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Fin stormed into Liv’s office. “A word, Liv?” he asked.
“Doesn’t seem like you’re giving me much choice,” she quipped.
“No, I’m not. It’s about this case. When we were interviewing the witness, I was trying to get answers, and you cut right in. Do you think I’m not able to interview a witness anymore, is that it? Do you think I’ve somehow forgotten how to do my job? After seventeen years on SVU, nevermind over twenty on the force? Did you forget I’ve received the same training as you? The same mentors, the same guidance? We had the same Captain, the same cases. Why is your approach always better than mine? You know perfectly well that a soft touch isn’t always what a victim, what a witness, what a suspect needs. You know they need to be pushed sometimes. Or have you forgotten that?”
Liv opened her mouth to argue the point, but Fin kept going, bowling over her.
“Any time we work together now, I get three words out before you’re there, cutting me off. I’m sick of it. I have as much experience doing this as you do. I have as many cases under my belt as you do. I’ve been lead on hundreds of cases, I’ve brought hundreds – if not thousands – of perps in over the years. I don’t like being doubted now. It’s disrespectful, and I don’t deserve it, Lieutenant. Or do you think that the years on the force have made me forget? That I’m getting old? That I’m past my prime?”
He saw Liv tensing up for a proper argument, but he cut her off. He was going to say his piece without interruptions.
“I’ve gotten results. You know I have. There aren’t any complaints in my jacket. Nothing in it. And you treat me like a goddamn rookie, out on his first case, needing his fucking hand held throughout his first real interview. It’s gotta stop. I understand that you’re the lead when we go out, ‘cause you’re the lieutenant, but I’d like to think that after seventeen years on the team, I got something to contribute besides my pretty face. Or do you need to think of all the ideas yourself these days?”
Fin took a deep breath. He was angry, but he had every right to be angry. This had been weighing on him for weeks – months – now.
“That army case we got. You didn’t even let me talk to the victim. At all. At any point. Why not? I was a Ranger, Liv, in case you’ve forgotten, which I think you have. Certainly you never mentioned it. Carisi was the first one to mention that I had been a Ranger. I know remembering tidbits about other people’s lives is Carisi’s forte, but I expected more from one of my oldest friends. At least, after Carisi’s reminder, I thought you’d let me talk to a fellow Ranger. I understood her mindset, her attitude, her training, her background. You don’t think I’ve been there? You didn’t think I wouldn’t know how to talk Army anymore? Didn’t you think that I would’ve been able to connect with her, to bring her around? Or did you need to lead that interview too? What happened to delegating?”
That had gotten to him. He had asked, too, so many times, to be allowed to talk to her, to bring her around, and had gotten the brush-off each time. His Ranger days weren’t something he looked back on fondly, but he certainly still remembered them and he could’ve been useful there.
“You didn’t even acknowledge my promotion. Oh, I know it’s not as good as Lieutenant, but I’ve finally made Sergeant. Thought you’d be proud of that, but since it’s not about you, guess not. Not even a congratulations out of you. Yeah, I didn’t want a big deal made, I told you that, but you could’ve at least said something. I’m your number two now and you don’t treat me like that at all, just like another fucking rookie.”
That hurt, too, that Liv had completely ignored him taking the exam, becoming a sergeant finally. After she had pushed so hard for it too. But once he had done it, nothing. Total silence from her on the topic.
“And it’s not just me, Liv. You’re doing it to Rollins and Carisi too. You shut down any idea Carisi has. He’s not even spouting legal bits anymore, and I know that’s not Barba’s influence, because ever since he and Barba started sleeping together, Barba’s been encouraging him to be more legal. That’s your influence. I know there are moments when his legal side would be helpful, and you shut it down. You barge in and give your interpretation, when he actually passed the Bar. Don’t you think he’d be more suited to explaining the law than a cop? An actual lawyer?”
Liv had finally stopped trying to even butt in. Fin was glad, he was sick of cutting her off each time.
“He’s not even bright and cheerful around us anymore. He sulks. Do you know how weird it is to see Carisi sulk? He’s fundamentally missuited for that task, and he’s doing it all the time. And I’ve seen him in interviews, he’s constantly glancing over his shoulder, looking at the window, looking to make sure you’re not about to barge in and take over. That’s no way to treat your detective. He used to have confidence in his own abilities. He used to be able to get through an interview. Back when you guided him, encouraged him. Now? He’s constantly worried that anything he says, you’ll be right there to contradict. He used to idolize you. Now he tolerates you.”
Fin hadn’t even realized that he had learned this much about Carisi, but apparently he had.
“And Rollins? You inspired her. She wanted to follow in your footsteps, to be a sergeant, to be a lieutenant. She saw how you were handling the job, Noah, and she was doing her best to be like you, with Jesse, with the job. Now? Now she’s worrying all the time, because you’re clearly cracking under the pressure. She’s stepping back from the job. She ain’t leaving it, but she’s not putting in as much OT, she’s making sure she’s home for Jesse, because if this is what she has to look forward to? She doesn’t want it. She doesn’t want to be a tyrant. That’s what you are Liv. A tyrant.”
And with that, he stormed back out of the office before Liv could react.
He gathered his coat and gave a shaky laugh.
Rollins and Carisi looked up at him. “What’s up?” Carisi asked.
“I’m… I’m pretty sure Liv’s about to suspend me,” Fin said. He glanced back at the office, seeing Liv standing up. “Yeah. Pretty sure.” He left before she could come out of her office. “Tell her I’m gone for the day.”
***
Fin went straight to a bar. He didn’t want to go home, didn’t want to tell John he had finally snapped, finally told Liv exactly where she could shove it, and getting plastered seemed like a good way to avoid the conversation for now. He knew John would be on his side – John had heard plenty about Tyrant Liv – but John might not be impressed by the way Fin had handled it, so Fin didn’t want to deal with that yet.
Ugh. Someone was sliding into the seat next to him. Fin turned away. Not what he wanted to deal with, company.
And worse, it was Barba.
“I heard,” Barba opened with.
“Don’t care.”
“You snapped and shouted at Liv?”
“Are you going to charge me for it, Counselor, or can I drink in peace?” Fin snapped.
Barba shrugged. “Honestly, I know she’s my friend, but she’s been driving me up the wall too. Always bringing me cases and telling me to charge them with laws that don’t actually exist. Like I’m a legislator now.”
“Then you have it easy,” Fin muttered. “You should talk to your boyfriend.”
Barba gave him a tight smile. “You don’t think I’ve tried?” he asked, in what might have been a gentle voice if it came from anyone other than Barba. “He’s… surprisingly close-mouthed about this. I know, imagine S… Carisi close-mouthed about anything.”
Fin valiantly ignored the slip-up. He had figured Barba didn’t actually call his boyfriend ‘Carisi’ all the time.
“How about you tell me what’s going on in that squadroom?” Barba asked. “I’ll listen. I’m actually worried.”
And it was tempting. Oh, it was so tempting. But they were friends, Barba and Liv, and he didn’t want to come between them.
“Don’t worry about my friendship with Liv. It’s strained enough as is, and anyway, I have a rough idea already of what’s going on.”
So he did. In detail. Going over everything. Every moment. Barba’s face got grimmer and grimmer as Fin went over her pattern of behavior lately, the way every case became about her, the way none of them were allowed to lead interviews anymore, the way she bullied them, bullied victims.
***
Liv was in her office. She figured her day would be easier today, after Fin’s outburst. He hadn’t shown up today, and she had, of course, suspended him for insubordination.
Her door slammed open. She took off her reading glasses to find Munch in front of her. “Can I help you?” she asked icily.
“You suspended my husband?” he demanded.
“Not that I need to justify my leadership to you, but yes. For insubordination,” she answered. She slipped her reading glasses back on.
“Because he told you exactly what you’ve been doing? Because he presumed that after all your years of working together, he might just be able to do that?”
“He figured wrong.”
“I guessed that. He was a lot more restrained than I could’ve been.”
“In that case, I’m glad it was your better half who spoke to me, not you.”
Munch ignored that. “I know what’s been going on around here, y’know. You hear things. It’s not like you don’t have a bunch of people working here, observing.”
“All bitter about working under a female lieutenant.”
“You don’t honestly believe that,” Munch scoffed.
“Oh please, you know the NYPD is still a good ol’ boys club.”
“Next you’ll be saying that that’s why Fin blew up at you.”
Liv didn’t respond to that.
“You need to drop the St. Olivia act. Because it’s driving everyone away from you. Including your victims.”
Munch left.
***
Not that there was peace for long in the office. Barba was by thirty minutes later, fairly incensed himself. Whereas Munch had at least held on to his temper, Barba was barely doing so.
“Are you here to tell me, too, how I’m misrunning my unit?”
Barba raised an eyebrow. “You mean I’m not the first in line? Pity.”
“You have something constructive to say, Barba, or can I get back to work?”
Barba shut the office door carefully and shut the blinds. “No, I’m going to say my piece too, Lieutenant.”
“Are you allergic to my name now? Is everyone?”
“Perhaps you’ve been pulling rank so often no one dares presume familiarity with you any longer. Even your closest friends.”
“Who’s putting you up to this?”
Barba gave a humorless smile. “Do you think anyone puts me up to anything, Lieutenant? Because I would have thought you know me better than that. You know, I’ve held my tongue for a long time. A lot longer than I should have or would have with anyone else. We won’t get into why. I’m sure you can guess. At least, the Liv I used to know would have been able to guess why I’ve held my peace for so long.”
Liv raised an eyebrow. “Are you…”
“No, don’t bother. But I’ve reached my breaking point, too. First of all, you’re undermining me professionally and ethically. I cannot charge suspects with crimes that do not exist under New York law, and I’ll thank you to stop asking. My job – your job – is to uphold the laws that currently exist, not the laws that we wish existed. To do anything else but to protect the laws as they stand is folly. I cannot go after perpetrators for things you wish were crimes. It will ruin my career and yours, and while I am starting not to care about your career, I certainly still have a vested interest in my own. Do you understand, or do you need a refresher on what is currently the law in the state? If so, I can make sure Carisi gives you one.”
Liv scowled deeply at that.
“Ethically, you’re undermining me. You’ve been using increasingly underhanded techniques to get the outcomes you want, and it is hard to stand up in court and argue for anything when I have to defend your tactics. From now on, you are to stay within the bounds of the law. I should not have to say this. I don’t know why this is a conversation I have to have with a Lieutenant of the NYPD, but there it is. The next time you bring me illegally obtained evidence, I will report you. I don’t think Chief Dodds has forgiven you yet, and I will gladly bring it to his attention that you are not operating within the law. Do I make myself clear?”
The nod she gave was unwilling and jerky.
“I know that not all of your previous ADAs were ethical, but I would have thought by now you knew my stance on this. You don’t go rogue. You don’t make up charges. And everything you gather you do so legally. I’m not one to compromise professional ethics for an easy win. You know that about me. Do your job, Lieutenant, and do it correctly.”
“Is that all you wanted to say, Barba?” she ground out. “Because I think I’ve had enough flagellation for one day.”
“Oh, I’m just getting started. While you do your job, I will do mine. And just as I do not tell you exactly how to do it most days, beyond telling you to remain within the law, I will thank you to stay out of the intricacies of mine. You do not know the case law. You do not know precedent. You certainly do not have my knowledge. I will focus on motion hearings and trials and you focus on getting me the evidence to get through those. I do not need to hear your opinion on the voir dire or the motion hearing or my cross-examination of a witness. I barely care about Carisi’s and he’s actually a lawyer, unlike you. When I do not do well in court, the last thing I need is you telling me what I did wrong, not that you know, since you do not have any legal training, any law school, any experience as a lawyer. All you have are your cop instincts. Leave the legal aspects to us lawyers and do your job, Lieutenant. Not mine.”
“Great, well, that was a wonderful talk, I’m sure you’re busy, I know I am.”
“You just wish I were done.”
“How well you know me.”
“By the way, while I do need witnesses to testify, we do not bully witnesses. It looks bad. It’s something defense attorneys can dredge up at any time. And the choice of pressing charges against a rapist is something that is, at all times, a victim’s choice, not yours, Lieutenant. I understand that getting justice is our jobs, but you do not get to decide for them what is right. You do not get to pressure them into making that choice. You do not get to tell them it will bring them ‘closure’ when you and I both know, perfectly well, that ‘closure’ is a goddamn myth. You’ve read the same psychological studies I have about closure. Do not lie to my witnesses about what testifying will do for them. Because inevitably, I will have to pick up those pieces, you understand? I will have to deal with those angry victims and angry family members when I still can’t make the case.”
Barba took a deep breath to keep going. “Furthermore, going back to my ‘ethics’ point. I know perfectly well that the Supreme Court has ruled that police are allowed to lie to suspects and witnesses. However, when you are doing so in my presence, as if that statement is coming from me, with my backing – that is no longer acceptable. I am not allowed to lie to witnesses about charges I will be bringing or not bringing against them. You may lie to them all you wish about evidence you may or may not have, but it cannot be seen as coming from my office with my permission, and not in my presence. You put me in a no-win situation. If I don’t refute it, I condone it and commit a breach of professional ethics and break the law. If I refute it, I lose the witness and tank the case. Do you understand the situation you put me in? At all?”
“I’ve had quite enough of this, Barba.”
“I’m still not finished, and you will do me the courtesy of hearing me out.”
“You have covered every aspect of our working relationship at this point, what is left?”
“The way you treat my boyfriend.”
“Of course he came crying to you.”
Barba’s eyes flashed angrily, and Liv took a step back.
“He did nothing of the sort. He’s been quiet about it all. But I don’t need him to tell me about it to know what’s been going on. You think I don’t notice the change in him? You think I haven’t noticed how he no longer jumps out of bed to go to work, but that he drags his feet? Or do you think I don’t hear the way you talk to him when I’m here? I hear the way you address him, I hear the way you bully him. I hear how he doesn’t make a legal argument to you anymore. I know how timid his knock is now on the door. I see the way he sulks when he’s in here. And I know he’s not alone. I know you’re doing the same to Rollins and Fin. I know Sonny isn’t the only one receiving the sharp edge of your tongue lately; I know Rollins and Fin are getting it too. Constantly. For months.”
“So you are telling me how to run my team.”
“I’m telling you I know a lot of lawyers.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Workplace harassment suit. This is clearly a hostile working environment, and I’m pretty sure I can convince at least two out of your three detectives to testify about that. By the time I’m done? Three out of three. Don’t try me.”
“You don’t leave me office now, I will call someone to remove you.”
“I’ve said all I wanted to say. But remember. There aren’t many lawyers who wouldn’t take a case ADA Barba asked them to take.”
Barba strode out confidently.
***
There was work to do, though, so she called Zoe, their latest victim, in. Zoe had decided not to testify against billionaire Eli Colton, and Liv was determined to talk Zoe out of it.
It was hard going, but Liv was confident that she was doing the right thing. Munch’s ‘St Olivia’ rattled in her brain for a moment, but she ignored it.
Zoe cleared her throat, and Liv listened.
“I wanna say something, Lieutenant.”
“Go ahead, Zoe,” Liv said warmly.
“That rape was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I had no control over it.”
“I know. That’s why it’s so important that you testify about it.”
“No, I’m not done. I said no. I said no, and it didn’t matter. He didn’t care. I kept saying no, and he didn’t care, and he did it anyway. It didn’t matter to him that I said no. And right now, I’m saying no to you. I’m saying no to you too. This matters to me. I’m saying ‘no’, I’m not doing this. And you don’t care that I’m saying no. If there’s anything I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that consent matters. That what I say matters. Well, you need my consent, and I’m not giving it. And if you don’t accept that, you’re no better than he is. You’re harassing me, just like he did. Lieutenant, my answer is no, and I would thank you to accept that. Unlike him.”
She stood up. “Are we done here?”
Liv stood as well. “Uh. Yes, Zoe, we’re done.”
The speech had shocked her. Liv didn’t think of herself as an attacker. She wanted justice. That’s all.
But clearly that’s not what the victim cared about, and the victim had said ‘no’.
Liv stared out the door. Who else was gonna yell at her today?
***
Several days later:
Chief Dodds hadn’t been back in the office since the terrorist case. They knew he couldn’t stand the SVU squadroom now, not when it held so many memories of his son.
So to see him now was a shock.
He stopped at his son’s picture for a moment, resting his hand against it, a silent entreaty, and they let him have his moment.
Then he was all business again.
“Lieutenant, your office, now.”
Fin, Rollins, and Carisi looked on in interest. What… what had happened that brought Chief Dodds back?
“Yes, Chief.”
Their case hadn’t drawn the attention of the brass any more than usual, they had handled billionaires and Wall Street quite well, and 1PP had been surprisingly hands-off despite all the money and power and prestige involved.
“How can I help you, Chief?” Liv asked after she shut the office door.
“I think I’ve been too hands-off with this unit since… anyway.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Chief.”
“I would. A lot has come to my attention.”
“Has it?”
“A lot. For example, I have always appreciated your hands-on attitude, your willingness to go out in the field with your detectives, but I’m hearing your detectives aren’t actually doing anything anymore. Have you forgotten how to delegate, Lieutenant?”
“Chief, it’s not like that.”
“Or can you only delegate when my son is – was – at risk?”
“You know – ”
“I don’t know anything, Lieutenant, that’s my problem. I have news of a workplace harassment suit coming to me. I have reliable evidence coming to me. I have witnesses telling me you have been bullying them. You suspended Sergeant Tutuola over insubordination when you are criminally short-staffed, and you are doing nothing to remedy said staffing issue. You have gotten in a fight with the ADA assigned to your unit. The DA’s office has evidence of you operating outside the bounds of the law! Your squad is a mess!”
“Yes, Chief, I will –”
“You will do nothing. You are out, Lieutenant, effective immediately.”
“This is retaliation for your son, Chief.”
Dodds laughed mirthlessly. “Is it? Would you like to see the file Public Integrity and IAB have collected on you? You’ve gone crazy. Pack up, Lieutenant. I want you out of this office by the end of business today. Sergeant Tutuola can run this unit until we find another Lieutenant.”
“I’m out?”
“And I don’t want to hear another word about it.” He left before Liv could respond.
Faced with the squad room, Dodds squared his shoulders and addressed them. “As I’m sure you’re aware, there are issues with your current Lieutenant. Issues we will not delve into now. As of now, she is no longer your Commanding Officer. For now, you will report to Sergeant Tutuola. And we will do our best to round this team out a bit more, as I understand you are even further shorter staffed now. Team.”
What else was there to say? For anyone?
At least SVU had a new start now.