SQUAD ROOM

Elliot and Olivia entered the squad room, meet by a barrage of solemn looking faces. Elliot threw his coat over his chair. Olivia slumped down at her desk. Her head was pounding. She had the flu, and the stress over the last 24 hours, and her sleepless night weren't helping. She crossed her arms on her desk, and, closing her eyes, rested her head on her arms. Cragen came striding out of his office, his eyes glancing over the faces in the room.

"Elliot." Elliot turned to face the captain. "I take it you didn't find Cassidy?" He stopped infront of Elliot, folding his arms across his chest.

"No, but we found a lot of blood in his bathroom. CSU's over there now."

"What did his captain say?"

"Well, he was just as surprised as we were. He hasn't seen Cassidy today, or yesterday."

"And he didn't think that was odd?"

"Said he's a good cop and must've been pretty sick to bunk off work. Thought it was best to leave him alone."

"He's right." Munch's voice drifted over from his desk. "Cassidy is a good cop --"

"John." Cragen tried to stop him.

"He is. He couldn't do this."

"The evidence says he did, Munch." Elliot didn't think he could this either, but they had evidence saying he had.

"No, NO." Munch rose from his seat, clearly agitated. "I don't care what the evidence says, he could not do something like this. I don't know how you guys could even think he would. He was one of us, for Christs sake. Why am I the only one willing to give him a chance here?"

Cragen was becoming equally as agitated. "None of us think he could do this, John, none of us, but the evidence is overwhelming. His DNA, the blood --"

"He is one of us. Maybe you could put some effort into trying to prove his innocence rather than assuming he's guilty just because some of the evidence say's he might be." Munch stormed out of the squad room, slamming the doors open.

"JOHN." Cragen went to go after him.

"I'll go captain." Fin jumped up from his desk and followed Munch out of the room.

Cragen turned towards Olivia. She still had her head down. He walked over to her and crouched down beside. He shook her arm gently, waking her up. She looked at him, startled and bleary-eyed.

"Go home Liv, get some rest."

She shook her head. "No, captain, I'm fine."

"No your not. You're sick, you're tired, you need to rest. You're of no use to me like this."

"Captain, I wanna be on this case, I NEED to be on this case --"

"And you will be. Tomorrow. Now go." He stood up and turned towards Elliot, who was now sitting as his desk. "Take her home, and make sure she stays there."

--

OLIVIA'S APARTMENT

Olivia fiddled with her keys, trying to find the right one. Finally, she managed to get the right one into the lock and let herself and Elliot into the apartment. She threw her keys and jacket on the table and collapsed into the lounge.

"I should be out there looking for him, El."

Elliot chuckled at her. "You could barely find the right key, you'd have no hope at finding him in this state."

Olivia sat upright in the lounge. "I'm fine, I just . . ."

Elliot cut her off. "You're not fine, Liv, and no one holds that against you. Now get some rest, and you can look for him tomorrow." Elliot left her on the lounge, closing the door behind him.

Olivia lay back down, maybe she did need a rest.

She woke up around midnight, having slept through the entire afternoon. There was a loud banging on the door . If this is Elliot, I'm gonna kill him for waking me up, she thought. She dragged herself up from the lounge and moved towards the door. Pulling it open, she expected to find Elliot.

"Look, El, . . ." Her eyes snapped open as she saw the person outside the door. Cassidy was unshaven, his clothing dishevelled, his eyes tired. Olivia was lost for words. Cassidy pushed past her into the apartment. She turned, closing the door, to face him.

"Olivia, I, um, I know I shouldn't be here but I needed to talk to someone and Munch wasn't home so.."

Olivia moved towards the phone. "I need to call Elliot." Cassidy grabbed her by the arms, pulling her away from the phone.

"Please don't, Liv, I just wanna talk."

"What is there to talk about Brian? You're the prime suspect for the rape and murder of that girl. There's a lot of evidence against you." Olivia had backed away from him. She was unsure whether to hear him out or ring Elliot.

"I know, and I can't explain it, but I didn't rape or kill her. Please, Liv, you gotta believe me." His eyes were filled with desperation.

"Why did you run?"

"What?"

"You ran. You didn't turn up at work, you weren't at your apartment. You ran."

"No, I didn't, I was just, confused. I was in shock."

"Well it made things look a hellofa lot worse, Brian."

"I know, but, it was,..." He rubbed his hands over his face.

Olivia went back up to him. "If you wanna get yourself out of this, you need to hand yourself in first thing tomorrow. Talk to Cragen, convince him that you're innocent. The longer you avoid arrest, the worst it's gonna look. Now get out before I call Elliot." She walked over to the door and opened it, waiting form him to leave.

Cassidy walked right up to her. "I am innocent, Liv." She said nothing, just waited for him to leave. She closed the door behind him, leaning her back against the door. Tears welled in her eyes. She wished she could have let him stay, but she knew that would have been one of the most stupid mistakes in her life. She hoped he would hand himself in. If he had any sense, he would listen to her.

--

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I HAVE ANOTHER STORY IN MIND BUT I NEED TO KNOW IN WHAT ORDER ELLIOT OLIVIA CRAGEN MUNCH CASSIDY AND JEFFRIES ARRIVED AT SVU. DOES ANYONE KNOW?