Amanda walked into the precinct's lounge room for a soda but instead found Sonny pacing back and forth right in front of the soda machines. "Carisi, what are you doing?" she made a motion for him to get out of her way.

Sonny looked at the soda machines and shook his head. He just moved his pacing to the other side of the room. As Amanda put in her dollar bills for a soda, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the detective still doing the same pacing.

"Seriously, what are you doing?"

Sonny felt like a teenager the way he was pacing, but he was just so confused. He felt like he needed to do something but he wasn't sure what. And the problem was...he couldn't really talk about it with anyone.

"Carisi?" Amanda's voice drew him back to the present. She was standing in front of the soda machine, holding her sweet lime shasta can in one hand. When Sonny met her gaze, she raised an eyebrow and indicated she wanted an answer.

Maybe she's the only one, Sonny thought. He glanced at the window and saw Fin and Nick working dutifully at their desks. Montserrat wasn't in since she was following the trial against Wilkes from the front seats.

"I may have a problem," he began but realized it wasn't really truthful. "I mean-" he shook his head, "-I think someone has a problem but they don't know it yet…"

Both of Amanda's eyebrows raised this time. "What?"

Sonny hated he couldn't explain it the way he wanted to. Maybe he just needed to stop pacing and take things slowly. "Okay," he released a heavy breath and turned to face Amanda again. "So...I…" Nope, that was the wrong beginning too.

By this point, Amanda was getting concerned. She rarely saw Sonny this upset and it was usually over cases but this one didn't look like it would be the same. "Hey," she moved forwards and rested a hand on his arm. "Do you need help?"

"I don't, but at the same time maybe…" Sonny admitted. He leaned his body forwards and gripped the back of a chair. "A couple days ago I discovered that...someone had...someone has feelings for my friend."

"We're not talking about Kara, right?" Amanda had to ask before she thought of anything else.

"No, no, I really do mean a friend," Sonny was quick to clarify. "And she's a really close friend of mine and I look out for her. She doesn't realize this person has feelings for her."

"Okay, so...what? You're trying to play cupid or something?" the smile on Amanda's face was quickly erased when Sonny exclaimed a 'hell no!' in her face. The blonde blinked in surprise. "I'm so confused…"

Sonny sighed and moved around the snack table. "The problem is that there's a third person involved, only he doesn't know it cos I haven't told him."

"How's he involved?"

"He also likes my friend. And I'm pretty sure that she likes him too. But that person I'm telling you about? He's going to get in the way and the worst part is…" Sonny sighed again, "It's unrequited because I know my friend only sees him like a brother and if she were to find out...it would ruin her relationship with him."

Amanda's head bobbed as she tried to comprehend everything she learned. "This is starting to feel like high school. Why on earth are you so troubled by this? What's it to you if that person's feelings come to light?"

"Because…" Sonny so badly wanted to tell her that this person was his girlfriend's brother and would therefore put Kara into a terrible position between her brother's happiness or her best friend's happiness. "Because I know my friend won't want to hurt that person...and who knows what she might do to keep him happy."

"What - you think she's going to sleep with him or something just for his happiness?" Amanda made a face. "That'd make her a pushover. Your friend just has to be brave enough to tell that guy to back off cos she's already got eyes somewhere else."

"I just wish I could help this trio because...I like them all. They're my friends." And Sonny knew how devastated Kara would be if all this came to light. Damien having feelings for Montserrat while she had feelings for Rafael who also had feelings for her? Just thinking about it made Sonny's head hurt. And the dread that filled him was inevitable.

"Maybe you should talk to your friend, then," Amanda suggested after realizing how big of a burden this was becoming for Sonny. "These people are adults - or…" she trailed off when a new idea crossed her mind.

Sonny looked up from the table to see her thoughtful glance. "What?"

"I'm all for being an adult but…" a small smirk came to Amanda's face, "That second guy you talked about - the one your friend likes back - might get a little riled up if he found out this other guy likes her too. Might be the push he needs to man up and get the girl."

Sonny laughed lightly. Boy he would pay to see Amanda tell that to Rafael's face. All in all, Amanda did have a point...Sonny just wasn't sure if that's the road he wanted to take. With everything that's going on, wouldn't it add more fuel to the disputes Montserrat and Rafael already had between each other?

~ 0 ~

The trial against Wilkes was not going so well and it was due to the fact there was no physical evidence to back Wilkes' terrible interests. Rafael was fuming because once again SVU put him on this track.

"Where the hell is my evidence?" he demanded from the trio that'd gone to trial with him once they were back in his office. "You said-" he pointed a finger at Montserrat first, "-you'd get it. And do I have it?" Montserrat opened her mouth, but he beat her to it. "No." She shot him a glare but he had moved onto Murphy by then. "This was your idea even after I told you we couldn't convict a man just for thinking things."

"But you know that what he's thinking can and will become real sooner or later," Olivia spoke up before got a chance to go at her as well.

"Do I?" Rafael sarcastically said, tilting his head at her.

"Okay, stop being unnecessarily rude," Montserrat frowned. She folded her arms over her chest and upheld his glare with her own, like she usually did. "We're working on it, alright? And Olivia's right. You know damn well that sooner or later, Wilkes will act…"

"If he hasn't already that we don't know about," Murphy added. Montserrat pointed at him indicating her agreement.

"And it's not like we didn't get you something," Montserrat wanted to remind Rafael that they did get one important thing for him.

Olivia had gone above and beyond the call of duty and gotten an old friend to come and evaluate Wilkes. "Wong made a good evaluation," Olivia pointed out. "He warned us that this could escalate more than what it already has."

"Great," Rafael's sarcasm still made an appearance. "That's all I got. An evaluation. More thinking."

"Don't act like you don't agree with us," Montserrat said. "You're just as disturbed as we all are with this guy. He's different than what we've dealt with before, but he's going to end up doing the same thing all the other perps we've caught have done. And you know it."

The silent stare-down between them was indication enough that Montserrat was right. Yes, he did agree this was a case that needed to be brought to trial. It, however, didn't mean it would be an easy win considering there was no victim so far. And the fact he may be losing and letting a man like that walk free...amongst children...sickened him. "Get me something," Rafael's time had changed from commanding to a plead. "We can't let him go free."

Now there, Montserrat happily obliged. "Of course." And as if the world was trying to prove that they were doing the right thing, Montserrat's cellphone started buzzing in her pocket. "Look at that," she happily looked up, "Nick says they found the ex-wife and she's willing to talk to us."

"Go," Murphy ordered her. "And let us know what she says ASAP."

Montserrat nodded and headed out of the office. She accompanied Sonny to visit Wilkes' ex-wife and really hoped this would finally be their big break.

"You good?" Montserrat asked Sonny once they'd gotten out of their car. She noticed how quiet he'd been during their drive, and yet for some reason he kept glancing at her with a look on his face.

"Yeah," Sonny did his best to shrug casually. He started the way for the ex-wife's front yard.

"You're just unnaturally quiet and it's kind of freaking me out," Montserrat trailed behind him. She looked more like a child than anything following his taller figure. "I mean, am I supposed to expect an angry Kara at home tonight and you can't figure out a way to tell me what you did?"

Sonny chuckled and stopped, making her bump into his back. He turned around and looked down at her. "I didn't do anything."

"K, so that's your story then…"

Sonny rolled his eyes at her and continued to walk for the front porch. "I didn't do anything. Kara and I are fine. I just have some things on my mind."

"Oh…" Montserrat blinked but followed after him again. "You wanna tell me what it's about later?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks," Sonny pressed the doorbell to avoid this conversation from going any further.

Linda Walker was not pleased to find the two detectives on her front step. It was a struggle to get her to let them in, but once they started telling her about the reasons they were here...she seemed more inclined to speak with them.

"I don't know how you found me," Linda led them into her living room. "I changed my name, got off the internet. I don't think Simon even knows where I moved after I remarried."

"Sounds like you needed a clean break," Sonny remarked and shared a knowing look with Montserrat. This woman definitely knew something about Wilkes.

"When we met, I found Simon magnetic. But he has a darkness inside of him…"

"So you definitely knew about his fantasies," Montserrat confirmed their thoughts.

Linda gave a small nod of her head. "Not the extent of them, not at first, but then I started to notice how he would shut the laptop whenever I came into the room. One time, he left it open."

"And what did you see, Ms. Walker?" asked Sonny, though judging by the woman's face he knew it was terrible.

"He was messaging with these other people, talking about Bobby and me, about things he'd let them do to us. Our child was six." Linda's voice cracked just at the memory. "He said it was just a game, but he knew, he knew he had to go. I told Bobby, "daddy has a sickness. He can't be around other people.' I made a deal with Simon. As long as he promised to never see Bobby again or be around other children, I would keep quiet. This room of his... It's across from a grade school?"

Montserrat glanced at Sonny, both agreeing on their next move. "Ms. Walker, we're going to need you to come back with us. And your son."

~0~

The plan was simple, but effective. Bring in Wilkes' ex-wife and son to court, push him into revealing his true self. And it worked like a charm.

As soon as Wilkes saw Linda and their son, Bobby, he became an entirely different person on the stand. He was shifty, nervous….

This, Rafael could work so well with. "You testified earlier that your fantasies have nothing to do with real life. Correct?"

Wilkes nodded his head fervently, but even that indicated he was trying to convince himself now. "There's no crossover."

"Mm-hmm. So let me ask you this again, Mr. Wilkes, and remember, you are under oath. Why have you not been in contact with your ex-wife or your son?"

Wilkes' Haze kept flickering to Linda and his son. All the memories of him forcing himself to leave, to be away from them, started rushing back. "Because I knew I couldn't be around them…"

"Why is that?"

"...because of the pictures in my head."

"Which you can't control?" Rafael's question elicited a sharp objection from Wilkes' lawyer. He rolled his eyes and simply reworded what he wanted to say. It didn't matter how he said it, Wilkes would still be giving himself up. "Isn't it true that your first wife asked you to leave when you admitted that you were afraid you would act on your urges?"

It didn't matter if Wilkes' lawyer cried 'objection' because of what Wilkes had to say as an answer.

"I made...I made the decision to leave. I didn't want to hurt him. He's my son. I didn't hurt him. I would never!"

~0~

"Thank you for coming," Olivia said to Linda and Bobby outside of the courtroom. Linda just nodded, but it was clear as day that she wanted to get the hell away from there.

"C'mon, we'll take you home," Montserrat gestured the way towards the elevator. She and Sonny would be driving them back home while the jury was out.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Amanda stopped beside Olivia once they were alone. The jury was out and now all they had to do was wait...and wait...

"I wish I knew," Olivia admitted. She glanced behind and saw Rafael coming out of the courtroom with Efron. Both looked ready to kill each other since both sides made pretty good arguments.

"Nice move sneaking his ex-wife and son into the courtroom to rattle him," Efron couldn't help her sour remark. "Even for you, that was a low blow."

All Rafael did was smirk for a moment. "You ever ask yourself why it rattled him so much?" he turned to face Efron, forcing her to stop walking. "What the hell kind of thoughts does he have in his head about his own son?" It seemed like his question rattled Efron enough, but as a professional she had to reject it.

"You really want to live in a world where you can be put in prison for what's inside your head?" she countered with, admittedly a good argument yet again.

~ 0 ~

One hour. One measly hour.

That's all it took for the jury to give a 'not guilty' verdict.

"I wouldn't take it personally," Olivia gave a light pat on Rafael's arm. "You put up a good fight."

"Hm, wasn't good enough apparently." Rafael looked down the hall where Wilkes was coming out of the courthouse to a swarm of paparazzi.

"We gave it our best shot." Even Murphy had to admit that they did everything they could to put Wilkes away, but sometimes things didn't work out the way they wanted them to.

"Right, and that's it, huh?" Nick was glaring daggers at Wilkes. "We just wait for Simon to do something? He's not gonna stop."

"You can't let it get in your head, Nick," Amanda warned him. "Cos once you do…it's hard to stop it." Nick didn't say anything, but he continued to glare at Wilkes' figure.

"She's right, don't do it man," Fin said, but Nick was too lost already. He turned to leave without saying a word to anyone else.

"Hey!" they heard Montserrat's voice not a second later. She was hurrying up the staircase with Sonny trailing behind her. "Tell me we got him!"

At her hopefulness, Rafael looked over to Olivia. He couldn't be the one to ruin it, even though it was his fault Wilkes would walk away.

Olivia seemed to get the message. She gave a shake of her head and, like Rafael imagined, Montserrat's hope vanished in two seconds.

"Oh…" her dark eyes blinked several times while she processed what Wilkes' freedom meant. "I thought…I-I really thought we would get him. I mean, I know what I said before but...I just thought…"

"I thought so too," Olivia sighed. "We all did."

"Sorry," Rafael felt compelled to say and actually startled some of the others with it. He never apologized.

"It's not your fault," Montserrat quickly said, as if she'd known what the apology was for her. "It's those twelve idiots on the jury stand. I can't believe they did that."

"It happens," Sonny sighed. "Listen, why don't we just go home? I think everyone's just tired. We worked this case over like there was no tomorrow…"

Murphy began to nod in agreement. "Fine job, detectives," he offered them a small smile. "Carisi's right. Go home. Rest. Tomorrow, we're back at it again."

The group started to disperse as they came down the rest of the steps onto the sidewalk. Montserrat only stopped because her phone started buzzing. "Go on," she told the others. "It's Casey. I might be drowning myself with brownies for the rest of the night."

"As long as it's not barbecue because you know that oder sticks to you, right?" Rafael smirked at her.

"I'll be sure to leave a plate just for you in your office," she said and took her call. "Casey?"

With that bit, Rafael knew they'd be fine by tomorrow. He started to walk again but heard Montserrat's response to whatever Casey said and...it sounded unusually high-pitched. He stopped walking and looked back to see her incredibly pale.

"Wh-what are you - Casey, what the hell do you mean?" she honestly looked ready to pass out.

Rafael checked to see where the others were and while they weren't too far away, bringing them all back might not be exactly what Montserrat needed. He himself debated whether or not to inch back to her.

"No, I don't understand!" Montserrat fervently shook her head. She brought one hand to her ginger curls, almost looking like she was gripping the strands. "When did - okay fine, I'll be there! D-don't move!" She hung up but it didn't look like she would be getting better anytime soon.

"Montserrat?" Rafael finally decided to come back to her and in just in time, it appeared, because she stumbled back as if she were going to fall. He quickly reached for her arm and pulled her forward, but this time not even their closeness would pull Montserrat out of her crisis. "What's wrong?" he asked her at least two times before she finally answered.

"...my brother just got arrested."

Author's Note:

I did say there was angst coming ;). Happy Valentine's Day!

For the review: I'm so happy to hear that! It's exactly how I started first writing too. I kept reading another author's stories until I decided it was time to write my own! It's so much fun, good luck!

P. S: I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.