A/N: Thank you so much for all the positive reviews, favorites, and follows. I appreciate any and all who are reading this. I'm sorry for not posting sooner, but I have been busy with school. I will try to put up another chapter as soon as possible, though.
Special thank you to my beta, K.E.B.123. Please head over and read her stories, they are amazingly written, and she has helped a lot with making this chapter better.
Disclaimer: Again, I own no characters seen on the show. I only own my characters.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." ~Lao Tzu
Chapter 2: The First Step
She doesn't know her name.
She doesn't know her own name.
No one's called her by her given name in years.
How could you degrade a person like that? Not letting her have a name for herself?
The fury in Elliot's eyes was prominent as he walked down the street towards his apartment, so no one dared question why a young girl with no shoes was following him through the streets. At first the girl, who was unable to understand why he was mad, thinking that anger was directed towards her, was hesitant to follow him, but she did nonetheless.
He led her into the building that housed the tiny closet of an apartment he called home. The elevator was old and creaky, and the stairs were so dimly lit that he had tripped over them many a time before. After pondering which would be best, he opted for the elevator, deciding it looked less daunting and would give her bare feet a break from all the walking she had surely done.
The silence was deafening, interrupted only by her weak coughs, which she desperately tried to hide. After being out in the cold weather with barely any clothing, she would most definitely have become sick, however she continued to conceal her coughs. He suspected it was because she lived in fear of punishment for having basic human needs.
He couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He was afraid she would think he was just trying to take advantage of her. It's not like she already thinks that, dumbass.
The two got out of the elevator when it reached his floor and walked down the dark hall until they reached his apartment. He felt paranoid as he looked around the hallway, before he unlocked the door to his tiny, one bedroom apartment. He knew his neighbors would assume the worst, and he didn't want them to get suspicious of his intentions in bringing a girl home. Why am I acting like this? I haven't committed any crime. I'm trying to help her.
But what if your neighbors see you and call the police?
They won't. I'm not doing anything wrong. Who am I kidding? This whole scenario is technically illegal. I brought her here under false pretenses. She thinks I'm paying her for sex. That's illegal, Elliot.
A loud gasp pulled him from his thought. He looked up to see the girl running around his apartment with amazement, marveling at what he knew to be cheap, secondhand furniture. There was very little that separated the kitchen from the living room, and he was pretty sure that the corner by the fridge housed a small family of rodents. His bed barely fit in the bedroom down the hall, and the shower in his bathroom was so rusty he was sure it had been installed in the 40s, and hadn't yet been replaced.
"This is where you live?" she asked, seemingly impressed.
He was unsure of how to answer. "Yes…"
"Wow. A-And it's all yours? And it has heating?!"
He shook his head, bewildered. Has this girl never stayed in a heated house before?
She stopped running around and suddenly dropped to her knees. He ran over to check on her and make sure that she wasn't hurt, when she said quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make such a fuss. Thank you for allowing me to stay here for the night, sir. I very much appreciate it, and I will be sure to make it up to you however you want."
He sighed. "What do I have to do to convince you that I don't want to use you for sex? You don't have to do anything to stay here tonight. You don't have to pay, in money or in anything else. You do not have to thank me!" By the end he was shouting, causing her to cower in the corner.
"I'm sorry, sir. Please don't get so angry. I'm really sorry. I didn't realize I had upset you so much. Please don't hurt me." Her panicked whispers became more and more difficult to hear as her breathing became more sporadic and her coughing intensified.
Elliot took a deep breath. Once he had calmed down a bit, he started to speak softly and slowly, "Okay. It's okay. Just breathe. Breathe slowly. Calm down, okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you so upset. Just calm down, okay? I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I won't get mad again, I promise. I'm sorry. Okay? Are you okay?"
She started to breathe normally again. She seemed calmer than before, and the coughing had died down quite a bit.
She's obviously sick and traumatized. What, do you just want to scare her more? Do you want her to think that you're a bastard who hurts women to get off? She's obviously scared of men, and then you go and yell at her. Great fucking job! She needs medical attention and therapy. You keeping her in your apartment and letting her go in the morning isn't going to help her. You should know what to do. You worked SVU.
What would Olivia do?
"Do you want to go to a hospital?" he asked. "They can help you. You can report this to the police…"
"No! Please don't make me go there! They're evil. They don't want to help me. They'll just turn me in for prostitution, and then I'm in big trouble. Master wouldn't like it if I was arrested. Please don't make me go." She looked at him imploringly, afraid that he would ignore her pleas and take her to the hospital anyway.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to go to a hospital. How about reporting it to the police?" At this point, he was just hoping to get her some form of help.
"No. They'll either arrest me, or just say that I was asking for it, dressing like this, asking for money, getting paid for having sex with other guys..."
Elliot was shocked. "You've been to the police before and that's what they told you?" This isn't right. If all my years at SVU have taught me anything, it's that it is never the victim's fault.
"Yeah. I mean, I guess they're right. Right?"
He shook his head. "No, absolutely not. No one has the right to be raped, or forced to do something they don't want to do. It doesn't matter what clothes you were wearing, if you were drunk, unconscious, if you said yes and then changed your mind, if you're getting paid. It doesn't matter. If the guy doesn't stop after you say no, it is rape, it is sexual assault. It is a crime. Do you understand?"
She seemed uncertain, hesitant. "I guess so."
"Those police were wrong. Okay, I used to be a police officer, and I worked at Special Victims," he explained. He hoped telling her about his past experience would get her to trust both the police and him. "I still know some people there, and I know they can help you, and… Are you okay?"
She gulped. "You were a police officer?"
"Yes, but-"
"Please don't turn me in, sir." She threw herself at his feet, and with pleading eyes, continued, "I'll do whatever you want, I promise. Please, the police don't need to know. Okay? You can get out the handcuffs, whatever. I don't mind. But please don't turn me in!" She was distressed, sobbing, thrashing about.
He leaned down. "I'm not going to turn you in, okay? I just want to help you. The people at Special Victims, they want to help you as well. They would never say anything like what those other officers said. It's up to you, but just keep that in mind. I'm not going to force you to do anything you aren't completely comfortable with. I promise you that. If you want them to help stop this guy, they will. It is up to you, okay? No pressure."
No pressure my ass. You basically just told her that she's going to have to talk to the police, the one thing that she fears, maybe even more than her 'Master', if she wants your help or anyone else's.
"Can I think about it, please, sir?" She seemed to be considering it quite a bit.
"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like you have to talk to them or anything. I really mean it when I say this is up to you."
She nodded skeptically. "Of course, sir."
He wanted to change the subject, to take her mind off of the reality that she needed to talk to the police, even if that meant they could potentially arrest her. "You seem a little sick. Have you been outside a lot lately?"
"Yes, sir. Master was displeased with my behavior over the weekend, so he sent me to work outside for the week. I… I need to bring back at least five thousand dollars by the end of the week in order to go back to working inside." She whispered the last sentence, ashamed of her seemingly blatant begging for his money.
"Okay, and how much do you have so far?" he asked, trying to see if there was any way he could help her out. At least we're getting somewhere.
"Um, none…? Those guys that you saved me from took all of the money I had earned. What are you doing?"
He was reaching in his pocket to get out his wallet. "Five thousand?" he asked, opening his wallet and pulling out a stack of bills from the check he had just cashed. "Okay, here's one thousand, and tomorrow I can go to the bank to get the rest. Is that okay with you?" I am not going to let that creep hurt her because she is too weak to defend herself against two stronger men. She can stay here for the rest of the week, and then she can take the money she should have earned as compensation for lost time.
She looked so confused. "I guess? I mean, no. It's okay. You don't have to pay. In fact, I should be paying you. You aren't making me do anything for you, at least you haven't yet, and you're giving me a place to stay for the night. I really appreciate that. You definitely don't have to pay. Tomorrow, I can go out and work to pay off whatever you think I should give you after tonight. Is that okay? Or, I could leave now. It's up to you; whatever you want, sir."
"You don't have to pay me. You don't have to go back out there if you don't want to. Okay, you can stay here the whole week. I won't mind, and you won't have to do anything, no payment, no sex. Nothing. Let me give you this money, okay? I'm paying you for your time. That's what you do, right? You give guys your time to do whatever they want. All I want is to talk to you. Just talk. You think we can do that?"
"If that's what you want, sir." She stared down at the worn floor, unable to look him in the eye.
"That's what I want. Now, is that what you want? Because that's more important to me. What you want is important. Never forget that, okay?"
"Okay. I'd like that. Thank you, sir."
"Please don't call me 'sir'. I'm not in charge of you, okay? You are in charge of yourself. You do not have to call me 'sir'."
"Okay. Then what would you like me to call you?"
"My name is Elliot." He offered her a small smile.
She smiled back. "Thank you, Elliot."