Chapter Text
“Rafa, what are you doing here? I thought you’d...take a few days.” Liv said, pulling her attention from whatever Fin had scrawled on the whiteboard. It was late in the day. He was on his way out. It seemed strange for him to stand there, in the less-crowded bullpen as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just been acquitted of murder. He ignored the stares that followed him. They were like rain clouds on an average day—normal, it was going to happen.
“I wanted to come over here and tell you in person.” Barba started, “I-”
“Come on, let's go into my office.” Benson said, stopping him, feeling the heat of prying eyes.
“Bring everyone.”
-
“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Benson gazed, “Rafael, you were acquitted-”
“I know, Liv, I know. It’s just...it's time for me? Bunch of years in Brooklyn, bunch of years here, I think it's time for something new.” Barba explained, glancing around the room at the detectives he’d come to think of as family in the half-decade he’d been with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit.
“What are you gonna do now?” Fin crossed arms and leaned on the desk.
Barba choked a laugh and turned to him. “Would it be wrong for me to say I’ll do what I must?”
“Well, that’s poetic,” Benson said, frowning.
“But Liv, don’t worry, there's someone I want you to meet. Someone who I think could do great work around here. Someone who-”
“A replacement already? Just how soon are you packing your bags?”
Rafael shrugged, mind wandering back to the boxes littering his office.
“Who is it?”
“Dominick Carisi, a DA out of Brooklyn. He’s fresh...only been in the prosecutor seat for a few years but he’s got the background, got the skill.”
“You’re leaving and you wanna stick us with some...green DA? We’re already short-and now we gotta show some white collar rookie the ropes of sex crimes?”
“White collar rookie? You seriously think I’d step down and leave you with some Guliani wannabe?”
“Before he was a-” Rafael stopped himself, knowing how private Sonny was about his life before he was a DA, “No, he’s Brooklyn Sex Crimes’ top cheese getter. Guy was the riding ADA on the Sir Toby Moore case. That was the first case he caught as an ADA. They don’t...come like that too often. I know him, personally. He’s a good guy. Just come with me to meet him tomorrow. He’s already agreed to that.”
“So another pompous know-it-all?” Rollins asked.
“A know-it-all who gets things done.” Barba compromised.
“You’re so lucky I moved to this side of the bridge.” Sonny started as he moved toward the chair on the opposite side of his close friend and colleague. He’d made the stop in downtown Manhattan on his way home from work only because Barba had been frustratingly cryptic on the phone and if there was one thing the Brooklyn ADA hated, it was not having all the answers.
He didn’t bother with a greeting as he sat. “Why’d you drag me all the way out here, Rafael?” He asked, “I got things to do.”
“No hello? How are you?”
“It’s been a long day and I’ve gotta let my sitter go by eight. Mick’s first day of school is tomorrow and he’s been carryin’ on that I’m not there,” Sonny said, “But sure, how are ya, Rafael?”
“New school, new home. It’s all very...draining, I’m sure….which is why I have a proposition for you,” Barba said, sliding a drink over to him and ignoring the amended greeting.
Sonny curled his hand around the glass but didn’t lift it. “Why do I feel like I’m gonna regret this?”
“Manhattan SVU.” Barba said, pausing to take a sip from his own glass. “They’re going to need a new ADA.”
“What? You were acquitted!” Sonny protested, seething with indignation on behalf of his old friend, “They can’t force you out.”
“They’re not,” Barba shook his head, quelling Sonny’s protests, “It’s my call.”
Sonny leaned back in his chair for a moment, taking in Barba’s words, their meaning, “And you’re asking me to-”
“They’re good people. I want to leave them in safe hands.”
He believed that. Barba had been with the Manhattan Sex Crimes Bureau for over five years now; he’d grown close to the people he worked with there, names Sonny grew used to hearing over drinks and the occasional dinner out when they both had the chance. Barba no doubt felt a sense of loyalty, of responsibility to make sure they had the best possible replacement for him.
“Why me?"
“Who better?” Barba said, lifting his glass as if toasting him, “You know the job. You’re good at it. You were a cop for Christ’s sake-”
“I’m good at it in Brooklyn,” he countered. The King’s County DA’s office kept him busy, and he was making a name for himself there. Following in Barba’s own footsteps, leaving his NYPD days behind.
“Could be better in Manhattan.”
“I’m not sure-” Sonny started, a dozen objects ready on his tongue - it wasn’t the right time, the right move. He wasn’t the right choice. It was draining, doing things by himself. New apartment, new school for Mickey, he wasn’t sure he could mentally handle adding a new job into the mix, getting to know a new unit of detectives, let alone trying to fill the gargantuan shoes of Rafael Barba.
Barba smiled, shaking his head. “Closer to home. Closer to Mickey’s school. It’d be less than a ten minute drive to his school with minimal traffic.” He added with a smile on his face.
“Don’t play that card,” Sonny said. Barba knew exactly what moves to make.
“Let me introduce you.”
“I’ve met Jack McCoy before.”
“To SVU,” Barba corrected, “Lieutenant Benson is-”
“An introduction,” Sonny cut him off. “And then what?”
“See what you think. I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think it could be good for you - and for them.”
“Holmes will never let me hear the end of it,”
“I think Isaiah might be more open to the idea than you think.”
“Oh, it's Isaiah now?” Carisi quipped, latching onto whatever he could to get out of this conversation.
“Don’t try to turn this on me, Sonny. He’s on board. I’m stepping down from my position over there and there’s nobody better to fill it than you. I told Jack McCoy about the possibility of you coming over there, and he was salivating. He was eager to have a hot shot under his roof. Stone’s set on going back to Chicago. But, as your mentor and your guide, I think your career will be a little smoother over there. Sex Crimes has a big name in Manhattan if you care about-”
“Come on, you know I don’t care about names. I just got lucky that my first few cases happened to be horny big names that didn’t know when to-”
“Carisi, what do I have to do to get you over there? Bigger office? Assistant? Name on the door?”
“Jesus, Barba. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. I need to figure out what to do with-”
“Look, Sonny, just think about it, okay?” Barba said, pulling a money clip from his pocket and tossing a few bills on the counter, “Go relieve your sitter and hang out with Mickey. He’s got a big day tomorrow. Give him a hug from his god-father. But don’t think we’re done with this.”
“Save it for trial, Mr. Briggs.” The judge said, dismissing the eager public defender, “Mr. Carisi, I’m granting the people’s request for remand.”
One stroke of the gavel later, Sonny spotted Barba at the back of the courtroom. He spotted the two women with him, too. He sighed internally as he packed up his papers. Trust Barba to spring the introduction on him-he was still weighing the decision on whether or not to make the jump to Manhattan. He didn’t outright agree to meet with the Lieutenant yet, or the beautiful detective that trailed behind her.
Barba had never really been known for his patience though - or for taking no for an answer when it came to things like this.
Sonny made a show of putting the rest of his papers back into his leather briefcase and took his time striding to the back of his courtroom. His glare was icy and footsteps were palpating across the wooden floor, making sure Barba could read his thoughts loud and clear.
“Rafael,” he said, stopping in front of him. “You coulda called, y’know?”
“I’m not sure you’d have taken my call,” Barba quipped - though he knew it wasn’t true.
Sonny let his gaze move from Barba to the women with him as Barba gestured in introduction. “Dominick Carisi, this is Lieutenant Olivia Benson-” Sonny recognized Benson instantly. She was a well-known face in the world of Special Victims, and he’d seen her in a couple of press conferences, especially during his time as a Brooklyn SVU Detective.
He held out his hand for her to shake before turning to look at the second woman. He’d seen her from the front of the room, it’d been difficult to pull his eyes away the first time. It wasn’t her beauty, though she was with classic blonde hair tied back and creamy skin that contrasted softly against the purple-gray coat that fell over her delicate shoulders. It was the way she carried herself, tall and never faltering.
“And Detective Rollins,” Barba added, gesturing to the woman at Benson’s side.
“Pleased to meet you,” Sonny said as Rollins shook his hand.
She didn’t look impressed, her blue eyes hard, - nor did Benson - and she didn’t return his sentiment, “So you’re a hot-shot in Brooklyn,” she said, pulling her hand back.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“I would,” Barba interjected, “Carisi’s a quick study. And he’s handled some pretty heavy hitters. Markeevius Ryan. Tobias Moore.”
“Barba thinks you can fill his shoes,” Benson said, sizing him up, “If it was up to me they wouldn’t need filling.”
There it was.
They'd already painted him as the enemy; a potential replacement for their beloved DA. There were a million things waiting on the tip of his tongue, but he took their geography into account and decided it would be best not to get into the details.
“I’m not pushing him out,” Sonny countered, “I haven’t even decided if I want to make the move.”
“You too good for us?” Rollins asks, an amused smile on her face. “Too used to being a big fish in a small pond, huh?”
“I didn’t say that. There’s a lot of movin’ parts to consider.”
“Let’s take this somewhere else,” Barba suggests seeing the judge coming back to the bench after the short recess. “Carisi, you got time for a coffee? I’m buying.”
Sonny glanced down at his watch. It was Mickey’s first day at his new school and he wanted to be out of here in time to pick him up like he promised. No babysitter today, just the two of them. He mentally balked as the commute into Manhattan mapped itself in his head, “I got thirty minutes.”
Detective Rollins scoffed at that, and he frowned. They were the ones showing up unannounced, but somehow he was the one being made to feel like he wasn’t measuring up.
Barba gestured for the two women to walk out ahead of him, his voice low as he leaned in towards Sonny, “They might take some time to warm up to you.”
“That so?” Sonny answered, nodding at the back of Detective Rollins’ head, “Hadn’t noticed the hostility.”
Over coffee, sat beside Barba and opposite Benson and Rollins, Sonny let Barba talk him up, and listened as he talked about Manhattan SVU, the excellent work they were doing there. Trying to endear each side to the other, “I think it’s the smartest move for everyone,” he concluded.
“The smartest move would be you staying,” Rollins said, and Benson nodded alongside her. He got the feeling she would respect Barba’s choice even though she clearly didn’t like it - but it was clear whoever replaced him, whether it was Sonny or somebody else, was going to have a hard time winning this particular squad over.
“Carisi knows sex crimes - we get another ADA in, a transfer from another bureau, you’re going to have to teach them the same way you had to with me. Carisi already has the background, and the track record.”
Sonny caught himself before furrowing his brows. Barba hadn’t mentioned the one thing that would be a selling point. Before he was a counsellor, Carisi used to be one of them; a brother officer in the NYPD.
He supposed he was thankful, since that part of his life was over and he had no interest in looking back.
“I don’t know why you’re trying so hard Barba, it’s not like we get a say.”
“He does,” Barba gestured to Sonny, “And McCoy’s looking at other options - there are people on that list you’d like a lot less.”
‘Like who?” Benson asked.
“Peter Stone for one.” Barba mused.
“You’re kidding me.” Benson said flatly, side-eying Carisi, considering him.
“Being the son of someone like Ben Stone has pull.” Sonny added, sipping his coffee. He was glad not to be the subject of the conversation for the moment.
“So we get our pick between two know-it-alls who can stomp into our precinct and tell us what to do with our investigation?”
“Rollins,” Benson forewarned, “How do you have so much influence over this, Rafa? If McCoy brought Peter Stone in personally…”
“One negotiation of my resignation. I want your squad taken care of, Liv, and there's nobody else I trust to do it.”
“We’re really agreeing to this?” Rollins asked as she walked alongside her boss; they’d said goodbye to Barba only a few minutes after Counsellor Carisi had departed the little Brooklyn coffee shop they’d been sitting in.
“It's not like we’ve got much of a choice. It's either Carisi, Stone, or a complete unknown. I don’t like Stone.” Benson shrugged.
“And I don’t like Carisi.”
Liv shot Amanda a look, “You don’t know Carisi.”
“I know that, Liv. It just feels...wrong.”
Amanda was almost as unhappy as Benson was about Barba’s decision to leave; the whole situation seemed so unfair. Besides, she didn’t want to get to know a new ADA, to have a fresh round of arguments about the way SVU did their jobs - to have a prosecutor who’d dismiss cases as lacking evidence without trusting in the gut feelings of the detectives investigating. She didn’t want anyone new - she didn’t want Stone , who’d been the one prosecuting Barba for murder - and she didn’t want some hotshot like Carisi coming in - someone who’d worry more about his conviction rate than the victims.
“He’s got the background and the rap sheet to follow. I don’t like this anymore than you do, but it's what Barba wants and I’m going to respect his wishes. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“My mom used to tell me that whenever she wanted me to mop the floor growing up. Turns out it was only whenever she didn’t wanna do it and stuck me with it. It won’t be so bad.” Rollins rolled her eyes and checked her phone, finding a message from her new nanny.
“Oh great, Jesse’s in hysterics because she made a new friend today, and she wasn’t happy when he had to go home.” Amanda sighed.
“If only life could be so simple.” Liv laughed.
Even with Manhattan traffic, Sonny made it to Mickey’s school only a couple of minutes later than planned. Mickey was standing near the doorway, eagerly looking out for him - his backpack almost as big as he was, his little hands curled anxiously around the straps. Sonny knew the second he’d spotted him - he turned his head towards his teacher, his voice carrying across the playground, “That’s my Daddy!”
His teacher nodded, a gentle hand on Mickey’s shoulder keeping him from bolting towards his father - Sonny crossed the distance in a few short strides, sweeping Mickey up into his arms as soon as he could reach him.
“Dominick’s had a great first day,” his teacher said. “He’s been a superstar, settled in really quickly,” she assured Sonny as Mickey wriggled in his arms, calling goodbye to someone across the playground. Sonny turned his head to see a small girl waving back at him. Sonny said his thank-yous, instructing Mickey to do the same, before depositing him back on the ground so they could walk back to the car hand in hand.
Mickey was buzzing with excitement - Sonny had been more anxious than he was at drop off this morning, and he was swinging off his father’s arm as they approached the car, “I made a friend, Daddy!” he said, grinning up at him.
“That’s great,” Sonny said. “Did you guys play together?”
“Yeah,” as Sonny opened the back door, Mickey scrambled up, climbing into his car seat, still talking as Sonny strapped him in, “We were on the jungle gym - my new school has a really big jungle gym, bigger than my other school.”
The drive to their new apartment was short; the school only a few blocks away, but by the time Sonny pulled into the parking garage, Mickey’s eyes were beginning to droop as he fought a yawn - worn out by his exciting day. Sonny laughed to himself - knowing how much of a sucker he was as he carried Mickey, Mickey’s backpack, and his own briefcase into the apartment building, setting him down only when they got into the elevator, Mickey dropping back against the wall tiredly, “You too tired for pizza, Mick?”
“Never, Daddy.”
Once he had some pizza inside of him, a second wind came over Mickey, and he started to give Sonny a play-by-play of his day - Sonny took in every word, listening indulgently and reacting in all the right places. Mickey was chewing absentmindedly on his last pizza crust as he talked about his new best friend, “She’s really funny and knows a billion jokes.”
“Did you tell her one of yours?”
“Yeah!” Mickey pushed himself up onto his knees excitedly, leaning across the table, “I told her the one Uncle Rafa taught me about the monkey-”
“Did she laugh?”
“So hard!” Mickey said, bursting into giggles himself despite not having finished the joke.
“Hey, you know,” Sonny said, taking the opportunity, “I saw Uncle Rafa today.”
Mickey’s eyes went wide as he sunk back into his chair, an almost jealous frown on his face, “I miss Uncle Rafa,” he said, propping his head up on one hand, elbow resting on the table edge.
Barba’s recent trial had taken up much of his time and left him understandably distracted, and between the move and getting Mickey set up with his new school, Sonny had barely had time to catch up with his old friend himself, never mind set up a playdate for Mickey and his godfather.
“I know you do,” Sonny said, “But maybe he’ll come hang out soon. He’s gonna get a new job.”
“What new job?”
“I don’t know yet, somethin’ fun maybe.”
“Maybe he could walk dogs like Aunt Gina,” Mickey suggested.
“Maybe.” Sonny snorted, imagining his friend being dragged down the street by the fluffy dogs of downtown Manhattan.
“Uncle Rafa works too much,” Mickey frowned and put down the remainder of his pizza crust, “So do you.”
Sonny couldn’t help the creep of guilt he felt at that - his work was important to him, but it sometimes meant early starts and late nights, babysitters collecting Mickey from school, weekends on Staten Island with his grandparents when Daddy was too wrapped up in a case. Moving to the Manhattan DA’s office wouldn’t lighten his work load, but cutting his commute to and from work down would give him more time with Mickey - more time to be there for drop off and pick up, to do the little things he worried about Mickey missing out on.
“Well, what if I told you that I might be getting a new job?”
“Something fun? Like Uncle Rafa?”
“Not quite, buddy.”
“If you get a new job can you play with me more?”
“Kind of; I might be going to take Uncle Rafa’s old job,” at Mickey’s frown, he continued, “And then I’ll be working closer to our apartment and closer to your school.”
“So you can pick me up more?” Mickey was back on his knees, excited again, “’Cause it was fun today when I saw you comin’.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Do it, Daddy!”
Those three words were it.
The game changer.
The decision maker.