well here we go! some of the trial! it is mainly going to be olivia on the stand for this chapter, just to keep it interesting lol. will she be able to handle it? after this i am going to get to the wedding and all that good stuff. ;) thanks again to anyone reading and reviewing!

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Monday morning seemed to come all too fast for Elliot and Olivia. After a weekend of hardly doing anything, Monday was not a day they were looking forward to.

Elliot was up before Olivia. He rolled over and watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept. He knew she needed as much rest as she could get now. It was different now that she was pregnant. They still hadn't decided how they were going to tell Cragen or anyone else about it. If Olivia had it her way they wouldn't be telling anyone. They might treat her differently or maybe like she couldn't do her job. Olivia was terrified of everything that came with being pregnant on the job.

Elliot wished he could stay in that moment longer. Watching her sleep was so peaceful, but they had to be up and go to court.

He pushed her hair back gently out of her face. "Liv," Elliot whispered, trying to wake her up as calmly as possible. She moaned and stirred, but still remained in her peaceful sleep. He tried again, but tried something different. He pressed his lips against hers. He felt her stir again then come out of her sleep with a small smile creeping across her face. It seemed like the best way she had every been woken up.

"Good morning," he said as he brushed his fingers across her cheek.

She squinted her eyes a bit at him. "Morning," she said before yawning. "What time is it?," she asked, hoping for a chance to sleep a bit longer.

"7 30. Sorry. We have to be there by 9.." Olivia groaned at that answer.
"I know," he said, understanding the feeling. "Maybe we can shower together," Elliot whispered seductively in her ear. Olivia smiled and squirmed, feeling like a teenage girl again.

"I think we will need some of that for after today," Olivia said, already knowing today would make her angry. "You know, I think Cragen will want us back to work one of these days. It's been a few days."

"Well, it isn't everyday the detectives are the victims, and have to be at court for most of it."

Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes. "I know." Not only did she dislike that word for herself, but she didn't like the fact of actually being one.

She rolled out of bed and threw on his t-shirt that was laying next to the bed.

"That is not helping the whole wait until tonight Liv," he said as he watched her walk across the bedroom.
She raised her eyebrow as she looked at him. "Well, then I am sorry you just can't control yourself." She smirked as she walked out of the bedroom.

He just groaned at what she was saying. God, he loved this woman.

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Elliot sat in the car with Olivia outside of the courthouse. "El, we have to go in sometime today," she said sarcastically, knowing she was the one holding it up. This would be for the next few days they had to do this, and she hated it already.

Elliot got out of the car and went over to her side. He opened the door, and reached for her hand. She grabbed it. He knew exactly what to do for her when she needed it.

They walked into the courthouse and saw Alex. She approached them.

"Hey guys. Liv, how are you feeling today? Still sick?," Alex asked, concerned for her after what had happened in court on the Friday before.

Olivia looked down at the ground. "You could say that," she said quietly, just loud enough for Alex to hear. It confused her.
"What is it?," Alex asked. She didn't know what Olivia meant.

Olivia smiled a bit. She went in to whisper to Alex what was going on. Elliot watched as Alex's face went from concern to shock.
"NO!," Alex said as her jaw dropped. "Oh my god... congratulations!," she squealed as she hugged Olivia, clearly excited for them.

"Thanks," Olivia said, not being able to help but smile from Alex's reaction. Alex sensed her hesitation with it, though. She didn't have time to ask because their case was called in.

"Liv, we will talk about this later," Alex said with her eyebrows raised as they headed inside the courtroom.

Elliot and Olivia sat in the same seats they had the previous Friday. They weren't sure who would be called first to testify, but both of them knew it was only a matter of time before they each had their turn.

Everyone stood as the judge entered, and sat as he took his seat to begin the proceedings.
"Are the people ready to begin?," Judge O'Connell asked, peering over his glasses.

"We are, your honor."
"Okay then. Call your first witness."

Alex had thought strategically about who she wanted to testify first. The first person needed to leave an impact on the jury, and the person to do that would be the victim.

"The people call Olivia Benson to the stand," Alex said. Olivia gripped Elliot's hand before standing up to go to the witness stand. The person who attacked her was about to be interrogating her on what happened. Olivia felt sorry for all the victims that had been in that position before, and now understood the fear and knew what they felt in that moment.

The bailiff had to swear her in on the stand. "Raise your right hand." Olivia did so. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"I do." Alex approached her to begin the questioning. Olivia knew Alex's style well enough to know where Alex would begin.

"Miss Benson, could you describe to the jury what your relationship with the defendant is?"

Olivia didn't hesitate too much like she thought she would. "Uh, he is my ex. We dated briefly a couple months back."

"And what was the reason for the relationship ending if you don't mind my asking?" Alex already knew the reasons, but the jury didn't.

Olivia looked down at her folded hands in her lap as she answered. "He and I were together while he was the prosecutor on some of our cases. He said we couldn't be together due to conflicts of the job basically."
Alex nodded her head. "A reasonable thing to say. So, it was his idea to break it off?"

"Yes."

"And did you two speak to each other after the break up? About anything personal or staying friends?"
Olivia felt sick at that thought. "No."

"Had he made it aware to you of wanting to ever get back together with you?"
"He did, a few weeks ago," Olivia answered, still not looking over to Haden.

"And what was said during that conversation?"
Now Olivia was getting more hesitant. "Um... He wanted to get back together. And he knew things. About me, and my personal life."

"How would he know it if you two hadn't spoken since the break up?" Alex kept pacing back and forth in front of the jury. It kept Olivia's attention towards her, and Olivia was thankful for that. She trusted Alex with this, and was glad it was her asking these questions.

"We met in a diner to talk. That was all he had wanted he said, so I agreed. He brought up things that he shouldn't have known. I asked how, and he said the answer was obvious."

Alex couldn't ask about stalking because it was only speculation and that would get an objection. So, she moved on. "How did that meeting end?"
"I told him to never come near me or contact me again, or he would be arrested for harassment," Olivia answered, hoping Haden wouldn't be too caught up with their meeting and what she said.
"Isn't that considered a threat?," Alex asked, getting on that before Haden had a chance with her on the stand.
Olivia just looked at her hands again. "Yes, but I felt like my life or others could be in danger. I didn't see him after that, and protocol would have been to take out a TRO and have another officer arrest him if it got to that point."

"So you didn't see him after the diner until the incident in the apartment?," Alex asked, now making it more uncomfortable for everyone. It had to be asked, though.

"Right."

"How long after the diner meeting did you see him in the apartment?"
Olivia took a second before she answered. "Um, it was the next day."

"What happened that night when you entered your apartment?"

Olivia fumbled with her hands in her lap, trying not to let the nerves get to her, but it was becoming more and more difficult as the questions revolved now around what had happened. "Well, I had gone out to dinner with... Elliot, and when we were entering the apartment we heard someone speak to us. We flipped on the light, and David Haden was standing there. He had a gun pointed at us."

"And what did he say?," Alex asked, trying to keep her cool as much as she could. She hated him for what he had done to them. It was easy to hate that man at this point.

She flashed back to that night, and felt terrified like it was happening again. It became more difficult for her to speak. "He... um... He told us... I should have changed my locks. Elliot tried blocking me. He yelled at us not to move. He said... he had our guns. And our cuffs." Olivia couldn't help but tear up at what she was describing. It was still a very fresh thing in her mind and it still hurt her how that night came to happen.

"Then what happened?"

"He yelled at me... and made me use Elliot's handcuffs to handcuff him to the desk... Then said he had other plans for mine. After Elliot was cuffed, David began hitting him and kicking him. I told him... we should go to the bedroom, and that I didn't love Elliot.." Olivia had told it all without getting horribly emotional, but she felt like it was taking forever to get through it.

"Why would you say that if you weren't interested in him?"

"Because... I had to distract him from hurting Elliot. It was the only way I could do that."

Alex saw the juries faces, and was hoping they understood why Olivia did what she did. "So after that, what did you and Mr. Haden do?"
"He wanted me. He wanted sex, and I told him I would give that to him without a fight... So, he kissed me and I convinced him to put the gun down."

"After he put the gun down what did you do?"

Olivia looked at Alex now, then Elliot. "I punched him. Then kneed him in the face to knock him out."

"Did you do anything else?"
"No, after that I unloaded the gun, went out to find Elliot to make sure he was okay, and then went to call for help," Olivia stated.

"Do you believe you did everything you needed to do?," Alex asked, knowing that was a crucial question.

"I do believe that. I had to do anything I could to get Elliot and I out of the situation alive," she answered truthfully, hoping it would stick in the jurors minds.

Alex slightly nodded her head. "Thank you Detective." Olivia thought to herself half of it was over, and she just needed to get through this and it would be alright. She was hoping she could do it.

She squeezed her hands together as David moved from his seat. Olivia watched him straighten his suit and tie before approaching her. She didn't know what to expect or what tactics he would try to use for this.

"Olivia... Do you feel you knew me when we were together?"

She hated him using her name in the situation. "Um, somewhat. We were together for a few months, and that's enough time to get to know someone, but not all of someone," Olivia answered, trying to make it obvious it was only an act he was using at that moment.

"In the time we were together, had I acted outside of what you would consider normal?," he asked. She knew what he was doing and this was not going to end well for her. Olivia had to answer honestly, though.

"No. You hadn't-" He cut her off as she was trying to get in more.

"I never treated you wrongly? Or acted in a way that would lead you to believe I was not mentally stable?"
"No. Not at the time we were together." Olivia could hardly look at him as he approached the witness box. She was doing her best to not look at him at all.

"So, in your opinion as a detective and from what you have seen of others, was how I acted in the way of a mentally unstable person?," he asked, cornering her into answering a very carefully worded question.

"I... I would say you are crazy acting the way you did," she said bluntly. That blew it. She knew saying what he needed might have just screwed their case. Elliot was getting pissed off watching him go at Olivia the way he was.

"So, then, it is possible that after getting on medications I wouldn't be acting that way?"

"I don't know," she said, hoping to get around that one with the answer.

"Detective, please answer the question from your own personal experience," he pressed.
Olivia knew she had to otherwise the judge would force her to anyways. "Um... I guess," she said, feeling like she was screwing the case even more. She hated this. She hated herself right now. She still felt like she caused all this from the beginning. Olivia hated him for doing this.

"Nothing further," he said as he returned to his seat.

"You may step down, Detective," Judge O'Connell said. Olivia quickly moved from the witness box, feeling a breakdown of some sort coming.

"Your honor, the people request a recess," Alex said hurriedly as Elliot followed Olivia out of the courtroom.

"Yes, we will take a half hour break and reconvene at 11 for your next witness Ms. Cabot," he said as he pounded his gavel down once. Alex ran out as fast as she could to find Elliot and Olivia.

Alex stepped out to see Elliot catching up to Olivia. Her face said it all. She was pissed. Alex overheard Elliot trying to calm her down.
"I fucked up the whole case Elliot. Everything. He is gonna get off because of me," Olivia said as she paced.

"Liv, listen to me. You didn't screw anything up. Not one damn thing. He knew what he was gonna ask you, and there was nothing more you could do then answer," Elliot told her, trying to get through to her. It was Elliot going up next next, and now knowing where Haden was going to take it made him uneasy.

Alex went over to them. "Liv, you can't do that to yourself. Please, don't do that. We still have a lot of witnesses coming up, and I plan on putting his in the dirt," Alex said.

"Al, what if you can't?," Olivia said, finally stopping her pacing.

"Then I will put him in the dirt."

Olivia sure as hell hoped she knew how to do that, because she didn't know what to do anymore.

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damn haden. asshole lol. will alex be able to crack the witnesses? please leave a review and let me know what you think! I just started another story called "sorry" if you want to check that out too! thanks for reading :)