Hey! Just an extremely short one-shot after "Undercover". Written in about five or so minutes. Hope you enjoy.
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It's frustrating.
So goddamn frustrating.
Why couldn't he have been there?
Why couldn't he save her?
She is staring blankly at that damn photo again.
Even though they've got the bastard in prison.
Even though it's over.
Her eyes rake it over, as if she can somehow make sense of the mess she's in.
What mess?
He wishes she would tell him what happened.
Even Fin doesn't know entirely what happened to her.
She is quieter these days.
She is covered in bruises that he is too afraid to ask questions about.
She is broken in some way, broken in an unfixable way.
He wants to tell her it will be okay.
But it probably won't be.
"Liv."
It is said softly, gently. He is trying so very hard not to startle her.
Not to hurt her more than she already has been.
It nearly breaks his heart when she jumps, spins around as if expecting a blow.
"El."
They are quiet for some time, pretending that didn't just happen.
"What happened to you?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"You're not okay."
"I'm fine." She stands up.
"No, you're not." He replies with a frown and leans against the wall. "You're not going to be unless you talk to someone about it, Liv."
"What can talking about it do?" She snaps. "I'm not some teenage victim with no experience. Some things aren't worth talking about. Nothing actually happened, so you can just drop it."
He stares at her, surprised momentarily.
"What happened, Liv?"
"He tried to rape me." She replies softly. He gets the distinct feeling that this is the first time she's admitted it aloud. Fin stands somewhere behind them, listening, judging himself because he didn't stop it sooner.
Elliot is almost glad not to be in his position.
Almost.
"I begged him not to." She doesn't seem to notice that her eyes are filling with tears. "I screamed for help and he laughed. I ran away and hid, and he found me."
Both men are silent when she begins to cry. Elliot doesn't think she's aware of it.
"He hit me. He didn't want to stop hitting me." She brushes some hair from her eyes. "I saw that damn mole."
His fists clench.
"I really thought he was going to do it." She whispers. "I… You know what he told me? If I bit him, he would kill me."
He is so angry he is nearly seeing red.
"Liv," He manages to keep his voice under control, "Why didn't you want to tell us?"
"It's pretty damn embarrassing." She snaps. "I'm a cop, I can handle myself."
With that, she storms from the desk.
She took the picture with her.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Fin asks.
Elliot doesn't answer.
He doesn't know.