I'm working on updating my other stories as well as this one. But due to the lack of fiction for this character, I wanted to start on this one sooner rather than later.

If you have any suggestions for my other stories, please message me and let me know what you've got in mind. I love opinions and ideas and I'll hear you out.

This is a Law and Order: SVU fic, I own nothing from this show. Not the characters, the plots, or anything else to do with the show. The only thing I own is my original character. My ideas are my own, and that's about it.

I know Bella hasn't had her baby yet, but I'm writing it like she has.

Times were changing. Everything was new for Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. A newer position with the SVU department, a new niece, and finally, a new apartment. After a week of moving his stuff after his shifts, the last box was in his arms and on the way up. Unfortunately, this was a larger box, and just awkward in the size. Dominick struggled to open the door to the building for a moment, before it swung open and a beautiful brunette woman stepped out. "Oh, sorry." They stared at each other for a minute. "You got this big old box?" He halfheartedly chucked, "Yeah. Barely. It's the last one I've got to move in, fortunately." She smiled and nodded her head. "Well, I'm Melanie Davis. I live on the third floor."

"Dominick Carisi. I'm on the fourth." She stepped to the side and held the door open for him, allowing him in. "I'd shake your hand, but they both seem full. I'll see you around Dominick Carisi." The door shut behind him as he watched her walk away from the building. He carefully made his way up the staircase and to his door. He set the box on the coffee table and sighed, knowing that now that everything was up, there was the whole process of unpacking.

The next morning, Rollins, Carisi, Tutuola, and Benson filed in, seeing Amaro already at his desk. "Don't get comfortable. We've got a call for a domestic. Repeat offender. Regular officers are too busy to take it." Benson nodded her head. "Okay. Uh, Rollins, Carisi, go check it out." They turned around and headed right back out the way they came. The ride over was short, and Carisi was surprised to find they were parked outside of his new apartment building. He didn't say anything, silently following Rollins up the stairs to the third floor. A sinking feeling set up in the pit of his stomach. But he quickly tamed it. There was no way he'd run in to Melanie again. Not for this call. There were plenty of other apartments on the third floor. They stopped at a door numbered 304; Rollins was the one to knock. The door opened and as he mentally kicked himself and cursed his luck, there stood the beautiful brunette woman from earlier, only this time, she had the beginnings of a bruise around her eye and a cut on her lip. "I'm Detective Rollins, this is Detective Carisi. We were called here on a domestic assault." The brown haired woman slinked out of the door and pulled it partially closed behind her. "Everything is fine. We don't need the po-" She stopped midsentence upon seeing her neighbor.

"Ma'am, it doesn't look like everything is fine to me. If there's someone inside, and they've done something to you, we can keep you safe, take care of you, get you out of here." She heard every word he had said, and desperately wanted to take advantage of it. But she knew if she did, Jason would do something drastic and wind up guilting her back in to his life again somehow. "I'm fine. Everything is okay, I was trying to get a box off of a shelf and it came tumbling down on me. A couple dishes broke and my boyfriend got upset. It's not a big deal." Dominick drowned out Amanda talking to the woman and took one of his business cards and wrote his apartment number on the back of it.

"Really, I don't think this is necessary. It's not a big deal." Dominick stepped in ans extended his card to her. "Well, if you need anything, you give us a call and we'll be here." He gave a small nod for emphasis. She sheepishly took the card, almost feeling as if she was admitting there was a problem, and shoved it in to her back pocket. They turned around and headed for the car, and back to the precinct. "Rollins, you really can't expect me to believe that there's nothing going on between them. She looked like her face met a meat tenderizer." The blonde sighed, "I know. But unless she wants to do something about it, there is absolutely nothing we can do to help her." This frustrated him, but he knew she was right.

The rest of the day went by slowly, which was a blessing, meaning there was no one getting raped that day. The rest of the day went by quickly, and Benson dismissed everyone early, giving Carisi time to stop and grab some takeout for dinner. He buzzed himself into the building and climbed the stairs to his floor. The hallways were old and decrepit looking, but the actual apartments were nothing like that. They were nice; fresh paint, air conditioning, hardwood floors that were still shining from the last time they had been waxed. Boxes still sat everywhere around the rooms, having yet to be unpacked from the move. Dominick sat down on the couch, turning on the television, and opening his dinner on the coffee table. He glanced longingly at the breakfast bar. Two stools were sitting there, waiting for someone to sit upon them and enjoy a meal. And he would have, if the boxes weren't piled on the counter top, too. He barely paid attention to the episode of Family Guy that was on as he scarfed down the noodles and chicken. He sat the container back on the table and leaned back, settling in to the couch. The clock read 11:08, and the city outside was starting to settle down for the night.

He cut the tv off and stood up, loosening his tie and pulling it from the collar of his shirt. He started to unbutton the buttons and untucked it when there was a knock at the door. He stopped dead in his tracks and pulled his gun out of its holster, turning the safety off. "Who is it?" There was a tense moment of silence before a feminine voice came back. "Melanie. From downstairs." He slipped the gun back in its place and unchained and unlocked the door, opening it. He stared at the beautiful woman, a small hint of anger building in his gut when he saw her face again, "Hey." She took a few steps forward and waited for him to step to the side. She walked inside and smiled at his place as he shut the door behind them. "This is nicer than our place downstairs. Fresh paint, and that dingy carpet got ripped up." He walked in front of her and rested his hand on his hip. "I don't think you came up here to share Home & Garden secrets." She sighed and walked to the couch, sitting down, cupping her face in her hands.

"I just don't know what to do." He walked over and sat down beside her, not touching her, but letting her know that he was here for her; to help her. "I know it's gotta be confusing, but this isn't love, what you and him have. I see it, and I know you do, too. The question is, why aren't you packing your bags and running? Or why not let me and my partner help you?" She felt a small flurry of anger begin to rise as she looked to him. "I have tried. Seven years. It wasn't bad at first. He was everything I wanted. But then after I told him I was pregnant, it's like some sort of switch flipped in him." Carisi leaned back on the couch, not letting his eyes break away from hers. "And that's when the abuse started?" She nodded her head, her eyes dropping away from his and rewinding back in to a dark plagued memory. "It was nothing at first, just a little smack fight. Then it got from that to punches. And twice ago when he did it, he killed our child. I was still pregnant, and crying and screaming as he was beating me, and he didn't want to get in trouble, so he covered my mouth and my nose. I passed out. When I woke up at the hospital, the baby was gone. He had continued beating the shit out of me after I passed out and only called the police when he saw the blood. I threatened to leave him then, he attempted suicide. Then charmed his way back in. He is the most manipulative person I've ever met."

The anger was the hardest part of working in special victims. Carisi had problems with being laid back and not letting things like this bother him and get him heated. "You want a beer?" Her eyes locked with his again. "Sure." He stood and walked in to the kitchen moving the boxes off the breakfast bar. "Have a seat." He opened the fridge and saw he only had angry orchard. "I take that back. I've only got the apple ale stuff." She sat down on one of the stools and leaned on her arms. "Even better." He pulled two from the fridge and popped both open, handing her one. "So if this thing is so bad, how can you be up here now?" She took a drink from the bottle and set it on the counter. "Uh, he's actually a bartender. So he went in at 10:30. I just waited a half hour to make sure he didn't come back for anything." Carisi found a deck of cards in his drawer and held them up. "You know how to play Rummy?" She smiled and raised her bottle. "Let's go."

Two hours later, they had gone through a six pack of Angry Orchard, 9 games of rummy, and she had won almost every single one. She looked at the clock as she finished her last drink and stood up. "I've gotta go." Carisi had been sitting on the floor across from her, and he rested his arm on his knee. "Oh, come on. You've kicked my ass. I don't get a chance to redeem myself?" She smiled and shook her head. "Nope, sorry. He..gets home at 3. And being that it's two thirty, I don't want to tempt fate." His smile faded and he nodded, standing up. They walked to the door together and he stopped he from opening the door. "I want you to just listen right now. It's not your responsibility to make sure he stays alive. If he takes his own life, it's his own damn fault. You're too good to take that bullshit. You deserve a man, not a little boy playing at being a man. You deserve good things. Not this bullshit." Their eyes were locked, and the three drinks were impacting her judgement a bit. She snapped out of any ideas, she was, if nothing, loyal. "I've really gotta go, Dominick." She pulled the door open an inch, his hand pushed it back closed. "Just promise me you'll think about it. I'm not saying you need to be with me, or that you have to decide tonight. But I want you to at least think about it." She ducked under his arm, "I will. I'll think about it." Only then did he open the door and watched her down the stairs, around the corner of the steps and in to her apartment. He shut and locked his door, stripping off the rest of his clothes and headed for the shower.

They continued this way for months. 11, she would come up, they would eat, drink a little, talk, and play cards, then she would hurry home. They were friends. Halloween was tomorrow, and Gina, Theresa, and Bella were dressing up the kids and taking them around. But when they had called, he was shocked. "Sonny, we're bringing the kids to go around at your apartment." There was no further discussion when it came to the sisters. He dreaded going to Melanie's place, but it was either that, or face the family. It was going to be a long night.

So that's Chapter 1. I know I kinda flew through it. I'm sorry about that I just have a tendency to get excited about my ideas and I'm so upset there's no Carisi fanfiction on here that I feel like it's my public duty to get some out ASAP. So R&R and let me know. :-)