I do not own SVU

Chapter 2 Pit

Sleeping did not come easy in the night. All she thought about was that girl she had met earlier, Aria, and not to mention the big what if…

What if she stayed and tried to help her? What about this? That? The questions raced around in her head and she lost sleep trying to find the answer to the impossible question that she was never going to get. Georgie wasn't one to give up. She wasn't one to just accept failure as a result. The sleepless night made her think about what had happened to her. She tried to think of what she would have wanted to hear from someone. But couldn't quite imagine anything that would be different from what she already had probably heard. When she was approached by SVU not only did she, at first, refuse to press charges, she also refused to even admit that he hit her despite the obvious inflections she had all over her body. Denial could get you killed. And denial almost did get her killed. Which is why she worried about Aria so much. Her partner was probably just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. It would cause a storm that no one was prepared for. SVU might be competent, prepared, but they didn't know when it would happen, how hard it would come down, or if she would survive the next wave.

Denial could get you killed. And denial almost did get her killed. Which is why she worried about Aria so much. Her partner was probably just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. It would cause a storm that no one was prepared for. SVU might be competent, think they were prepared, but they didn't know when it would happen, how hard it would come down, or if she would survive the next wave.

Georgie had returned to work the next morning, tired, and with a cup a coffee. She was called into a surgery after rounds, and when it was time for a late lunch she got a call and she picked up her phone placing it to her ear. She shoved a bite of sandwich in her mouth before answering. "Kingston."

"Georgie, it's Olivia Benson." Georgie swallowed the sandwich in her mouth and took a quick drink of soda.

"Oh, hi. I'm at work so unfortunately, I can't come in to talk to Aria right now." she heard a shuffle of papers on the other side. "Maybe I can stop by during my break from dinner? Or would that be too late?"

"Right, actually. I'm calling to inform you that Aria was admitted to the hospital last night after she went home. She died early this morning." Georgie almost choked on the food in her mouth. She felt a black cloud loom over her. It was her fault and she felt like she could vomit. "The ADA feels that we have enough to go to trial with the evidence we have from Aria being admitted to the hospital and along with the other rapes." Benson paused before continuing, "It'll be a strong case. One where we will see this man go to prison."

"When's the trial?" Georgie asked quickly.

"Uh, I'm not sure," Benson responded. "I wanted to tell you about it before you heard it from the news. Georgie, don't blame yourself because you couldn't get through to her. Are you sure you would be up for the trial?"

"No, no." Georgie pushed away her food still feeling the black cloud over her, and nausea, despite her brain and Olivia telling her that of course, this wasn't her fault. "I… I want to be there for the trial. She had no one, right? Then I should be there. For Aria."

"Yes, it's true, Aria doesn't have any family that would be appearing in court," Benson responded back into the phone. "I just need to make sure you're not blaming yourself."

"I'm okay Olivia."

"Okay, well… I'll let you know about the trial," she said, Benson didn't quite believe that Georgie wasn't blaming herself. She wasn't wrong. They said their goodbyes and they both hung up the phone and she downed the rest of the soda before getting up from the table and throwing her trash away, practically the whole meal went into the garbage.

She felt like one of the worst people in the world. She might have had the tools to save that girl's life but she was unable to use them or had a lack of knowledge how to use them. Olivia had told her time and time again that it wasn't her fault, but to Georgie it was debatable.

Benson had trusted her to talk to Aria, get through to Aria, and what did she end up doing? Blowing it. She didn't understand how the detectives did this on a day to day basis. How they didn't feel guilty all the time and helpless was something she was never going to understand. She felt guilty from only talking to Aria once. Georgie didn't even know her last name, her partner's name that killed her, or anything else about her besides the fact that her name was Aria and that she was a victim of domestic abuse. It was different from her cases in the hospital. In the ER she sometimes only knew the patient's name and she would have to bring them up to the OR and that was the end of that. But Aria… it was something out of her hands and her control. Which was annoying; it was frustrating. Aria was in her grasp, and Georgie felt responsible because she couldn't stop it all in time.

Benson had called her later that night to tell her they would be heading to trial in a week. Georgie responded, telling her that she would be there. Despite Benson's argument that she didn't have to come, Georgie got the time and the date of when she should be there. She didn't need to be coddled. She wasn't the same weak girl who let her ex-husband beat on her.

The morning of the trial she felt sick. She had told herself over and over again what trial might be like today. Being back in the courtroom was something she wasn't really looking forward to. Her own trial was two days and it was two days too many. And now she was going back in, on her own choice. She took a breath as she stared up at the ceiling of her apartment.

In the meantime she had bought a futon, it was now in the living room. If it was up to her she wouldn't put much else in her apartment at all but if she planned on staying awhile she might as well get started. She hated shopping. Furniture shopping especially. She wasn't the greatest at interior design. It wasn't that she had bad taste, she just didn't have the patience to make sure everything looked perfect. A lot of the time she worked on impulse buys and because of that… nothing really ever matched.

Georgie pulled a black blazer over her dark red blouse. She felt weird in a blazer and pants. She wore scrubs. Not pants and a blazer. She could fit her whole closet into one suitcase. And all of her shoes into a duffel bag. Georgie loved clothes and shoes but after becoming a doctor there wasn't much need to have a ton of either. All she ever wore were scrubs. She walked into the courthouse and pulled up her hair into a ponytail before she walked into the courthouse. "Georgie," she looked over to where the voice came from and she smiled seeing Olivia. "You came." she walked with another detective and she gave him the same smile she gave Olivia. "There wasn't much time to when you came the other day, this is Detective

She walked into the courthouse and pulled up her hair into a ponytail before she walked into the courthouse. "Georgie," she looked over to where the voice came from and she smiled seeing Olivia walking towards her. "You came." she walked with another detective and she gave him the same smile she gave Olivia. "There wasn't much time for introductions when you came the other day, this is Detective Carisi," she said introducing the man with her.

"It's nice to meet you," she said nodding her head. He was tall and the accent he spoke with was thick. He reminded her of Fin when she first talked to him years ago. The spitting image of a what a cop may look like but far from a cop that would work in the special victims unit.

"Call me Sonny," he said and shook her hand.

The three of them walked into the courtroom and they sat down together next to each other, Fin and Rollins. The ADA was up in the front already scribbling something on a notepad. She looked around the room and frowned. Despite her being different, SVU being different, hell the ADA was different the courtroom where she had to talk about the beatings she took looked the same. It made her uneasy. She made fists with her hands and tried to push back those thoughts she hated. She scanned the room and looked at the ADA, well the back of his head, and wondered why

She looked around the room and frowned. Despite her being different, SVU being different, hell the ADA was different, the courtroom where she had to talk about the beatings she took looked the same. It made her uneasy and made her feel like in fact, nothing did change. She made fists with her hands and tried to push back those thoughts she hated. She scanned the room and looked at the ADA, well the back of his head, and wondered why he of all people was the prosecutor. Perhaps it was her opinion of all men now. All men were angry, maybe. Fin, Carisi, and now him. The difference was she knew Fin was empathetic. But that didn't mean he didn't look angry. Rafael Barba, she Googled last night when she heard Olivia call him Barba, was the Harvard graduate, scholarship recipient, and one of the youngest ADAs in Manhattan. Formerly of Brooklyn. Rich was practically his pheromone.

About ten minutes later the man that was Aria's boyfriend, or partner, or husband, whatever he was walked in followed behind policemen. He sat down at the table and he looked smug and she already wanted to slap the look off his face. It reminded her of Patrick's demeanor. As if he had done nothing wrong. "Opening statements." the judge said after they all rose as the judge walked in and then told them to sit back down.

Barba, the ADA, stood up and looking to the jury, "Today I'm going to show you the rape and murder of five women. Not only that but this man's fifth and final victim. Was his own wife. His own wife whom he beat bloody was a victim of domestic violence time and time again before he finally killed her." he said. "He killed all five the same way. He brutally stabbed them with a serrated knife, let them bleed out, and then dumped their bodies like they were nothing. He doesn't care. He has no remorse. This man deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. Your job is to put him there."

If she was honest she would say that after he made his speech that she had no recollection of what happened next and regretted even stepping foot into the courtroom. While her situation was not nearly as bad as these women had it, memories of her own experience surfaced with every word that came out of Barba's and the defense attorney's mouth. They yelled objection at each other every once in awhile. And she watched the judge's mouth move but she felt like she was sinking and she couldn't hear anything under the water that had flowed over her head. She scratched her arms and felt the pit in her stomach. "You okay?" she heard Benson whisper to her. She nodded her head and figured she probably looked like a crazy person. Georgie straightened up her posture and tried to pay more attention.

She tuned back into what was happening. A woman was on the stand and Barba was questioning her about the bodies. She assumed it to be the M.E. that autopsied the bodies. The talk about the cold hard facts rather than the feelings was refreshing since she didn't have to think much about how she felt herself. But it didn't last long when she had flashes of her own bruises that she used to have. The pictures might as well be pictures of herself.

"I think I need a break." she told Benson and then rose from her seat and walked out of the courtroom as fast as she could.

She made a place near the window and took a deep breath as she found it hard to breathe. She was such an idiot for coming here. Breathing was now difficult when it should have been a task that was natural. Georgie sat down on the bench and let her hair down for a moment. She shut her eyes, counted, and took deep breaths. The doors of the courtroom opened up and people poured out. She must have been out there longer than she thought. Fin started walked towards her and sat down on the bench with her. She hadn't talked to him since she came back. He was one of the detectives that arrested her husband. "You okay?" he asked looking over to her. She gave him a small smile but didn't answer. "Those pictures in there probably weren't… the easiest for you to see."

"I thought I would be okay," she told him. "But, then again… I never had to face things like this since... But it was… too much." she said shaking her head. She scratched the back of her head and she looked over to Finn who looked back at her. "I thought I could handle it."

"Don't let that scumbag have such a hold on you. You came here to support Aria right? Don't let him take that away from you." Fin said to her.

He was right. And she nodded feeling more at ease and determined to get back into the courtroom. "What happened while I was out here?" she asked him wiping away a stray tear. She hadn't even noticed that she was crying. And now she was even more embarrassed. She wasn't the victim this time she didn't have the right to be crying.

"The M.E. told the jury about how the stab wounds were all made with the same knife. And Barba told them that this knife was the knife found with that idiot's fingerprints and Aria's blood." Finn told her. "Then the defense made their horrible claims like usual and then the judge declared that we would we come back tomorrow morning."

She nodded her head in understanding. "I have work tomorrow… update me?" she asked him.

He nodded his head, patted her shoulder, and then got up from his seat and said, "Don't worry about the case too much. Barba will handle it. That guy will end up in prison." and he started to walk towards Benson. She sat there for a moment before she had got up to leave. She swallowed hard. How could she not worry about it?

Georgie pulled her ringing cell phone out of her pocket and listened as another doctor began to explain why she needed to get there that very second. She nodded her head and told them she would be on her way. The ADA emerged from the courtroom and she let out a breath of air. She made eye contact with him. Soft green eyes contrasted the hardened exterior that he gave off towards everyone. They locked eyes for what she considered a long amount of time but she looked away once she realized what she was doing. Benson walked out behind him and she noticed her as soon as she walked out of the courtroom. She put her phone away and she started to walk away from the courtroom towards the exit. "Georgie!" she heard behind her. She turned to see Benson running after her and she stopped in her tracks and waited for her to catch up. "I just want to make sure you're okay." The ADA started walking towards her and she looked back to Benson and smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine. I talked to Finn. I actually just got called into work." she told her. "There's an emergency, uh, they need another surgeon there."

"Of course, don't let me hold you up." she said and then gave Georgie a reassuring smile.

"I'll see you." she told her and then left the courthouse without saying hello or goodbye to the ADA.

Thanks fore reading :)

The next chapter will be up soon.