Unreasonable Doubt

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. This story is on an AU track.

This story is rated T for mention of rape, and the entire story carries a trigger warning. Don't like it, don't read it.

This story is third in the series containing Close to Home andWithin Me, Without You. You don't need to have read those to understand this one, but there may be references and spoilers.

Chapter 1: Trust and Betrayal

Atlanta, Georgia, April 2011

"Damn!" Amanda Rollins turned the key in the ignition again, and once again, while the engine seemed to turn on, nothing happened that helped her so much as get out of the parking spot, let alone actually accomplish her goal of driving home. She stepped out of the driver's seat and dug her phone out of her pocket to call a cab. She'd worry about the tow truck in the morning.

"Car trouble?"

She jumped a mile and felt abashed even as she did so, recognizing the voice. "Sargeant Blaine!"

The veteran Georgia police officer smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"No, no, that's okay."

"It's not crazy or anything for a woman like you to be worried about the White Knight." And just like that, he'd cut to the heart of her fears.

The White Knight. A particularly vicious rapist, and one who was smart enough not to leave a whole lot of clues behind. He tampered with women's cars and then swooped in to offer them help. He'd be apparently looking at the car, trying to fix the problem, and then he'd suddenly be holding a gun on the woman. He'd force her into his car, drive her to a deserted area, and rape her. And what scared Amanda was that she fit his profile. Young women in careers that had traditionally been dominated by men, low on the totem pole for the moment but on their way up. She'd had to fight the urge to pull her gun from its holster and hold it ready ever since she realized her car wasn't starting.

"The guy we're looking for comes into the police station parking garage and tampers with my car? It may not be out-and-out crazy, but even I know it sounds paranoid when I say it out loud."

"Don't worry about it," he replied kindly. "Better safe than sorry, right? You know, if it is this guy, you don't want to be sitting around here. How about I give you a lift home and you can call a tow truck from there about your car?"

"Really? Thank you so much."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. I'm parked just over here."

She saw the lights flash on his car as he unlocked it with the control on his keys. She climbed into the front seat as he got in and started the engine.

"You look tired," he commented.

"I am," she admitted. "But unless you want to be driving all over the city at random, I think I'd better stay awake."

He laughed. "I think I can do better than that." He reached into the center compartment and pulled out a portable GPS. "Why don't you just type your address in here? Then if you fall asleep, no big deal."

She smiled even wider now. "Thank you." She quickly punched in her address, unable to believe that a veteran member of the police force was going so far out of his way to be nice to a rookie. She was asleep before the car left the garage.

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Something hit her in the arm, and she was jerked awake. In the next moment, she realized her left hand was cuffed to the emergency brake. She reached for her gun, only to realize her holster was empty.

The car was stopped, and she could see Blaine shutting it off. "This isn't funny."

"Really?" he drawled. "I think it is. You think you can be just like one of us, but all that has to happen is a little car breakdown and you come running to a man to save you. No wonder the White Knight has such an easy time of it. Except with you, it was even easier than he has it. I didn't have to force you to do anything, you did it all on your own."

Her heart was racing. She forced herself to speak calmly, evenly. "Okay. Okay, you've made your point. I was acting like an idiot. Now please, just let me go. I'll find my own way home, I won't ask for your help anymore." She shoved aside the shame she felt at denigrating herself. You're a cop, you lie to people all the time to get a result. This is no different. You're just telling him what he wants to hear.

Blaine only smirked. "It's not that easy, sweetheart. See, there's a lesson to be learned here, and I don't think you've learned it. Whatever you've deluded yourself into believing, I've got the power here now, and that means I can do what I want with you." He stepped out of the car and walked around, opening the passenger's door and reaching across Amanda to unlock the cuff from the car. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out, twisting her arm behind her back so she couldn't fight him without seriously hurting herself. He walked her to a few feet and then shoved her to the ground next to a handicapped parking sign, cuffing her hand to the metal pole. He grabbed a handful of her hair and tipped her head back to face him. "The rules are simple. If you behave yourself, you don't have to get hurt. But if you disobey me, I have to punish you. Understand?"

"Y-yes, sir," she stammered out.

"Good. That's good." Then he started to unbutton her shirt.

No, she thought silently, but fear of what he would do kept the word from slipping through her lips. She closed her eyes, but almost immediately he slapped her across the face.

"I want to see your eyes," he hissed. "Don't you dare look away from me. That slap was nothing compared to what will happen if you defy me again."

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Amanda limped out of the cab as it dropped her off in her driveway, her entire body shaking uncontrollably. She should have just called the cab in the first place, she thought bitterly. Instead she'd gotten in a car with a man she barely knew, a man she had no real reason to trust, a man who'd taken advantage of her trust by driving her to a deserted park and raping her, copycatting the MO of a man his department was hunting for. He'd uncuffed her and left her lying on the ground, throwing her gun out the window just before starting the car so she'd have no chance to use it against him. She'd called a cab as soon as she'd been able to muster the courage to get up and get her clothes back on.

She stumbled through her front door, slamming it shut behind her and locking the deadbolt. Even then she didn't feel safe. How could this happen?

Her cop's mind went immediately to the correct procedure in this case. Don't shower, keep the same clothes, go to the hospital, get a rape kit done, file a report. But even as she thought this she was shaking her head, knowing that all that would be pointless trauma. Blaine was no idiot, he'd used a condom. It would be his word against hers, and who was going to believe her?

She wanted the clothes off. The touch of the fabric on her skin was almost painful. She sprinted into her bathroom, locking that door as well before she practically tore them off. It didn't matter; she'd never wear them again. She wanted to burn them. And then she did the one thing she'd always been taught she should never do, the one thing she wanted to do most in that moment. She stepped into the tub and turned the shower on. She began to sob as the hot water pelted her body. She'd never felt so alone and helpless and terrified in her life.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

This story is one I've been working on in bits and pieces for awhile. It stems in large part from Rollins' statement in Educated Guess that "Something happened to me", and Olivia guessing that it was someone she worked with. I know her old Captain mentioned a Deputy Chief in Strange Beauty, but by the time I saw that episode (for a long time, it was the one Season 13 episode I hadn't seen) the idea for this story was pretty well cemented in my head, so I'll reconcile that in a later chapter.

A note on canon/timeline for those who missed it in Within Me, Without You or would like a refresher: pretty much everything up to Cragen's retirement is in line with canon, with the exception of some of the stuff related to Olivia's personal life. After Cragen leaves, the canon elements are applicable or not at my discretion, partly because I can't keep changing my story ideas with every new SVU episode and partly because I really wasn't a fan of the way the end of Season 15 turned out. With the exception of this prologue, this story is set entirely after Cragen's departure.

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