Ruthless

Pt. 5

Few Months Later

Elizabeth: "Knock knock. "She greets, knocking on Cragen's office door

Cragen: "Elizabeth. How's it going?"

Elizabeth: "Pretty good. Just got my GED."

Cragen: "That's great. Know what you're gonna do now?"

Elizabeth: "That's what I want to talk to you about" she looks out into the bullpen, shutting the door behind her "I got a job at a local diner, pulling in money where I can. But it's not what I wanna do."

Cragen: "What do you wanna do?"

Elizabeth: "Work SVU."

Cragen: "Oh. Wow" he raises his brows in shock "What brought this on?"

Elizabeth: "Found out I'm having a girl."

Cragen: "Congratulations."

Elizabeth: "Following right in my mom's footsteps."

Cragen: "You are nothing like your mother."

Elizabeth: "And I don't plan to be. I'm not gonna spend my nights drinking. I want to spend it putting guys like Cole and John away. I want to go to bed knowing that I'm doing everything to make sure she has a safe future." she declares, making him nod in understanding

Cragen: "It's not going to be easy. The road to get here alone can be gruesome. And...hearing people's stories...what happened to them...it takes away an innocence in you."

Elizabeth: "My mother used to tell me about what happened to her every night before I went to bed. My best friend raped me and left me for dead in an alley. My innoncence was already long gone."

Cragen: "Have you talked to Olivia about this?"

Elizabeth: "No. Wanted to find out all the information I could first before I actually made my decision."

Cragen: "Alright, then. Well I-" he gets cut off when someone knocks on the door, Olivia walking in

Olivia: "Hey we-" she stops herself, seeing Elizabeth get up from her spot "What are you doing here?"

Elizabeth: "Just had some questions."

Olivia: "You want me to come back?"

Elizabeth: "No it's ok. My shift's going to start soon, so..." she waves her off "Thanks Captain."

Cragen: "No problem. And I'll send over that information when I get a chance."

Elizabeth: "Bye." she waves at Olivia, walking out as Olivia turns to face Cragen with a confused look

Olivia: "Information about what?"

Cragen: "She wants to join SVU."

Olivia: "Really?"

Cragen: "Shock to me too but...she seemed determined."

Olivia: "Why didn't she tell me?"

Cragen: "Guess she wanted to have something planned out" he shrugs, a thoughtful look coming over her face "What do you got?"

•••

Elizabeth: "I'll do the dishes." she announces after finishing dinner with Olivia

Olivia: "You sure?"

Elizabeth: "Yeah. Do this for a living." she chuckles a little

Olivia: "So, Cragen told me you wanted to do SVU." she comes over to lean against the counter

Elizabeth: "Yeah."

Olivia: "Why didn't you tell me?"

Elizabeth: "Because I wanted to be sure in case you tried to talk me out of it."

Olivia: "Why would you think that?"

Elizabeth: "For one the look on your face right now."

Olivia: "I just want to make sure you've thought this through. SVU isn't an easy beat."

Elizabeth: "I know. I've spent practically half my life in the squad room."

Olivia: "Just seems so sudden. I mean what happened to your dream of starting your own architect business?"

Elizabeth: "Oh you mean the business with Cole" she turns to face her, making Olivia sigh "Yeah that dreams dead."

Olivia: "I just want to make sure that you're sure."

Elizabeth: "I am, Olivia" she says sincerely "I want to be able to do what you do for me. You helped me, reassured me that it wasn't my fault. You-you caught them. I want to be able to do that for somebody else."

Olivia: "Okay." she says after a moment, making Elizabeth give her a look

Elizabeth: "Okay what?"

Olivia: "Go ahead."

Elizabeth: "That's-that's it?"

Olivia: "Well you're 18 now. Can't tell you what to do." she shrugs

Elizabeth: "But you approve of this right?"

Olivia: "Of course I do." she nods

Few Weeks Later

Cragen: "Everybody" he calls out, gaining everyone's attention "I'd like to introduce you to our new administrative assistant." he motions to Elizabeth who steps up beside him

Munch: "Didn't know we had administrative assistants?"

Cragen: "Well we do now. Took a lot of convincing up top but I assured them that with her help we'd be able to get work done 10x faster. Now she'll be working here part time while going to school so try not hounding her. Olivia, why don't you show her the ropes. She'll use that desk over there." he points to an area towards the entrance of the bullpen

Olivia: "Here we are."

Elizabeth: "Sure you're okay with this?" she questions, making Olivia smile softly at her before scooting the chair out

Olivia: "Welcome to SVU."