The squad had done their due diligence and visited one of Brubeck's 'casting parties' in a luxurious mansion. But it turned out the man was smarter than he looked.

"So Adam Brubeck's casting party, no drugs, no underage drinking," Olivia wearily rubbed her forehead after getting word from her team that they basically had nothing.

"Noo," Montserrat's tone promised sarcasm. "It was just a bunch of older men watching wet teenage girls in bikinis. Hardly something to worry about."

"If being a letch were illegal, Beverly Hills would be in lock down," Amanda remarked. "He's smart, he's careful, he's wised up."

"What did he say about Tensley?" Olivia asked and hoped she would get a little more than just sarcasm. She could understand their feelings but something better would be to prove Tensley's story.

"Oh, he admitted that she came to his parties, at 13, but he blamed it mostly on the mom," Nick answered her.

Fin seemed almost ready to laugh at the younger detectives. "You thought he'd confess to child rape?" His response came in the simultaneous glares from them. It was still pretty funny.

Olivia made a gesture for them to get back to business. "We keep digging deeper, we're gonna find something."

"We've been doing the research on Brubeck's former child stars," Amanda got up from her seat to lead the squad to their conference table. She had already set up the pinboard with said research. "Okay, Tensley is not the only one that's crashed and burned. This is Bella Macy." She began with the first picture on the left of the board. "She starred in "Teens in Space" at 12. She did an after school special, and then disappeared. She got arrested four years ago in Ohio for armed robbery. Mm-hmm. Go on. This is Jordana Russo. She starred alongside Tensley in "Sophie Spade". She's now doing... porn. Now this is our friend Brody Clark. He used to be a complete mess. In and out of rehab for years."

"In conclusion, the list goes on and extensively," Montserrat left it clear as she herself still had a few more potential victims' rap sheets sitting on her desk.

"Okay, did any of them file a lawsuit, press charges?" asked Olivia.

"Actually, he was almost charged in L.A," Sonny spoke up, although there was a rather nervous tinge in his words as he went on. "I, uh, have an ex at LAPD. She told me an actress named Amber Forbes drowned at one of Brubeck's Beverly Hills pool parties, nine years ago."

"Ooh, we're going to be discussing that later on," Montserrat promised him with a sly smile. He rolled his eyes and hoped somebody else would start talking fast.

"She drowned?" Olivia had come to the rescue without knowing it. "How old was she?"

"She was 15. The M.E. ruled it an accident, but there was alcohol and ecstasy in her system. Brubeck and Dennis were questioned by police. Also, on the witness list... Brody Clark."

Everyone's eyes shifted to the young man on the board.

"Okay, talk to Brody. Find out what he knows," Olivia specifically told Sonny since he had discovered their newest lead.

"And that's my cue," Montserrat said as she moved after her partner.

~ 0 ~

"You're seriously not gonna let it go?" Sonny frowned as the two partners walked down the street that would lead them to Brody's current movie setting.

"You specifically called one of your exes - how am I supposed to let that go!?" Montserrat was having herself a good laugh teasing him about this. "Does Kara know about her?"

"It was a strictly professional phone call and you know what? I would appreciate if you kept Kara out of this. I will tell her later on."

"Yeah, when you're not so scared," Montserrat muttered but it wasn't as quiet as she thought it was.

Sonny shot her a mock glare. "I can't wait for you to slip up and then I can do the same thing to you. Only difference here is that when Rafael learns of your exes, he'll actually be mad. I can just give Kara a gift or something to calm her down, but what are you going to do?"

"Give him a bottle of scotch and tell him to move on," Montserrat shrugged carelessly. "And if he doesn't, then I'll take the scotch bottle back; give him a real reason to be mad." Of course then she recalled the way she acted when Yelina was around and suddenly she had nothing else to say.

The two detectives found Brody just after he'd finished a scene. He wasn't that surprised to find them again, but he had new things to say. "Adam told me you guys were up his butt about Tensley. Is she okay?" something about the way he asked made it sound as if he wasn't that concerned.

"How well do you know her?" Montserrat asked as she continued to study his expression.

"We did a few movies together."

"And you were engaged for two years," the detective made sure to remind.

Brody, again, wasn't that pleased, but he did agree. "Well, a lot of that was PR. But I do care about her. I mean, we broke in together."

"Right!" Sonny exclaimed. "Right, on "Summer Daze"! Loved that movie. Hey, wasn't that girl who drowned in it? Amber... Amber something?"

Montserrat had to commend his acting skills because right now, he was doing a better job at it than Brody, the actual actor.

"Oh, man, Amber Forbes, that poor girl," Brody said, yet again feigning more concern.

"And you were at the party when she drowned?"

"Yeah, it, uh... Totally sucked, bro."

"Was uh... Was Adam Brubeck there?" Montserrat tilted her head at him.

"Uh, sure. It was his house."

"Now was he with her, in the pool?"

Brody shook his head but even that was done rather nervously. "I don't know, I was in the screening room watching videos. But, dude, that house... It's like, unbelievable."

Sonny smiled with him, but his was more tight. "Unbelievable, huh? Brody, do you remember who else was there?"

"Um... Tensley. She was like a big sister to Amber. She cried for, like, months."

Now that seemed honest enough.

~0~

For a lack of a better word, the squad had trespassed into a raw part of Tensley's life, even more so than what she already went through. It drove her to attempt suicide. While she was to stay at a clinic, the case would try to move on until she could speak to them again. But it was easier said than done. It was only when Tensley was able to talk that they could finally move forwards.

Tensley, to her credit, did seem more put together in the clinic than last week when she'd been arrested. She sat at the corner of a long couch in the clinic's patient lounge and nervously watched Olivia and Montserrat make their way through the room.

"Hey, Tensley. How you feeling?" Olivia asked as she took a seat in the next couch with Montserrat.

"Better. Today in group, uh...this girl said that my next bottom isn't on this earth," Tensley said, fiddling her nails together. "That kind of got through to me."

Seems like it, Montserrat silently agreed. At the very least, Tensley was more serious.

"So the other day...you said that you didn't want to go back to that time," Olivia picked up right where she'd left off with Tensley just before her attempted suicide. "You think you're ready now?"

Tensley nodded, but it was done nervously so the two women needed to tread lightly. "It's all I think about. Everybody in group knows, so...you might as well, too. That night in the pool. Um, it was...it was Amber, Adam and I. We were high. On, uh... on kix. It's...Ketamine. Ecstasy. It works. We were splashing around and then Adam set down the house rules."

"Which were?" Montserrat dressed the answer.

"He wanted us to take turns on him while he held our heads underwater."

Yeah, there it was.

"Amber was so scared. But I'd done it before, so I went for it, and I choked, and...I had to go inside. And I tried, I tried to get Amber to come with me, but Adam said no, and... I never should have left her." Tensely sniffled until real tears strolled down her cheeks. "She was 15 and she was still new to this, and...it's my fault she drowned."

"Oh no, it is not your fault," Montserrat promised the girl. "And that's what we want, for the real culprit to go away."

Tensley nodded, but it was still hard to stop her tears.

~0~

"Knock, knock," Montserrat pretended to knock on the office door then flashed Rafael a smile.

He smiled back and put his work down on his desk. "Been a while," he remarked given their hectic schedules over the past few days.

The Tensley Evans case was taking up a lot more of their time in different areas. Montserrat's time was primarily taken with those in-the-field interviews. There were so many Hollywood stars they needed to interview that she and most of the other detectives were hardly in the bullpen lately. And then he was dealing with the current charges against Tensley along with aiding Olivia in their case. But neither of them were surprised. They knew very well what it would be like.

"Doesn't it feel like it?" Montserrat made her way up to his desk. "I am so exhausted. I might just take your couch over there for a quick power nap."

"I'd like the view but Olivia's due in a few," he informed her and straightened in his seat.

"Right," Montserrat remembered. Now that they'd finally cracked Brody, they were going up the ladder to another producer with dirt on Bruebeck. "Make sure to get 'em."

"I do try."

"I just came in for a bit but I did bring something," Montserrat looked unusually giddy which was a sight to see.

Rafael never really saw her like which made him just a bit more curious. He watched her pull something out of her bag, a white envelope, and then met her excited grin. "What is it?" he asked.

"A few pictures!" She handed him the envelope and chuckled at his deepened confusion.

"Should I...can I open this here?" the words blurted from his mouth and the moment he realized it, his face flushed. Plus, it was something that went back to what they specifically discussed and concluded that Montserrat wasn't ready for. "Montserrat, I'm sorry…"

But Montserrat leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "No harm done, dear. Plus," she leaned against his desk next to his chair, "If it were those type of pictures, I'd work a bit more on my-" she gestures at her current appearance, "-presentation."

Rafael couldn't help but look her over again while his mind wandered a bit. "So...so what are these, then?" he focused on the envelope but Montserrat took it from him suddenly and planted a kiss over its white surface.

"There, make it a bit sweeter," she smiled as she presented the envelope now bearing the print of her lips over it. "And to answer your question, it's what we promised each other." She gave him the envelope back and anxiously waited for him to see the pictures.

Rafael pulled out three pictures but instead of seeing Montserrat, he saw a small child...with the same head of curly ginger hair. "Is this you?" he turned one of the pictures over for her to see.

"Yup!" she nodded affirmatively. "That one's special because I was really pissed off, so my father says."

Rafael turned the picture back so he could study it better. Montserrat couldn't be more than four years old. She had a perfectly round face with slightly plump cheeks, and she wore an overalls jean skirt. But Montserrat was right, she had the same set of untamed fiery orange curls on her head. She had a face that expressed nothing but contempt for the older boy sitting next to her on the couch. The boy, for his part, was grinning.

"What was going on here?" he curiously wondered. He assumed the boy was Gael and that he was the culprit for Montserrat's mood. He certainly seemed proud of it.

"He ate my cookies," Montserrat explained and when Rafael looked up at her he saw the same expression from her four year old self on her face. It was impossible not to laugh.

"Really!?"

"They were strawberry jam!" Montserrat leaned off the desk, quite offended that he was laughing at her misfortune. "Gael was a jerk! I was four!"

"And already you mastered the scowl," Rafael waved her picture around.

"It was Gael's fault!" Montserrat huffed and crossed her arms.

"Right, right, it was," Rafael agreed for her sake. He reached for her closest arm and tugged her towards him until she agreed to sit on his lap. "You want to tell me about these?" he motioned to the two remaining pictures.

Montserrat begrudgingly agreed only because she thought that the other two pictures were cute. "That one was on my first day of school." She showed him the picture of her four year old self standing in front of her preschool. She had a small backpack on her back and what she called 'the best smile for the school day'. She certainly seemed ready for the day.

"You were incredibly adorable," Rafael remarked.

"I only get 'adorable'?"

"You were four, that's the best compliment a four year old can get!"

Montserrat shrugged, agreeing before moving onto the last picture. This time there was a slightly older version of herself. She was six and ready for ballet. "Told you I did ballet!" she smirked.

"Alright, now I can fully believe it." Rafael planted a kiss on her cheek and looked over the pictures again. She was truly adorable in all of them, even when she was angry as hell. "Eras una niña muy bonita."

Montserrat raised an eyebrow at him, apparently not so pleased with his compliment. "Eras?" she repeated. giving him a brief taste of her own Latin tongue, though there was a hint of an accent due to her lack of usage. "What do you mean 'eras'? Are you saying that I'm not pretty right now?"

It's like she had an instinct to pick up anything to banter with him. Still, Rafael just smiled. "Ahora eres hermosa."

Montserrat pretended to consider the upgrade for a few minutes. "Alright then. So I'm beautiful now. I'll let that one slide."

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm! But under one condition!"

"And that would be?"

Montserrat got a better hook around his neck then leaned closer with a smile that promised something good. "You roll your r's again."

"O...kay?" Rafael arched an eyebrow at her. He laughed slightly but it was done out of confusion.

"You just sound good, that's all," she smirked and pressed a tantalizing kiss near his jaw. "Pretty sexy actually."

"You should've led with that," he cleared his throat dramatically before complying with her request. "Any requests?"

She chuckled. "Nope. Well, if you can make it about me I wouldn't get mad."

Course she wouldn't. But who was he to deny her what she wanted to hear? Even when it was so easy. "Te daré miles de rosas un día…"

"Roses. I like roses. Make 'em red." Montserrat paid her best attention now and laughed each time he paid her a compliment. But he did sound incredibly good, just like she knew he would.

Eventually, though, Rafael's phone buzzed with a text from Olivia, warning him that she was on her way to his office. Montserrat agreed their current position was a bit compromising so she got off his lap - though still reluctantly - and prepared to leave.

"But now you have to show me your pictures," she warned as she fixed her jacket.

"Well, yeah, but mine don't look like yours," Rafael reluctantly said. Plus, what he said about his pictures being at his mother's place was true. And she would definitely question him if he stopped by specifically for them.

"I'd be concerned if they did," Montserrat's pointed stare left no room for arguments and that was saying something considering what Rafael did for a living. "Pictures!" she warned on her way out of the room. "Or you can consider yourself single again!"

"Montserrat!"

The woman stopped but not because he wanted to argue. She turned around and leaned against the door. "Ooh, next time I'm gonna have you say my name over and over. Roll those r's." Her look had turned saucy, or rather she made it that way.

"If I do that, can we skip the pictures?"

"You wish. Adiós!"

Well, that pretty much laid the rules out.

Rafael turned to his work again but he left the pictures neatly tucked into the envelope next to him. He might just claim them as his now if she was going to make him dig through his old photos. Plus, she did look adorable. There was no other child as adorable as she'd been.

"Hey, ready to go?" Olivia walked in fifteen minutes later.

It brought Rafael back to the current issues at hand. He didn't know at what point had Montserrat taken over 80% of his mind, but he wasn't complaining. It was nice not to always be thinking about work and even better to know that he had something besides work. He had someone. And that someone, albeit a pain sometimes - just like the pain he was to her, according to their latest argument - was somebody he looked forward to seeing every time. Every. Time.

While Rafael collected his things, and forced himself to think professionally now, Olivia busied herself with the usual looks around the office. There was nothing out of the ordinary, no surprise, until Olivia noticed the envelope sitting on the desk. She would've completely disregarded it had it not been for the clear imprint of red - perhaps slightly orange - lips over the seal.

"I didn't know you were seeing someone," her comment startled Rafael and made him freeze midway into putting his coat on. For a brief second he panicked thinking somehow she'd found out about him and Montserrat, but then Olivia picked up the envelope Montserrat left behind.

That. He could work with that.

"I'm not. My mother dropped those off. She's a bit dramatic." His mother would kill him for that statement but he'd rather face her than ruin his relationship. He wasn't quite ready for everybody to find out and bombard him and Montserrat with pesky, nosy questions. Olivia wasn't particularly nosy - she would be the first person he would tell, honestly - but she would definitely question their stance on their jobs. They just needed a bit more time alone.

"Hm, didn't know your mother was the type to wear red lipstick." It was hard to tell if Olivia was buying it, but she certainly seemed to be letting it go. That right there was why Rafael liked her best out of the squad, next to Montserrat of course. "I haven't seen her in a while, actually."

That would make two, Rafael realized. It would make his visit to her house more interesting.

~0~

Dozens and dozens of 'audition' videos flooded each SVU detective's desk. Even though there was 5 of them, the videos seemed to be like mountains.

"I can't, I can't…" Amanda had to close her laptop at one point. She checked to see her coworkers' and was a bit satisfied to see she wasn't the only one suffering. Brubeck had an enormous list on him and they had to watch all of his auditions.

"I know it's a huge win that Liv and Barba got us these videos but…" Sonny swayed his head, closing his own laptop for a moment, "It kind of sucks that we have to watch them."

"That is your job," Fin pointed out, not that he was too pleased with this task either. "Besides, we're almost done."

"Montse, how about we pick up dinner for us and Kara?" Sonny asked his partner but she was busy staring at her phone. "Montserrat?"

"Hmm?" the detective raised her gaze from her screen, eyes slightly wide from being called. "What was that?"

"Dinner? You, me and Kara?"

"Oh, uh," she checked her phone one more time then gave a nod. "Sounds good. My plans got rearranged anyways." She tucked her phone into her pocket and wondered just where Rafael was heading to so suddenly that he cancelled dinner. She was curious, nor concerned, but very curious.

"You guys have a date together? All of you?" As Nick asked there was already a teasing smile working across his face. It made all the more funnier when Montserrat and Sonny gave him the same glare.

"It's not like that," they even said together.

Montserrat rolled her eyes at him. "Let's just go, Sonny. And tomorrow when we have leftovers, Nick won't get any."

Nick chuckled and momentarily acted concerned over this unequal portion share. Sometimes it truly was too easy to mess with them.

~0~

It was evening when Rafael stopped by his mother's place. He honestly expected it to be empty since his mother usually worked until late. Being a Charter School principal often meant long after school hours. However, he was quite surprised to find his grandmother in the living room.

"Abuelita? What are you doing here?" he stuffed the keys into his coat's pocket. He'd been given a key to the place long ago, specifically for when his grandmother would stay around and he needed to be the one to look after her.

Catalina was sitting on the couch with the television on but she forgot all about it when she saw her grandson. "I'm staying for the night. Early doctor's appointment tomorrow. What are you doing here?"

Rafael walked over to give her a hug. She was quite warm due to the blanket around her. His mother also kept the necessary blankets for this specific case. "If you needed somebody to take you, I could've done it."

"Siempre tienes mucho trabajo. You always have too much work and, plus, your mother has the day off tomorrow. No school. Qué haces, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh…" Rafael hadn't actually considered what excuse he would give if anyone did turn out to he home. "I came looking for...some pictures."

"Of what?"

"...me?" The confused stare he got in return was fair. She, just like his mother, knew that he wasn't very fond of his childhood pictures. "I need the albums."

"They're where they always are," Catalina pointed towards the hallway closet door.

"Thank you." Rafael left a kiss on her head and went for the closet door. He was quick to go through them, but it mostly stemmed from the fact he didn't want to explain to his mother why he suddenly needed the albums.

But getting away quickly would be too easy.

Fifteen minutes into his search - the closet was actually pretty messy - Lucia Barba walked home. Like her mother, she was surprised to find him at home and even more that he was digging through her closet.

"I just need an album!" Rafael exclaimed, wishing they would stop asking him the same thing. They really were related.

"Since when?" his mother shot him a look as she let her bag and coat fall to the couch. "You always say you hate them. In fact, you once told me to burn them."

"I did not-"

"-yes, you did. Don't even argue with me about it," she warned. "I told you that they were nice but you've always been so stubborn to agree. What went on to change your mind?"

Rafael had to force his silence. His mother was always very adept to instigate arguments. They weren't actual arguments but disagreements that usually ended with them both going back and forth for hours until his grandmother would cut in to scold both of them.

"I just need to find some good pictures, alright? Are they all in here?"

Lucia rolled her eyes. "Sí. Of course they are. Good luck going through them. You staying for dinner?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Rafael had found one album so far. He crinkled his nose once he started going through them. God he really did not like his pictures. What a surprise, my mother was right.

"Of course you are," his grandmother suddenly said. "Si se queda, Lucia. He's staying."

He wouldn't even argue with her, never his grandmother. Catalina was the only one he could never deny anything to. He stopped flipping through pages when he realized that was no longer true. Montserrat had that ability from the start. He didn't mind though, he liked doing what she wanted because it always made her happy. He was doing that right now, although this one was a particular pain considering he had no good pictures. He was really searching, really putting an effort because he knew how much it would mean to Montserrat. She'd been so sure that he wouldn't keep his word and he wanted to show her that he would always keep his word to her.

There were several albums in a pile beside his right foot. He'd gone through them in a whiz and found nothing. They were too early of him. Nobody liked their baby pictures but he suspected that nobody hated their own like him. Things started looking up once he hit the five year mark, but he couldn't find the right ones.

He had no idea how much time had passed. The apartment was being filled with the scent of a dinner almost done.

"Jesus, what are you looking for?" his mother startled him at one point. She was standing only a few feet from him, hands on hips, and with an expression warning he would have to give an answer if this was to continue. "You've been standing there for almost an hour going through those things."

"Am I not allowed?" Rafael knew that'd been the wrong thing to say as soon as he said it.

Lucia arched an eyebrow at him, going high enough to disappear behind her hair line. "You're acting strange. You never go through those things!" she gestured to the album in his hand then the pile beside him. "Qué te pasa? What's going on with you?"

Before Rafael could say something, his grandmother cut in. "Dejalo en paz, Lucia. Leave him alone. He needs to do it." She gave him an odd smile, something that confused him for a second but he was grateful for getting his mother off his back.

Lucia didn't feel like arguing with her own mother so she just rolled her eyes. "Fine. Do what you want. I'm going to the store really quick to get something I need. And you-" she pointed at Rafael, "-better clean this up when you leave."

It was amazing how she could make him feel like a child sometimes. Still, he gave a nod and let her go. Maybe by the time she got back he'd have a better explanation.

"Esa madre tuya," Catalina said a few minutes later when they were alone. "That mother of yours."

Rafael smiled as he went through new pages of the album in his hands. "I'm used to it."

"I didn't think she was wrong, though. You never go through those things."

"Maybe I just changed my mind. I'm allowed." He spotted one picture of himself that might do. He was probably around four and if he remembered correctly it was the day he figured out how to read his first book. Looking back, it was probably an over exaggeration but he was five and so proud of himself. He held his book to the camera and had the grin of a lifetime. That was definitely one.

"Como se llama?" his grandmother suddenly asked him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "What's her name?"

Author's Note:

I don't know about anyone else's grandmothers but when my maternal grandmother was alive, she would know everything. Catalina will be just like that apparently .. Poor Rafael!

I've been meaning to update this but I sort of started watching another crime show, aka Criminal Minds, and now I have buzzing ideas for that story and this one (funny how the connections are made) so we'll see how this all goes. I'm hoping to somehow make a crossover with this story if I do end up writing for CM. (Like I don't already have a bazillion other OCs...)

P.S I have 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.

For the reviews:

ZabuzasGirl: Thanks! I hope you like the new chapter too!