"You have the right to remain silent," Captain Jeffries said. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

This was ridiculous. It was hard to believe he was actually having his Miranda rights read to him as he waited for the inevitability of him being handcuffed and dragged out of here. This felt like a bad joke.

"Ever hear of professional courtesy?" Benson said. "Barba didn't do this, Ben."

"You have the right to an attorney," Captain Jeffries continued, not taking his eyes off Rafael.

"You could have picked up a phone," Benson continued. "Arranged a surrender. But that would have deprived you of your dog and pony show."

He appreciated what they were doing, but Rafael honestly just wanted this mess over and done with. He wanted them to just let him go to booking with at least a modicum of his dignity intact. That was looking more and more like a pipe dream, however.

"Don't say anything to the rat squad, man!" Fin said.

He fought not to roll his eyes. Honestly... it wasn't as if he wasn't a senior ADA who knew exactly how this worked or anything. He did know they were trying to be supportive in their own way, but seriously... Dios me ayude.

"Do you understand your rights?" Captain Jeffries said.

"Yes." Rafael couldn't hide the disdain in his voice. This was absolutely ridiculous. "Liv, call Calhoun."

Rita Calhoun and himself had a very complicated relationship but still they had mutual professional respect and Rita was damn well good at what she did. She'd also move mountains to prove his innocence as a prosecutor.

He had a feeling he was going to need that. Badly.

"Where are you taking him?" Benson said.

"Central Booking," the man said. "You know the drill."

As the Captain led him out he made sure to hold his head high. He wouldn't fight the arrest, but he was damn well not going to show Jeffries any shame. He'd done nothing wrong. It was all some stupid misunderstanding.

At Central Booking, Rafael was quickly processed and then was handcuffed to a bench, waiting for DA Rita Calhoun to finally arrive.

Getting processed had to be one of the most humiliating things Rafael had experienced to date and even though he knew the charges were nonsense, there was now a mugshot of him... if that got out to the media... He also felt the officers were dragging it out, just for the hell of it.

He'd had time to briefly confer with Rita before being dragged off to arraignment court. Rita was trying to move quickly and to keep things as quiet as possible. He wasn't sure how well she'd succeed, in the end, but appreciate the efforts nonetheless.

At arraignment court, he found himself being arraigned for rape one. He pled not guilty but when the judge heard bail it went less smoothly than he would have liked. The special prosecutor, Michael Cutter, asked for remand. Rita countered that ROR was more appropriate, citing that Rafael had served in the DA's office for over two decades and had significant ties to the community being born and raised there.

The prosecutor wasted no time in mentioning that Rafael had the money to flee, his paycheck what it was, and had the same significant ties to Cuba as a large portion of his family was still in Santa Clara and he'd made the trip down there several times.

The judge set bail at $250,000 and Rafael was to be held for trial until bail was posted.

The entire thing was a mess.

He hadn't known how he was going to come up with that money, even with the rather high paycheck he got as a senior ADA, but then Rita came to tell him that Liv had signed his bond. Apparently, the entire team and even Rita herself had pitched in to cover his bail.

Thankfully, as they signed the bond they only had to front 10% or he had a feeling they wouldn't have been able to get him out at all. He had been forced to surrender his passport, however, but that didn't bother him particularly. He hadn't intended to flee, so it didn't change much for him.

And he really didn't want to be behind bars with the COs still holding a grudge. That was basically a death sentence in and of itself.

He still felt absolutely horrid though. He appreciated the gesture but didn't want them putting themselves in a bad situation.

He shook his head. If he got out of this mess he'd make sure to pay them all back.

He was just happy he'd been let out of their rather quickly. He'd felt absolutely humiliated, however, when people kept giving him strange looks as he made his way out of the building, just wanting to go leave and preferably get completely drunk.

Yes, several glasses of scotch would really help right now.

"Where do you want me to drive you to?" Liv asked.

"Pick a bodega," he said with a snort.

"Why?"

"I'm out of scotch at home."

She sighs. "You're coming to my house."

"So, I'm a hostage now?"

"If your plan is to go get completely drunk, yes," she said. "I'm not letting you do anything stupid." She paused. "I do, however, have some scotch at my apartment from the last time you were there. You can have a glass or two, but that's it."

Honestly, at this point, he didn't even care. "Fine."

Feeling weary, he doesn't put up a fight when they finally arrive and Liv leads him to her apartment.

Lucy said her goodbyes and then after a bit of awkward silence, Liv poured them both a drink.

He was thankful that Noah was already asleep. He wasn't feeling up to facing the little boy right now. He loved Noah. He was as good as his nephew, but he didn't want the boy to see him like this. Heck, he didn't necessarily even want Liv to see him like this.

"I didn't do this, Liv," he said. "I could NEVER do that to another human being. I'm many unpleasant things, a cocky asshole being chief among them, but -"

"I know, Rafa," she said, cutting him off. "The entire team believes you're innocent. You've just got to fight this."

"It just makes no sense," came his reply after a moment. "Who would make up an accusation? Moreover, the department doesn't just arrest their prosecutors with no evidence."

"Do you have a solid alibi or was it just one of those evenings you took your files home and worked late?"

"I was with my mother," he said. "I was at her place. It's just... depending on the evidence... the correctional officers hate me, Liv. If it's a 'he said she said', I stand a very good chance, but if any thought went into actually framing me..."

"Do you know the victim?"

"Not in the slightest," he said. "I've never had any contact with anyone named Catalina Lopez that I know of. The name means nothing to me."

"I'll see what I can find out," she said with a sigh. "I also want to look into those threats you received a while back."

"With Heredio?"

"Yes," she said. "We never found whoever he was working for."

"See if you can find out who some of her relatives are," he said with a sigh. "I've been around the block enough times that between the job and growing up in the South Bronx I might recognize a name or two. Although, even if I do, I'm not sure how much help it'll be."

"Well, it's a start," she said.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For everything."

She sighed. "I'm going to go make the couch and then you're going to try and get some rest."

"I hate this," he said. "I could go to prison for something I didn't even do, and then even if I'm cleared, I'm not going to come out of it smelling like roses. My reputation will be in shambles. And if there's any doubt, the bar association could disbar -"

"Don't catastrophize," she said softly. "I'll be right back. You really do need some rest."

"Like I'll get any," he grumbled.

"You and me both, Rafa."