Work Text:
Sonny's about to head home when the Sarge sends him on a call. Quick and easy, she said. Just a disturbance at one of the many adult stores littering the city. But an easy one to pass off on SVU. He's on his way, apparently some "crackhead" had been hassling people in the back, trying to get in the booths, assaulted a woman and her boyfriend. The clerk had called it in, saying she had sent everyone outside and left him in the store. Kid was smart, was his first thought when he pulled up on the scene. Some witnesses hurrying from the scene, others standing huddled at the stores curb. He unfolds himself from the car, flashing his shield.
"Tink's in there," an older man states, pointing to the door.
He nods, "Start taking statements," he orders the arriving unis as he draws his gun, pulling the door open and turning the corner.
She's a small thing, holding a Taser in one hand and pepper spray in the other. She's standing behind the counter, watching a dark doorway, "Sir, the police are going to be here any second. I just want you to leave the store, leave the store and I'll let them know that there's nothing to worry about."
He steps up to the counter, waving slightly. Her head flies in his direction, he flashes his shield, and she nods. She doesn't need the signal, she tosses her defensive weapons of choice under the counter, and hurries out. It's easy from there, once the high wears off the edge tends to go, and he's walking to guy outside to a squad car in no time. It's not the first time Sonny's seen him this month, but he really hopes it'll be his last.
Most of the uni's had gotten witness statements and sent them off home, and once he's got the perp in the back of the vehicle it's as if they all practiced hurrying away from the scene. But the store clerk is still there, sucking down a cigarette, and hanging up her phone and shoving it angrily in her pocket.
"Hey," he called, striding towards her, "Did anyone get your statement?"
"Nah," she exhales, stepping into the light of the stores awning, "All of them said 'the detective' should. Since I got the most action. And there's company protocol and shit."
He's a cop, he's supposed to separate that and off-hours Sonny. But there's no way to help it, it seems. Her giant mess of curly blond hair, the lip and nose piercing, and the way she handled herself in there. It's everything his mom had told him to stay away from. But it's strangely appealing.
"So, what do you do here?" straight to business, he could think, he couldn't act. Instead he held the door open for her, watching her lock the door behind her.
"I'm the GM," she rounds the counter, pulling out a piece of paper from a stand behind the counter, "Look, he's always been kinda twitchy before. But he always had ID, always put money in the machine, never bothered anyone. I can't not let him in just for being sketchy."
He chuckles a bit, "It would be much easier if you could," he pulls out his pad, watching her start to write on her own papers, "So General Manager. Name?"
"I need your card," she holds out her free hand, "River Colt. And just don't," accepting his card and setting it on her paper, before digging her wallet out of her back pocket and handing over her ID.
"Not your first time," raising his eyebrows and giving her a small nod of approval.
She shook her head, "Nope," popping the 'p' and stapling his card to the paper, "He comes in, twitchier than normal, so I'm keeping an eye on him. Doing extra checks in the back, keeping my eye on the security cameras. Especially since we had some ladies back there tonight," he nods, alternating between looking at her and copying down the info, "I see him talking to some guys cruising the back, regulars, not his crowd. I go back, give him a warning, let him know he can't hassle my customers. He apologizes, goes back into a booth, not out of the ordinary."
"So, what happened next? Seems like you were being pretty careful," surprised at the level of unprompted detail she's giving. This definitely wasn't her first time dealing with something like this.
"This working girl came in, we've 86'd her before for trolling the back for John's. She's always giving me a hard time. I heard doors slamming in the back and yelling. I ran back, saw him hitting this guy, screaming not to look at his junk. The girl he was with, her eye was all bruised. I ordered everyone to get out of the back, I ran to the counter, grabbed the pepper spray, called the police and then grabbed the taser. I stood by the door, made sure everyone I saw go in came out and then stood behind the counter. He wouldn't come out and then…"
"Got it," he nods, flipping his pad closed and sliding it in his jacket pocket, "Well, if I'm being honest, this should go pretty quick."
The woman sighed, "You say that, detective, but I'm still kicking them out, year after year."
"Hey, you did good. Those people are safe because of you. And that guy is off the streets because of you," pulling out another card and handing it to her, "You can't play that down. That one's for you"
She nodded, bouncing from foot to foot, "Um. Can I come down to the station tomorrow? I'm on like hour 12, I'm just…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll wait for ya to lock up," he offered, leaning against the corner, "Drive ya home."
"Oh," her curls flying as she shook her head, "You don't have to do that."
"Really? After tonight?"
"Okay. Just, give me 20."