General Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU or any of its characters

A/N: This story takes place in season 18. It just appeared out of nowhere when I was driving to work and well I wanted to see where things went :) although I still have scores of other ideas still waiting to be written down haha.

The bullpen was full and bustling like any other day at the one six precinct, although, it wasn't just any day. New Years was only a few days away and the SVU team was absolutely swamped with cases ranging from simple groping in the park to full blown complicated rape cases with convoluted motives and suspects.

"Why does the New Year tend to bring out the worst in people?" Carisi huffed as he leaned back in his chair while he rubbed his temples. The Italian detective had just finished a long and painful phone call. He had the unfortunate pleasure of informing one of their victims that the DA's office wasn't going to press charges on the man who sexually assaulted her at a party due to lack of evidence. Those were some of the most difficult tasks an SVU officer had to endure, and for Carisi it wasn't even the only one of the day. The one six was working at max capacity and some of their victims suffered for it.

"I think it's the opposite of the 'new year new me' sentiment" Amanda responded from her desk as she dutifully worked on the stack of files before her. "At the end of the year, people just let go of their inhibitions and do what they have wanted to do for the past twelve months, for good or for ill" She finished, finally looking up from her work. "Why are you so surprised? This is just like any other year."

"It's not that I'm surprised, Rollins, I just... I don't know. I'm disappointed in this city. We could be so great if people just stopped hurting each other" Carisi said with a sigh. He had always been the optimistic one in the squad room and often times was made fun of because of it.

True to expectation Amanda chuckled at his response "we don't live in a utopia, Carisi, and we never will. People as a whole are greedy and self-serving. Don't rest too many expectations on others if you want to stay sane" she stated with a shrug. This was a lesson in life she learned long ago at a young age. A person can only make it or break it on their own, they couldn't trust anyone to be there not even their family, although, her hardline perspective had softened somewhat after she came to New York, and especially after she had her little girl. Amanda didn't want to have such a negative outlook, but unfortunately, the years of hurt and betrayal don't go away overnight.

"Wow, that's a very cynical outlook, Rollins. Is that really how you see the world?" Carisi asked her as he sat up in his chair and leaned forward to come closer to the blonde "After everything good you've seen in the world" he added as he pointed to a picture of Jesse on Amanda's desk.

"What about all the bad we've seen on this job" Amanda retorted back as she waved her hand at the busy bullpen around them "but I know, there are great people out there and we need to pass judgment on an individual level" she added to please him, but was aware of the truth in her own words. "Anyways, just think about this. Only a few more days left and you'll be at your mom's house celebrating the New Years with your whole family" she stated changing the subject aware of how much Carisi was looking forward to his family's party.

"I'll be there? Don't forget that you're coming as well, Amanda. My mom is expecting you and Jesse to be there" Carisi said quickly so as to remind the blonde detective that she already promised his mom that she's was going.

Carisi had invited Amanda to spend Christmas day with his family when he learned that Amanda and Jesse had no plans, he didn't want Jesse to grow up without the chance of having a doting family even if Amanda's own had rejected her. Carisi's mother had instantly fallen in love with Jesse and had no problem excepting Amanda into her home. In fact, Amanda herself had admitted to him that she had a great time. Before the mother and daughter pair had even left the Christmas party Mrs. Carisi had made sure to make Amanda promise that she and Jesse would be over to celebrate the New Years. The Italian mother really enjoyed having them over and she wasn't going to let Amanda say no.

"You mean she's expecting Jesse. The way she was doting over my little girl, I'm surprised Bella didn't get jealous that your mom wasn't only focused on her baby" Amanda chuckled as she remembered how Jesse was instantly snatched by the elder woman and fawned over.

"She loves kids and she held both babies at the same time remember. I just think ma is ready for many more grandkids and is disappointed at the slow rate her own kids are reproducing" Carisi answered her back "and besides, she really enjoyed having you there as well. I think she's trying to push us together too" he chuckled at the idea

"You think!" Amanda scoffed. The elder Carisi was anything but subtle and she made it quite obvious that she thought they would be good for each other. She was pushy but respectful, and it didn't make Amanda want to pull away like she would have normally done.

"Yeah, I know" Carisi chuckled while scratching the side of his face bashfully "my mom's a little out there, but she means well"

Before Amanda had the chance to respond a young boy of about 16 interrupted them "excuse me?" the young boy asked shyly as he shifted from foot to foot with his hands in his pockets. The lad had dusty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was almost 5'10'' with the slim build of a runner, although, he looked to be more comfortable in front of a computer screen than a track field. "I don't mean to interrupt but I was told to talk to a detective Rollins," he said nervously, his body language depicting that he didn't want to be there.

"I'm detective Rollins" Amanda answered as she stood up to introduce herself "what can I do for you?"

"I'm uh... I'm here to uh... report an assault" he stammered without making eye contact and only whispered the last word. It was clear as day to the detectives that he was nervous and wouldn't be open to taking in the middle of the bullpen.

"Alright," Amanda said in a calm and professional voice "why don't you come wait in here for a moment and I'll be right with you to talk" she finished as she ushered him inside the conference room. After situating the boy, Amanda returned to her desk to quickly save the files she had been working on and drink the rest of her coffee.

"Looks like you picked up another one" Carisi offered her a refill but she declined.

"Yep, I just hope that it's a simple case," she said as she headed back into the room to speak with the nervous boy.

Amanda entered the room and noticed how the boy didn't look up at her. She sat quietly across from him and let him get used to her presence before she asked him his name and what he had wanted to speak with her about.

"My name is Dillan Ross, I'm a Junior at Cheseray Academy" he admitted after finally gathering the courage to look Amanda in the eyes "what I need to say is... uh... look please don't tell my dad. He'd be so disappointed"

"How about you tell me what happened and then we'll see if we need to tell him or not" Amanda offered. She knew that they would have to speak with his father because he was a minor, but she didn't want him to leave. Dillan nodded while biting his lip. "Dillan, hun. Would you like me to get you something to drink before you continue" Amanda asked and the boy nodded quickly. His throat was becoming very dry.

The blonde detective left and returned all in the span of a minute. Once Dillan had the bottle of coke in his hands he held tight onto it and used it to ground him. "I went to a party last night, a party I shouldn't have gone to at a sorority house. There was drinking and drugs... but I didn't do any of that okay. I would lose my scholarship to Cheseray" he added frantically and Amanda simply nodded.

"Anyway, there were two girls. They are in their 20's and really hot" he said with a shameful blush. "The guys from the school I went with... they were pushing me to talk with them but I didn't need to they approached me. After talking for a bit I walked with them to their room upstairs. I only went because the guys were egging me on and said I would be a faggot to turn them down"

"They're wrong you know," Amanda said gently "you have every right to turn people down, and that holds no bearing on your sexuality"

"I know that, but it doesn't really matter in high school," Dillan said with disdain, and it became obvious to Amanda that the poor boy had trouble with his peers at school. "When we got to their room, I asked them if we could just chat. I told them that I didn't want to do anything" he returned back to telling Rollins about his assault. "They laughed at me and called me cute. They didn't listen and... they tied me to the bed and... and..." tears were streaming down his eyes. Dillan was having trouble speaking.

"It okay, Dillan, take you time" Amanda offered as she reached her hand out and held onto the young boy's. That's when she saw the bruising on his wrists. "Dillan, did they do this to you?"

He nodded as he pulled his hand back and wiped away his tears "I fought them after they had me tied. I should have fought harder, but I didn't want to hurt them. I guess I just froze"

"It's alright, that happens more often than you would think," Amanda said trying to comfort him "Do you know their names?"

"Yeah, it's Jessica Morris and Shara Terris" he answered her

"You did good coming here, not many people are brave enough to report their own assault" Amanda told him with an encouraging smile "but Dillan, I think we need to tell your Dad about this, he would want to know"

"No, please. I came here so maybe you guys could talk to them. Tell them that they can't do stuff like that anymore so no one else goes through what I did. I don't want to cause trouble." Dillan said in a pleading voice.

"Dillan, you're not causing trouble. Jessica and Shara did wrong, they're the ones in trouble, not you" Amanda tried to comfort him but the young boy didn't seem to agree. The shame in his eyes was evident to the elder blonde who could sympathize with his situation. "You're embarrassed to tell him?" she asked

With a small nod Dillan looked up from his cold drink in his hands and made eye contact with her "I was so stupid, I could have done so many things different. I mean, I'm a guy. Guys don't get... they don't get assaulted like that. We're supposed to like it"

"That's not true Dillan," Amanda said softly "you are free to choose who you sleep with, and men are even allowed to not want to have sex with every woman who looks their way. It's that kind of stereotype that makes men extremely vulnerable to these types of crimes and allow their rapist to continue to walk the streets and victimize others again". Dillan had flinched when she said the word rapist and it didn't escape the notice of Amanda.

"So you're saying that it would be my fault if they raped another guy?" he asked timidly

"No, honey, no. You are no responsible and it's ultimately your choice if you choose to testify or not..." she paused and once again took his hand. "but, take it from someone who's been in your situation before. If you don't speak out against them, you will be looking over your shoulder in every dark corner, and in the end, you may come to regret your decision but by then it would be too late to do anything about it"

Dillan was quiet for several seconds as he digested her words "so you've also been..." he let the word trail off, not wanting to associate that act with anyone at the moment. Amanda gave a gentle nod as a reply. "Um... okay. You can call my Dad, I'll do it" he said nervously

"Okay that's great Dillan," Amanda said proudly at his bravery. She pushed over a pen and paper for him to write down his father's name and number. "When your Dad gets here, we'll send an officer to take you to the hospital to test for DNA and to document your injuries" she explained the next step for him.

"DNA?" Dillan questioned "like from the assault... from when they..." he looked back down at his drink before he swallowed hard and continued again "does it matter that I took a shower already?"

"You showered?" Amanda repeated but did not let her disappointment show "that's alright, Dillan, we can still get them with many other factors. Can you also write down the names of the people you went with to the party, we'll want to know what they saw"

With that all done, Amanda left the room to give the information to Carisi so he could contact the father while Amanda looked up the girls Dillan had named. Carisi returned a few minutes later and stated that the boy's father was on his way, he didn't give him many details only that the boy was waiting for him at the precinct. Amanda asked him to keep Dillan company as she finished looking up the girls and the sorority.

"You would think college students would spend less time partying and more time actually attending their classes" Amanda spoke aloud as she looked through the pictures of the girls Facebook account.

"Half the kids who go to college only go for the parties, Rollins" Fin responded as he entered the bullpen with Olivia and startled his partner. "We got a new case? Or did you just decide to look up the half naked pictures of two random college girls" he asked jokingly

Olivia walked behind her desk and leaned in to see the screen better "so are these our victims?" she asked wanting the details

"No, actually they're our rapist" she responded as she turned to face them

"No kidding?" Fin said with surprise "we'll I guess equal opportunity means hot girls can also be rapists" he added almost jokingly but toned it down at the scowl he received from Olivia.

"Our victim in the interview room?" Olivia asked Amanda as she jutted her thumb towards the door that held Carisi and the boy on the other side.

"Yeah, Carisi is keeping him company until his father gets here. You know how good he is with kids" Amanda explained

"He's only good with them because he acts like one" Fin smirked at the expense of Carisi

"Says they grown man that play with video games" Olivia rolled her eyes

"Hey those have very deep plots and story lines," Fin said in his own defense

It was at this moment that Carisi returned from the interrogation room. "Hey guys, your back," he said in greeting to his fellow detective and boss. "Rollins, Dillan is in the restroom if you wanted to look for him" he explained "and I think he has a crush on you" he quickly added with a smirk.

Amanda was about to respond to Carisi until another voice broke through the bullpen "my name is Todd Ross. I was told my son is here?" everyone turned at the sound of the frantic man's voice. They saw a blonde man in his mid-fifties who looked worried and in distress. Quickly Carisi walked over to him and introduced himself. "Your son is alright, Mr. Ross. He's in the restroom right now" he explained as he began to lead the man towards the restroom to see his son.

"Is he in trouble? Whatever Dillan has done, I'm sorry. He's a good kid. He's all I have left in this world. Please don't take him away from me" Ross pleaded to Carisi.

Throughout this scene, Amanda stood frozen. She had quickly sprung to her feet at the sound of the man's voice but afterwards had not even moved to breath. Her face became noticeably paler and she seemed to have swayed as if she would faint at any moment. All of this didn't escape the notice of Olivia. "Rollins? Are you okay?" the elder woman asked as she placed her hand on Amanda's back to steady her. Amanda didn't respond so she tried again "Amanda, can you hear me?"

At Olivia's words, Mr. Ross stopped in place and turned sharply at Olivia and Amanda. He stared at the two intensively and slowly took one step closer. Then sudden recognition appeared on his face "Ma..." he stuttered as he took another step closer "Mandy?" he finally said with pure shock on his face.

The sound of her old nickname from Ross's lips seemed to snap Amanda out of her daze. She was able to take a shallow breath before quietly answering "Daddy?"

A/N: Was that a twist? :) I wanted to play out a scene where Amanda was randomly reunited with her father who seemed to have moved on and started a new family. Please tell me what you guys thought of this, I always appreciate any feedback. Thanks for reading.