Thanks soooo much for all your amazing reviews. I'm so sorry for the gap in uploading the chapter; being a college student takes up the majority of my time!
Just to clarify, this is set after Elliot has left; I'm writing it as Olivia found Elliot but didn't want to just show up... well, at least until she needed to.
And DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, zip, nada. All credits to Dick Wolf and his awesomeness!
She was standing alone in his living room while he poured her a glass of water in the kitchen. She couldn't help but notice her image in the large mirror on the large wall in front of her. She gasped at her face. There was an almost black bruise under her eyes, she had a scrape on her forehead, and her lip had burst open. She wondered how she didn't notice that her lip was bleeding.
She couldn't handle looking at her injuries anymore; she glanced around Elliot's home. She had never been here before, this was the first time she had seen him in almost a year. He had pictures of his children scattered everywhere, but her eyes were automatically drawn to the picture on his coffee table. She picked it up and stared at the memory. Elliot had his arms wrapped around her waist and was standing beside her; she was giving a smile that she forgot she even had.
"That's my favorite" He said from behind her. She was completely startled and jumped. "Sorry… Liv, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He approached her slowly handing her the glass of water.
She put her hand around the glass, trying her hardest to grip it tight as to not let it fall to the ground, but she couldn't. The glass fell, making a large crashing sound as it hit the floor and smashed.
"Shit, Elliot. I'm so sorry." She whispered, "I'm an idiot." She tried to bend down to the ground to clean it up, but a sudden wave of pain shocked her body and she gasped standing up straight again.
"Sit." He ordered as he bent down to pick up the pieces of glass on the ground.
She heard pattering on the floorboards above her as a quiet voice came from behind her, "Daddy? Is everything okay?"
Lizzie was standing at the bottom of the stairs, still half asleep, "Olivia?" She asked. Olivia turned around and gave a quick wave, she couldn't believe how much she had grown.
Elliot was quick to get to his daughter, "Everything's fine, sweetheart. How about you go get some sleep and you can talk to Olivia tomorrow?"
Lizzie nodded, still tired, "Night Dad… Bye, Livia!" She turned to go back upstairs and quietly got herself back into bed.
Olivia was sitting on his couch when Elliot came and sat on the coffee table directly in front of her. She noticed how he was looking at her, she knew she was going to have to tell him everything.
"I'm so sorry I woke your kids, I just assumed Kathy would have them…"
She was fidgeting with her fingers, waiting nervously for him to say something, anything.
"That's fine, Kathleen is usually up this late studying anyway" Elliot was looking at her so sympathetically, "Olivia… you know we need to get you to a hospital."
She nodded, knowing he was going to suggest that anyway, "Why didn't you go there first, Liv?" He asked.
She shrugged, "I don't know, El… You were the first person I thought to go to…" She was still fidgeting with her fingers, but more violently now. Elliot reached down and put his hands in hers, preventing her from playing with her hands.
"Liv…" He said softly, "How did you find me?"
She looked at him, with his hands still in hers, "I..uh…I've known where you were for about two months… I just couldn't find the courage to talk to you… I know you don't want to see me."
She bowed her head sadly. She looked at her clothes, they were filthy… She started to sniffle at the sight of herself.
"That's not true and you know it… Look, Liv… we are going to need to talk about this but first, we have to get you to a hospital."
She wasn't getting a choice in the matter; Elliot was already helping her stand up and taking her to the door.
Olivia waited as he scattered upstairs to tell Kathleen where he was going and came back down dressed more appropriately.
"Okay, let's go"
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"Okay, Olivia, we are going to get you situated somewhere and we'll have a nurse come and begin your rape kit" said the nurse on duty, "Here, if you can, put all your clothes into this bag… you know the drill"
Olivia took the evidence bags from her hands, "Unfortunately" she mumbled...
The nurse looked at her chart quickly, "Now do you want me to call an emergency contact, I have a Nick Amaro as your immediate."
Olivia shook her head, "That's not necessary, Elliot Stabler is outside, he's here with me."
The nurse nodded and led Olivia to the bathroom where she could change. In the bathroom, she began removing her clothes slowly and cautiously. She was happy that the nurse trusted her to bag everything herself. Once in her underwear and bra, she couldn't but notice her body in the mirror. She looked like a used punching bag, she had bruises on her abdomen, she was almost sure that she had a broken rib… She couldn't help but laugh at the irony but her laughing soon turned to tears.
She was startled by a knock at the door, wiping away tears from her face.
"Hey… it's El, I'm just checking on you…"
Without thinking, Olivia opened the door slightly and pulled him inside. She was standing in front of him exposed, vulnerable, and broken.
"Look at me…" She said angrily through tears indicating the injuries on her body, "Look at what I let him do to me!"
Olivia was startled by the sudden warmth that surrounded her body, Elliot had her arms tightly around her and she began to weep into his shoulder.
Elliot had seen this too many times, although it had always been from afar. It was always difficult watching a victim break down in front of their family and friends, but this time he was the friend. He had no idea how to approach this situation other than being a detective. He pulled out of the embrace slowly and cupped her face gently.
"This is not your fault…Liv, I know this is hard and I'm going to be here when you need me, but you need to remember what we preach to victims…"
Olivia nodded understandingly, "I know," She whispered, "But what's everyone going to think? SVU detective becomes the very victim she's supposed to protect? Oh God! I can't tell them, El. Cragen is going to lose it…Fin…"
Olivia became frazzled and began pacing, "I can't do it, El… I could barely tell you and you're the person I'm closest too… How am I supposed to do this?"
Elliot was incredibly understanding, he kept his distance, letting her pace, "Olivia, you're going to have to tell them… it's an obstacle, but it's one that we can overcome together… but let's get through the rape kit first…"
Olivia stopped pacing and let out a sigh, "Yeah… let's just get this over with…"
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Olivia was in with the nurses as Elliot waited outside. He was nervous for her; he had no idea how she was going to handle such an invasive procedure. But his Olivia is the strongest person he knows. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number that was etched in his memory.
"Cragen,"
Elliot sighed, he had hoped that he wouldn't pick up, "Hey Don… it's uh.. it's Elliot."
"Elliot Stabler! How the heck are ya?"
"Not great, I'm afraid, uh…" Elliot hesitated, not knowing if he should tell him without Olivia's permission, "Look, Olivia was attacked tonight, I'm at the hospital with her… she was raped, Don…Some son of a bitch raped her."
Elliot became angry, he was furious at anyone who would have to nerve to hurt a woman, let alone Ollivia.
"I'm on my way. Which hospital?"
"Lennox Hill, look… Don, she doesn't know that I told you…"
"I know, but I'm glad you did. I'm on my way."
With that Cragen hung up and Elliot was once again left with his mind wandering every painful scenario that Olivia could have experienced. He was happily disturbed by a nurse that came out of Olivia's examination room.
"How is she?" He asked promptly,
"She's not handling this well," She said sadly, "We did most of the examination, but she's refusing to let us swab for DNA. Think you could calm her down?"
Elliot nodded following the nurse into an examination room, before entering he heard Olivia's distressed voice.
"I just don't want to do this right now… you know what, I don't need it at all, it's fine" Olivia was rambling, "Yeah, I'll just go home…"
Olivia was distraught, she couldn't concentrate on any one thing, and she didn't notice Elliot telling the nurses to give them a minute.
"Olivia" Elliot said sternly but softly. She flipped to see him and put her hand up as if to tell him to stop. She didn't want to be convinced to do this.
"Elliot, I'm fine, I just need to go home and sleep it off…"
"Olivia Benson, are you even listening to yourself? If you don't do this another woman could be raped by this scumbag"
"Don't you dare give me the detective speech! Don't you think I know that?" She spat back furiously
He threw his hands in the air, "Not from where I'm standing." He replied harshly.
The tension was practically visible. Olivia was surprised and angered at his response; he could see it on her face. He gave her a minute to process what had just happened when her face started to soften and he caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. He approached her tentatively and took her hand, relieved when she didn't pull away.
"Liv," he cooed, "I'm so sorry. That was completely out of line, I can't even begin to fathom what you're going through,"
She looked at him and gave him a weak smile, "I know," She said, fighting back tears, "I just really need my best friend right now, not a cop"
He squeezed her hand, "I'm here and we are going to get through this." He cupped her face a kissed her forehead as gently as he could, "I promise," He whispered as he pulled her into his chest.
She nodded into his chest, and took a deep breath in. Her nostrils were flooded with the smell of him, she had missed his smell so much. In this moment, it was as if he never left her, never left SVU.
"Stay with me?" She mumbled into his chest.
He pulled back, "You're ready?" He asked with a proud smile.
"Only if you're here with me." She said, "Please?" She begged.
"Of course, Liv."
Olivia sighed in relief and Elliot went to get the nurses. She got more and more nervous with every second that passed. She couldn't believe how terrified she felt. She sat on the hospital bed that was in her room and forced her eyes shut, partly because of the pain she felt while sitting and partly because she was thinking about every brave woman she had every been with when they did this. She knew she could do it.
"I can do it," she whispered to herself.
"What was that, hon?" Asked the nurse who had just walked in, Elliot following closely behind.
"Oh, nothing," She lied, not taking her eyes off of Elliot as he walked over to her.
"Yes you can," He whispered in her ear. She lay back on the hospital as the nurse prepared everything. Elliot didn't exactly know what she wanted from him, he pulled up a chair and sat on it making sure that his back was to the nurse and all that he could see was her face.
"This okay?" He asked. She took his hand and nodded.
"Okay, Miss Benson," said the nurse, "I'm going to try to do this as quickly as I can… If I hurt you, please tell me"
"Okay," Olivia breathed out and her entire body tensed with fear.
The nurse whispered to Elliot, "Talk to her, keep her calm… The more she tenses the more unpleasant this will be"
Elliot nodded and went back to look at Olivia, she winced in pain as the nurse began the exam. She squeezed his hand.
"You're doing great, Liv." He said supportively, "I missed you…" He said, not knowing what else to say.
She gave a stifled laugh, "Oh, we are so not talking about that right now, Stabler,"
He laughed back, "Duly noted."
She strained her face in pain again, "God, when will this end?" Elliot quickly brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it carelessly.
"You're almost done" He responded trying to calm her.
"We're done here," The nurse quickly. "We will get the results to your ME as soon as possible"
The nurse left the room and Olivia let out a relieved sigh and began to resituate her body so she could sit up properly.
"I'm proud of you, Liv"
She smiled at his statement as the door swung open quickly and there stood Don Cragen with some spare clothes. Olivia was horrified that her captain was standing in front of her, she clutched onto Elliot's shoulder, pulling him in front to cover her, she didn't want him to see her like this.
"The nurse said I could give these to you…" Cragen handed them to Elliot before scurrying out, not wanting to be present for the blowup that was about to happen.
Oilvia was in a state of shock, disbelief, embarrassment. "How..How did he know?" She stuttered.
"Liv," He said nervously, "I called him"
Olivia snapped her head to look at him, "I'm sorry, you what?"
Really hoped you love it! I can't wait to get into the hardcore EOness, but I've gotta cover the basis first.
R&R and I'll have the next chapter up soon :)