Chapter Ten - The Visitors

"If you enter this world loved, and leave knowing the same? Then everything in between can be dealt with." - Michael Jackson

"Liv it's me."

She feels her heart thudding rapidly in her chest. She stands by the bed, frozen. She's not ready to face visitors, especially him. She has to turn him away. Maybe if she stands there, make no moves at all, and wishes him away maybe he will leave. "Olivia I'm not going anywhere. I know you're in there." How? Liv peeks through the peephole to learn that her suspicions are correct. It's Simon. Why is he here now? Does he know? "I'll wait out here forever or until you let me in." Simon knocks for several minutes, then, he eventually stops.

Liv looks into the peephole to find the hallway empty. Looking down at the floor, she notices a colorful sheet of paper. She squinches her eyes to get a more vivid look at the paper. It's plain white but covered in crayon ink and reads get well soon auntie Liv, I love you. Benson feels her eyes watering. She opens the door to grab the picture but Simon appears from out of no where, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Simon eases his way inside without Liv offering him an invitation.

"Simon. What are you doing here." She closes the door, locking them both inside.

"My sister gets kidnapped and raped, I wanna see her." His voice is hostile but the hostility is not directed towards Liv. The hostility is directed towards the situation at hand.

"I wasn't raped." Liv's voice is automatically defensive. She refuses to accept that she may or may not be a rape victim. To anyone who have asked or will ask, Lewis did not rape her. Of course, she isn't sure if he did or did not violate her in that way. She has yet to review her own rape kit and some of her memories are still in a cloud. She heads for the kitchen to grab two bottled waters.

Simon watches Liv as she walks towards him from the kitchen. He flinches at the bruises that covers her face. He's never seen his big sister so dressed down. She's wearing loose sweats that doesn't even look like her own. Her hair is a mess. Combed and decent but badly cut and tendril like. She's a mess. His heart sinks into his chest. He tries not to react but his eyes instantly waters. "I can't believe this. I can't believe this." Simon's anger begins to show.

"How did you find me." Liv hands her troubled young brother a bottle of water. She twists open her bottle and takes several sips before sitting onto the couch.

"Well I asked around." He takes a seat next to Liv but places his water on the end table. "We talk every week. Every Wednesday and sometimes we miss a week or even two weeks but on Livvie's birthday when you didn't call her... I got worried. I turn on the news and your face is plastered all over the TV. Saying you were kidnapped by some serial rapist nabbed 'The Beast'? Next thing you know? I'm at your job begging your coworkers to tell me where you are."

"Did they tell you?" She takes a small breath. Her breathing still causes her, not much but dull, pain.

Simon is unable to take his eyes off of his sister. He wipes his face with his hand before answering. "No. Your captain, that new partner you have. They wouldn't tell me anything except that you were alive. But that blonde chick. Rollins? Yea she told me. Don't be angry with her... She seem to have a weakness for family so I worked her over..." Simon reads the disappointment on his sister's face. "I'm sorry Olivia but I had to see you."

Liv considerably understands his worries. She knows he loves her but it's embarrassing for her to have him looking at her in such a fragile state. "It's ok Simon.. You've found me so?" She rolls her eyes as she shrugs it off. "What are you gonna do right?"

He tries to smile. His eyes are focused on the paper in Olivia's hand. "She made that for you. She misses you Liv I don't know what to tell her."

Liv's eyes tear up. Her heart is in a flutter. "Tell her I'm? ... Tell her I'm fine." Her voice cracks.

"You want me to lie to my daughter?" Simon reads the annoyingly confused look on Benson's face.

"Simon, Livvie's only five years old. Six years old." Liv corrects herself as she remembers the passing of her niece's recent birthday. "She doesn't need to know that I was kidnapped."

"She wants to see you." He finally opens and sips his water.

"I can't let her see me right now ok..." She stands to her feet. "Maybe after a couple of days Simon but not now." Liv stares onto the floor. There is silence between the two of them for several seconds. The tears drown her eyes, causing them to fall onto her cheeks. "I could take it."

Simon stands to his feet and grabs her hands. Liv flinches but allows her brother's warmth to physically console her. "Are you sure you're fine?" His voice comes out in a whisper. Liv shivers as she realizes how much Simon's voice sounds like her own voice. The comparison of her brother and herself always fascinated Liv.

"Yes." She looks him in his eyes. Was she telling him the truth? Is she fine? Physically, yes. Mentally I'm all over the place but my bruises are healing is the only reason she's looking into her brother's eyes and proclaiming to be fine. She is not fine. She's only giving him a half ass answer to avoid being shrink by her brother. Does Simon believe her? No.

"Ok. And this guy?" Simon looks around the apartment. "Brian? He treats you ok? He takes care of you?"

Liv feels herself smiling. It was genuine. Smiling is always a positive action, especially when the smile is real. "He's alright. I trust him. And uh?" She scratches her head. "Apparently he's in love with me so yea." The smile on her face and the tears that fall on her face makes her even more beautiful. Beautiful and strong. Liv remembers Brian's confession I love you and her smile enlightens.

"Good." Simon walks towards the door. " I'll be back soon. I'll bring Livvie." He attempts to hug Liv but she backs away. "I love you sis."

Liv watches as Simon walks away.

After the unexpected visit from Simon, Liv was able to finish her cleaning. She even cooked herself lunch instead of ordering out. The visit from her brother lifted her spirit. After she formed a relationship with Simon, Liv always felt not-so-alone in this world. Finding him may have caused trouble in her life before, but it was all worth it down the line.

Sitting in the living room, on the couch, Liv decides to go through her phone. People have been blowing her up for an entire week. Calls from her squad and Captain are in the majority. Looking through her texts, she is shocked to see the many thinking about you, get well soon, call if you need me messages from Alex Cabot and Casey Novak.

She comes to the conclusion that she is loved. She is loved by many people. When she was not sure of her fate while under Lewis's clutches, Liv remembers wishing and praying to live just for her loved ones. A big part of her fight, her surviving mechanism, was the reunion with her loved ones. She realizes, at some point, she will need to get up and live her life. She's a survivor now. The terror she's been through should give her more ammo to face life. She needs to live to tell her story. She needs to live for herself. She needs to live for her loved ones.

Liv hops off the couch and heads into the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, she grabs her pain medication. She opens the bottle and flushes all the pills down the toilet. She splashes water onto her face. She heads to the bedroom and grabs one of her finer blouses, and a pair of leggings. Putting the outfit on the bed, Liv plans to woo Brian when he returns home.

She gets into the shower, washes her body, and washes her hair. When she's done cleaning and refreshening herself, she steps out of the shower. She gets to the mirror and gazes at her hair. It's so choppy and unprofessionally cut. She gets out Brian's hair gel and it makes her hair surprisingly curly. Looking into the mirror, Liv wants to break. She wants to cry. She doesn't. She just smiles.

After she puts her clothes on, Liv gets the place all romantic. She orders Thai and pours red wine in two glasses. She lights a few candles and when satisfied with the mood, Liv sits on the couch patiently waiting. Fifteen minutes later, the food is here.

Brian is due home around six p.m and its now after five p.m. Her heart races. Why was she so anxious? Could she be subconsciously planning an evening of love making? Is she ready for that? She only wants to make Brian happy. She feels deep gratitude towards him. He professed his love for her, he's in love with her. She sighs as she's reminded of her behavior the last few days. Brian endured a couple of days where she was in prison and a couple of days where her mind was nearly dead. Figuratively.

As time passed, Liv begins drowning in her thoughts. Her memories. Brian was late. The food was getting cold. Liv has nearly drunk the entire wine bottle. The dizziness of the wine brought her back to her drunken states with Lewis. She rushes to bathroom and pukes it all up. Eventually, Liv phones Brian. He doesn't answer. When nine o'clock hits, Liv heads to the bedroom and falls asleep.

Waking up to pee, Liv hops out of bed. She looks at the time on her phone. Midnight. Brian was still not home. Suddenly, she hears a creaking noise coming from the living.

"Bri?"

Liv jumps as she hears someone enter Brian's apartment. She goes to the chest and grabs one of Brian's guns. It's dark. It's very dark. She tries to creep into the living room but her footsteps are too loud. She notices two tall figures standing by the door. Who are they?

Liv squinches her eyes and realizes what she's actually seeing. "You killed him." The voice throws Liv and all she can think of is No.

To Be Continued...