A/N: I do apologize if some of these recent chapters make a few past chapters somewhat confusing. Personally, I really like the way I've decided to change the story and the direction it's heading, and I hope all of you are enjoying it along with me. Sorry I can't please all of you, there's too many of you. Also, within the next several chapters or so the trial is going to start. Keep in mind that my only experience with the law is watching shows like SVU, so I'm just going to write whatever I think sounds good and you guys can just go with it and pretend I know what I'm talking about. :-)
"Hi, Alex. I'm Dr. Lowe." Dr. Lowe smiled and shook Alex's hand.
"H-H-Hi, D-Dr. L-Lowe." Alex replied.
Alex looked down woefully at the hard wooden chair she was expected to sit on not even fifteen minutes after her spanking. Dr. Lowe had been working at Rosewood long enough to recognize a recently spanked submissive's reluctance to sit down when he saw it and kindly offered a solution, knowing that Alex wasn't going to be able to focus if she couldn't find a comfortable position to sit. He removed the cushion from his own chair and placed it on Alex's chair. Alex gave the kind older man a grateful smile and carefully sat down, whimpering a little under her breath.
To Alex's annoyance, speech therapy seemed very much like returning to preschool. She repeated the alphabet until she thought she was going to go crazy, and read words off of flashcards over and over again. She was even given a second set of flashcards to keep so that she could practice on her own. Oddly, when Alex said the alphabet, she didn't stutter hardly at all, but when she tried to put the letters together to form words, she stuttered a lot. Dr. Lowe assured her that he had seen this before and would be able to help her.
"It's just muscle memory, sweetheart. You were traumatized, and your brain's way of dealing with the trauma was to shut off the part of your brain that processes language, that's why you stopped speaking. It's called selective mutism. Now that your brain is starting to heal from the trauma, you've started speaking again, but your mouth and your brain have forgotten how to work together to form the words, so we have to help them remember. I won't lie to you, there are probably going to be days when you are thoroughly sick of me. That's okay, just remember that I am here to help you. And promise that you won't throw books at me." Dr. Lowe smiled.
Alex laughed and nodded.
"You did great for your first day, I'll let you be on your way now. And I'll make sure to tell the dormitory monitor to give you an extra ten points on your behavior chart."
"You find anything?" Elliot called as he pulled himself out of yet another dumpster.
"Yeah, a dead rat, rotting food, something that I think was a Barbie doll in a former life, some kind of remote control, and about a week's worth of used diapers."
"Only a week's worth? I swear my babies went through a week's worth of diapers in a day. Man, I'm gonna need a shower after this."
"You and me both, brother. Hey, hit the jackpot." Fin emerged from the dumpster holding a bloody crowbar in his gloved hand.
"Great. Any sign of the knife?"
"Nope, not yet. Maybe psycho threw them in two different dumpsters trying to throw us off. Check that one." Fin pointed.
Elliot pulled himself into the dumpster that Fin indicated and started searching through the debris.
"No offense, but could you guys shower for about a week?" Olivia wrinkled her nose upon getting a whiff of her detectives when they returned to the precinct.
"Hey, you be nice to us or you won't get your present. You're the one who made us crawl through the trash." Elliot said, proudly presenting her with both the bloody crowbar and the bloody knife safely encased in evidence bags and properly labeled.
"Good work, boys. Oh, and Kathy tried to call you but your phone's off so she called me. Something about Kathleen's biology teacher wanting to have a conference with you on Friday. I already told Kathy you can have the time off if you need it. Now hit the showers, both of you, you're making my eyes water."
"Your suspect's fingerprints are all over both the crowbar and the knife, along with the victim's blood, of course. There's some kind of grainy material on the knife, but I don't know what it is yet, it could just be debris from being tossed in the dumpster. I'm also sorry to report that if your victim hadn't been murdered, he probably would have been dead by Christmas. I found cancerous cells in his blood, it's an aggressive form resistant to most known forms of treatment, but his was still in the very early stages so he may not have even known he was sick." Melinda reported.
Olivia's cell phone rang and she turned away to answer it while Melinda kept talking to Lieutenant Murphy.
"Benson."
"Captain Benson, this is Cindy, the director at Rosewood Transition Station. I'm afraid we have a serious problem. A group of girls went outside without permission and left the door open, and an intruder matching the same description as Alex's intruder came inside with a gun and is now wandering the halls looking for Alex. We're trying to sneak everyone out that we can, and everybody else is barricaded in bedrooms and closets and therapy rooms and such. I'm calling from my office, I have the door locked and barricaded since I can't get out safely."
Suddenly a series of gunshots rang out, and Olivia and Cindy both jumped.
"The police are on their way." Olivia said. She hung up the phone and ran out of the morgue with a very confused Lieutenant Murphy on her heels.
"Move it! Let's go, let's go!" Olivia shouted into the squad room as she and Lieutenant Murphy ran by on their way to the elevator.
"What happened?!" Fin asked.
"I'll tell you on the way!"
"I'll drive." Elliot volunteered as he and the rest of the squad ran after their Captain to the elevator.
When the squad arrived at Rosewood, there were already squad cars and ambulances everywhere, men and women flooding the streets, some injured, some sobbing hysterically, others just in shock. Olivia spotted a familiar face and ran up to the woman on the stretcher.
"I'm telling you, I'm fine!" Monique insisted, bleeding from the side of her head.
"Monique, have you seen Alex?!" Olivia asked, trying not to sound frantic.
"No, I haven't seen her yet today. Her therapy session wasn't supposed to be for three hours, I was here evaluating one of the new arrivals. Hit my damn head on a metal bar on one of the exercise machines in the gym, which I really don't recommend doing, by the way. That sucker hurts."
"Ma'am, you are not fine. At the very least you need stitches, now please lie still." the EMT scolded.
Olivia turned toward one of the officers trying to get her attention.
"Captain, about half of the building has been evacuated and accounted for, but about half of them are still trapped in the building, and the shooter is still inside."
"Has the shooter tried to make contact with the negotiator?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Has Alexandra Cabot made it out of the building?" Olivia asked.
"I don't have that name on my list, my guess is she's still inside, but I'll check with the other officer."
"M-M-Ma'am!"
Olivia whirled around when she heard Alex's voice. Alex was in a line of submissives being escorted out of the building with their hands on their heads, but when she saw Olivia, Alex ran from the line and ran straight toward Olivia as fast as her legs could carry her. Olivia caught Alex in her arms and held her close, smothering the sobbing blonde with affection and reassurance as the brunette dominant was flooded with relief that her sweet little submissive was still alive.
"You're safe, little one. I'm right here. You're safe, baby. That's my good girl." Olivia cooed, gently stroking Alex's long blonde hair.
"Alex, do I have to spank your naughty little bottom again today? Get back in line this instant, young lady." Claire scolded as she walked up to them.
"Th-th-this is m-my M-M-Mistress." Alex stuttered, still clinging tightly to Olivia.
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry, Madam, but she really does need to get back in line. All of the submissives that are being brought out need to go to the side of the building to be accounted for." Claire said.
"Still so talented at getting in trouble, I see," Olivia teased kindly, gently stroking Alex's face, "go on and do as you're told, baby girl. I have work to do right now, but I promise I'll see you later. I love you. And be good." Olivia gave Alex an affectionate spank to send her on her way and Alex finally let Claire lead her away, yelping as Claire's left hand connected sharply with her bottom a number of times as they walked. Upon seeing this, Olivia shook her head and chuckled as she turned back to her work.
"Captain, everyone who was able to get out safely has been brought out and accounted for, but there are still about thirty eight submissives and sixteen members of staff trapped inside." an officer said.
"Great work. Put your vests on, guys. We're going in. And remember, she's armed and dangerous, so use caution and your best judgment, but the suspect is to be taken into custody alive if at all possible." Olivia addressed her squad.
"I've never seen a submissive go so completely off their rocker like this." Elliot commented as he strapped on his vest.
"Neither have I. Either something triggered her or she just hasn't been right in the head to begin with and I didn't know it. I still can't believe I let that woman into my home and had no clue who she really was. Remind me to never take in another random submissive off the streets again. Either she has a screw loose somewhere or she's a very good actor." Olivia said, strapping on her own vest and adjusting the velcro.
"I'm betting on the screw." Fin said, making sure his gun was loaded.
More gunshots rang out and the submissives huddled around being tended to by EMTs shrieked and cowered in fear as the detectives of the Special Victims Unit ran inside the building with their guns drawn and a squad of police officers on their heels. A submissive was sitting against the wall in a hallway trying not to cry and sweating, having been shot in the leg and Olivia went over to him.
"Which way did she go?" Olivia whispered.
"That way, Ma'am." the submissive pointed down the hallway.
"Okay, good boy. These two officers are going to pick you up and help you outside."
Down another hallway, a therapist lay dead in a pool of her own blood. Olivia motioned for Amanda, Fin, and Carisi to go down one hallway while Elliot, Munch, and Kat followed her down another. Olivia could hear quiet sobbing and looked over to see a submissive peering at her fearfully from a supply closet.
"Are you hurt?" Olivia whispered.
"No, Ma'am."
"Okay, you close this door and don't come out no matter what until you hear the officers calling all clear. Good girl."
The recreation hall was empty and so was the gym. They made their way to the cafeteria and found the Cook lying on the floor gasping for breath with a bullet in her shoulder. There was no way to get her out safely, so an officer stayed with her to keep a towel pressed to her shoulder.
Olivia peered into a therapy room with an open door and went inside with her gun drawn.
"Michaela, drop the gun."
"I knew you would come to take me home, Ma'am." Michaela looked up with a strange smile on her face that sent shivers down Olivia's spine.