Yay, new chapter, with a great idea from Ani...

Jose had, of course, been escorted back to the department, to question him. He seemed to be quite angry at Feliks...well, just angry in general, but his anger at Feliks made him a suspect. Perhaps Feliks really hadn't done it; perhaps he'd been framed.

Jose was furious, and currently hand cuffed to the table.

"Let me out of here! You can't make me stay here!"

"You assaulted an officer, remember?" Stabler reminded him, crossing his arms.

"You grabbed me first!" Jose bellowed. Benson took a seat, crossing her arms.

"Did you know Elizaveta?"

"I met her once! Everyone knew her!" Jose replied, glaring. "If you think I killed her, you've lost your mind!"

"We didn't say anything about killing her, but now that you mention it..." Stabler replied, stepping forward.

Jose bristled, nearly snarling at them.

"I barely even knew that kid!"

"Hm. Well, we'll know soon enough; your brother's talking to Feliks right now..."


Talking was not precisely what Juan was doing...under the supervision of Munch and Tutuola, he was currently hugging the smaller teen.

Feliks had been very concerned about him when he entered, immediately asking question after question. When Juan had tried to change the subject to Elizaveta's murder, however, Feliks had quickly become hysterical. Juan sighed, still smoothing Feliks' hair; he would try talking to him in a moment.

Feliks sniffled loudly, still settled against him.

"I-I...I didn't do it..."

"I know. I believe you, mi amor..." Juan assured him, sighing. "But...were you there, Feliks?"

Feliks remained quiet, eyes shutting for a moment.

"...yes..."

Juan settled back in his wheelchair, still holding onto him.

"Why were you there? What happened?"

"...we...I was..." Feliks paused, swallowing. "...she thought...I could...we could just...have a night on the town..."

Juan patted Feliks' back, attempting to encourage him.

"Okay. A night on the town. But what went wrong?"

"I-I...she...I was wearing the...the..." Juan's eyes widened slightly.

"Feliks...you went out wearing your...skirts...?" He said quietly, smoothing Feliks' hair again. Feliks nodded tearfully.

"N-no one knew th-the difference...a-and sh-she said it was fine..."

"But it wasn't?" Juan urged, grimacing slightly; he knew the story would be painful.

"...G-Gilbert...a-and his friends...th-they s-saw us...m-me..."

Munch was staying back, allowing Juan to do the talking for now, since it seemed to be working better. Tutuola, however, was having a difficult time doing such; it wasn't that he was emotionally invested in the case, of course. He simply didn't like this method of extracting information.

"And what happened?" He said, stepping forward. Feliks' mouth snapped shut, like a snapping turtle.

Munch sighed.

"Just give them a minute...it seems to be working fine, Fin."

Tutuola rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall. Juan smoothed Feliks' hair again, urging him onward.

"And then what happened?"

"...th-they attacked us...they s-said...they'd t-teach m-me how t-to be...be...normal..." Feliks shut his eyes again, and Juan's grip on him tightened. An ugly picture of what had happened was forming in his head.

"Th-they...they took my clothes...a-and..." Feliks turned a deep shade of red, swallowing. "...th-they made Elizaveta...they made her take h-her clothes o-off too..."

"I-I wasn't str-strong enough t-to stop them!" Feliks admitted, guilt hanging off every word. "Th-they made us...m-made us...sl-sleep together..." Feliks was turning a deeper shade of red as he spoke, and Juan tried to ease his embarassment.

"Shhh, you were outnumbered..." The hand that wasn't smoothing Feliks' hair was clenching and unclenching, however, and Juan's jaw was set.

"I-I tr-tried to st-stop them..." Feliks responded, still settled against Juan.

"Th-they...they..." Feliks buried his face against Juan, shuddering.

"I-I can't!"

"Shhh, it's all right...you can take a break..." Juan assured him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Feliks remained settled against him quietly, nuzzling him.

"...okay..." Feliks promptly fell asleep on him. Juan looked over at the detectives; this was, after all, not normal behavior for the hyperactive teen...

"Didn't you let him sleep while he was here? Or is that one of your methods of interrogation?" He whispered scathingly. Tutuola frowned.

"Don't act as if we're the bad guys. He is the one who wouldn't tell us the truth, remember?"

Munch interjected.

"He sleep-deprived himself. We had nothing to do with it."

Juan sighed, smoothing Feliks' hair again.

"When can he go home?"

"Not until we can validate his story." Munch replied.


"For the hundredth time, I did not frame him!" Jose was still yelling, his voice beginning to get hoarse. It was then that the door opened, and Munch poked his head into the room.

"Stabler, Benson? He's not the guy. According to Feliks, it was a Gilbert and his friends."

Benson quirked an eyebrow; it made some sense, maybe, but why would Gilbert have wanted her dead? And why was Feliks involved?

"All right then. Let's go round them up. Do we have the names of these other friends?"

"No. The witness fell asleep before he could tell us more."

"...fell alseep?"

"He was tired out."

Jose watched them.

"Did you leave my brother alone with that murderer?"

"I doubt Feliks could overpower Juan, Jose." Stabler replied, with a roll of his eyes.


Gilbert was hanging out with another boy, chatting about typical guy stuff: girls. Benson caught him offguard when she walked up.

"Gilbert, we need to question you further. And your friend here."

The friend looked over to Gilbert sharply, but Gilbert seemed unperturbed.

"Relax, Antonio, I doubt it's anything big."


"And after this forced intercourse, did you try to help Elizaveta?" Stabler questioned Feliks, who was currently trembling.

"I-I was scared-"

"So you ran off and let her die?" Stabler responded, frowning.

Feliks pressed his hands to his stomach, but Stabler quickly caught his arms.

"Don't even try your vomitting trick! Answer the question!"

Feliks, of course, threw up anyways...

"This is getting nowhere, Stabler..." Benson put in, taking her weight off the wall she'd been leaning against.

"Maybe we should get Huang in here."

"Fine. Let him try and get the story out of him. But first, someone needs to clean up that mess..."


"Our witness places you at the crime scene, committing the crime. What do you have to say for yourself?" Tutuola said, frowning slightly.

Gilbert smirked.

"What witness? Feliks? The one who actually killed her?"

"That is irrelevant. Answer the question."

"I don't have to say anything; call my lawyer, she'll do the talking for me." He replied, leaning back in his chair.


"Feliks, I need you to try and remember; who were the other two?" Huang seemed to be unthreatening to Feliks, who was currently settled back on his chair, hugging the stuffed animal Huang had given him. It seemed to calm the boy down.

"Francis...the boy who died...and Antonio Hernandez...they call themselves the 'Bad Friends Trio'..."

"And do you know why they attacked you and Elizaveta?" Huang persisted.

Feliks looked down at the floor.

"Because...I was dressed like a girl..."

"So why didn't you tell the police before?" Huang asked, folding his hands as he contemplated Feliks' behavior.

"...because...I was breaking the law..."

"How so?"

"...by dressing like a girl...a-and what happened with Elizaveta..."

"Feliks, crossdressing isn't illegal, and what happened with Elizaveta was involuntary."

"...involuntary?"

"You couldn't help it; it was a natural reaction, whether you wanted it or not."

Feliks was silent for a moment, hugging the stuffed animal. He seemed to be considering this, before looking back at the floor.

"Juan got attacked because he's gay; that's what the 'Bad Friends Trio' does. They find people who are doing things they aren't supposed to, and they punish them..."

"How long have they been doing this?"

"...Toris Laurinaitis." Feliks responded quietly. "They bullied him so much, he committed suicide...three years ago..."

"And what was he doing that they punished?"

"...he was gay...with Ivan Braginsky. That's how they punished Ivan...by hurting Toris."


"There is no physical evidence that Gilbert was the perpetrator of these crimes. You cannot hold my client, detectives." Gilbert's lawyer informed them, scowling.

"We have a witness."

"Who is the actual one who raped Elizaveta. No jury will convict my client on such flimsy evidence." She replied, pursing her lips. Gilbert seemed entirely at ease, lounging back in his chair.

Stabler frowned, but she was right; there was little that they could do.