-DISCLAIMER-
I own none of the characters mentioned unless stated otherwise. All rights go to Dick Wolf and NBC. This story is fictional and solely for entertainment purposes. Some scenes/vocabulary may not be suitable for children. Rated M.
AN: Sentences that are in italics are Olivia's thoughts. Some words that are italicized aren't her thoughts but are just used to emphasize words.
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Never Meant for This, Chapter One - Uncrackable
It had been 2,190 days. Six years. Six years since the last time Olivia had seen, heard from, or talked to her partner- well, former partner. Six years without associating with a person that she once considered to be the only man in her life.
In the moments that led up to the six years, she learned that the tiniest of things can have the biggest impact on someone's life. On the day of the shooting in the precinct, all it took was a single, tiny bullet for her life to be drastically changed.
Elliot fired the final shot in the precinct, the shot that killed Jenna Fox. Something felt off to Olivia about this tiny bullet. Of course, she knew that it had just taken away the life of a child, but it wasn't like the feeling that she gets when someone dies in front of her. It was another feeling that really struck her. It was a feeling of expectancy like she knew something was coming, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. It wasn't long after that day that she would learn why she had felt that way.
When Cragen called her into his office, she already knew what was waiting for her behind those walls. She didn't want to believe it, but she subconsciously knew. He hasn't been back in weeks. She knew that when she closed the door, her captain would tell her that the partner- her partner that she had spent 12 years with, had left. It hadn't been a shock to her when he said those exact words, but it still hurt worse than a blazing gunshot wound as they poured out of his mouth. The words "Elliot put his papers in" still echoed in her ears, even six years later.
It took months of suppressing her heartbreak to get to a mental state that allowed her to just exist without having to think about when Elliot would call her, or even send her a letter, every other second. She never knew the real reason as to why he never returned her calls or text messages, but she had thought that it fell in between the lines of not wanting to come back to the unit and not wanting to face her. She didn't know the exact reason, but she understood it. Some of it, anyway. And after six years of waiting for some sort of communication from him, she had finally given up her hope.
-May 3rd, 7:35 pm, 16th Precinct-
The entire precinct was assigned a case a week ago that she expected to be easily solvable. It was the rape of 24-year-old Amelie Santiago, the daughter of a very wealthy power couple in the acting industry. Amelie just happened to be outside of the wrong club, at the wrong time and was possessed with very bad luck. It was reported that two men who worked at the club drug her inside, locked themselves in a room, and raped her. She wasn't able to get a good look at the perps so a line up was out of the question, and the only thing that they had to go off of was a post-trauma recollection of the occurrence by Amelie.
For a week now, Olivia, and the rest of the department have been trying to find a single lead, but have come up with absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Not one piece of evidence or print was found from the crime scene and the rape kit came back negative for any fluids. It's almost as if the rape had never happened. Isn't it funny how something as tiny as a bit of evidence could have changed the course of the entire case?
The guys that they were dealing with weren't amateurs, they've attacked before. What's to stop them from attacking again? Not only has she not slept in over 24 hours, but she hasn't felt this frustrated with a case since, well, Lowell Harris. After running out of options, she decided to visit the hospital one last time to make sure that she had gotten all of the details from the attack.
-May 3rd, 8:00 pm, NYC Hospital-
Just as she flashed her badge to the obviously sleep deprived nurse at the desk, she heard an obnoxious amount of shouting coming from Amelie's room. Dropping her badge in her back pocket, she ran to the source of the violent screaming. When she opened the door, she found two people that she had recognized from somewhere. Maybe a magazine, or even TV? She could only assume that these were the "famous" parents (with the "boatload" of money) that continually threatened the entire NYPD. These pricks again, she thought with an eye roll.
She couldn't quite make out what they were saying because of the intensity and speed that the words were flying out of their mouths, but she did pick up the phrases "it's your fault" and "you shouldn't have been out so late." All it took were the words "your" and "fault" to immediately infuriate Olivia. Victim blaming was the one thing that could send her blood boiling within milliseconds. Being the product of a rape, she knew it was never the victim's fault and she intended to make sure Amelie's parents did too. At almost the speed of light, she walked up to them, and like flowing lava, spit the words, "and I suppose she was asking for it too? If you wear a short skirt and a skimpy shirt, are you implying that you want to be raped?" Mr. and Mrs. Santiago instantly became even more enraged and began to direct their already fueled anger at Olivia instead of Amelie. "Didn't think so," Olivia replied.
Amelie's father appeared to take the most offense from Olivia's words. "Who the hell do you think you are, barging into our private conversation with our daughter?" Knowing she was going to have to fight fire with fire, she went against her better judgment and sarcastically replied, "I'm detective Olivia Benson of the Special Victims Unit. And you are?" Again, Mr. Santiago took most of the blunt force of this smart-ass comment, and irritatedly said, "Olivia, I don't think you have the right, nor the authority to talk to the parents of the victim like that. I don't think your supervisor would appreciate hearing about how his detective wasn't condoling. I'd highly recommend you stay in your place before things get ugly." His comment gave her the upper ground, and the ammo that she needed to win this raging battle. "First of all, I'd like to correct you on a few things. You have no right to talk to a child like that, whether she is or isn't yours. Secondly, you can call me Detective Benson. And lastly, threatening a cop can get you a year in lockup. I'd suggest that you stay in your place before things get ugly." Her final comment seemed to settle as perfectly as she had hoped because Mr. Santiago retreated from the battleground and waved his white flag faster than a bolt of lightning. Whoever said you couldn't fight fire with fire?
"As much as I'd love to talk with both you and your parents, Amelie, I think you might be more comfortable if they step outside while I ask you some questions." Amelie nodded her head in agreement, without a single bit of protest visible in her eyes. "Would you step out, please?" She watched with immense pleasure as both of her parents stepped out into the hallway, anger still obvious in their body movements.
She directed her attention back to Amelie and pondered upon how two parents like Amelie's could make such a passive and sweet person. "We weren't able to find any fluids or prints left at the scene, so we are going off of the information that you gave us. Would you mind running through your statement with me one more time, just to make sure we have everything correct? Also, if you remember anything from the night that I don't mention while we are talking, don't hesitate to tell me." Olivia watched her eyes become visibly frightened at the thought of recollecting the night's events, but her body still remains relaxed. "Sure, I don't mind. Anything I can do to help."
Amelie went through her story once more and nothing had changed. It was an exact match to her original statement, almost word for word. No details were added or revoked. Back to square one.
Olivia decided to head back to the precinct, hoping that when she arrived the squad would have made a major break in the case, and that she wouldn't have to suggest they do the only option that was foreseeably left in her opinion.
-May 3rd, 9:35 pm, 16th Precinct-
She walked into the precinct and saw that her desk had been filled with slips of paper. She looked questioningly at Fin, who was now situated in the desk across from her. He gave her an unamused sigh and gestured toward his own stack of slips on his desk. She picked up a piece and realized that it didn't take a genius to know that they were useless tips from the public. She already knew that some would claim that they saw Amelie voluntarily go with the men, and others would say that they knew God would never allow someone to be attacked and that she must be lying. Olivia sat down with a thud, returning Fin's unamused sigh.
-May 3rd, 10:25 pm, 16th Precinct-
Once going through the last of the tips that were called in, as expected, they found nothing. "I don't think we're going to get anywhere if we keep approaching it like we are," Olivia said to Fin, frustratedly. Looking up briefly to stretch, she saw that Cragen was approaching her desk; obviously just as frustrated with the case as she is. "What the hell do you suggest we do then, Olivia? I've got the whole precinct working on this damned case and we haven't come up with a single lead. Any suggestions that you have would be highly endorsed."
She thought about what the best way to phrase these words would be, but couldn't think of an easy way to put them. "Don, I think you should send me undercover. I can try to lure the bastards out if I repeat the moves that Amelie Santiago did the night of her attack." Cragen suddenly became stone-faced. She knew that he was thinking about what had happened the last time he sent Olivia undercover to try to lure a rapist out of hiding. She also knew that he was going to be extremely hesitant about doing it again.
"The only way we are sending you, or anyone else in, is if there are absolutely no other options. I'm not gambling one of my most decorated detectives if there is another way." After her talk with Amelie, she knew that there weren't any alternatives. "Like you mentioned, the whole department has been working this case for a week and there hasn't been a single break. I think it's the only way to get the perps who did this. If we don't catch these guys soon, they may attack again."
She watched as Cragen simply shook his head. There wasn't disagreement present in the shake, solely acknowledgment. He too understood that this was the only way, but he had experienced too many undercover operations gone wrong for him to feel comfortable with another one. After a few moments- a few too many for comfort- he doubtfully said, "Alright, I'll talk to 1PP about this and get all of the finer details worked out. Olivia, I can't promise you anything, but it's likely that you will be the bait of the operation. If you aren't comfortable with that, you need to let me know." She shook her head as confidently as she could, even though her stomach was churning from the inside out. The only thing that she could think about throughout their whole conversations was her last undercover situation where she was the bait. Lowell Harris was the sole words that she could hear in her head.
Just as Cragen had started back to his office, he turned around to Fin, pulling Olivia out of her string of relentless thoughts and said, "Detective, you're going in with her as well. If anything happens, you pull her out of there immediately." Fin gave his usual "Yes, sir," and quickly refocused his attention to the stack of informational, or rather non-informational tips that lay on his desk. This is going to be a long night, she silently thought to herself. She sat down at her desk with another thud, pointlessly attempting to shuffle through her own stack of tips again.
-May 3rd, 11:20 pm, 16th Precinct-
After reading and re-reading the endless piles of tips, she finally decided to call it a night. The only thing that she had been thinking about all night was the wine and comfy sweatsuit that had been calling her name. She reached down, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door. Just as she was passing Fin's desk, he stopped her and said, "Liv, I know that you really want to catch this guy, and so do I, but I don't want to see you end up dead because of it." She knew that Fin was just looking out for her and she really appreciated it, but she also felt confident that the operation would go well. Even if it didn't, what did she have to lose? Elliot was gone, and so was her mom. The only family that she had left was a half-brother, but she hadn't seen him in years. Last she heard, he was somewhere in New Jersey. "I'll be fine, Fin. Cap' will make sure that it goes off without any problems." He seemed weary but satisfied with her answer. "Alright, I've always got your back no matter what. Do you need a ride home? I was just about to head out myself."
"The same goes here, and yeah, thanks. I'd love a free ride home."
"Cheap-ass," he replied back sarcastically. She simply took the insult and laughed it off because after all, he was giving her a free ride home.
-May 3rd, 11:55pm, Olivia'sApartment-
"Thanks for the ride, Fin. See you tomorrow," she said with a light smile. "No problem Liv. Just so you know, you owe me a coffee for this." She laughed and replied, "Don't I always get the coffee?"
"Yeah, because the last time I tried to be nice and satisfy your urge for coffee, I almost got killed," he said with a laugh. She still felt a bit guilty about the morning that Fin got shot, but she laughed along with him anyways. "Night, Liv." She watched as he pulled off onto the dimly lit street, and then headed up to her apartment.
-May 4th, 12:04 am, Olivia's Apartment-
When she entered her apartment and locked the doors, she began to think about the events of this past week and how it has been the craziest week in a while for the squad. The few weeks prior to this case had been filled with the occasional parent worried that their child was being abused by the ex-spouse (all of which weren't), and calls to scenes of sexually induced murders. People would be surprised at how many of those cases I have, she thinks to herself. She knows that it was selfish of her to wish that the speed would pick up around the precinct, but she's also happy that she isn't confined to unofficial desk duty anymore.
-May 4th, 12:55 am, Olivia's Apartment-
Red wine never seemed to be strong enough to wash away the days' events, but if she continued to drink it the way she is right now it might do a little more than wash away memories. 2 glasses are enough, she thinks as she struggles against the glass to drain the rest of the scarlet-colored drink into her mouth. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable in the clothes that she's wearing, she decides to change into something a little more appropriate for the evening.
Heading into her room, she grabs a pair of pajama shorts from her dresser and a hoodie from her closet. She grabs the gray, worn hoodie, and brings it up to her nose to smell it. Elliot is the sole word that crosses her mind. She remembers the night that he left it at her house. They were going over a case in preparation to go on the stand the following day and just as Elliot was leaving, she looked back to the couch and saw the hoodie sitting there, but he was already out of the door when she turned around to give it to him. When she brought it to work the next day to return it to him, he told her to keep it. She never knew how much she really needed the hoodie until Elliot left, it's her safety blanket, and it makes her feel like he's still here.
Being abruptly thrown from her thoughts by a noise coming from her phone, she angrily picks it up and reads the screen. Her battery had low power, but that wasn't the thing that startled her the most. The names Cragen and Fin appeared on her screen with the words 12 Missed Calls next to them. Springing from the couch that she was now situated on, she ran to her bedroom and plugged her phone in. This many calls could only mean two things. One, the squad had made a major break in the case, and two, something else- something terrible has happened. She hesitantly called Cragen back, counting the rings that she heard before he picked up. It only took 2 rings for him to pick up the phone, and she automatically knew that something was wrong.
There were just 5 treacherous words following his picking up of the phone. "Olivia, we have a problem."
I knew the evening was going too smoothly. This city never sleeps.
I knew it.
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Authors Note (AN): I want to thank my lovely beta readers for helping me out with this chapter! It wouldn't be nearly as good without them, so thank you to Alicia, Rachel, Eileen, and Aliza for all of your help!
(I also want to thank my best friend, Abbie, for sitting through the pain of not understanding what I was talking about while she was beta-reading this for me because she doesn't watch SVU very often. She was my beta before I reached out on social media and found 4 amazing people who have become my new betas, so thanks again Abbie for bearing with me :))
