Comments: A little EO makes everything better. Oh, and I wanted to address a comment (nothing bad). 1. I can only write about 1000 words a day, so I have a choice to either update less often or to update daily with short chapters. If short chapters bother you, I suggest waiting about three days and then reading what you missed. 2. Oh, there is angst coming. I love it, so there will be angst-aplenty. Remember that Olivia still hasn't had a chance to process what happened to her, but I felt she was at a such a stand-still that she needed something to light a fire under her ass, pun intended, lol.
Funhouse
Chapter Fourteen
Part 1.
Elliot put Noah to bed, and for the first time, Olivia didn't feel guilty about it. She was exhausted, tight knots forming in her gut as she thought about the interrogation she had to endure tomorrow. She hadn't even asked for an attorney, but Elliot would be able to sit in, so she could fill in the details for the FBI's case. Her voice was still scratchy, but she could speak out loud now and be understood.
It had been a week since Barba gave her the news about IAB. In that time, she had thought about Tucker about a million times. If he was here, he would be able to make this go away. Then again, if anyone found out about their relationship, he wouldn't be involved in her case at all.
She sighed. She was tired of worrying about it. Her arm still hurt from the burns, and her anxiety meds made her sleepy again. Elliot came up behind her and gently grabbed her shoulders. She jumped, but quickly relaxed. "He's asleep," said Elliot.
"You have the magic touch." She turned to face him. "You've done so much, Elliot. I don't think I can ever repay—"
"Shh." He touched her lips with one finger. "You don't have to do anything. I just want you to feel better, and I'll do whatever it takes."
She looked down. "What if I never…"
He grabbed her hands. "Whatever happens, I'm here. Don't worry about what's going to happen. Just relax."
He brushed her hair back from her shoulders. She looked into his eyes now, and they sparkled with…something. It looked like admiration, the way his lips turned up in the corners. How could he admire her, after everything she had done?
But he massaged her shoulders, and she forgot about all that. She half-closed her eyes, enjoying the touch of his fingers. Then she caressed his cheek. "I don't deserve you," she said.
"Are you kidding me? You're amazing, Olivia. I'm lucky I got to be in your life again."
She felt the bulge of his muscles as he enfolded her in his arms, and she felt safe. With her eyes still locked on him, a shudder rose up her spine and settled in her chest. "El," she said, but she didn't want to say anything else. She only wanted his lips on hers, and she leaned in and kissed him. Her lips buzzed as his mouth pressed softly against hers.
She pulled away and licked her lips. "Mmm," she moaned softly.
His eyes widened. "I wasn't expecting that." He smiled. "That was nice."
She smiled too, watching the stars in his eyes, and imagined for a second a happy future with him. And then her smile evaporated as she realized that a joyful ending was not in her story.
"What's wrong?" He stroked her hair. "Too soon?"
"No." She looked down. "I'm just tired. I better get some sleep for tomorrow."
He gave her one more peck on the top of the head, and then disappeared into the living room to sleep on the couch again. He seemed so far away, even in the same apartment.
Part 2.
They sat in the interrogation room, lights blaring in their eyes. Olivia was across the table from Elliot, and next to him was an IAB officer named Terry. Elliot could tell Olivia was scared, although she hid it from everyone else. Her leg fidgeted, and there was a hint of frozen terror in her eyes.
Terry turned on the recorder. He asked his introductory questions, and then he asked her to tell what happened in the warehouse. When she got to the part about the fire, Terry said, "So you got completely free, and then you dropped the match that started the fire?"
"Yes." She put on her most professional front. "He had a gun trained on me."
"So you decided to take out everyone in the warehouse, not just him."
She shuddered. Elliot just wanted to rush to her and hold her—she shouldn't have to relive this. "It was either drop the match, or he was going to kill me. I knew Rylee had gotten away, and—"
"Did you? She could have been recaptured by someone else, and then she would have been caught inside as well."
Olivia looked down at the floor, like she was spacing out. Elliot felt the need to jump in. "But you thought she was out of the building."
Olivia looked up. "Yeah."
Terry took a different tact. "Those men in the building, some of them are the same ones you accused of using you as a sex slave?"
She whispered, "Yeah."
Elliot balled up his fists. He knew she wouldn't want to talk about this. But Terry kept on, relentless. "And what exactly were those allegations again? If I recall, they were pretty brutal."
She sighed heavily. "John Groves kidnapped me at gunpoint, held me against my will in a hotel room, threatened an underage girl to control me, and forced me to be a sex slave, yes."
"And some of the men in the warehouse were the same ones who forced themselves on you?"
Olivia's eyelids closed halfway and her eyes glazed over, and Elliot wondered if this was going to throw her back into a catatonic state. He said to Terry, "Do we need to go into details about this?"
"It's relative to her state of mind."
"She's not on trial."
"We need all the facts now to determine if charges are warranted."
Elliot said to Olivia, "Don't answer, Liv. Let's get you a representative."
"No." She waved her hand. "They want to know what happened, I'll tell them." She trained her eyes on Terry. "I was handcuffed to a bed. Men came in all day long, all night, and had sex—I mean, raped me. Every single day I was assaulted. Some of those men were in that warehouse, yes."
The silence that followed made Elliot want to slam his fist on the table to stop this interrogation right here and now. But he didn't, and Terry said, "So then, Lieutenant Benson, would you say that you wished some of those men dead?"
Olivia looked up at the corner of the room and shook her head. "What do you want me to say? I hadn't really thought about them living or dying. I was too busy contemplating my own death, and whether I wanted to go out in a burst of flames or by gunshot. I chose fire."
Good, Elliot thought. That ought to put to rest any theories that her actions were premeditated. But he knew none of this was really good for her—this whole line of questioning had opened up memories that she probably wanted to suppress for good.
She answered a few more questions, her voice shaking, and then she said, "Are we done here?"
"Yeah."
As soon as he said it, she stood, her chair scraping the floor, and hustled out the door. He followed her, but she didn't stop at first, and he wondered if he would be following her all the way home. But she stopped at the end of the hallway and turned to face him. Now he could see her panting, her face scrunched up, tears wetting her cheeks.
"Liv," he said, and pulled her into him.
She buried her face in his shoulder and shook with sobs. "Ah, Liv," he said, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He held her there, allowing her to empty all her pent-up tears onto his chest. As he stroked her hair, he thought this wasn't enough to console her—what she had been through couldn't be fixed through simple things like hugs and kind words. But it was all he could offer right now, and she accepted it.
She stayed wrapped in his arms for several minutes, and then finally she pulled away. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Shh." He held her head in his hands and brushed tears away with his thumbs. "Don't be sorry. None of this is easy. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to let it out."
That must have satisfied her, because she lay her head back on his chest, and stayed like that until the last bit of light disappeared outside. He didn't move, just kept her in his arms, wanting to shield her from all the evils of the world, wishing he could have done it sooner.