure if Rafael found out he would probably kill her. "Sonny, it's nothing, trust me. Rafael just said a really funny joke."

Sonny snorted. "Now I know you're lying. Barba never jokes."

"Why do you people call each other by your last names? Kinda weird," Montserrat said in a swift move to change topics.

"I don't know, just the way things are I guess," Sonny shrugged.

"I mean, I'll call you by your last name sometimes but I'm not going to do that all the time," Montserrat continued on.

"Alright, but even if I did call you by your name, it's a mouthful!"

Montserrat pretended to gasp in offence. "My name is pretty and it deserves to be said in whole. But if you're that weary of it, Montse is fine too."

Sonny smiled and tested the name out. "Montse? See, easier to say. That's why I use Sonny instead."

"What's your real name?" Montserrat wondered just as they'd come out of the DAs building. "I know you and Fin use nicknames, so...what is it? What's the big, ugly name your mother gave you?"

"My name's Dominick and it's a fine name," went the man in defensive mode. Montserrat laughed at him but agreed it was a good name.

"Alright then, Dominick, you wanna tell me why you asked my cousin if you could shadow her instead of your actual ADA?" Montserrat started down the steps for the sidewalk. "I mean, I figure you ought to know Rafael better than you do Casey."

"I do, but I asked Casey as a backup. I'll ask Barba after the Jolene case is done."

"That still doesn't make much sense," Montserrat stopped by the sidewalk for a moment. "Why would you ask Casey as a back up? Is Rafael that stickler who'd say no?"

"I don't think so…" Sonny shifted on his feet, something about him suddenly nervous.

"Sonny…?"

"...he scares me sometimes," the man promptly answered and started heading for their car.

Montserrat honestly would need a minute to laugh before she could follow to the car.