Bushido couldn't believe his luck. None of the murders he committed could be traced back to him. He had more than enough handymen to cover his tracks. He could claim self defense against Tybore; its not like anyone was in the room when he shot him and Tybore did lunge at him first.

They couldn't prove that he knew about Tybore before the shooting.

The DA decided that the only crimes that had a chance at trial were the animal smuggling and the attempted murder of a police officer.

True, there were two counts of assault and battery but they would be dropped in the plea agreement to the attempted murder charge.

He was looking at a max of 30 years but with the overcrowding in prisons he would be out in 15. Bushido smiled at the thought of freedom. He was sure he would get the needle but instead he was going to live out his term, sitting pretty in a federal prison with other members of his smuggling ring.

Or, he could flip on the other smugglers and make a deal with the DA. Fish and Wildlife had been all over him and he wasn't even the man in charge. Bushido smiled and called for the guard that was watching his cell.

"I need to make a phone call", rasped Bushido when the guard neared his cell. "I need to talk to my lawyer."

The guard nodded and led Bushido, in cuffs, down the hall to where he could use the phone. Bushido smiled at the hand that had been dealt to him; he could play it well. Attempted murder could easily be dropped to assault with a deadly weapon if he gave the names of the other smugglers he was working with.

As the phone rang, he briefly wondered why he wasn't being charged with the rape but he quickly dismissed it as fear. He still owned her. Even now, she was serving him. He smiled, realizing that he was going to get away with everything and the only person who could stop him was refusing to do so.

Never mind luck; he was bullet proof.


Elliot sat in his car outside of Olivia's apartment, only vaguely aware of the world around him. His sole focus was on what had just happened. He couldn't dive, couldn't leave. He was trying to work up the nerve to go back up there and talk to her.

He knew that he had hurt her and he hated himself for it. He had intended on going there to discuss what had happened. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to understand why she did what she did.

He wanted to explain why he did what he did.

And yet there he was, sitting outside her apartment, alone.


She didn't even make it to her bedroom before she broke down. She had just closed the door behind him when she collapsed on the floor.

Damn him.

Damn him for it all.

He had no right to judge her. Everything she had done that night had been for him. Everything she had ever done had been for someone else.

And look where it got her.

Olivia swallowed the bile in her throat as she remembered Bushido's cruel hands on her body. She was disgusted.

Twice.

She had been violated in the worst of ways, twice.

Olivia bit her lips as she remembered Elliot's claims about her suffering.

Fuck him.

He knew nothing about suffering. He didn't know what it was to be held down; to fight as hard as you could, knowing that there was nothing you could do.

He didn't understand what it was like to not be in control of your own body; to have someone over you, inside you, using your body for their pleasure.

Fuck suffering.

That doesn't even begin to cover it.

And this had happened to her twice.

Olivia closed her eyes and leaned her head against her door. She had been getting help for what had happened to her in Sealview.

True, she never told Elliot that but that was because she never told him she was attacked in the first place. She didn't want him to know. She didn't want him to see her as weak.

So, she tried everything she could to get Ashley to help her. It was the detail that she provided that put that monster away and got justice for the both of them.

Olivia went pale and her blood ran cold as realization dawned over her.

Elliot was trying to get justice for himself.

She didn't doubt for a minute that Elliot wanted justice for her but she had been so busy wrapped up in protecting him that she completely missed his side of the experience.

Elliot said he raped her. But he didn't.

Bushido made him do something he didn't want to do. He had a gun and forced Elliot to use his body in a way he never would have had he had the choice.

Olivia sighed. Suffering.

He did know.

Slowly, Olivia rose from the floor. It had only been a few minutes since Elliot had left her apartment and she was hoping she could catch him before he made his way out of the building.

She had her hand on the door knob when her phone rang. She thought about answering it but decided that talking to Elliot was more important. She needed to settle things before they got out of hand and knowing Elliot, she didn't have long.

She had just reared the corner of the building hall when she saw Elliot stepping out of one of the elevators, holding his cell phone to his ear.

He looked distressed and Olivia knew he had come back to talk to her.

It only took him a few seconds to hang up. He flipped the phone shut and slid it into his pocket before speaking.

"We need to talk", he said.

Olivia nodded. "We do."

She turned and began walking back to her apartment but stopped when she noticed Elliot wasn't following her.

"What is it?" She asked.

Elliot stepped forward and motioned for her to follow him back down the hall.

"We need to go to the precinct", he said. "Cragen just called."

Olivia nodded and followed him to one of the elevators, figuring she should wait until they were out of ears reach before she asked any questions.. Once they were inside the elevator and began their decent, Elliot spoke again.

"Bushido wants a deal." His words were stale and he avoided her questioning gaze by keeping his head facing the elevator doors.

"He's not getting one", she said. "Elliot, you don't really plan on making a deal with the son of a bitch; do you?"

The elevator doors opened and Elliot quickly stepped out and began walking to the parking garage, leaving Olivia to catch up to him.

"El", she called from several feet behind. "Elliot talk to me."

She quickened her pace, unsure of how he was moving around so well when she was still so broken and sore.

"Elliot", she said breathlessly when they finally reached his car. She placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around like he had done to her so many times. Her eyes were full of concern and pain as she faced him. "Elliot tell me you're not making a deal. We can't let him get away with this."

Her words tasted bitter as she realized their positions had now changed.

"Liv", he began solemnly, "We may not have a choice."


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