Set in my own SVU universe. Mostly follows/mirrors the real series. All street names are made up.

...

MARCH 21ST 10:06 PM

TAKAHASHI RESIDENCE

"You're a little bitch, you know that?" Ren Takahashi slurred.

His wife cowered in the corner of the room, trapped. "Ren, please, you have to calm down." She made sure to keep her voice quiet as not to anger him further.

It didn't work. He growled and waved the bottle in his hand around before pointing it at her. "You think I'm stupid, don't you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Wearing a skirt to work, even shaving your legs! Who were you trying to impress?"

"Ren, you don't understand. All my pants were in the wash—"

"Shut up! You're a little whore." He leaned closer to her until their breaths intermingled. She gagged at the pungent smell of alcohol wafting from his mouth. "If you keeping dressing like a whore, you're going to be treated like one. You know what men do to whores, don't you?"

Her eyes were as wide as saucers but she squeezed her mouth shut. "Didn't you realize how distracting your clothes were?" His voice choked up as if he was in pain. "I'm only trying to protect you, baby. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"Ren, I know you are and I'm—"

"Liar!" He shrieked.

"No, I'm not lying! Ren please let me explain!"

"You're a liar." He muttered. "And I don't like liars." His arm, and the bottle, were in the air. Ready to deliver swift, unexpected punishment.

Before she could respond,

Before she could scream,

The glass was colliding with her head.

And then there was black.

MARCH 24TH 6:28 AM

SVU STATION

Olivia Benson stared at the mile high stack of papers towering above her. There had been a flurry of intense rape cases she'd taken charge on, leaving little time for anything else.

She was backed up on paperwork.

She took one sheet off the stack and grabbed a pen, ready to dive in. "Name of department…SVU…"

"Lieutenant."

Her head shot up, eager to do anything but all these papers. "Carisi." Seeing him was like a breath of fresh air. "You need something?"

He nodded, stepping aside as a woman appeared from behind him. Her hair looked like a bird's nest and her cheeks were tear-streaked.

"Hello Lieutenant," She rasped, her voice like gravel. She sounded as if she had been screaming for a long time. "Can I talk to you?"

Olivia shoved the paperwork out of sight. "Of course. Come and sit down." She nodded at Carisi who took the cue and left, closing the door behind him.

"What can I help you with?" She asked, keeping her voice low.

"My name is Harper Takahashi." Olivia took a legal pad and pen, nodding as she wrote down the information. "And last night I was in the parking lot. And he just came and he—" Her voice caught in her throat and she shook her head as tears burst from her eyes.

Olivia nodded. "Take your time."

"It was quiet…and then…and then he was behind me..." She groaned before slamming her fist on the table.

Olivia flinched but made sure to keep her expression understanding.

"He raped me." She clawed her hands through her hair, as she choked on sobs. "He got me…he got me…" Her voice quieted to a whisper.

Olivia scribbled Harper Takahashi, hoping she spelled it right, a dash, and then raped.

"I know who did this to me." She murmured darkly.

Olivia blinked. It wasn't often that a victim knew who the assailant was. "Who was it?"

"My husband. Ren." Her face was scrunched in agony.

"How do you know it was him?" She wrote Ren and husband on the pad as well.

"Two…no…three days ago he was angry at me. I wore a skirt to work…"

Olivia's stomach clenched into a tight ball as she anticipated Harper's next words: He was drunk. He hit me. He called me a whore.

"He was drunk…"

Check.

"He was angry… he hit me…"

Check.

"But…but before that…" Harper's hands were vibrating against the desk. "It's cold in here. It's cold in here right?"

Olivia had met many rape victims in her lifetime. Some of them internalized their suffering. Some expressed their pain openly.

Others unraveled.

Olivia took off her coat and offered it to Harper who snatched it. She shuddered. "Before that…he said…he said women who dressed like whores…"

Olivia leaned in a little, awaiting Harper to finish.

"Got treated like whores. You know what men do to whores don't you?" Her voice had taken on a sarcastic, mocking tone.

Check.

Harper shook her head as if a fly was buzzing around her. "He raped me because I was a whore." Her voice was crying.

"Harper, none of this is your fault."

"If I had just washed my pants…instead of being lazy…"

"Harper—"

"Okay!" She screamed. "I get it…it's not my fault."

Olivia decided not to push, instead going another route. "Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

"Yeah…yeah, go ahead…" She eyed the window like she was planning her escape.

"Do you have any kids?"

Harper's face squished into pure anguish again. "No…" She choked, clutching herself.

"Do you have anywhere you can go where you know you'll be safe?"

"My apartment."

"But he—"

"I know but if I don't come home on time, he'll get suspicious. Anyway, he doesn't know that I know."

Olivia realized trying to argue with Harper was pointless. "Here, at least take my card, okay? Call me if you ever need anything. Anything."

MEANWHILE

Rhya Mace stood outside the Special Victims Unit building, twiddling her thumbs.

Her new start.

Her chance to finally make a difference.

"You got this Rhya. You got this." She moved her hands to her sides and straightened herself a little. She had this.

As soon as she walked in, nobody noticed her.

The office was filled with people running around, preoccupied with their own affairs. A woman wrapped in a towel was crying as an officer assured her it was going to be alright. A police woman on desk duty, lazily spun a pencil around her fingers. A man was running across the room carrying a stack of papers.

Woah, sensory overload.

She loved it.

"Hey. Amanda Rollins. You must be Rhya."

She turned around to see a blonde woman smiling at her. She held out her hand. "Oh…uh hi…"

"Are you gonna leave me hanging?" She raised an eyebrow.

Rhya laughed as she shook her hand. "Sorry…"

"It's alright. So, how you liking New York?"

"Hey, you want cannoli?" She flinched as a man too young to have grey hair approached them. He had an almost ridiculously thick accent.

"Uh…"

Rollins rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "This is Carisi."

"Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi Jr. at your service." He bowed.

She giggled. "Nice to meet you," She curtsied, albeit a little wobbly.

"You must be Rhya. The transfer from Little Rock. You're a small town girl, eh?"

"Little Rock isn't what I'd call a small town, given that it's the capital of Arkansas."

He raised an eyebrow. "Arkansas?"

She tried not to take his skepticism too seriously. The stereotypes about Arkansas were something she was used to. And compared to New York City, Little Rock was a small town.

"So why'd you leave anyway?"

She looked at Amanda who nodded. "Carisi, knock it off. Stop badgering her."

"It was just a question! What's wrong with being curious?"

"Curiosity killed the cat." Rollins countered half-jokingly.

"Ah." He shook his head but backed off.

"Follow me Rhya, I'll take you to Olivia. Don't mind Carisi, he's a little nosy." She chuckled at Carisi's indignant huff.

Amanda escorted her to Olivia's office and knocked as the door was locked. Rhya could see the Lieutenant talking to a disheveled looking woman. She gave Amanda a look that said Shoo please.

"Just give her a minute. She's busy."

Rhya nodded absentmindedly, watching Olivia doing her life's work. She couldn't see the woman's face but her hair looked like it had been tossed around by a tornado. Rhya could feel the anxiety seeping form the woman and through the window. She cringed, wondering what the woman had been through.

"You okay Mace?"

She smiled at the way Rollins used her last name. "I don't think I could ever handle being raped. The people you guys get here must be very strong."

"Yeah…"

After the Lieutenant wrote down a couple more notes, they got up. Olivia opened the door. "Rollins, can you take Harper to the hospital for a rape kit?"

"Um…uh…is she…?" The woman looked scared.

"Don't worry Harper, I trust her." Olivia assured. She reluctantly followed Rollins.

"Hi, you must be Rhya, come with me."

Rhya closed the office door behind her before sitting down at the desk. She noticed the intimidating stack of papers on it. "Don't worry, I'll get them done."

"Oh okay haha…"

"So, how are you doing?"

"Good, I suppose…"

"I understand you might be nervous but I can assure you that things are different here. Everyone in this building is treated equally."

Rhya's heart lurched at the direct allusion to the Little Rock PD. "I…uh…th-th-thank you…" She cleared her throat. "So, how can I help?"

"I want you to be part of this case, so you can see how we do things here."

"Really?"

"Yes."

After a bit of a silence, she spoke up. "What happened?"

"Her name is Harper Takahashi, she's a 34-year-old paralegal. She lives with an abusive husband. One day he tells her if she keeps dressing like a whore she's going to get raped. At 9PM she's leaving from work and someone catches her from behind. Holds a gun to her head before knocking her out. She comes to and she's been blindfolded and he's raping her. Then he throws her in his car, drives around for a while before throwing her out, she loses consciousness. When she wakes up and takes off the blindfold she is in the parking lot again."

Rhya stared at Olivia in horror. "Oh…oh my…oh my God…"

Olivia's gaze was sad. "I know. Trust me, I know."

...

I love writing this story so much, hopefully I'll finish it :)

Amphia234