As the first dregs of sun usher in a new day, the lights in apartment 357 begin to flick on. Inside, the quiet playing of the radio that is never turned off is joined by the clicking of Lilo's claws on the off-white kitchen linoleum. Moments later, a women joins her dog in the kitchen, rubbing Lilo's neck and kissing her good morning. The girl and dog's morning routine ensued, water and food bowls are filled, coffee is brewed and the shower is turned on, left to warm up while yoga pants and a long sleeve knit are pulled from yesterday's clean washing pile.

By the time the pair had reached the streets, the fall sun was peering down on the city and the working morning began. Lilo lead the pair on her morning route of sniffing, marking, chasing the squirrels and greeting the pedestrians. Laurel listened intently to the activity around her, always keeping one eye her German Sheppard. It was still early but her neighbours were already up and beginning the walk to their jobs, others rushed onto the curb, using briefcases as flags to hail taxis. Laurel and Lilo rounded their block, jogging the last 20 or so feet to the entrance to their apartment building; Laurel now had to start her own day.

Precinct 16 of New York City houses an elite team of detectives, specializing in victims of sexual crimes; SVU. Like Laurel, the other members of the team were coming in. Mondays were, in every sense of the word, one of the busiest days of the week. Paperwork from cases over the weekend, overdue reports and complainants that had waited until the beginning of the week were all waiting to be processed on Mondays.

When Laurel arrived, Benson was already sitting at her desk with a small mountain of files stacked precariously on her keyboard, her mouth turned down as she squinted at glossy images of a crime scene.

"Hey, Benson," Laurel greeted, extending a soft smile at the senior officer. Benson glanced up, a fleeting smile gracing her face before looking back down at the file, mumbling a greeting absentmindedly. Laurel's smile dropped, heaving a silent sigh before booting up her computer, watching the system begin it's slow ascent into life.

15 minutes past 11, the elevator doors chimed and in strode ADA Barba, the Councillor with whom SVU worked most closely with, for good reason, too. Barba was, in many ways, more aggressive than of all the SVU detectives and could talk circles around almost every cop in the building. Like clockwork, Barba made a line for Cragan's office, extending a nod towards Benson on the way but otherwise paying no attention to the rest of the team.

Laurel didn't pay much attention, she had the utmost respect for Barba but was very much so on the backseat of his radar. On most of the team's radar, if she was honest. Since Munch left, Laurel was without a partner, and probably would be for awhile. Before that, she didn't mingle with the rest of the team a lot and now without Munch to ease her into conversations, Laurel was the precinct's wallflower. Even half the uniforms still called her Laura.

Swallowing her social issues for the time being, Laurel headed over to the interrogation rooms to watch Rollins and Tutuola interview a guy they'd picked up the night before on attempted rape. He was a Rikers employee, apparently and often cases like these caught a lot of heat. Much to her surprise, Barba was already inside, listening in with scrutinizing eyes.

"Barba, I'm surprised to see you. This seems a little low profile for you," Laurel commented, watching as his head snapped over, nostrils flaring and eyes narrowing for a brief moment, before his mask of composure resumed.

"I have a vested interest," Barba replied, leaving the pair to fall into silence. Moments later, Benson appeared, asking the same thing Laurel had. Barba looked a little strained, glancing sideways at Benson. "Side bar?" He suggested, much to Benson's surprise. Laurel took it upon herself to leave the room to meet Rollins and Tutuola outside.

"Magic word," Tutuola shrugged when Laurel approached with a curious expression.

"He's an unusual perp, if you ask me," Laurel mused, following the other detectives into the break room for coffee. "He seems more open than someone who was caught trying to rape the woman carrying his child."

"Can't trust a rapist's words, Spencer," Tutuola reminded, passing her the milk bottle he'd just used for his own coffee.

"I'm going to look him up, I think, find out if he has any priors or consistent behaviour," Laurel decided, leaving Tutuola and Rollins with a smile. She knew she should probably focus on the paperwork she'd been agonizing over all morning, but if it affected Barba, Laurel wanted to help.

The detectives in SVU were coming and going through the next day, following up on leads and trying to chase down the alleged victim. Each step forward resulted in two steps back. Laurel had decided to vouch for Eddie after spending almost her entire afternoon the day before combing through his records and work schedule. The guy was clean, the only unusual aspect of his life was his volunteering for Senator Munoz. When Laurel came forward with her findings, Barba had given her a crooked smile, until Amaro turned his attention towards the Senator, and Laurel's research was forgotten.

The following day, since lunch had been and gone without so much as a thought of sustenance, Laurel decided to take a break, bringing up the screensaver on her desktop and heading for the elevator. She had her suspicions of the Senator, but trying to syphon through the tabloid stuff would take days, if not weeks. It perturbed Laurel that they were investigating a man that was so influential on the public eye. Once again, they were exposing their unit, and their ADA, to be persecuted by the people.

The precinct was only a few blocks from the DA's office and subsequently the courthouse, so Laurel decided brave the 5 minute walk to the plethora of benches and vendors outside the courthouse. Cursing to herself, Laurel rubbed her arms to rid herself of the goosebumps caused by the mid - October breeze. She had left her coat hanging on the back of her chair at the office. 30 or so people were spreading out over the steps leading to the courthouse; it seems it was break time for everyone there as well.

"Forget your coat, Detective?" Laurel turned to see Barba strolling towards her, his hands buried in the pockets in his slacks, coat billowing out behind him like a cape. Laurel smiled softly, tucking her hands underneath her arms.

"Unfortunately," Laurel replied. Barba shrugged off his own coat, offering it her. Laurel stared quizzically, eyes flitting between the coat and Barba's usual crooked smile. "Uh.. Thanks," Laurel replied, swinging the coat over her shoulders, not bothering to put her arms in the sleeves as she knew they'd be too long for her arms. She could feel the heat crawl up her neck, shading her already pink cheeks a sweet hue of crimson; such an act of chivalry was foreign for Laurel.

"Did you have any information on the case for me?" Barba asked, tilting his head slightly as he watched her accept her coffee from the vendor, dropping loose change into the woman's hand, speaking briefly with the woman, her words swept up with the wind, preventing Barba from hearing them.

"Rollins and I have a working theory, I'm sure Benson will let you know if it comes to anything," Laurel shrugged, standing by while he ordered his own coffee. Barba continued to assess Laurel, smiling slightly when she huddled into his coat for warmth. She was small, her narrow shoulders hidden among the folds of dark fabric.

"The DA is involved now, he wants me to stay on this, I appreciate anything you can give me on this," Barba explained, hoping to persuade her to give him any information, but much like the rest of their interactions, she remained at arms length.

"I'm afraid I have nothing solid for you yet, but I give you my word, you'll be the first to know when we do," Laurel replied, beginning to shrug off his coat as she saw the woman sitting his coffee on the counter for him to take.

"Hold onto the coat, Spencer, I'll pick it up when you get that information for me," Barba smiled. Laurel returned it shyly, uttering her thanks and turning to head back to the precinct. He turned to grab his coffee and give the vendor his changed. She refused, smiling down at him.

"That woman you were talking to you paid for you." Barba turned to look for Laurel, seeing only the hem of his coat as she disappeared around the corner and smiled before turning back to the courthouse.