Everything Changes

A Long Day

DING!

"Whose phone is that?" Nick asked as he and Amanda entered the station-house.

"Mine." Amanda answered, already reaching for the mobile device in her pocket. "I felt it vibrate."

Despite the drive out from Queens, the couple had made it to work early, and just as they got to the elevator and pressed the up button on the button panel, but before Amanda could see who the text was from, they were joined by Fin and Carisi, who came hurrying over, wanting to catch a ride with the other two.

Amanda raised an eyebrow at them. "Why are you guys here early?"

"I have noisy, obnoxious neighbors." groaned Fin. "I couldn't get away sooner."

"And I was at the gym for two hours just now." Carisi said casually.

Nobody had anything to say to that because while Carisi often came across as the 'group dweeb,' he was deceptively strong, but didn't talk about working out that much because they all knew he did it regularly and could easily bench press over two hundred pounds on any given day.

They all made small talk with each other quickly, though, but it wasn't until the lift began ascending to the fifth floor when the sex crimes division was that Amanda had remembered she had an unread text.

It was from Olivia. I need you and Nick up here, pronto!

In response, Amanda sent, Just saw this. I'm in the lift with the boys.

Good. I actually need all of you to come straight to the break room.

I'll tell them. See you in a few.

"Amanda?" Carisi said his friend's name cautiously when he saw the expression on her face change quickly as she put her phone away. "Who was that?"

"Sarge wants us to meet her in the break room before go to our desks."

Finally at the fifth floor, the lift doors opened and they all piled out, heading for the squad room as Fin asked her, "Did she say why?"

"No, but she gave the impression that it's very urgent."

When Amanda and her posse arrived at the break room, Olivia barred them from going inside by standing in the doorway.

"I need all of you to be one hundred percent calm when you come in." she told them. "Promise me you'll all be calm."

"We promise." Amanda responded as the others quickly nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. The last thing we need is for them to get spooked."

"I beg your pardon, Sarge?"

Olivia sighed and stood to the side. "Calm is the key. Please remember that."

Calm was very hard for Amanda and her posse to be, especially for her and Nick when they entered and saw the other occupants of the room.

Zara was perched on the couch, telling two little sleepy-eyed identical toddlers a story, and she was currently so wrapped up in the story that none of them noticed their new company.

That afforded Amanda a chance to look at the littler girls. They were both dressed for the summer weather and even had luggage nearby, but everything about their appearance, despite cute matching outfits told the detective that the little girls had both been through a lot in their short lives and that they (and their clothes and shoes) had seen better days.

Amanda also felt her stomach do a somersault because she immediately saw a resemblance between the little girls and Kim.

"Oh, my god..." she said softly.