Objection | SVU

Prologue

It was a typical rainy day as I walked into the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit. The 16th Precinct wasn't very crowded at 8am; everyone came in around 9. I had transferred from the Sex Crimes Unit in Staten Island, and I had been at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit for about 2 months. I was pretty much accustomed to my role on the team now, and I was very happy with my new position. I opened my laptop on my desk, and I reached in my desk and grabbed some paperwork that was for one of my law courses at New York University's School of Law. I was studying to get my J.D., as I had studied legal studies in my undergraduate career. I began to work on one of my assignments, and I didn't even hear anyone walk in.

"Hey Mitchell, whatcha doing?" I turned around to see Amaro right next to me, looking over my shoulder at my paper. I sighed and replied, "Well I didn't really want to tell any of you, but I'm studying to get my J.D. at NYU's School of Law. I'm taking online classes and some night classes, too. I'm writing a paper for one of my classes now." Amaro smiled widely and replied, "Hey, that's awesome! Why didn't you want to tell any of us?" I smirked and said, "I like this job, and I don't want the Captain thinking that it's conflicting with my hours here. I'm dedicated to this job first, and then I fill in time for my online courses." Amaro sat down at his desk across the room, and I suddenly remembered something.

"Aren't we meeting the new A.D.A. today?"

Amaro smiled and replied, "Yeah. you are. All of us have already met him, he helped us out on a case back before you were transferred here. His name is Rafael Barba, and he studied law at Harvard. He's really no-nonsense when it comes to cases, and he plays it by the book. He's really sassy and sarcastic, but I think that you'll like him once you get to know him."

I smiled gratefully at Nick Amaro, and he smiled back sheepishly. I continued working on my papers for my college class, and a few minutes later, Amaro said, "Benson just texted me and said that she's on her way up. Barba's with her, he's coming up to brief us on a court trial and to meet you." Before I could say anything, I saw Benson walk into our bullpen, and I smiled at her. She returned the smile and sat at her desk, and when I looked over at the elevators, I saw a pretty handsome blonde walking toward us.

Benson came over and said, "Barba, this is the newest addition to our team, Detective Jessica Mitchell. She transferred from the Staten Island Sex Crimes Unit." Barba extended his hand, and I shook it as he said, "Nice to meet you, Jessica." He had a glint in his eye as he looked down at me, and he smirked the slightest bit. I smiled, and he returned the smile and walked toward Benson and Amaro. We had just brought a suspect in for questioning last night, and we didn't get anywhere with him, so we left for the night and the suspect slept in a cell. Barba was going to help us build the case against him, because we had solid evidence and witness encounters that pointed right to him.

The rest of the team arrived, and Fin messed around with me as we greeted each other and got coffee. As we settled in, we began reviewing the case details and evidence, and I couldn't help but realize that I felt intantly comfortable with Barba... But I had to block that out and be professional. I would get a chance to talk to Barba later, after the case was closed.

For now, I was focused on building a case against this guy, and Barba was going to be a huge part of that... But I couldn't wait to actually talk to him after the case closed.