Objection | SVU

Chapter 2

It had been around 2 months since Barba and I had started talking, and I was shocked that nobody on the team knew... I guess that Barba and I had an amazing way of separating our professional lives with our personal lives. I sat at my desk doing paperwork as the rest of the team had gone out to do a sting.

I couldn't help but think of my first 'date' with Barba. Back then, I had no clue how to interpret his sarcasm as to whether he was actually asking me on a date or not. I had no idea whether he meant the date to be romantic or about academics, but that first date proved to be both. We talked about law and about what I wanted to do with my law degree when I graduated, and I told Barba that I wasn't sure whether I wanted to stay in the SVU or apply for an attorney position in the city. He had offered to give me the names of his contacts in the city who were looking for work, but I declined, telling Rafael that I wanted to do it on my own.

That first date sparked everything.

He was sarcastic and witty, of course, but he also had a caring and sincere side that I was rather surprised to see. He was very sweet and kind, complimenting me all night and being a true gentleman. He held doors open for me, pulled out my chair at dinner for me, and was very respectful toward me.

Since then, we had grown a lot closer. I trusted Rafael, and he was very protective of me. He would either keep his hand around my waist or my arm when we went out, and he was very comfortable when it came to letting me use his shoulder as a pillow when we watched movies at my place. We were gradually getting closer and closer, and I couldn't be happier with how my relationship with Rafael was going.

*

I was sitting in the living room of my apartment writing a paper for my Criminal Law class. It was about 7:30pm, and I wasn't expecting Rafael home for a while. I was almost finished my paper, and I was determined to finish before he got home. I knew that he was working on a case, so I figured that he wouldn't be home until around 11. Whenever Rafael had an important, involved case at the DA's office, he would stay at my apartment since it was closer to his office. A few minutes later I finally finished my paper, and I printed it through the wireless printer. I stapled it all together, and I tossed it onto my laptop. I huffed a breath out in exhaustion, and I grabbed my keys and my wallet and walked down the street to a café. I got my usual french vanilla cappucino, and I walked back to my apartment building.

I unlocked the door to my apartment and entered, only to see Rafael laying on the couch in his suit, reading my paper. My face flushed as I shut the door and asked, "What're you doing?" He looked up at me, smirked, and said, "Reading your essay. What was the prompt?" I opened my mouth and whined, saying, "Rafael, you know that I like to do all of this on my own... I don't want any extra help." Rafael still held the paper in his hands- I knew that he wasn't going to let this go until he looked over my paper. He looked back down at the paper, reading it some more as he said, "I know, and I admire that about you... But just let me look it over, please?" His eyes met mine, and I knew that he would find a mistake in the paper. I reluctantly agreed, and Rafael swung his hips around so that he was sitting on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him, and I sat down next to him and put my coffee on the table. He put his arm around me and asked, "So, what was the prompt?"

I grabbed my laptop and logged into my email account that I used for school, and I found the email that my professor had emailed us with the essay prompt. I pulled up the link, and I began reading the prompt. I started by saying,

"Here's the guidelines and the instructions: For questions on and three only, refer to the following list of state statutes for all substantive crimes. For criminal law defenses, however, refer to your own knowledge under both the common law and the Model Penal Code. First degree murder is a homicide perpetrated by any kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing, or a killing proximately caused in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, a felony. Second degree murder is any murder which is committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. Voluntary manslaughter is a homicide that would otherwise be murder is committed in a sudden passion or heat of blood caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of his self-control and cool reflection, or a homicide committed recklessly. Involuntary manslaughter is a homicide committed negligently. Simple burglary is the unauthorized entering of any dwelling, vehicle, watercraft, or other structure, movable or unmovable, with the intent to commit a felony or any theft therein. Whoever commits the crime of simple burglary is guilty of a felony. Theft is the taking of anything of value which belongs to another, without the consent of the other to the taking, with the intent to deprive the other permanently of the subject of the taking. Whoever commits the crime of theft is guilty of a felony. Attempt: Whoever attempts to commit any other felony is guilty of a felony and subject to half of the penalties of the underlying felony."