Into Folklore | W. Halstead

Olivia

The Chicago police department wasn't for the faint of heart. Not with how the city was run. Not when there were cases pawned off to the intelligence unit weekly of kids dying, missing or killing one another. It just wasn't for everyone. Half of the people Olivia went through the police academy with, dropped out before their graduation.

Half of that half, didn't make it their first year. And the half of that half? Barely made it to their second. She was one of the few to stay in the game. Working her way through all the duties of the officers downstairs in their blues, took the detectives exam, passed best in her class and her papers were on Hank Voight's desk by the next week.

Did she mind leaving Trudy's watch downstairs? Not really, even though the sergeant had a soft spot for her did not mean she wasn't still a hardass. But being upstairs just felt more... regal. And honestly everyone in the department knew that. Intelligence was everyone's endgame. Even though there were only a handful of seats available.

That change was five and a half years ago, intelligence going through even more changes than you could count since then. Ones that most of the crew got stingy when asked about. Olivia most of all. Her luck wasn't all it was chopped up to be no matter how many arrests she had gotten under her belt.

"I'm just saying, there's some sort of partner falling in love curse in this bullpen so do not even think about it Kev," Olivia held a warm coffee cup in her hands as she and her partner, Kevin Atwater, made their way upstairs for the morning.

They'd been partnered up for the last two years. First changing when Voight decided to kick Lindsay to Jay's desk and new to the crew Atwater to hers. Not that she minded, being the first one to get her hands on the newbie was exactly how she would have wanted it. "I mean this with the most respect Liv, you got nothing to be worried about," He split from the raven haired girl to sit at his desk, putting his own cup down.

"You're not my type," Kevin winked at her, obviously messing with her when he asked her to be his date to some hang out his neighbor was having. "But honestly, you should still come by. As a friend, partner at least. Carl cooks up some mean burgers." He leaned back in his chair, looking over at the girl.

Olivia's desk was closest to the stairs, everyone having to pass by it to get to theirs. None did without either, petting the small cat paper weight she had in the right corner most days or poking the plush cactus that sat on the opposite side.

There was even a worn mark on the cat's nose from where they touched. She honestly forgot who had started it, in all honesty it might have been Jay. Yeah, his first day up there he stopped and looked at it before complimenting it and stroking the nose.

That of course was followed by weeks of (playful) bullying by Antonio. Liv never joined in, simply shook her head and mouthed a sorry each time, Jay waving it off as it never got under his skin.

But now it was usual and as the team swept through the bullpen each of them swiped a quick rub across the little guy's nose and Olivia simply smiled. Now, she wasn't an optimist, nobody in their right mind would call her that but she was someone that had more joy in them than most could stand.

She always had her hair plaited, either two down her back or one tossed over her shoulder. A different colored elastic every shift, whatever matched the shirt under her leather jacket. Usually it was a green but it was sometimes traded for a blue or red. Very rarely a yellow.

"Alright, we're still looking for Franklin Gomes. He hasn't been to any of his LKA's since we last saw him on Friday. I want to nail his ass as soon as possible. We need his drugs off these streets." Voight had his hands crossed over his chest at the front of the bullpen. The usual spot he took when expecting the others to have something, anything.