A Dirty Bar, A Dirty Life.

3. A Start

Rafael hailed a cab for Him and Cadence, the two arriving to the precinct quickly. Cadence was lead by Rafael into his office, where a strong looking brunette woman and a tall black-haired male were waiting.

"Cadence, go ahead and take a seat." Rafael gently kissed the top of Cadence's head, receiving strange looks from Benson and Amaro. Rafael narrowed his eyes at them, and they dropped it.

"So, what'd you call us down here for, exactly?" Nick asked, his arms folded across his chest. Olivia had already sat next to Cadence calming her down slowly.

"My... Friend, here had her place ransacked. Everything destroyed."

"And that's SVU's problem... How?"

"The people who did it were the Chess-and-checkers-club."

Nick fell silent, Olivia turning more towards Cadence.

"Cadence... Tell us what happened," said Olivia, gently rubbing Cadence's back. Cadence repeated her story back to the two detectives, and then was lead to get coffee by Nick.

Olivia waited until they were both out of the door. "So... How exactly did you meet this woman?"

"She owns a small dive bar off of 11th, which is also where she lives. I was tired, and looking for a few after I was done visiting my mother after the funeral. She was the closest."

Olivia smiled slightly, raising her eyebrows. "You like her, hm?"

Rafael rolled his eyes. "You sound like a child." But he couldn't keep down a slight blush. "But... I suppose I do, yes."

Olivia gently patted his desk, standing.

"We will do everything we can to bring her justice, Rafael."

Rafael smiled in return.

...

A few hours later, Cadence was sitting in a room with Rollins and Rafael. Rafael was holding Cadence's hand underneath the table for support as Cadence once more told her story.

I can." Rollins pulled out a file folder, filled with pictures of children in almost empty rooms. Cadence flinched slightly, causing Rafael to gently place his hand on her arm.

"You can do this, Cadence."

Cadence nodded, taking a deep breath. She looked over the pictures, pulling out one in particular. "Th-this one. I remember seeing a park through a small window. I also heard music across the street. Loud music." Rollins took notes. Cadence looked over to Rafael, who gave her a reassuring smile. Cadence smiled back slightly, before taking another deep breath.

She pointed to another one. "They kept me in this one often. If I was good they'd unchain me and let me walk around the room, but my legs were usually so weak that I couldn't even if I wanted to. I can still sometimes feel the chains around my ankles..." Cadence felt Rafael tighten his grip on her hand slightly, a sympathetic look on his face.

After a bit more talking, Rollins left the room, leaving Rafael and Cadence alone.

"I-I'm sorry I got you involved with this." Cadence bit her lip, looking down. Rafael cupped her chin, lifting her to look at him.

"It's okay. This is my job." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and stood. "How good are you with paperwork?"

Cadence smiled. "Hate the stuff."

"Me too. Let's go procrastinate it in my office." He winked, taking her hand and leading her to his office again. Cadence sat down on the couch there, taking off her heels and tucking her legs underneath her. Rafael sat next to her, handing her a small glass of scotch. Cadence took a sip, wrinkling her nose slightly at the strong taste.

"I just... I want to thank you. So much. I know this isn't the best first date you've been on." Cadence scooted closer to him slightly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Pssssh. I've had worse. In the sixth grade, I went to the roller rink with this really nice girl in my grade. We were having a great time till I ate too much cheap pizza and yacked all over her shoes.... She never did call me after that." Rafael and Cadence chuckled, Cadence moving her legs to lie over Rafael's lap. She took another sip of her scotch as she stared at the wall. She stopped zoning out for a moment, to notice that Rafael was staring at her.

Rafael's gaze travelled to her lips, then back up to her eyes. Cadence blushed softly, setting down her drink as she scoot closer to Rafael to the point where she was sitting on his lap. Her breathing quickened slightly, as did Rafael's.

Rafael was almost bright red. "C-can I kiss you?" He asked shyly. Unlike his demeanor, he was actually rather shy when it came to sexual contact. Instead of replying, Cadence shifted her position to straddle him, and pressed her lips to his.

Rafael was startled at first, but then warmed up to the kiss, gently placing his hands on her hips. Cadence parted her lips, and Rafael's tongue made through. Their tongues danced slightly, Cadence's hands running through Rafael's neat and proper hair.

Rafael slowly kissed down her neck, stopping and sitting back. "Let's save this for another time, hm? Perhaps a less... Public space." Thankfully his blinds were shut. Cadence nodded, slipping off of him and back onto the couch. Cadence looked over at Rafael and giggled.

"Your hair...!"

Rafael furrowed his brow, getting up and moving to a mirror in his office. His hair was sticking out at both sides of his head, causing Cadence to giggle more. "You look like you got shocked, oh god, I'm so sorry." Rafael smiled and rolled his eyes, flattening the sides of his hair.

"It's okay, I suppose. You can't help that you're just absolutely in love with my perfect hair." Rafael turned toward Cadence with a dorky smile on his face.

"Of course I--"

A knock on the door, and Detective Amaro walked in. He noticed the slight disheveled look of both Cadence and Rafael, and connected the dots. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but we have a lead." Rafael looked at Cadence and motioned towards the door, the two following Nick down the hallway.