When Elliot calls me a little before eleven, I almost don't want to pick up but I know he has a reason. "What?" I growl out as I put the phone to my ear, ready to rip him a new one.
"Cap wants you down at the precinct ASAP," He tells me, his voice surprisingly calm.
"Yeah, well he told me not to come back until I have my shit together," I argue as I get off of my couch and turn off the TV. And here I was just beginning to enjoy my day after running errands all morning and filling up my refrigerator.
"Well we have bigger problems than you punching me, Liv. Four dead bodies since three am this morning."
I pause, unsure of what to say. "Did I break it?"
He laughs and I can just see him rolling his eyes. "No but it's still swollen. The beat cops are making fun of me."
"And Kathy?" I question, surprised that I didn't get a call from her the moment Elliot arrived home.
There's a long moment of silence between us. "She moved out. Took the kids with her to her parent's house." Normally I'd tease him and ask him what the hell he did this time but I don't. This certainly isn't the first time that she left but it sounded like it was taking a toll on him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Look, just get here, okay? I can't handle this case on my own. We're pulling Fin and Munch off of their current case and pushing all paperwork to a new guy so we can focus on this."
"Yeah, okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Okay." There's a beat of silence and I'm about to hang up before he speaks once more. "And Liv?" I wait for him to continue. "I'm sorry about what I said about Cabot. Nobody should ever say that about a woman."
"Just don't do it again," I finally reply. I hang up before he has time to say anything else because I don't want to hear his excuses. I faintly wonder if he said what he did on purpose, knowing he'd get a rise out of me.
True to my word, I'm at the precinct twenty minutes later already pinning up pictures of suspects onto a board. Four dead bodies. Four women who were brutally raped and beaten before slowly being bled out. It was sickening. But I could handle it.
At least until Elliot pinned up their photos.
All had long blonde hair and blue eyes. All were tall and thin. Apparently I wasn't the only one to observe the resemblance because Elliot said they already talked to Huang about the rapist having a type.
And two hours later, when Alex wanders into the precinct, she's surprised when she sees me. "Detective Benson," She says, glancing at Elliot before back to me.
"Uh, hey Counselor. How was court?"
She smiles in response as she walks over to the board set up with pictures. "Looks like we'll get a conviction. The defense was off their game today. New case?"
Elliot speaks instead of me and I'm taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. "Four women raped and murdered have been found since four am this morning. Munch and Fin just left because someone called in another body dumped in an alleyway."
She doesn't say anything as she crosses her arms over her chest and looks at the board. Her eyes land on the pictures of the victims and I hold my breath but she doesn't say anything. Everyone else in the room is documenting the similarities except her. She doesn't know that they're all well off women with no children or husband. She doesn't know that they all have blue eyes because the pictures show their faces from the morgue. She hasn't seen their driver's license to know that they're all her height.
"Any suspects yet?" She questions, turning back to me as if seeing so many faces similar to her didn't affect her. Maybe it really didn't. She didn't know.
"No. The bodies just keep coming in. We've canvased the scenes the best that we can considering that there are so many and so few of us. We called in homicide for help and another medical examiner. Warner thinks that the women were killed elsewhere and dropped off at different locations."
"So a mass killing and then the guy decided to dump all the bodies one morning? Do we think he's done? Or is the press going to blow up a new serial rapist in New York and scare the public?"
"Let's hope nobody leaks this," Elliot mumbles as he rubs the scruff on his chin. "We'll let you know if we have anything else, Counselor."
"Thanks," She replies as she looks at Elliot and then back to me raising an eyebrow. I shrug. "Detective Benson, can I have a word with you about your upcoming testimony?"
I spare a glance at the pictures once more before nodding and following her into an interrogation room. "What was that about?" I shut the door and look at her in confusion. "How come yesterday Elliot was saying certain things about me and today he's all nice? What'd you say to him?"
"I actually didn't say anything. He called me this morning and said we had a case. I got pulled in because he looks like we might have a serial." I watch her for a moment but she doesn't seem the least bit concerned about the case—at least not concerned that she looks so similar to the victims.
"Oh," She says, slightly taken aback. "I—I don't understand. You know what, now's not the time. Right now we need to focus on the case. Is there anything you need from me?"
"At the moment, no. We don't know too much. Huang has already been called in and we've been exploring the possibility that the rapist has a type." I pause, giving it a moment to sink in but she doesn't seem concerned. "We're not sure if he was just stocking up bodies before dumping them or what. Melinda said they were all in different stages of decomposition so that might be the case."
"So he might be done," She suggests.
"Or he might be waiting to see if he'll get caught before he goes on another raping spree. I'm hoping you're right but we don't know. We need to treat this like he's still going to be attacking women." She doesn't seem shaken up in the least bit.
"Okay, is there a general location that the bodies are being dumped? Maybe we can increase the patrol cops around the area?"
"Already called it in. The bodies are all over the place though. Each area is now taped off as a crime scene so I doubt he'll be stupid enough to drop a body near one."
"What did Huang say?"
I sigh, wondering how much I should really tell her. Do I want her to fear for her own life? "Huang thinks he has a type." I pause but she doesn't react.
"They're all blonde…"
Nothing.
"They all have blue eyes."
Not even a flinch.
"They're all well off. No husbands or children. They're all roughly five-foot-eight. They're all just like—" But I can't say it. As much as I want her to be aware and alert, I don't want her to be scared. I can't do it.
"Oh." She purses her lips as she looks to the side. I wait in silence, wondering if she made the connection herself. It would be impossible for her not to. "I guess there's no easy way to alert all women matching her description. There have to be thousands. Are they all from a similar area?"
I shake my head in response, honestly shocked that she doesn't have more to say. "No, not that we can find. They all live far apart. No similarities. We're still trying to ID one of them though. Hopefully that might help us out."
"Okay, well keep me updated please. Call me in if you have a suspect, I want to watch the interrogation." Hell to the no… I would never call her in because then she could become a target. No way.
"Yeah." There, I didn't lie. I was saying yes to keeping her updated, not calling her in for the interrogation.
Before she leaves, she places her hand on my arm and gives me a brief kiss on the cheeks. "I missed lunch with you today. Will you come over tonight?" Always. Especially if it meant I could keep an eye on her.
"Of course. How about I pick you up from your office when you get off?" She nods in response before leaving and I resist the urge to follow her just to make sure that she makes it back to her office alright.
As promised, I pick her up, only to bring her back to the precinct because Elliot and I were planning on staying a bit longer in a Hail Mary attempt to get something on the rapist. Since Alex left, two more bodies were found and my nervousness about the scenario skyrocketed.
Alex had insisted that she could take a taxi home since I was staying late but I begged her to stay, somehow convincing her that we could use a pair of fresh eyes.
So she stayed.
And so did the heavy churning in my stomach.
After four more hours, putting us two hours before midnight, I tried to convince Elliot that we would be of no use anymore.
"Liv, seven bodies," He says. As if I needed a reminder.
"I know, I know."
"And yet you want us to just call quits for the night?"
"No, of course not. Look, Munch and Fin are staying through the night so that we can sleep and refresh ourselves, they said it themselves. We're no use dead on our feet," I try to explain as I glance back to Alex who is now sitting at my desk, her head tipped back with her eyes closed. I think she fell asleep a few minutes ago in that position. Her neck has to hurt.
He follows my gaze before turning back to me. "It's because of her, isn't it?" I look up at him, ready to fight. "Don't lie. You're the one who dragged her here even though you know we don't her help."
"I—yes, I just wanted her near us. Just in case."
He nods, surprisingly in an understanding way. "Does she know she fits the description?"
I shrug. "I don't think so."
"And you're not going to tell her."
"I don't want to scare her for nothing. If I can stay around her I can guarantee that she'll be safe. I don't want her constantly looking over her shoulder because she thinks that she might be next," I tell him, hoping he'll get it.
"Yeah, okay. Look, I'm not fond of her but I wouldn't wish rape and murder on any woman. So why don't you go wake her up and take her home, okay? Just get back here by seven am so we can pick up where we left off."
"Thank you for understanding," I tell him as I smile, sincerely for once. At least he still had his priorities straight. I take his silence as approval to leave and walk toward the sleeping blonde.
I smile without even knowing it as I look down at her. I place my hand on her shoulder and gently shake. "Alex, wake up sweetheart," I whisper, loud enough to wake her but quiet enough so that only she hears it.
She squirms slightly, her eyes slowly popping open as she straightens up in my chair. She grimaces as she places a hand around the back of her neck. I figured she'd be sore. "Hey, sorry I didn't realize I fell asleep."
"It's no problem. I'm going to take you home, okay?"
"Oh, Liv, that's okay. I'll go catch a taxi so that you can continue working on the case. I don't want to be the reason why you stop."
"I'm dead on my feet, Alex," I say light heartedly even though I do feel exhausted. Cases like these have a way of doing that to me.
"Okay," She whispers softly as she reaches out a hand to brush my cheek before she pulls back, remembering that we're still in the squad room. "Will you—" She glances around before turning back to me. "Will you come home with me?"
I smile. Like I could ever say no to that face. "Of course." I'd do anything to keep you safe.
A short drive later and we're at her apartment, already in our clothes for the night. I do my nightly routine of checking to make sure her door is locked but this time it's different.
This time I check the windows, too.
And when I curl up next to her in bed, spooning her from behind, I make sure that my gun is on her nightstand, an arm's length away from me.
If she notices, she keeps it to herself.
A/N: I know that some of you are probably groaning in disapproval at me right about now but please have a little faith in me and trust that I'm not throwing in this case as a filler or to cause more unnecessary drama. There is a reason for it which you will see! Also, a little redemption for Elliot. I do like the guy but his religious beliefs made me write him the way I did initially.
