Alex was too frightened to even scream as a rough CO strip-searched her when she arrived at Rikers. She just whimpered as his hands reached inside her, on the pretence of searching for contraband, but really she knew he just wanted to cop a feel.

She was put in a cell with another woman whose name she didn't bother to ask. She curled up in a ball on the bottom bunk bed and cried.

"Shut up," snapped the woman. "I'm writing."

Alex didn't say anything, but attempted to quiet her sobs.

"My name's Jordana. You new?"

Alex nodded.

"What are you here for?"

Alex couldn't answer.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Alex shrugged.

"I can't imagine what a goody-goody like you could ever do to end up here. What, did you get a traffic ticket or something?"

Alex buried her head in her hands and didn't answer, rocking back and forth and trying not to think of Olivia.

Being in jail was almost as bad as being in captivity. After three days, she learned how it worked around here; you want something, you put out. And even if you don't, the CO's will take what they want anyway.

She was going to be here forever, and she was never going to see Olivia again.

Olivia couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't do anything except think of how to get Alex out of there. She knew that leaving Alex in jail would destroy her, and she needed to figure something out.

She talked to Arthur, who said he'd talk to the Brooklyn DA and see what could be done. "Alex isn't a flight risk! I'll take care of her. She needs me," said Olivia firmly.

Sure enough, a week and a half later, her efforts paid off. It had taken a long time and a lot of favors, but Alex was free to come home, as long as she wore an electronic ankle bracelet and didn't leave the city, which Alex hadn't been planning on doing anyway.

But as Olivia waited in the warden's office for Alex, she hadn't expected how hard she had taken the past ten days. She looked as if she'd lost weight, and her face even gaunter than before. Olivia could see her ribs through her shirt and Alex looked absolutely terrified, trembling in fear when she saw Olivia.

Olivia went to her, wrapping her arms around Alex, who looked so small and vulnerable in her orange jumpsuit.

Alex flinched at the gentle touch, and Olivia's heart wrenched, but she understood. The only physical contact Alex had had over the last few week and a half had been when someone hurt her. Olivia wondered what it must be like to go so long without being held or hugged or kissed. But then, Alex knew, because she'd gone nearly two years without it.

She kissed the crown of Alex's head. "We're going home, baby," she whispered. "You're okay. I'm taking you home. I love you so, so much."

Olivia wrapped her arms around Alex's shoulders and led her out to the car. Alex sat limply in the passenger seat, unwilling or unable to move a muscle as Olivia buckled her seatbelt for her.

Neither of them spoke on the ride back to their apartment, and when they arrived, Olivia helped Alex out of the car and led her upstairs. "Honey, you can go to the bedroom if you want. I'll be there in a moment." She was trying to phrase her sentences as open-ended requests rather than orders, but Alex seemed to take them more as commands than anything. She immediately got to her feet and started for the bedroom.

She got undressed and knelt beside the bed with her eyes lowered as she often had for her master, waiting for her mistress to appear. Tears leaked from her eyes and her hair hung over her eyes as she waited in trepidation.

Olivia came into the bedroom a moment later, her chocolate orbs filled with sadness when she saw Alex. "It's okay, honey," she said softly, pulling Alex onto the bed beside her. "You don't need to kneel. I would never hurt you, Alex."

Alex's breathing hitched and she stayed perfectly still, trying not to flinch as she felt Olivia's gentle hand massaging her shoulders. She knew if she moved, her mistress would hit her, and she didn't want that, so she didn't.

"You're my sweet Alex," Olivia murmured, kissing the base of Alex's neck. "I'm here and I will never leave you again."

She pretended to be asleep, hoping that if she did so, Olivia would leave her alone. And it seemed to work. Her mistress got up, planting a gentle kiss on Alex's forehead and going into the kitchen to start dinner. It smelled like she was making spaghetti.

Alex curled up on the ground beside the bed, pulling her knees to her chest and trying to swallow her fear.

Olivia returned about twenty minutes later. She gently shook Alex's shoulders. "Come on, honey, I made you dinner. Spaghetti. Do you want to get dressed first?"

Alex shook her head. She got to her feet and robotically followed her mistress into the kitchen. There were two bowls of pasta on the table, and Alex lowered her eyes in shame. She couldn't eat at the table. She picked up one of the bowls and put it on the cold tiled floor of the kitchen, shivering as she sat back on her heels, waiting for her mistress to begin eating before she started to eat herself.

Tears brimmed in Olivia's eyes and she held out her hand to Alex. "Come on, honey. Sit beside me. I want to be close to you. It's okay."

Alex shook her head, keeping her eyes down. This was where she belonged, not at the table with her mistress. She wasn't good enough to eat with Olivia.

Olivia tried to smile as she sat down beside Alex, putting a place mat on the floor and her bowl on top of it. "Are we camping?"

Alex didn't say anything, and Olivia's concern was rapidly increasing. Alex wasn't even signing, and now she didn't have any way to communicate with Olivia. Not because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to.

Olivia gently rubbed Alex's back. "Aren't you hungry?"

Alex shook her head, grateful for the out that Olivia was offering. She picked up her bowl and carried it to the counter, emptying the pasta into a container and putting her bowl into the dishwasher. She returned to her mistress and knelt once again, her hands on her thighs, bowing her head as she waited for instruction.

"Oh, sweetheart," murmured Olivia, reaching out to caress Alex's cheek. "You never have to kneel for me. You're the most amazing woman in the world and I would do anything for you. You don't ever need to feel like you're inferior, to me or to anyone."

She hoped these words were the right ones, even though she wasn't sure what has caused this regression. Maybe she had seen him in jail? Then it occurred to her – maybe she'd been raped again. Oh, God. This couldn't be true. Bile rose in Olivia's throat. She knew that prison rape was so common that it went without saying, but it had hadn't even occurred to her that such suffering could befall Alex once again. Her poor Alex. She didn't deserve any of this.

She wrapped her arms around Alex and held her close. "You're so strong, baby," she murmured, kissing the crown of Alex's head. "And I love you so, so much."

Alex went limp in Olivia's arms, curling against the detective, wishing she could believe her when Olivia promised that she was safe here. Nowhere was ever safe for her. She was going to be put in prison and abused for the rest of her life. She was never going to be safe again.

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