Chapter Text
Chapter One
The day couldn't get any worse.
Jake Griffin already had Bruno snapping at him for missing something in a report, Captain Benson calling him out for going rogue last week—taking initiative, Griff mentally amended, and Rollins frowning at him as she listened to both of them coming after him.
His entry into Manhattan SVU hadn't been smooth.
Raised voices carried to the squad room from the front desk, breaking into him reliving his last week's worth of missteps.
The desk officer's voice carried louder, trying to calm whoever was out there. It didn't sound like it was working.
A uniform stuck her head around the corner of the squad room. Her lips were tight with tension. "Detective Griffin? There's a woman out here. Says she knows you." She ducked back out as the noise grew louder out front.
Ok, so the day could get worse.
"Who'd you piss off now?" Bruno asked, his sympathy clearly with whoever was causing a scene out front.
Since most of the people Griff annoyed on a regular basis were in the squad room with him, their guess was as good as his.
He pushed back from his desk, but didn't make it out of the squad room before the woman found him.
There was a clatter, and then there she was.
Auburn hair tumbling down from a messy knot, wild eyed and shaking.
His stomach lurched.
A uniformed officer caught a hold of her and kept her from getting any closer. She jerked at his grip and stumbled, letting out a cry of anger or shock and trying to free herself. She fought against his hold.
"Let go! Let go of me! I told you—I need—I have to see—I need Jake! Jake Griffin! He's a detective here!"
Bruno and Fin both stood, moving like were going to get the officer to release her. Or maybe help the officer restrain her.
"No," Griff said sharply. He moved to get between them and her.
"Allie," he said.
The younger woman's head jerked towards him.
"Jake!" Her voice shook. Her eyes were wide, panicked. She reached for him. "Jake, I don't know what happened. I don't know how—how he found me." Her words tripped over each other, spilling out in a panic. "I did everything you said. Everything! And he found me—he knows where I am. He knows where I live!"
"It's ok," Griff said to the officer, taking Allie from the man's restraining hands. Then to Allie. "Ok. It's ok. We'll figure this out." He kept his words calm even as his thoughts started jumping ahead. Anger lit a fire that he couldn't feed right now.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Captain Benson coming out of her office. There was no way Allie's chaotic entrance wasn't going to draw her attention.
Benson took in a nearly hysterical Allie, and Griff trying to calm her as she came closer.
"Hi there," she said, approaching Allie, her words measured, even. The exact opposite of everything Allie was right now. The way she talked with victims.
Jake's jaw clenched, thinking of Allie as a victim.
Allie's eyes darted around, barely landing on Benson before she was rambling to Griff again.
"I can't let him—I can't do that again. He can't—he can't—"
"He won't," Griff promised firmly. Because he wouldn't let him find her. He wouldn't let her go through that ever again.
"He found me! He—he—I can't—not again," Allie's voice was too high, her words too fast.
"Allie, he won't," Griff said firmly.
But Allie was past listening to anyone. She clutched at Griff's shirt, fingers digging past fabric and into his skin with her grasp. "What am I supposed to do? What if—I don't know what to do—"
"Let's all take a breath," Benson said, a composed counter to Allie's terror.
Even if Allie didn't register the captain's calm, it was a lifeline for Griff. Something to grab hold of while his anger and fear and memories all shoved and fought their way in too quickly.
He didn't want the captain to know about this. He wanted to handle this on his own. He thought he had handled it. But Allie was rambling a mile a minute, she was about to draw blood with the hold she had on him, and he needed to find out what had happened.
"Why don't we go in my office?" Benson asked.
Allie didn't look like she was registering anything, so Griff answered. "Thanks, Captain."
Benson gave a small sound of acknowledgement, then led the way to her office. She quietly asked Fin to bring something for Allie to drink.
She shut the door behind them and Griff relaxed slightly. At least they had less of an audience while he figured this out. But Allie wasn't relaxing at all. She dug her fingers into his arms with more force and he could feel her entire body trembling.
"What if he knows I came here?" Allie asked, her voice getting higher. Her dark eyes fixed on him. "What if he thinks I went to the cops?"
"Let's all…let's all take a breath," Benson said.
This time she approached Allie, getting close enough to draw Allie's attention. Allie gripped Jake harder.
He winced slightly.
"I'm Olivia Benson," Benson said. "And you already know Griff? He helped you with a case?" Benson shot a look at Griff and he knew what she was thinking. That Griff had caught a case, that Allie was a vic, looking for the detective that responded. That Griff had kept Benson out of the loop.
Allie's eyes darted between him and Benson and Griff waited to see if she'd answer. She only trembled and went back to rambling. So he answered.
"This is Allie. She's my sister."
#
Allie heard Jake's words. But they just bounced around in her head. Nothing was making sense. Nothing was right, or normal, or safe. Because he had found her. He had made sure she knew he found her.
Jake's hands were firm on her shoulders, steadying her, anchoring her. Because that's what he had been doing for the past three years.
"Allie," came the woman's voice. The captain. The captain of Jake's new unit. Why had she come here? To the police? She just wanted Jake to know. And now… She looked out the window of the captain's office. Two men were out there. The younger one met her eyes over the top of his computer. She quickly looked away, moving closer to Jake without realizing it.
There was a soft knock on the office door. It opened and the other man handed a coffee mug in.
"Thanks, Fin," said the captain. The door closed behind the man and the woman offered the mug to Allie. "I didn't know if you drank tea or coffee. But it smells like chamomile."
Allie's stomach roiled like she was going to be sick. She shook her head, the hair that had come loose from her bun at some point getting in her eyes.
"Ok," the captain said easily. She set the mug down on a low table in front of a couch. "How about we have a seat?"
Allie's heart was thundering, her blood pulsing. But her knees did feel like they could give out at any second.
Jake half-steered her toward the couch and she sat. And then the weight of everything came, like it always did, pushing her down.
She let her head fall forward into her hands. Her hands trembled.
"So you're Griff's sister," the captain said.
Allie let the normalcy of that statement wash over her. Jake's sister. Not a hysterical woman who ran into the police station.
"I'm sorry that something happened to shake you up," she continued. "Do you want to tell me about it? Maybe I can help?"
A sob started, but was choked off by the knot in her throat. She didn't want to go back. She didn't want to remember any of it, let alone what happened tonight.
"Allie's ex," Jake started cautiously.
She could hear how strained his voice was. How hard he was trying. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, wanting to press hard enough to drive the memories away.
"Allie has a restraining order against him," Jake said. "And he's in jail."
"He's out," Allie whispered hoarsely. "He got out."
She felt her brother stiffen next to her. "When? Why weren't you notified?"
Because she had changed her number. Then changed it again when he somehow got her new number and called from jail. This number hadn't been passed on to anyone, so they had no way of notifying her. But she couldn't get any of that out. Not past the tight band closing off her throat.
"You saw him tonight?" Jake asked. That's when she realized even though he had been responding to her panic, he hadn't believed what she was saying. She could feel the shift in him now.
She kept her eyes covered, shaking her head no. She hadn't seen Dane. Thank goodness. The thought of actually seeing him, facing him, being hurt by him, had her shaking all over again, just when the tremors were finally slowing.
"What happened tonight?" Jake's captain asked.
Allie tried to focus on the woman's voice. Mellow. Gentle. No pressure.
"My apartment," she croaked out. "He got into my apartment."
"Were you there?" Again that low tone, nothing to add to the adrenaline already coursing through Allie's veins.
And again, Allie shook her head. "I had to run an errand. And when I came back—I—I—the door—"
"Someone had been there?"
Allie nodded jerkily.
"Ok," Captain Benson said. Not flustered, not alarmed. Like this was something they could take care of. "I'll send Bruno and Fin over to check it out. You can stay here with Griff."
Her home. Her safe place. And it had been violated. He had found it and broke in. The crushing weight got heavier.
"I need to go," Jake said. "I know this creep. If he's anywhere around, I'll see him. I can figure out if this was him, or some random break in."
Allie's head dropped lower, she folded her hands behind her head to keep from reaching out to grab at Jake again. It wasn't a random break in. But she couldn't control her voice anymore.
There was a rushing in her ears. She tried to get in deeper breaths while her brother talked to Benson.
"Alright. Let's go check it out, Griff."
Allie pushed against the weight, lifting her head. Jake was leaving?
"Come on," Jake was saying. "Let's get you settled in the breakroom."
Allie started shaking her head. "You can't—"
"Al," he cut her off. His dark eyes held hers. He had his cop face on, and for a minute, she could see their dad. "This is the best way to get him. Get him behind bars again if it was him."
She wanted to curl up in a ball. She didn't want to do this—any of this.
But she drew a shaky breath. She couldn't quite nod, couldn't agree. But she stood. Let Jake lead her to another room, settle her in a stiff chair.
"It'll be ok," he said, cop face still in place. "I've got you."
She was worried he couldn't keep that promise. He hadn't been able to. Not when Dane had found her the last time.
"Allie," he said firmly. "I'll take care of this."
She forced herself to nod, to trust him to go.
And she was alone.
#
"Come on, Fin," Benson called.
Bruno looked up. He started to push his chair back, but Benson shook her head. "You stay here. See if she needs anything. We'll see what we find at her place."
Griff was already halfway to the door, Benson and Fin in his wake.
Bruno looked toward the breakroom.
The girl—Allie, Griff had called her—was in the breakroom, hands over her eyes.
Bruno approached slowly. He knocked on the doorframe.
She jumped in her seat, hands dropping down to grip at the arms of her chair. Wide eyes fixed on him.
Bruno didn't move in any closer. "I'm Terry. I work with Griff."
Brown eyes stared at him, then away. She released the chair and knotted her hands together.
Bruno eased into the room, staying towards the wall. He leaned casually against the counter, on the opposite side of the small room.
"Rough night," he said.
A shaky laugh hiccupped out of her. "You could say that," she said.
Bruno moved toward the coffeepot. She darted another look at him.
He poured himself a cup and then a second. "I think Rollins keeps some sort of fancy creamer here. You want some?"
She nodded, so he rifled through the fridge and found a carton of flavored creamer. He poured a healthy amount into the mug and slid it across the table to her.
She wrapped her hands around it like a lifeline.
He went to a chair across the room from her with his own mug. "It's good you knew you could come to Griff."
She stared down into her coffee.
"How long have you known him?"
She looked up in surprise, blinking deep brown eyes at him. "Jake? You mean…my brother?"
Understanding dawned. "He's your brother."
She lifted the mug and took a drink, closing her eyes at the sip. She kept her eyes closed after she put the mug down. Squeezing them shut. Pressing shaky fingertips to her temples.
"You ok?" he asked.
She shook her head slightly. "No." He could barely hear her whisper.
He could hold a professional distance from victims. He did it all the time. Daily. But maybe it was knowing this was Griff's sister that made it hard for him to shove down the worry. He didn't like the guy, but he was still part of the team.
Or maybe it was the terror still in her eyes any time she opened them.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked.
She shook her head quickly.
He backed off. She didn't offer anything more.
"You need anything?" he asked.
She shook her head quickly.
"Ok," he said. He wouldn't talk. He started to get up. "Do you want some space?"
Her eyes opened, flashing towards him. Desperation and terror on her stricken face.
"I can stay," he said.
She let out a visible exhale.
"I'll stay," he said, settling back into his chair.
She pressed trembling lips together. Then they parted. "Thanks," she whispered, hardly loud enough for him to hear.
He shrugged. "Nothing beats breakroom coffee," he said.
She managed the hint of a smile before dropping her eyes.
Bruno settled more comfortably into his chair. And he stayed.