DISCLAIMER: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its characters are the property of NBC and Dick Wolf.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I may have taken some liberties with warrants and absolute rules of law, but I think everything here is fairly plausible in the world of fanfic law. If anything jumps out as grossly incorrect, let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. My friend The Fork contacted me a short while back and told me that she loved the episode of Rizzoli & Isles where Jane goes undercover as a lesbian to flush out a killer. She said she thought that the scene where Maura helps to set up Jane's lesbian profile was hilarious, and she would love to read an A/O short that 'borrowed' that scene. Hmm. I loved that episode too, and that would be kind of fun to write. I was looking for an idea for a Summer Solstice short, so I let the idea marinate for a little while and finally wrote something. I sent a draft to Forkie, and she gave it her nod of approval. So, with many thanks to tuesboomer for inspiration and support, and a nod to Rizzoli & Isles for the original idea, here's what I came up with. It's longer than my shorts usually are, but since the Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, I guess it's appropriate to give you the longest short of the year. Maybe I should call it a Bermuda short… (Sorry, couldn't resist.) :-) As always, I look forward to your feedback!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To sunsetwriter[at]mindspring.com
SERIES: Part of the Holiday Shorts series.
Holiday Short – Summer Solstice
By sunsetwriter
"We found the link," Munch announced as Olivia and Elliot returned to the squad room.
"What is it?" Olivia asked as she scanned the stack of messages on her desk.
"Girls Like Us dot com," Munch answered, causing Olivia to stop looking at her messages and arch an eyebrow.
Elliot frowned. "A website?"
"A lesbian dating service," Munch replied. "It seems that all of our victims had a profile posted on the site."
"Good, we can check to see who contacted them and see if there's a common username or IP address," Olivia said.
"Way ahead of you, Liv," Munch said. "I've got calls in to the cyber-crimes unit and to Cabot for a warrant."
"None of your victims' accounts have contacts from one unique user profile or IP address," the computer tech announced. "Your perp was either not using the website as his point of contact, or was smart enough to have multiple profiles and re-route his posts through multiple servers to mask his identity. Or, he could have just used a different computer each time he logged on."
"Terrific," Olivia said sarcastically. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy."
The tech gave a small shrug and an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Detective. Let me know if you need me for anything else," he said as he left the squad room.
"Bingo," Munch said as he tapped a few keys on his computer keyboard. He smiled when all eyes turned his way. "Don't you people know that when one door closes, another always opens?"
Elliot glared at the skinny detective, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't do so immediately, Elliot said with frustration, "So, open the door already."
"It seems that all of our vics visited the same club within a week of their attacks," Munch announced with a smirk. "A club, I might add, that advertises heavily on Girls Like Us dot com."
Fin spoke up then. "So, he could be shoppin' on the website and then waitin' for the girl to show up at the club."
Munch frowned. "But, it's a lesbian club. Wouldn't he be kind of obvious?"
"Not if he's waitin' outside. Or he could work there," Fin offered.
"Or," Olivia pondered, "he may not be a 'he' at all."
Elliot looked at his partner with curiosity. "You think a woman raped and murdered three other women?" he asked with a frown.
Olivia shrugged. "We assumed lack of semen meant our perp used a condom. It could mean lack of natural equipment."
Elliot thought about that for a moment and then said, "So, let's go check out the club."
Fin shook his head. "That's gonna tip 'em off if it's somebody who works there."
"What do you suggest then?" Stabler asked.
"Be a little more discreet," Fin answered, cutting his eyes toward Olivia.
The female detective rolled her eyes. "Why don't I just set up a profile on that website and then go undercover to the club?" was her sarcastic retort.
"Good idea, Olivia. Set it up," the Captain said from the doorway of his office.
Olivia's head whipped around to look at her captain. "I was joking."
"I'm not," he replied. "Fin's right. If the perp is connected to the club, then sending detectives in will spook him – or her. You fit the victim profile: caucasian, brunette, attractive. And with a possible hate crime angle, I think 1PP will sign off on the undercover assignment. Hate crimes put a special tarnish on the city's image." He turned to go back into his office, and all of the detectives just sat staring at Olivia, who continued to gape at her captain. Cragen turned back around and said in a stern voice, "So, set it up." Then he retreated back into his office before any of the detectives could see the slight smirk on his face.
Olivia turned and glared at her fellow detectives. They tried to hide their amusement, but failed miserably.
Munch grinned. "This is going to be fun," he said as he resumed tapping on his keyboard.
"What's going to be fun?" a voice asked from the door of the squad room, accompanied by the tell-tale click of heels on the hard floor. All heads turned to see Alex entering the room and Olivia groaned softly.
"Setting up Liv's profile on a lesbian dating site," Munch answered matter-of-factly.
Two graceful eyebrows arched upward as the ADA looked curiously at Olivia. "That's… interesting."
Olivia rolled her eyes and said a little defensively, "I'm going undercover."
"Whose?" the ADA asked, trying not to smile. Munch snorted and Elliot and Fin all but guffawed.
"Funny," Olivia said dryly. "All of our recent vics had a profile on the same dating site and had visited the same club within a week of their attacks," she explained. "So, it looks like I'm setting up a profile and going to this club to see if we can get the perp to take the bait."
Alex nodded as she listened.
Olivia then turned to Munch and asked, "What is the name of this club, anyway?"
Munch looked at his screen through his bifocals and suppressed a smile. "Pussy Galore's."
"You're kidding me," Olivia said.
"Does that mean it's a Bond-age club?" Alex quipped, unable to hide the smile this time.
That brought another round of laughter from the men and Olivia shook her head. "Maybe it's a comedy club and you should do this instead of me," she said to Alex, but she couldn't help but smile at the ADA's joke.
"Oh, I think you're pretty well-suited for this assignment," Alex replied. When Olivia gave her a curious look, she shrugged and added with a smirk, "I mean, you've done well with other undercover assignments."
"Uh huh," Olivia said, not really convinced by Alex's explanation.
"So, Liv," Munch said as he perused his computer screen. "What's your classification?"
Olivia pulled her eyes away from Alex's look of amusement and looked at Munch. "Pardon?"
"You know. Your classification." When Olivia still didn't seem to understand the question, Munch clarified. "Are you 'femme seeking femme', 'butch seeking femme', 'femme seeking butch', or 'butch seeking butch'?" Then he muttered under his breath, "OK, that last one seems like trouble waiting to happen, but whatever floats your boat, I guess."
Fin and Elliot snickered and Olivia just gave Munch an incredulous look.
"None of those sound right," Alex said, surprising them all. "Is there a 'soft-butch' designation?"
Four sets of eyes focused on the ADA, with expressions ranging from surprised, to amused, to downright disbelief. Alex made a questioning gesture with one hand and said, "Well, she's not really femme, but she's not really butch, so…"
"And she's not really believing that you're having this conversation with her right here in the room," Olivia said in a tone that made it clear that she really couldn't believe they were having this conversation.
Munch looked back at his screen and moved his mouse. "Oh, wait. Here's an 'other' box." He clicked the mouse and then smiled a smile of satisfaction. "Now I can choose between 'lipstick', 'sporty', 'tomboy', 'goth', 'stone butch' and 'anything goes'," he said as if waiting for a response.
"Click 'anything goes' and I'll be forced to shoot you," Olivia said dryly.
"How about 'tomboy'?" Alex asked, looking at Olivia for confirmation. "Not too butch, but not too girlie."
Olivia shrugged and Munch took that as confirmation and clicked the mouse. "OK," he said as he began checking off the list of traits, each punctuated by a click of the mouse. "Eyes: brown, hair: brunette, build: athletic." After the last click he paused. "Physical measurements?" He looked up at Olivia and was met with a withering glare. He clicked the mouse again. "We'll just skip that one… Interests?"
"I really can't believe I'm doing this," Olivia muttered. Then a little louder, she asked, "What are my choices?"
"No choices. It's a blank box to list your interests," Munch replied.
"You should list things that chicks would like," Elliot said.
"Great idea, El," Olivia said with sarcasm. She thought for a moment and then said, "How about rock-climbing, going for a run in the park, and watching sports?"
"That's good, Liv," Elliot said in an encouraging tone. "That actually sounds really dyke-y."
Olivia glared at him. "Those are actually things I like to do, Elliot."
"Oh, well, good then," Elliot said with a fake smile.
Alex intervened again. "Why don't you change 'running in the park' to 'taking romantic walks in the park', and add 'trying new restaurants' or 'discovering new wines' or… both?"
"Ooh, that's good, Alex," Munch said as he pecked away on his keyboard. Olivia sat speechless, wondering how she had gotten herself into this, and better yet, how she was going to get herself out of this.
Elliot's phone rang and after a brief conversation, he hung up and looked at his partner. "A uni just found a possible witness during his latest canvass. You wanna go with me to interview him?" he asked as he stood up from his desk.
Olivia shook her head as she watched Munch continue to click his mouse. "I'm not about to leave him to set this up without me," she said with a hint of fear.
Fin smirked. "I'll go," he said as he got up and followed Elliot out of the squad room.
"That's all the required fields," Munch announced. "Now we just have to add a photo." He looked at Olivia. "Do you have a specific one you want to use?"
"Probably not one in uniform," Olivia said sarcastically.
"Too bad…" Alex mused. "And too bad we're in the middle of a heat wave, because a photo of you in your leather jacket would probably drive women wild…"
Two dark eyebrows crept upward toward Olivia's hairline as she listened to Alex vocalizing her thoughts.
Munch opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small digital camera. "Come on, Liv. Let's find a backdrop that doesn't look like a police station, I'll snap a shot of you, upload it to the website, and you'll be officially registered."
Alex continued with her thoughts and suddenly perked up. "We don't happen to have a photo of you from the last NYPD 10K do we?" she asked Olivia with a hint of excitement.
"God, I hope not," the detective answered. "Besides, the only pictures I remember being taken were after the race, and I was all hot and sweaty."
Alex arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Exactly."
Once again, Olivia found herself gaping at Alex, whose photo suggestion had spurred Munch to put down the camera and search through photo files on his computer. He suddenly said, "Aha!" and he smiled at Alex. "How about this one?"
Alex moved to stand behind Munch so she could look over his shoulder, and her chin dropped when she saw the photo. "Oh my God. Where did that come from?"
Munch chuckled. "We were goofing around in the squad room when I got this little camera and Liv struck a pose."
Olivia's eyes widened. "You did not keep that one."
Munch grinned. "Oh, but I did."
"That's perfect!" Alex exclaimed as Olivia stood to look at the picture. She groaned as she saw the image of herself wearing black jeans, a black tank top, flexing her muscles, and giving the camera a rather suggestive look.
"You can't use that!" Olivia said adamantly. "I'm wearing a badge and a gun and standing in a police precinct for chrissakes."
"Ever heard of Photoshop, my dear Olivia?" Munch said with a smirk. "I can blur the background and crop out the hardware." Olivia rolled her eyes and Munch continued. "Give me five minutes and you'll be beating women off with a stick."
"I highly doubt that. If you use that photo, people are going to think I'm a nutcase."
"That photo will certainly make you stand out, and if this is a hate crime, then the more out and proud you seem, the more likely you are to get the attention of the perpetrator," Alex said matter-of-factly.
Olivia sighed as she realized that she really had no argument for Alex's reasoning. "OK, fine. Use the photo."
Munch and Alex smiled.
An hour and a half later, Alex returned to the squad room to bring a wiretap warrant for Olivia to wear a wire in the planned undercover operation.
"Any women banging down your door yet?" the ADA asked with a smile as she approached Olivia's desk.
The detective rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. "It's only been a little over an hour since Munch posted the profile."
Alex just looked at Olivia with a smug look. "Have you checked?"
"No." When Alex's gaze didn't falter, Olivia rolled her eyes again and reached for her keyboard. Alex smiled and sat down in the chair next to Olivia's desk.
After a few taps on the computer, Olivia called to her fellow detective. "Hey, Munch, what's my password on this thing?"
Munch suppressed a smile and said, "Hottie."
"God," Olivia muttered under her breath as Alex stifled a laugh. The detective typed out the word on her keyboard and then clicked the mouse. After a few moments, her eyes widened. "Holy…" Her voice tapered off as she sat up in her chair to get a closer look.
Alex leaned forward to get a look at the computer screen. "What is it?" she asked. "Did you get a response?"
Olivia nodded.
"How many?"
"Thirty-two," Olivia said as she gave Alex a shocked look. The computer chimed and she glanced back at the screen and blinked. "Thirty-three," she amended.
Alex grinned and remained silent, but her expression screamed 'I told you so.'
Munch had the same expression as Alex. "I knew we had a winner," he said. "Any of them sound promising?" Then he paused. "Let me rephrase that. Any of them sound promising as our perp? The rest of them you can handle… however you see fit," he said with a smirk.
Olivia ignored his comment as she began reading the responses. "Let's see… Would love to meet you, here's my number." She shook her head. "I can't believe someone would just give out their phone number to a complete stranger like this," she said to her colleagues. Looking back at her screen, she clicked her mouse and continued reading. "Hope to see you at the Summer Solstice Meet and Greet at Pussy Galore's." Click. "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?" Olivia rolled her eyes. "That's original." Click. "You're hot, meet me at Pussy's." Click. "How many licks does it take?" Click. She blinked and looked at Alex. "Who says that to someone they've never even met?!"
Alex stifled another laugh as she craned her neck to see the computer screen. "Apparently someone named 'Tootsie Pop'."
Olivia looked back at the screen. "Hope to see you at the Summer Solstice party." Click. "Let's get hot, hot, hot at the Solstice party." Click. Olivia continued reading all of the responses and found that most of them referred to the same party at the nightclub.
When she signed out of her web account, Munch said, "I'll go check and see if any of our victims got responses from any of those user accounts." Then he added with a smile, "And, it looks like you, Detective Hottie, are going to a Summer Solstice celebration."
Olivia reluctantly nodded. "What does one wear for Summer Solstice?" she asked, meaning for the question to be rhetorical.
Alex couldn't help herself. "Something hot."
Munch laughed and offered his own suggestion. "Why don't you wear what you were wearing in the photo? Minus the badge and gun, of course."
Alex grinned. "Only if you promise to let me see you strike that pose," she teased as she gave Olivia a wink and rose from her chair. "I've got to run, but I'll definitely be back to see you get ready for your undercover assignment."
Olivia felt the heat rising in her cheeks, but was helpless to stop it. If she didn't know better, she would swear the ADA was flirting with her.
Munch chuckled and said with a smirk, "See, Liv? I told you that photo would drive women wild. Even Alex wants you."
Olivia took a deep breath and willed her heartbeat to return to normal.
On the day of the Solstice, Olivia was actually grateful that, for once, her undercover identity didn't require a dress and high heels. She had dressed as planned in her tight black jeans and black tank, but was especially pleased at the finishing touch her 'new' boots added to her ensemble. She had found some black biker boots at a local thrift store that she picked up to complete her outfit. She still didn't see why this outfit was such a big deal, but she had to admit it that it did show off her assets, and the fact that it was comfortable was icing on the cake.
She heard a wolf whistle as she started to enter the precinct, but when she turned to look, two men and two women were all giving her appreciative looks. She had no idea which of them had whistled.
When she entered the squad room, however, it was no secret that all the whistles she heard came from her fellow detectives.
"Damn, Liv," Fin said as he gave her a once-over. "Too bad Elliot's got the flu and ain't here to see this," he said as he trailed his eyes up and down her body. "He's still convinced you're straight."
Olivia shot him a look. "Who says I'm not? I'm going undercover, remember?" Olivia wasn't sure she was really ready to address her true sexuality with her fellow detectives just yet.
Fin just looked back at her. "Whose clothes?"
"Mine."
"Uh huh. Whose boots?"
"Mine. But I just got them."
He eyed the boots. "Uh huh. Look pretty broken-in to me."
"I got them at a second-hand store," Olivia said rather defensively.
"Uh huh. Whatever you say."
"Here comes the true test," Munch said with a smirk as Alex entered the room.
The ADA slowed her stride and her eyes widened when she saw Olivia from behind. She started at the boots and slowly raked her eyes up Olivia's body. She lingered for a moment on the shapely ass, accentuated by the skin-tight jeans, and by the time she reached the tank top, Olivia had turned around. Feeling the need to expend a little nervous energy and buoyed by all the positive feedback on her outfit, Olivia struck the same pose she had in Munch's photo.
Alex stopped in her tracks and gaped.
Olivia smiled as she lowered her arms. "Whaddaya think?"
Alex continued to stare for a moment longer, before she finally regained her composure and started toward Liv again. "I think I understand why you got forty-five responses to your profile."
Olivia was a little surprised and not exactly sure what to make of the slight flush in Alex's cheeks accompanied by the almost hungry look in her eyes. "Thanks," she said almost shyly.
They were interrupted by the appearance of a young woman carrying an aluminum case. She looked back and forth between the two women and said, "I'm Jennifer Yang from Information Systems. I'm looking for Detective Benson."
"That's me," Olivia said.
Yang looked at Olivia for a moment. "It's a good thing I brought a wireless unit." She let her eyes roam over Olivia's outfit. "You don't really have a place to hide a wire," she added with a grin. "Is there somewhere we can go to get you outfitted?"
Olivia blushed and rolled her eyes. She gestured with her head toward the locker room and turned on her heel as the technician followed.
A few moments later they came back into the squad room and Yang continued on toward the door. She turned and smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Detective. Good luck tonight."
"Thanks," Olivia said and then turned to Alex and her squad mates. "Let's get this show on the road."
"OK," Munch responded. "We'll be in the surveillance van just down the block from the club. If you need back-up, all you have to do is say the magic word and we'll be there in a flash."
Olivia nodded. "Got it." They all left the squad room and rode the elevator down together. When they split up for Olivia to head to the subway station to make her way to the club and Fin and Munch to head to the parking garage to pick up the van, Olivia was surprised to see Alex following Munch and Fin.
"Are you coming too?" the detective asked the ADA.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Alex replied with a smile.
"You're showing an awful lot of interest in this club," Olivia said in a teasing manner.
Alex smiled and leaned toward the detective. "Just for the record," she said in a voice just above a whisper. "It's not really the club I'm interested in." Then she turned to follow the male detectives, leaving Olivia speechless as she watched them walk away.
Olivia emerged from the subway station and walked down the block to the club named Pussy Galore's. She glanced down to the end of the block and was comforted by the sight of a white van with a painter's logo on the side. She said quietly. "All set. Can you hear me now?"
Munch's voice sounded in the wireless receiver hidden in her left ear. "Loud and clear, Liv. We're here if you need us."
Olivia spotted the club and veered toward it. As she passed the alleyway beside it, a man stepped out of the shadows. "Well, hey there, sweetheart," he called to Olivia. "Are you lookin' for me?" He smiled a lecherous smile.
Olivia slowed her stride momentarily and said, "Do I know you?"
"Not yet, but I bet you'd like to," he said as he stepped toward the detective.
"Not likely," Olivia responded as she flicked her eyes toward the club.
"You just need a real man to show you what you've been missin'," the man said as he leered at Olivia and took another step toward her.
Olivia side-stepped and said, "I'm not missing anything."
"That's what the others said."
"What others?" Olivia asked as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"The three others I schooled in the error of their ways," he said as he smiled his lecherous smile again. "And I promise you, they'll never touch a woman again," he added as he suddenly lunged toward Olivia, grabbed her arm and tried to pull her toward his car that Olivia now saw was parked in the alley.
The detective twisted her wrist, breaking his grip and swiftly delivered one of her boots to his groin. He doubled over and Olivia quickly got the upper hand, pinning his arm painfully behind his back. She said loudly, "And I promise you that you won't touch another woman again either, asshole," Olivia said through gritted teeth. When the occupants of the surveillance van heard the word 'asshole', they immediately sprang into action. The doors flew open and Munch, Fin and two uniformed officers rushed to Olivia's aid with guns drawn.
By the time they reached her, Detective Benson had the man on his stomach, with all her weight resting on her knee that was firmly planted in the center of his back, pinning him to the ground. "You're under arrest for the assault of a police officer and for the suspicion of the rape and murder of Anna Ramirez, Lisa Calzetti, and Susan Donovan." She told him as she eagerly took the pair of handcuffs offered to her by Munch and cuffed the man. She stood up, breathing heavily and looked at one of the uniformed officers. "Read him his rights, and get this scumbag outta my sight."
The cop pulled the now subdued man up by gripping one arm and began reading him his Miranda rights as he pushed him toward the black and white patrol car that had just rolled to a stop next to the curb.
"Nice work, Liv," Fin said as he clapped her on the back. "I knew you were comfortable in those shit-kickers," he said with a smile. Munch nodded in agreement as Alex joined them at the entrance to the alley.
"You OK?" she asked Olivia.
"Yeah," Olivia answered with a nod. "Who knew it would be that easy?" she said with a smirk. "Did he say enough to consider that a confession?"
"We need to tie him directly to the victims, but it's a good start," Alex replied.
"I didn't identify myself as a cop, can he scream entrapment?"
Alex shook her head. "He approached you, not the other way around. You did good," she said with a smile. "Too bad you didn't get to meet all your adoring fans though."
Munch and Fin looked at each other and Fin motioned toward the van with a sideways nod of his head. "We'll meet you two back at the van," Munch said as the two men turned to begin the trek back to the van. He looked back over his shoulder and winked at Olivia. "You've got until we get there to talk without us listening…"
Olivia hoped Alex couldn't see her blush in the evening light. "I guess I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go," she said coyly.
Alex looked toward the nightclub. "You could still go in and make some women really happy…"
Olivia shook her head. "I don't think there's anybody inside there that I care about making happy."
"Not even Tootsie Pop?" Alex asked with a grin.
"Nope. I doubt we have many common interests."
"You mean like rock-climbing?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'trying a new restaurant' and 'discovering a new wine'."
Alex cocked her head. "No 'romantic walk in the park'?"
Olivia smiled. "After dinner. And, only if you agree to join me."
Alex returned the smile. "That may be an offer I just can't refuse."
"Good. I just need to take care of a couple of things at the precinct and then we can head out."
"Are you planning on questioning the suspect tonight?" Alex asked as they began walking back to the van.
"No. I think I'll let him stew in a cell overnight. But, I need to get Munch to delete my profile on that dating site as soon as possible," she said with a smirk. "Then, I need to turn in my wire and change clothes."
"Do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Don't change clothes…"
The End