Sergeant Olivia Benson carelessly tossed the memo on her desk before turning in her chair and staring out the window. It was another lovely day in New York City: overcast, the gray sky reminiscent of dull chrome. Everything looked filthy and the teams of people roaming the streets far below looked like a herd of colorful ants.

She loved it. She loved everything about it. There was nowhere else in the world she would want to live.

She picked up her phone and was about to dial before thinking better of it. Noah was fine, she told herself. Her nanny was smart and reliable; Olivia trusted her. There was nothing to worry about. Still, she supposed, mothers always worried. It was just part of the job.

She smiled. It wasn't really a job, though, and had yet to feel like one, despite her overwhelming exhaustion. She adored Noah and he was just as enamored of her. She still wasn't sure she felt like a mother and not a caretaker. Her own mother had been ...

She forced those thoughts away. She was not her mother. She would do right by Noah.

She cleared her throat, stood, and stuck her head out of her office door, whistling sharply. At once her detectives - Nick Amaro, Amanda Rollins, and Fin Tutuola - paused in their brainstorming over the latest case and looked toward her.

It was still weird and uncomfortable to consider herself their superior. She didn't feel like it was true and often found it difficult to give orders. She was almost always surprised when they were obeyed, that her team respected her decisions and trusted her instincts. Cragen had slightly bullied her into taking the Sergeant's Exam. She had done well - incredibly well - and knowing he was proud of her counted for a lot.

But he was gone now. So was Munch. She missed them.

She didn't think she'd ever get over losing Elliot. She'd been lax in keeping in touch, she knew. She'd been ducking his calls. It was just so difficult to walk into the station knowing that he wouldn't be there. It was like a divorce, the dissolving of their partnership, but knew he had needed to go if he was to stay sane. Oddly, she kept in better contact with his wife. She had always felt like the third wheel or the other woman in that marriage, despite the fact that she and Elliot had never been inappropriate.

She blinked heavily and refocused, crossing into the bull pen and resting a hip against Amaro's desk. "Heads up, guys: word's come down from 1PP. As of tomorrow, we'll have two new detectives joining our team."

Fin scowled. "Why are we only hearing about this now?"

He wasn't in the mood to coddle more newbies. He was pleased with Rollins but still missed Munch. And Cragen. And Stabler. There had been too damn much turnover this past year and he didn't like it. The last thing he wanted or needed was two interlopers infiltrating their ranks, especially if 1PP was pushing the placement.

Olivia offered a half-smile and shrug. "Not my call. Apparently a day's notice should be sufficient according the powers that be."

"Assholes," Amanda darkly muttered, shuffling paperwork across her desk.

Fin shot her a proud grin.

"They just pass the detective exam?" Nick surmised. "Good for them, but how long are we supposed to be babysitting?"

Olivia raised a brow. "Not long. They might be new to us, but they've put in almost five years in Special Victims at Chicago Central."

Fin blinked. "Damn. Central's no joke. If they managed to last five years, they must be pretty solid."

"They are," she agreed. "Their closure rate is above ninety percent. So is their conviction rate."

Amanda and Nick stared.

She smirked.

"So they're already partners?" Amanda asked. "If they're so successful, why are they leaving and transferring here?"

Olivia paused. "They are partners. I don't know any specifics about the transfer, only that they apparently do everything together." She sighed. "Listen, guys, the higher-ups are pretty pleased with this coup, not the least of which is because both detectives are gay and thus lend further credence to 1PP's inclusivity campaign of the force more accurately reflecting the unique and dynamic cosmopolitan population of the City."

"Verbatim?" Nick asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm so fucking cosmopolitan that Sarah Jessica Parker has me on speed-dial," Fin drawled.

Amanda snorted and blinked back tears of laughter.

Olivia became serious quickly. "No hazing, guys. Please. These two are already on the union's radar and if they get wind of any kind of harassment with regard to sexuality, I'm telling you right now that I won't know you when IAB comes to investigate. You know they're just looking for a reason to shut us down. If you give them one, it's on you."

They gave her sober nods.

"So what do we know about them?" Nick asked. "Are they from Chicago?"

Olivia shook her head. "They're both from the same small town in Ohio. They've been best friends since their junior year in high school."

Amanda gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of shared history."

"They split up for college," Olivia continued, pulling out her notepad. "The woman is Santana Lopez. She's said to be very sharp but fiery. Has a penchant for becoming emotionally invested in her cases and not too concerned about rules or protocol."

"Gee," Fin drawled. "How will she fit in around here?"

Nick snickered.

Olivia cleared her throat. "She's intelligent, well above average, but also very street smart. She has bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Criminology from Penn State. Master's in Public Policy from Northwestern. Married to a woman named Brittany Pierce. Lopez is also a veteran. Marines."

"She see any action?" asked a curious Nick.

"Tour in Afghanistan."

"And the man?" Amanda asked.

Olivia looked down and flipped a page. "Kurt Hummel. He's ... "

"Kurt Hummel?" the other woman interrupted. "Seriously?"

Olivia paused and raised her eyes. "You know him?"

Amanda nodded. "Met him in a seminar at Quantico." She closed her eyes in thought. "The Phenomenology of Victimology."

Fin rolled his eyes.

"He's pretty smart," she added, "considering he taught the class and had written the text."

Fin and Nick blinked.

Olivia smirked. "Kurt Hummel. Extremely intelligent with an IQ well into the one-fifties. He was premed at Brown and graduated with dual degrees in Biochemistry and History. Has a Master's in Forensic Psychology, also from Northwestern. He's received CIA training in interrogation and did a stint in the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI. Unmarried; little to no immediate family. He's said to be cold and aloof, very detached in investigations. One of his COs described him as a brilliant workaholic. He's also able to empathize with victims to the extent that his former superiors questioned if he was one himself."

Amanda and Olivia shared a long look.

"As previously stated," Olivia continued, "Hummel and Lopez work well together. They refuse to work with anyone else, each threatening to walk when it was suggested by the department psychologist they be split up temporarily to ensure they weren't codependent."

"So they are codependent," Nick said.

"We all are," Amanda countered. "Who here really wants to work with someone outside the team?"

A pregnant and embarrassed silence fell.

"So how do you want to approach this?" Fin asked Olivia.

"Trial by fire. Let's see just what they're made of."