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my worlds colliding 🤩

"These are their stories." DUN-DUN. ⚖️ ✨ | (a purely self-indulgent Law & Order AU)

Really miss seeing ADA Carisi in the court room like this!!

Truly the best part of the entire episode

Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.

Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.

(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)

Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.

All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.

I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.

Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.

And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.

Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.

I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.

Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.

No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a respondibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.

They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.

This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.

In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.

At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.

I think the least we can do is remember them for it.

SONNY CARISI APPRECIATION WEEK will be hosted by @dailysvu and will be taking place from June 20th - June 26th.

We will be tracking both the #Carisi Week and #dailysvu tags, so please tag us in everything so we can reblog!

Prompts for Artists (gifsets, graphics, moodboards, wallpapers, etc):

Day 1 (Sunday June 20) - Favorite Sonny Carisi moment

Day 2 (Monday June 21) - Favorite relationship (romantic or platonic)

Day 3 (Tuesday June 22) - Carisi + hard vs soft

Day 4 (Wednesday June 23) - Carisi + colors

Day 5 (Thursday June 24) - Carisi as a cop or a lawyer?

Day 6 (Friday June 25) - Pampered up or battered?

Day 7 (Saturday June 26) - A quote, either about, by, or relating to Carisi

Bonus prompt: Your favorite thing Carisi does

Prompts for Writers (fanfiction, drabbles, headcanons, metas, etc):

Day 1 (Sunday June 20) - Heartbeat

Day 2 (Monday June 21) - Off Duty

Day 3 (Tuesday June 22) - Trust

Day 4 (Wednesday June 23) - “What is this between us?”

Day 5 (Thursday June 24) - “Are you okay?”

Day 6 (Friday June 25) - Nightmare

Day 7 (Saturday June 26) - Secrets

Bonus prompt: Shower

The Bonus Prompt is just for the fun of it. You can choose to do it after the seven main prompts or you can use it to replace one of the themes of the day of your choice.

As always, you can have as many entries per date as you wish. If you want to write a fanfiction and make a gifset, a fanart and a playlist, or any combination of anything, just do it. The more the merrier.

How to submit your creations: post them to your blog and tag them with #Carisi Week and we will reblog them. Simple as that.

REMEMBER: You can’t post your creation(s) earlier, but you can post them later. So if you are gonna mix up the themes, make sure you’re not posting anything before the day of its prompt.

We can’t wait to see what you guys have planned!

The week will officially begin on June 20.

HERE’S THE FAQ

RULES & GUIDELINES

If you have any questions at all feel free to send us a message!

Have fun and ENJOY!

reblog if you’re a safe place for:

lesbian

gay

bisexual

transgender

queer

pansexual

demisexual

ace

hopeless romantics

cis-men

cis-women

non binary folks

the whole spectrum etc…

follow everyone who reblogs ;)

Season 22 Finale Week Fic Challenge starts today!

Post a short ficlet a day spanning Szn 22 until Finale Day! Any prompt, any ship. Missing moments, hopes for the finale, fix its! Anything goes!

Tag your fic #Season22FinaleFicChallenge !!

Kissing prompts 7 and 19 for Sonny!

Sorry this took so long! I had the idea jotted down almost as soon as you sent this in. Just took me a while to properly write it out. These were such cute prompts ^.^

7. Routine kisses where the other person presents their cheek/forehead for the hello/goodbye kiss without even looking up from what they’re doing.

19. Kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing.

"You're up early forra Saturday mornin'," says a still-groggy Sonny as he emerges from your bedroom.

"Mmhmm," you reply, focus solely tuned to your laptop.

He pads over and presses a kiss to your temple. "Your presentation?"

"Yeah," you confirm. "Got it done last night but wanna finalize the revisions."

Sonny picks up your empty yogurt bowl and takes it to the sink, rinsing it out. "Ya want anythin' else for breakie, doll?"

You can hear him rummaging in the fridge. "No thanks, babe."

"’Kay. Holla if ya need somethin'."

The morning goes by fast and you're vaguely aware of Sonny puttering around the apartment. The only things that break you from your work-enduced trance are the little kisses Sonny attempts to distract you with.

The first comes after he's eaten. He creeps up behind you and softly kisses your cheek. The next happens when the final dish has been dried and put away, and Sonny nuzzles his nose beside your ear, kissing along your jaw. The third follows the sound of the washer starting, only for Sonny to be hovering over your shoulder, delicately threading your hair to the side so he can kiss your neck. Then finally, the clicking off of the dryer had him draping one of his warm sweaters around your shoulders and peppering soft smooches to the corner of your mouth.

At first you would lean in affectionately to the kisses, but after a while, you simply need to tell him off. "Sonny, I love you, too, but I need to get this done!"

He raises his hands in mock surrender. "A'right, a'right." He's not upset, in fact he was in that exact same frame of mind when he was studying for the bar. "I'll head to the office ta catch up on some paper work 'n maybe by that time you'll be done 'n we can relax togetha."

You smile at him and he back to you before he wisks himself off to get ready.

---

"Bye, doll." You tilt your cheek towards him and Sonny kisses an ‘I love you’ onto your skin.

"Bye, babe. Love you, too." you reply, hearing your husband head for the door.

You don't know how much time has passed, only that you need this presentation to be perfect. So, it startles you when Sonny walks in and exclaims, "Are ya still at it?" His tone washes over with concern. "Doll, I was gone for five 'owahs!" He moves to the table where you're seated and haphazardly picks up the empty granola bar wrappers. "This all you've eaten?"

You guiltily keep your eyes glued to your screen. "I want this to be perfect," you reiterate.

"Ya already said you were done 'n you've been reviewin' since before the sun came up. Time ta take a break. The presentation is in anotha four days so ya can look at it with fresh eyes latah." Sonny is not taking ‘no’ for an answer. He places two warm hands on your shoulders and gently works at your muscles with his thumbs. He bows his head and resumes the kisses from earlier. This time they're more urgent, trailing from behind your ear and down your neck. "Press ‘save’ and ‘close’, doll," his whispers tickle along your skin.

Admitting defeat, you do as told before shutting your eyes and sighing at the feel of Sonny's lips resuming their actions.

"Much better," he trills. "Now, lemme warm up dinner while you go put your feet up forra bit."

Finally, for what seems like the first time today, you look into Sonny's eyes. Their blue swirls reflect only love. "What did I do to deserve you?" you question affectionately.

"Yeah, ya lucked out pretty good, huh?" A grin turns up the corners of his mouth before he stifles your groan with a swift kiss to the lips.

Tag list?  @barbasbodaciousbeard​ @teamsladsandgents​ @adarafaelbarba​ @caracalwithchips​ @averyhotchner​​

I think all content creators can relate to this.

In my opinion, I don’t think followers really understand how much your requests/likes/reblogs/etc. and random asks mean to me. It’s just so refreshing and nice to know that people enjoy what I’m doing and support me.

People that go the extra mile and send an ask or message letting me know they liked my stuff honestly makes my day. I love reading tags and stuff…it’s honestly so cute….

And people who ask about how I’m doing or send me random questions or cute asks….I just want you guys to know it honestly makes my day. I just love all the interaction and such. It makes running a blog so much more enjoyable.

And Fanart/Fanwork? Honestly that’s one of the greatest things to receive. To everyone that draws or writes, please don’t feel too insecure to send it end! No one is going to criticize you over quality. It’s so sweet that you even thought about making something…I will always appreciate it no matter what, and I’m sure all other content creators feel the same.

So, in conclusion, don’t be afraid to talk to your favorite blogs and show them some love, guys! We always appreciate it! ☺️

Just rewatched this last night. Season 19, episode 14.

Hey, what’s up? Hi.

Mild smut ahead...

Chapter 5 - Getting to Know You, all about you

And see each other they did. Over the next few weeks, Sonny and Larissa ate and drank their way through the city.

Sonny charmed her with details about his humble upbringing in a mostly female household, impressions of his brash father, and adorable photos of his nieces. He shared his journey from public school to Catholic university to police academy to Catholic law school. He was even vulnerable sometimes, expressing the inevitable disappointment in humanity that came with investigating homicide, sex crimes, domestic violence, and child abuse.

For her part, Larissa was a captive audience, always asking the right questions, or making him laugh with a bad joke or story of her own family’s dysfunction. She shared that where she was currently living, the beautiful brownstone where Sonny and Fin had originally questioned her, was actually the house she grew up in, but that her parents were no longer living there. In an effort to try to get her father to retire, Mrs. Vasquez decided they should make the permanent move to the family’s Hamptons house, spending much of their time there and only keeping a pied-a-terre in the city. Her father was reluctant to “throw in the towel and sit on the couch getting fat”, but her mother had him wrapped around her finger, she explained.

“Must be where you get to from.” Sonny smiled at her, as they walked. “I mean, I think I could be persuaded to do just about anything by a woman like you.”

Larissa smiled and brushed her hair behind her ears, but rolled her eyes, never sure how to take a complement.

She continued to explain:

“So now, it’s me, my little sister, who never knows where her money goes, and my older sister, who just separated from her husband, all in our old bedrooms. I do like the extra time with my niece and nephews though.” she ended the explanation on a high note, just in time, as they approached Sonny’s truck parked on the street.

He took a few steps ahead to meet her at the passenger door, opening it for her. She stood on the sidestep to climb in, but turned to meet him eye to eye. Between the step up and her espadrille platform, she was maybe even a bit taller than the detective now. She smiled at the closeness of their faces in this moment, green eyes darting between his eyes and lips. Almost whispering, she said, “Did you want to come in later for one more drink?”

Logistically, both of them should have known that this was a terrible idea, given the aforementioned “Full House” scenario Larissa had just described, but neither was thinking clearly. Sonny was a patient and gentle man, not venturing beyond a few passionate good night kisses in their time together. Every time the thought came up of having to disclose his relationship to a witness in the Nikki Staines case, he pushed it to the back of his mind, because their relationship wasn’t *quite* sexual in nature, but the desire had reached its peak.

“Yeah.” Sonny whispered back. “Yeah, that sounds great.” practically deserting her as he ran around the car to get in the driver’s seat.

The short ride to her place was nearly silent, a feat for Sonny. Despite this, it was comfortable and intimate, their fingers playfully intertwined on the center console.

When they arrived inside, Larissa guided Sonny through the familiar foyer. It was late and no one else was in the common areas. Whether it was to keep up the ruse of a nightcap, or if she needed the wine to calm her nerves, Larissa planted Sonny on the sofa and ventured into the kitchen.

She returned a short time later with two glasses and a chilled bottle of white wine.

“I hope this is ok. It’s the only thing at the right temperature.”

Sonny nodded, as she poured from the bottle. Geez, they probably have a wine cellar, he though to himself, insecurity creeping up, as it sometimes did. Larissa was never a snob, she was smart and hardworking, but little things sometimes made it obvious how different their lives and upbringings were, and he would worry if this was a dealbreaker.

“Cheers!” Larissa exclaimed, clinking her glass to his and taking a swig, breaking Sonny out of his distraction.

“Cheers.” He returned.

“Is everything ok?” she asked.

“Of course. I had a great time tonight.”

“I’m glad. Me too.” Larissa responded, turning towards him and inching closer on the sofa so their knees touched. She leaned in for a kiss, which Sonny reciprocated, his long fingers combed through her hair, holding it away from her face.

This dance continued for awhile, making out like teenagers, until Larissa climbed on top of Sonny, straddling his lap between her knees, sinking herself low, so there was as much contact between their clothed bodies as possible, forcing his hands through her hair, down her back, finally resting between her hips and the ass he had long admired, since first waiting in line at the coffee shop.

“And listen, Sonny” Larissa let out breathlessly, breaking their kiss. She looked him in the eye while mindlessly fiddling with his necktie between them. “I really appreciate you being such a gentleman these last few weeks, but I want this. I want...you.”

Before Sonny could respond in words, Larissa had moved on to planting her pillowy lips down his jawline and neck, sliding down his body until her knees were on the floor and she looked up at him wantonly, reaching for his belt buckle.

Sonny stopped her hand with his, using it to help her off the floor as he also stood up. “Riss, I want this too, but let’s go to the bedroom.” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. The first use of this nickname felt so intimate it made her knees weak as they kissed again and she began to guide him to her room by his tie.

Hoping to post the next chapter of my OC x Sonny fic this weekend

Lots going on during last night’s episodes of SVU and Organized Crime. Fabulous performances.

Seems small, but it honestly stood out to me that Amanda asked how Sonny’s family was doing to during quarantine. It was one of the first times I’ve seen the support flow the other way, which is part of the reason I don’t always root for this ship.

🚨 SPOILER ALERT 🚨

Something that just occurred to me on the rewatch of last night’s episode, which I really loved in the end:

Obviously Sonny and Nicole’s relationship is pretty new, but do we think he had met her sister, Sara, before this incident? He knew she was a documentarian, which could have come from Nicole, but I’m curious about the timing of Sara finally deciding to introduce her girlfriend of over a year that night.

Did she finally realize Nicole wouldn’t disapprove because now both sisters were dating outside their race?

Chapter 4 - The Pre-date

“...my younger siblings are all rather accustomed to being provided for. I think that’s why they felt more free to pursue their creative passions.” Larissa explained.

She and Sonny were about 40 minutes in to what was seemingly the most comfortable and charming first date ever. They talked about their neighborhoods, their families, and most importantly, food. There were no awkward silences, the 2 only pausing to order a second round of coffees.

“And you don’t feel passionately about practicing medicine?” Sonny inquired, desperate to know more about what made this beautiful woman tick.

Larissa smiled. “We don’t have to talk about my work, it’ll put you to sleep.” setting up a joke, unbeknownst to Sonny.

He looked a little surprised. How could someone so impressive also be so modest. “I want to though. I mean, I want to know more about what you do.”

“Sonny,” she said quietly, this time grinning from ear to ear. “I’m an anesthesiologist. It will literally put you to sleep.”

Sonny’s eyes widened and he let out a chuckle. “Ok, that was So. Bad. Did you get that joke from your dad?”

“No, my dad is funnier than me!” she exclaimed.

Now it was Sonny’s turn to poke fun. “Well,” he said, face changing to mock serious. “Not hard to be.”

Larissa shook her head and giggled. “You lawyers. So quick. I don’t know why I spend time with so many of you.”

Over the course of the coffee date, Sonny had learned that, in addition to her father, Larissa’s older sister, and childhood friend were also attorneys.

“Well, I’m not practicing -

“Yet.” She interjected for him.

“So I guess you can keep me around for a bit.”

“I guess so.” She uttered, leading to the first silence of the meet. Not bad, just the obvious silence of 2 people contemplating who will move in for the kiss first.

As if on cue, Sonny’s cell phone rang, interrupting the trance. He fumbled, apologizing as he answered, hand combing nervously through his graying, coiffed hair.

It was obvious this call meant their time together would be cut short. Larissa didn’t take it personally when Sonny hung up and apologetically broke the news, but couldn’t help but be disappointed. She remained seated with her unfinished coffee as Sonny slapped cash on the table, and before he had time to think too much about it, leaned down to plant a chaste kiss on the side of her face, and disappeared into the street.

Hours later, Larissa had long returned home when she received a text:

“When can I see you again?”

RIP Chadwick Boseman

1977-2020

I'm in utter disbelief at the news. Thank you for bringing up so much joy and excitement over the years.

“does it really suck that much or did i just post it at the wrong time of day” a novel by me

Yesss! 🙏

5 posts!

And breaking news from Ice! 🙌

How exciting! New project with Peter and his son, Leo.

Deadline

‘Social Distance’: Danielle Brooks, Mike Colter Among Cast For Netflix Quarantine Anthology Series From Jenji Kohan & Hilary Weisman Graham

Netflix has set the full cast for Social Distance, its upcoming quarantine anthology series from Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan

Chapter 3

Just getting back into writing and appreciate so much even the smallest bits of feedback I’m receiving. Thank you!

——————

The rest of the week flew by as the squad narrowed their investigation into Nikki’s assault. Sonny felt bad leaving his team hanging on Friday, but was also relieved to take the breather.

To: Sonny

From: Unknown Number

Friday, September 13th, 9:03 a.m.

Didn’t see you for coffee this morning. I hope the bear claw incident hasn’t scarred you for life.

Sonny retrieved his phone from his pocket to check the time as he waited in line and was surprised to see a new message waiting for him. So much for an unlucky day! The number wasn’t saved in his phone, but he smiled to himself at the thought of who it must be, and the timing, given his current location.

To: Larissa

From: Sonny

Friday, September 13th, 9:27 a.m.

You’ll have to work harder than that. Plenty more pastries in the case, accompanied by a photo of a familiar shelf stocked with crumb cake, jelly donuts, and cannoli.

To: Sonny

From: Larissa

Friday, September 13th, 9:34 a.m.

As long as you haven’t sworn off the place completely on my account. 😉

To: Larissa

From: Sonny

Friday, September 13th, 9:49 a.m.

You know I’m a cop, right? I’d sell my own mother before giving up coffee. Took the day off though, so running later than usual.

He hesitated before dipping a toe in uncharted waters.

Friday, September 13th, 9:51 a.m.

Sorry to miss our date.

To: Sonny

From: Larissa

Friday, September 13th, 10:10 a.m.

Well, I only tolerate dating disappointments once, so next time the plans better be solid.

To: Larissa

From: Sonny

Friday, September 13th, 10:14 a.m.

Yes ma'am. Name the time and place.

Ugh, the pressure! she thought, returning to her phone after a long day of surgeries. And now I’ve left him hanging for hours.

To: Sonny

From: Larissa

Friday, September 13th, 3:33 p.m.

The usual place, Sunday at 11? ☕️ 🍩

To: Larissa

From: Sonny

Friday, September 13th, 4:06 p.m.

See you then.

To: Sonny

From: Larissa

Friday, September 13th, 4:20 p.m.

You can regale me with tales from your day off. What’s that life like?

To: Larissa

From: Sonny

Friday, September 13th, 5:05 p.m.

I’m not really sure. I had a job interview. 😂

Larissa was sitting at a bar with her younger sister, Florence, when her phone buzzed and lit up next to her cocktail. She tried to contain her smile when she saw the sender’s name but, not wanting to be a rude and distracted companion, hesitated to pick it up.

Her mini-me stopped her story mid-sentence. “Who’s that?”

“Nothing important.”

“Why are you smiling?”

“I can’t be happy to hear from a friend?”

“You can be. But friends are important.”

“It’s nothing urgent, is what I meant.”

“So who is it?”

“You’re exhausting, you know.”

“I’ve been told. If you don’t tell me who it is, I’ll be forced to make assumptions.”

“You won’t be forced to do anything except finish your story and have another drink with me before your gig.” Larissa said with a dramatic smile.

Ah, did she ever have her little sister’s number. As long as the attention could return to her, all was right with the world. They finished a few rounds and needed to part ways so Florence could do a late night set at a jazz club nearby.

“Be careful, please” Larissa warned through their giggles, as the two said their goodbyes. She was feeling particularly on edge since the Nikki Staines incident earlier in the week.

Then, arriving home, and fueled by what was perhaps one too many, Larissa sent:

Can’t wait to hear all about it. Good night 😘

Ask away

Smut Headcanon Game

Inspired by this amazing A-Z headcanon game! I really loved making them the first time so I decided to make my own as well. Please send a boy and a letter and I’ll write the hc for it. Enjoy!

A: Affair (Describe an extra-marital affair)

B: Birthday (Describe birthday sex)

C: Compliments (Mid- and post-sex compliments)

D: Dry Humping (Describe a dry-humping scene)

E: Experimenting (Trying something new)

F: Firsts (First time having sex together)

G: Gentle (Describe gentle/loving mid-sex gestures)

H: Handsy (When they can’t keep their hands to themselves)

I: Initiator (Who initiates most of the time? How?)

J: Jealous (“Claiming” a partner)

K: Kitchen (Describe a sex scene in the kitchen)

L: Likes (What they like in the bedroom)

M: Morning (Describe morning sex)

N: Never (Things they would never try)

O: Orgasm (Describe coming–who comes first? What do they say? How does the other person know it’s approaching?)

P: Playlist (A playlist for getting down and dirty; will probably include a lap dance song, a song for making love, and a song that represents their sex life)

Q: Quiet (Reaction to a quiet partner)

R: Ruttish (Signs that they’re horny)

S: Safe Word (How often is the safe word used? Why?)

T: Teasing (Who’s the tease in the relationship? What do they do? How often?)

U: Undressing (Strip teasing a partner)

V: Videos (Sending NSFW videos to each other)

W: Wedding Night (Consummating the marriage)

X: XXX (What kind of porn does the person watch? How often?)

Y: Yawn (How they sleep post-sex)

Z: Zoo (Their animalistic qualities in the bedroom)

Chapter 2

As disappointed as Sonny was not to have had the time or privacy to put the moves on Larissa the way he would have liked, he didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on it.

His cell phone rang at an ungodly hour of the morning after a late night of drinking, just as the sun was coming up and peeking through his bedroom window.

Nikki Staines, an attorney from last night’s party, had been found assaulted outside her building.

Fin and Amanda met at the scene, but Sonny had strict orders from Lieu to get to the office ASAP. There could be no gourmet coffee stop to cure this hangover.

As the detectives sat around theorizing how and why the attack went down, it occurred to Olivia that they could at least canvass potential witnesses from the event who weren’t cops, without raising any red flags internally.

Reviewing the guest list, she said, “Carisi, Fin, you want to head downtown? It looks like a Raul Vasquez from some big law firm bought two tables at this thing. I’ll stay behind and talk to the Chief about the officers we need to talk to.”

“Uh, yeah, you got it, Lieu. I actually met him there last night, I think we have a good rapport.” said Sonny, grabbing his keys and suit jacket.

“This the guy you were talking to with that little blonde?” Fin asked after him, heading to the elevator. “I don’t judge, but some old rich dudes are shameless.”

“Not like that. She was his daughter.” Sonny answered, with a smile.

“Ahhh, ok” Fin said with a knowing smirk. “So you still got a shot then.”

“We’ll see.” Carisi responded, as they exited the building and approached his truck on the street.

The ride downtown was quick and comfortable. Fin and Carisi were so different, but worked well together.

Sonny had considered calling ahead to Mr. Vasquez’s office to give the heads up they were coming. He knew what an important and busy man Raul was, and figured they would be met with resistance showing up without an appointment. In the end, he didn’t want Fin, or anyone else, thinking he was turning soft for offering more than the usual courtesies to a potential witness, so he pulled up to the Wall Street building hoping for the best.

“We should have called ahead. This guy really is a big wig, huh?” said Fin, echoing Sonny’s thoughts after they had to introduce themselves to the third receptionist of the day.

Once they found the right corner office though, they weren’t waiting long before an assistant guided them in with a polite “Mr. Vasquez will see you know.”

“Mr. Carisi” Raul greeted “So soon. This can’t be a social call.”

“Unfortunately not.” said Sonny “This is Sergeant Tutuola.” He said, introducing Fin. “ We’re investigating the assault of an attorney who attended last night’s event.”

“Not someone from my firm, I hope. We made sure everyone had cars home.” Raul began to panic. It was actually reassuring to see someone worry about their employees.

“No, as far as we know, everyone from your office is safe. Her name is Nikki Staines. Do you know her?” said Fin.

“I’m sorry, I don’t.” said Raul

Sonny pulled up a DMV photo on his cell phone of Nikki. “This is her.” he said “Do you recall seeing her with anyone last night?”

“I saw her at the coat check at the start of the night, but she wasn’t with anyone. She was talking on her cell phone, it sounded like maybe to her children.”

“And you didn’t notice anything suspicious about anyone at the event?” asked Sonny.

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry not to be more helpful.”

“Well, if you could, it would be very helpful if you could provide us a list of all the people from your office who attended last night.” said Fin. He and Sonny knew they were approaching a dead end.

“Yes, of course. My assistant must have this together already from arranging the transportation. And you can speak to my daughter, she attended last night.”

“Larissa, right?” confirmed Sonny, attempting to play it cool.

“That’s right.” confirmed Raul with a knowing smile, as he approached the office door to summon his assistant.

“Donna,” he said “Would you provide these detectives with the list of those who attended last night’s event? And Larissa’s contact information, please.”

“Thanks for your time, sir.” said Sonny, as he and Fin followed Donna out.

“I’m sorry to meet again under these circumstances. I hope you have better luck closing this investigation.”

Within a few minutes, Donna, the wonder assistant, had provided printed and digital copies of the list including the names, phone numbers, and addresses of those from the firm who had attended the charity event, along with the names of their guests, and the limo provider that took them all home at the end of the night. It was all they could as for, even if it was unlikely that their perp was on this list.

“Oh!” Donna said to herself absent mindedly from behind her keyboard. “You needed Dr. Vasquez’s information as well. Let’s see, Tuesday afternoon. I believe she’ll be at home.” She jotted down the address and a phone number, handing it over with a smile.

Doctor Vasquez?, Sonny thought to himself as he took the card. “Thanks a lot,” he said.

When they got back to the car, Fin asked: “You wanna take a run at the good doctor on your own? Where’s she live?”

“Upper East Side” said Sonny “And no, you might as well roll with. Liv wouldn’t like it.”

“To the old money!” Fin joked, as they headed uptown.

Jokes aside, when they arrived at the brownstone, it was even more impressive than either man had imagined. They half expected “the help” to answer the door, but in fact no one answered the door at all.

Instead, a woman’s voice came from behind them. “Can I help you?”

Before they could turn to respond, Larissa got closer and her tone changed from slightly accusatory to pleasant, but cautious. “Oh, it’s you. My father called to tell me you might contact me. I wasn’t expecting a house call.” Her eyes never left Sonny’s. Fin might as well have been a fly on the wall.

“Ah, yeah, this is my sergeant, Odafin Tutuola. We’re investigating the assault of an attorney who attended last night’s event. Do you mind if we come in and ask you a few questions?” Sonny said, trying desperately to maintain professionalism. He wanted to forget all about what had happened to Nikki and learn everything there was to know about the woman in front of him.

“Sure” she said, looking down at her key ring to choose the right one, as she awkwardly slid between the two men on her front steps, grazing Sonny’s arm. “I didn’t see anyone get assaulted though.”

“We understand,” said Fin.

“Sometimes the smallest details can actually be very helpful.” Sonny added, pulling up Nikki’s photo on his cell phone as they entered the foyer. “Did you see this woman last night?”

Pulling the phone closer, she concentrated before answering. “Um, yes. I don’t know her name, but we spoke a few times last night. Once at the bar waiting for drinks, just small talk. And then,” she hesitated, not wanting to violate a fellow woman’s privacy, especially to a couple of middle aged men she barely knew. “Um, we met again in the ladies room and she asked if I had a pantiliner.” she blurted out quickly, handing the phone back to Carisi.

“Um, ok, that’s good to know, thank you. Did you see her leave with anyone, or notice anyone giving her unwanted attention?”

“No, I didn’t see her leave.” she hesitated again, wondering if a seemingly meaningless detail was worth sharing, even if it was just a bad vibe. “Um, when we left the bathroom together, there was a man with a beard right outside the door, which seemed strange to me. She knew him, said hello and gave a smile, but for some reason, she seemed relieved not to be alone. She gave me a look. I don’t know how to explain it. Just a woman’s intuition, I guess. We separated right after that.”

Sonny was taking some notes as she was speaking, which made her feel self conscious about how inarticulate she must sound. Ugh, a woman’s intuition? she thought . My guess is they don’t arrest people based on that. This woman was at home in an OR, not an interrogation.

It was actually endearing to Sonny how out of her element Larissa seemed. When they interacted at the coffee shop, she always seemed incredibly confident and sure of herself. Putting together what he was learning about her and her family, he assumed nothing like being questioned by police had happened in her life, even if it was clear she wasn’t in any trouble.

“Thanks a lot for your help. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.” said Fin. His hands remained firmly in his pockets, leaving to door open for young grasshopper Sonny to close the deal.

“Right.” said Sonny, catching the drift, as he fumbled in his jacket pocket for his card. “And if you remember anything else, you can call me. Any time.”

Larissa took the business card, looking down with a small smile as she delicately framed it in her fingers. Stop it, girl. she scolded herself. A woman has been hurt. This is not good for you.

She broke out of her inner monologue and cleared her throat. “Of course, I will.” she said hurriedly, walking the men out the front door. “Good luck cracking the case” she added as a sort of goodbye, cringing and wishing she could take back the awkward statement as soon as it left her lips, as if these guys were playing some kind of Whodunit game. She couldn’t close the door behind them fast enough.

Meanwhile, Sonny was grinning widely as they walked back to his truck. “You think she was a little nervous?” he said.

“I don’t think it was you giving her the butterflies, Romeo.” Fin laughed. “ In this neighborhood, I bet that poor girl never dealt with a cop in her life.”

Little did anyone know at the time how helpful Larissa’s details would prove to be.

Chapter 1

Spending a crisp, early autumn, Monday night in formalwear was not Larissa Vasquez‘s idea of a perfect evening, but it was what the charity circuit demanded of her tonight. Sure, it felt good to be philanthropic, and an open bar was nice, as was the distraction of the beautiful modern art displays that surrounded her and her handsome “date”, her father, Raul, who had recruited Larissa as his plus one when her mother came down with the flu a few days prior, but it wasn’t exactly cozy, was it?

It was nice to spend this time alone with her dear dad though. Her parents, siblings, niece, and nephews shared a tight knit bond, and it was always amazing how present and devoted a man Raul was to his family, but it was a rarity to spend one on one time together, just because.

“More bubbles for you?” Raul asked his daughter as he stood from the table they shared with several other Platinum-level donors, mostly his own colleagues.

Larissa shook her head “no” and remained seated, picking at her tiramisu, “I’ll float away if I have any more.” she smiled.

After a few minutes of making small talk with her table mates, Larissa also excused herself for a bit of people watching. That’s when she saw him.

Could it be? Badge # 0188? The café cop? She didn’t know his name, but for the last few months she had shared a weekly round of smiles and innocent flirtation with a cop at the gourmet coffee shop between her home and the new hospital where she worked.

Despite the fact that she knew next to nothing about him, she thought about him more than she cared to admit. And why shouldn’t she enjoy a nice fantasy now and then? She was single (AF as her teenage nephew would say) And he was tall, with gorgeous blue eyes, and a perfectly coiffed head of hair. There was something about their brief, under-caffeinated interactions that had her thinking he was unlike any man she had known. But neither of them had the courage to pursue things beyond the café. Until, tonight.

This guy was slightly more put together than she had ever seen in the coffee cop, but it was a formal event. She was certain it was him. And he would have to recognize her too. Right?

Larissa grabbed some liquid courage from a passing tray and tried, as casually as possible, to approach the detective, who was, thankfully, alone, admiring a sculpture.

“Ahem” a slightly dramatic throat clearing alerted the detective to a beautiful woman standing next to him. He secretly hoped it was his attention she was trying to get.

He took a sip from his beer bottle, flashed his best smile, and motioned to the sculpture before them.

“What do you think?”

Larissa smiled back, but didn’t turn to look back at the sculpture. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

Shit, Sonny thought. He was usually so good with faces. It was part of his job to be observant. I’m supposed to know her!?

Reading his slightly puzzled face, Larissa offered a hint. “Have any good bear claws lately?” she teased, making reference to their last interaction where she had unknowingly ordered the last one from the bakery case and he audibly groaned in line behind her.

The lightbulb went off immediately. “The Daily Grind!” Sonny exclaimed, with a wag of the finger. “I’m sorry, I guess it’s sometimes true what they say about a face out of place.”

“Not that I’m usually wearing this much face on my way to work in the morning.” she said with a laugh, motioning to her slightly more done up hair and make up appearance.

“I don’t know; you always look great to me.” Sonny stated, softly and genuinely.

She smiled and batted her lashes in appreciation of the compliment, but also took the opportunity to joke: “It's part of my plan to meet men in their most vulnerable and uncaffeinated state. Everything looks like a step up after that.”

Before Sonny could return the banter, a second man joined them. “There you are, darling. You really did float away.” said Raul to Larissa with a wink, motioning to her glass of champagne.

“Daddy, hi!” she said with a slight blush and cringe. Oh, God she thought What am I doing? I don’t even know this guy’s name to introduce him. I’m here trying to drunkenly flirt in front of my father and all his friends from work that I’ve known since childhood.

As if reading her mind, Raul suavely extended his hand and introduced himself to the detective. “Raul Vasquez” he said with a firm, but warm shake. “My daughter is not usually at such a loss for words.”

The introduction turned out not to be necessary. The famously wordy detective quickly went full fanboy. “Sonny Carisi, sir. It’s a pleasure. We’ve met before, actually. When I was a student at Fordham a couple years back, you gave a lecture to my Intellectual Property class. We spoke briefly about your firm’s pro bono work.”

Raul took a minute to size him up, trying to remember the interaction he described. “You were working in sex crimes. It was an evening class. You knew my friend, Mr. Ellis, from the Innocence Project, is that right?”

“Yes, sir. He has a great relationship with my lieutenant.”

“He is Larissa’s godfather.” he said proudly, motioning back to his daughter, the member of their little group they had briefly forgotten about while engaging in mutual admiration and shop talk.

“Larissa” Sonny repeated, as he extended his hand and looked smitten all over again by the beautiful blonde. “I’m very glad we met.”

“Carisi!” a slightly buzzed Chief Dodds interrupted from the bar a few yards away. “There’s someone you’ve got to meet.”

“Yeah, Chief, I’m coming.” he called back with a slight roll of the eye and sip of his beer, not wanting to break away from his present company. “Well, duty calls. You both get home safely.”

“Good night” Larissa returned with a slightly heartbroken smile.

After all that, they were no further along than they had been at the coffee shop! They knew each other’s names now, but there was no phone number exchange, or plan to meet. What if they never saw each other again?

Of course, she understood. He couldn’t exactly be seen flirting so shamelessly in front of her father. It was just bad timing. At least they had the promise of the café later this week. Right?

As she watched Sonny walk away, her rambling thoughts were interrupted by her father. “Shall we get our coats, darling? I think I’ve had enough philanthropy for one evening.”

“Yes” she nodded. “Let’s do it.”