Chapter Text
It had been a slow morning at SVU, although Kat had learned not say that out loud. She was trawling through social media, making sure that there weren’t going to be any nasty surprises coming Carisi’s way when this particular case went to trial next week. It wasn’t the most thrilling of detective work, and Kat wasn’t disappointed when she was interrupted by a woman entering the squad room. “Excuse me? This is Special Victims, right?”
Kat looked up; the woman was wearing dark sunglasses despite being indoors, and Kat knew that was never a good sign. “Yeah, can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Detective Rollins or Captain Benson?”
It wasn’t unheard of for victims or witnesses to come in looking for specific detectives, and Kat stood from her desk, ready to go and get them, “Oh, sure - I’ll see if they’re available. What was your name?”
“Gina. Gina Carisi.”
Kat hesitated. “Carisi?”
“He’s my brother.”
Amanda and Liv were talking through the upcoming case when Kat knocked on the door, ducking her head in. “Uh, sorry to interrupt - Captain, Rollins. I’ve got… Carisi’s sister is out there asking for you.”
“Carisi’s sister?” Amanda stood up, turning to Kat - surprised, and a little concerned - Sonny's family didn't tend to show up unannounced at the precinct, “Is he okay?”
Kat shrugged. “She didn’t say what it was about. I don’t think it’s about him.”
“Which sister is it?”
“Gina?”
Amanda followed Kat back out of the office - Gina was the only one of Sonny’s sisters they hadn’t met; she’d heard plenty about her, though - she knew that of all the Carisi siblings she was the one Sonny worried about most - she’d heard him on the phone with her, checking in, heard stories about the kinds of trouble she got herself into, the men she’d dated.
“Gina, hi,” she said, holding a hand out to shake Gina’s, her gaze going to the sunglasses she was wearing, knowing they probably weren’t for fashion. Her concern deepened. “I’m Amanda Rollins. Kat said you asked for me?”
“Yeah, thank you - I - Sonny talks about you,” Gina offered up a small smile, “He says you’re a great detective.”
Amanda smiled, “We’ve heard a lot about you too,” she said, she nodded her head back in the direction she’d just come. “We can talk in the captain’s office.”
Gina glanced about the room, “Sonny’s not here, is he?”
“No,” Amanda said reassuringly; he had multiple arraignments this morning, and she wasn’t expecting to see him until their tentatively scheduled lunch date this afternoon. “He’s in court. Is everything okay?”
Gina nodded. “Good - that’s good. I don’t,” she bit her lip, lowering her voice, “I don’t know if this anything, and I don’t want him to know I’m here unless… he needs to.”
Amanda’s curiosity was piqued - this definitely wasn’t a social call, and whatever it was, it was serious enough that Gina would show up here, knowing full well that her brother would likely find out what was going on one way or another. She led Gina into Liv’s office, gesturing to the couch. One Gina had sat down, Amanda joined her and gestured towards Liv. “This is Captain Benson, Gina.”
“Hi - Sonny’s told me so much about you,” Gina turned from Liv back to Amanda. “About both of you.”
“You too,” Liv said, leaning forward on her desk, “Is there something we can help you with?”
Gina nodded and removed her sunglasses, revealing an angry purple bruise around her right eye; Amanda’s mouth dropped open, a sense of protectiveness came over her - concern for this woman she didn’t know, but who was a big part of Sonny’s life - who mattered to her because she mattered to him.
“How did you get that?” she asked, her mind already whirring, knowing exactly how Sonny would react.
Gina’s eyes travelled from Amanda to Liv and back again, “Please don’t tell Sonny; he’s going to freak out.”
“Who gave you the black eye, Gina?” Amanda asked gently, “If it was your boyfriend-”
“What?” Gina shook her head fervently, “No, Leo wouldn’t,” she sighed, “I know Sonny doesn’t like him, but he’s a good guy.”
Amanda hadn’t heard much about Gina’s boyfriend, but what she had heard hadn’t been great. Sonny wasn’t a fan, and neither was his father. He had a reputation for being less than reliable, and a tendency towards making poor decisions while drunk.
“Okay,” Liv said, before Amanda could push the matter further, “So why don’t you tell us what did happen?”
“I’m here about a friend, not me,” Gina insisted, “I just got this because I tried to get involved.”
“With what?” Amanda asked.
“My friend Ruby - her ex just got out of prison a couple of weeks back; he’s a real violent guy,” Gina explained, “He showed up at her place, wantin’ to pick up where they left off - he’s been gone ten years. But they got kids, so she let him stay and he - he beat her, he raped her. She, uh, she doesn’t think there’s anythin’ the cops can do, because they’re technically still married - but it’s still rape if she didn’t want it, right? It doesn’t matter if they’re married.”
“It’s still rape.”
Gina nodded, “I tried to tell her that - told her Sonny’s had cases like this before, but she just wouldn’t believe me. Anyway, after a few days she dropped off the radar, wasn’t answerin’ messages or anything - so I went over there. I know I shoulda called Sonny, or at least taken Leo with me, but I was worried and I thought it might be easier if it was just me - I was tryin’ to get her to leave him, said she and the kids could stay at my place until it was sorted. I mean, he’s on parole, he can’t just- but then he got back and,” she gestured to her eye. “That was last night, now today she’s not answerin’ my calls again and I’m worried he’s done somethin’ to her.”
Amanda and Liv exchanged glances; nothing about this sounded good. “Okay,” Liv said, “Well we can send an officer around there, do a welfare check, but if this happened in Staten Island we don’t actually have jurisdiction. I can put in a call to the local precinct-”
“No, no, it happened here - in Manhattan. She - Ruby - she’s got this fancy ass apartment. While he was inside she was seein’ this other guy, a real asshole - she’s always gone for the bad boy type, even when we were kids; and now she thinks she’s damaged so she doesn’t go for anyone worth it.”
Amanda nodded. “Right, so this other guy she’s been seeing?”
“He’s got a wife - kids, the whole shebang. They split maybe three years back? But he’s still payin’ for that apartment because he doesn’t want his family to find out about the affair - Ruby, she has a kid by him. Little girl; she’s only six years old. Guess he’s afraid if he stops payin’ she’ll file for child support.”
“And does her husband know this?” Liv asked.
“He knows Emily’s not his, obviously - he told Ruby he forgives her, like he wasn’t the one who stabbed somebody.”
“So, your friend, she’s living in Manhattan? I can have a patrol unit sent over now-”
“No - you can’t do that! If he sees them he’ll know I’ve gone to the cops, he’ll take it out on her,” Gina said, “Can’t you - couldn’t someone check in without sayin’ they’re police?”
“You said she has kids,” Liv said, “There’s an easier way, we can start by checking if they’re in school today. Do you know where they go?”
Amanda and Liv got as much information from Gina as they could, ready to set the wheels in motion - they’d do whatever they could to help. While Liv continued to ask questions, Amanda pulled her phone out of her pocket to text the school details to Kat, and found three unread messages from Sonny - he was out of arraignment court and offering to pick up coffee on his way over to the precinct.
“Carisi’s on his way over here,” she told Liv.
“He just text you?”
“About ten minutes ago,” Amanda replied, just as she heard Sonny’s voice out in the squad room.
Gina’s eyes went wide with worry, and she returned the sunglasses to her face. “Please don’t let him know I’m here - he’s gonna hit the roof when he sees my face. He’ll go after Bobby himself.”
Amanda stood up, making her way towards the door, “I won’t let him do anything stupid.”
“You clearly don’t know my brother.”
“Actually,” Amanda heard Liv say as she walked out of the office, “Detective Rollins knows him pretty well. He’ll listen to her.”
Sonny was hovering by her desk, a takeout coffee in each hand, and Amanda didn’t miss the way his eyes lit up when he saw her - it gave her a small thrill, that even after knowing each other as long as they had, he could still be excited to see her; that whatever this thing between them was, this new relationship they had yet to define, it still sparked with the joy of something new and half-secret despite the years it had taken them to get here. “Hey Rollins,” he said, holding out a coffee for her to take - she hadn’t even had time to respond to his message but he’d picked her up one anyway.
She walked over to him and accepted the cup as Sonny nodded towards Liv’s office. “Everythin’ okay? Somethin’ I need to know about?”
Amanda hesitated, reluctant to tank his good mood, but knowing it was inevitable. “No. Well, actually, yeah, but not- not here.”
He gave her a puzzled look, his eyes darting to Kat and Fin, both sat behind their computers pretending they weren't watching them, “What’s goin’ on?”
Amanda nodded towards the break room and he followed her there without question. “Could be more subtle, Amanda,” he said, grinning at her over his coffee cup and taking a step towards her.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to get you alone,” she sighed, “You should sit down.”
The smile dropped from his face, replaced quickly with worry, and he took the nearest chair. “Is something wrong? Have I-”
Amanda sat opposite him, “No, it’s not this,” she gestured between them. “It’s your sister.”
“My sister-?” His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Gina - she came here to speak to me and Liv.”
The worried expression on his face only deepened, the concern obvious in his voice as he spoke, “What? Is she okay? Did that-”
Amanda held up a hand, cutting off his train of thought. “She swears Leo’s not involved. Listen,” she said, “You need to keep your cool.”
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Promise me you’ll stay calm,” Amanda said, meeting his eye.
“I- what’s happened to Gina, Amanda?” His voice cracked - worry winning out over any simmering anger, and Amanda took his hand in hers.
“She’s here because she wanted to report an assault - a friend of hers, her ex-husband’s been knocking her about. She just wanted some advice, some help,” Amanda said, hoping to reassure him.
“Why didn’t she come to me?” The concern on his face deepened, inlaid with no small amount of hurt that his sister hadn't come to him first.
“She’s, uh, she’s worried you’re gonna freak out,” Amanda told him.
He lifted his free hand, gesturing with it before resting his fingertips on his temple, “Why would I do that?”
Amanda gave him a long look, one she hoped conveyed clearly because you’re halfway there already. “Because you get overprotective when it comes to your family.”
“Did someone do somethin’ to Gina?” The edge was back in his voice now; protectiveness and worry lining his face.
“She might have… tried to intervene herself.”
“She did what?”
Amanda was quick to respond, to cut him off before he wound himself up even further. “She’s okay, a bit shaken up maybe. She’s- she’s got a black eye,” she held up a hand as he rose from his chair, anger radiating off of him now, “Carisi.”
He stopped, watching her carefully, but he didn’t move to sit back down. “Rollins,” he paced the small distance between the table and the vending machines, one hand going to his hair as he moved, his anger bubbling wildly now, “This guy took a hand to my sister-”
“Sonny,” Amanda said, gesturing for him to come back to the table. “Sonny, she’s okay. And the last thing she or her friend need is you going after this guy yourself.”
“Okay,” he sat back down, but his posture remained stiff and he looked out towards the squad room as though expecting to see Gina there. Amanda placed a hand on top of his, and he turned back to look at her. He brought his free hand up to his face, pressing his fist to his mouth.
They sat in silence for a moment, Amanda keeping her fingers wrapped around his, hoping to ground him. She had seen him angry over his family before - seen this protective side of him with Bella, way back when she still barely knew him, and again, more recently, with Mia - on that occasion he had been wracked with guilt over not being able to protect his niece, and she could see the same distress in him now - the battle between wanting revenge and wanting justice that was flickering in his eyes. She let him sit with it, her thumb running across his knuckles, and she watched him mentally talk himself down before he looked up at her again.
“So who is this friend? Someone I know?”
“Gina says you do - Ruby Bianchi?”