Melinda was silent for several moments, she had no idea how she was going to reveal the results she held in her hands. She didn't even believe them when the test was first completed. She had to redo the process several times just to make sure the equipment wasn't malfunctioning. In the end the seasoned medical examiner concluded that there was no other alternative explanation, that what was right in front of her in black and white was all that there was.
"Melinda?" Fin questioned as he noticed the dark skinned woman in front of him zone out. He had known her for years but could not recall her acting like this before and it truly scared him.
"Sorry..." she apologized "I've been up all night in order to rush the results and even made sure to check them several times..." she let out as she sighed and shook her head in exhaustion.
Her demeanor didn't go unnoticed by the others "there was no usable DNA" Carisi stated his fear. He remembered how the fire sprinklers went off in the club the night that Amanda was attacked, she was barely hit, but that could have washed away some evidence.
"No, actually we found DNA from two different donors" Melinda began as she took the results out from the folder in her hands, reading them once over again just to reassure herself about the news she had to give "and they indeed come from a father/son pair"
"So the sickos really are related..." Fin said with disgust "that's what you call bad genes right there" he finished as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. He stole a glance at Olivia and Amanda who had become silent the moment Warner began to speak. The pair stood close to one another, Amanda had her hands crossed in front of her chest, in an attempt to help distance herself from the proceedings going on in front of her. Olivia on the other hand had a very open stance ready to give her daughter support whenever or if ever she needed it "I can't imagine a worse situation"
"I wouldn't speak so soon" Melinda said as she waved the results "it gets worse... a lot worse"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked unable to keep her silence any more. She knew the situation was delicate, and because Amanda was in the room with them her old friend was trying to choose her words carefully, but she couldn't take beading around the bush any longer. She needed to know the truth right then and there. "What could be worse Melinda? So there's no matches found in the system... we've dealt with that before, we just collected another sample from our suspect. We'll have that tested and confirm it was him. So where's the problem?"
"Actually there was a match found in our databases for both pairs of DNA" Melinda said not being bothered by her long time friend's words, she understood the pressure this case was putting on everyone, herself included "and it came back rather fast..." she was cut off by Carisi
"But when we searched their names no priors came up so we knew they hadn't been imprisoned before and wouldn't be in the system for that reason. Did we connect them on some old cases then?" Carisi said hopefully, if they could connect them to other crimes then they could serve a longer sentence. All he could hope for is that those bastards never saw the light of day again.
"Well if you let her finish she'll tell you" Fin scolded the younger detective and then looked at the dark skinned woman and nodded "go ahead Warner"
The M.E looked back at her file and then straight at the mother and daughter pair, constantly shifting gazes between the two "The results came back with a familial match" she paused "and it didn't come from any prison or criminal data base but our own... it came back as a relative of an NYPD officer" she paused again to gauge the reactions "I am so sorry to say this, but there really is no other way to come out with it..." she looked right at the young blonde in the room "Amanda it was your match. The men who attacked you were... are your biological father and half brother" several loud exclamations could be heard around the room
"You can't be serious!" Fin exclaimed. Never in a millions years would he had guessed this outcome "did you double check?"
"Of course I did, I even triple checked... why do you think it took me until this moment to reveal the results to you all when I've been having it rushed since yesterday" Melinda said feeling the need to defend herself.
"She was attacked by her own..." Carisi trailed off as he looked at his blonde coworker. Amanda appeared to be in shock. Her face was pale and she looked as if she was swaying from the sudden revelation. Olivia stood next to her, her own confusion evident on her face. Olivia's mind was reeling, her daughter's father... her old flame had hurt one of the most precious people in her life. She was heartbroken for Amanda, deeply disturbed, and quite frankly furious. "Amanda" she nearly whispered at the young blonde's lack of reaction. She placed a concerned hand on her daughter's shoulder, but Amanda quickly pulled away.
"Please" Amanda said in a strained voice "please, just... just give me a minute. I need to clear my head... alone" she was breathing heavily as she pushed past her coworkers in her haste to exit the room. Her body was tense and her gate was rapid, concern was evident on everyone's face as they watched her leave the room. Carisi made an attempt to follow after her but was stopped by a warning voice.
"Don't Carisi, give her some space" Olivia said without looking at her detective, instead she cast her gaze through the observation window at the frightened young man who was her daughter's would-be rapist, not to mention her half brother. Olivia shuddered at the thought. Of all the messed up things to happen in this world, that could happen in this world, she never could have predicted that her past would come back and hurt her family in such a way.
Olivia tilted her head down and took a deep breath. When she raised her head she possessed a fierce look of determination. She was going to bring down that bastard, she was going to make him pay. Olivia remained silent as she walked swiftly to her desk and leaned over to type onto her keyboard "if we couldn't find anything on Jason Duran, then how about we start looking for..." she typed and clicked several more times "bingo" she said as she found what she was looking for and turned the computer screen around "Tanner Dixon, his real name"
Fin and Carisi leaned closer to get a good look at his drivers license picture. Amanda really was his spitting image, with the same color hair and eyes "So this is Amanda's father, our perp" Fin said as he looked away from the screen and stared at his old friend.
"He was far from an angel when I knew him..." she paused and shook her head "but I never saw this coming"
"No one could, Liv"
Amanda was glad to get out of that room. The moment Melinda revealed that she was the familial match, the walls started to close in on her. She just had to leave. But to where? She didn't want to leave the precinct, no matter how much her body was telling her to run. She couldn't pull the focus of the investigation away from finding the remaining... suspect, in order for the others to look all over the city for her. She didn't want to break down in the middle of the squad room or be trapped in one of the many interrogation rooms. That left only the cribs, and that was where Olivia found her nearly ten minutes later.
Amanda was in the far corner of the room. She sat on the bed with one leg clutched to her chest while the other hung helplessly to the floor, her head leaned against the wall and her eyes gazed out onto nothing. This was the position Olivia found her in when she entered the small room. "Amanda?" Olivia said as she stood in the doorway, but the blonde gave no indication of hearing the older woman, "Amanda, honey" she tried again but still received no response. At this point Olivia entered the room and sat next to her daughter. She silently placed a gentle hand on the young detective's back, but the sudden contact sent the younger woman nearly jumping in the air.
"God, Liv" Amanda exclaimed as she noticed her mother's presence "you nearly gave me a heart attack!" she said as she stood, not wanting to be in close proximity to anyone at that moment.
"I'm sorry Amanda, but I did try calling you several times" Olivia explained, she paused to take a good look at her daughter. Some color had returned to her face, but her overall appearance still screamed distress "look, about this whole sit..." she was cut off by the young detective.
"No!" Amanda spit out harshly "please let's not go there. There is nothing you can say to make this right, to make me feel better about this fucked up situation. I mean... come on, is this some sort of joke" she rushed out in a rant "what are the odds of all of this happening, that you're my mom" she said as she pointed her hand at the older woman "and that man in the other room... he's my half brother who tried to rape me along with my biological father... I mean what the hell! What kind of fucked up family relations are those" she yelled waving her hands frantically in an attempt to emphasize her point "God I'm cursed... I'm cursed or this just isn't real" she finished with a quieter voice
"It's real" Olivia said as she stood to stand with Amanda "no matter how much I wish this was some sort of nightmare... it's real"
"Are you sure about that?" Amanda questioned "what if I'm just back in the hospital, that I never woke up from that coma. This could all just be some messed up dream my unconscious is having me live" Amanda sees her mother shaking her head no but ignores it "I mean what makes more sense, that you're my long lost mother, and the rest of my biological family are rapists or that this is just some sort of delusion... You're a great role model, Liv. A great mother, and I truly care for you, I can even say I think I love you, but this situation" she waved her hand at the door "I don't think I can handle this. To think that fate hates me so much that I have to be punished so much in my life, almost since I've been born" Amanda leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She curled her legs to her chest and buried her head in her knees. Olivia couldn't help to notice how child like the position was. "I just want to wake up and have everything back to normal, to have this rollercoaster of emotions over with"
"Amanda, this is real" Olivia said as she kneeled on the floor in front of her daughter "and I'm so sorry for what you've had to live with. If I could take away all the pain I would in a heartbeat, but the reality is I can't. We can't change what the past is, but we can affect the future" Olivia said as she placed a comforting hand on Amanda's leg "there is still a lot we can do for you, and for others"
Amanda remained silent for several moments "my biological father is a rapist" she whispered "he tried to rape me... what kind of person does that make me?"
"That has nothing to do with you, Amanda" Olivia said strongly "remember, I'm also the product of a rape..."
"Thanks for reminding me that it runs so deep in my family" Amanda spit out bitterly
"No!" Olivia answered her firmly "no it doesn't because they are not your family, Amanda. Jesse is... Noah and I are, heck even Carisi and Fin. We're your family. They... they are nothing to you" Olivia finished as she pulled Amanda into a hug "and you're going to get through this, alright. This isn't all there is for you and I will repeat myself as much as need be until you truly understand that. Even if it takes me till my last breath"
Amanda released the tension in her body. She relaxed into her mother's embrace "You'll never give up? I've been told I can be very stubborn"
"Where do you think you got your stubbornness from?" Olivia said with a smile as she leaned her head against her daughter's and gave her a gentle kiss.
"Thanks... mom, for being here"
"There's no place I'd rather be"
The pair stayed like that for several minutes until a gentle knock at the door alerted them that they had found Tanner Dixon.
A/N: So was it obvious what I had planned, that Daren and his father were actually Amanda's biological father and half brother? This was my overall end game from early on in the story :) we're going to see Tanner next chapter and Olivia's reunion with her first love. I can't wait to write that part. Thanks for reading :)