Three hours later
Elliot stretched and rose from his desk. The office was quiet. No crimes that they were needed for, he spent the evening catching up on paperwork. Olivia was away getting coffee, the perp they'd collared was being interviewed by Munch and Tuttola, and it had been their collar he was only there to help.
He heard two female voices returning to the office after a time.
"You're lucky…sometimes it takes WEEKS to get Munch to shut up,"
The second voice laughed, "Munch got a fright when I nodded and said, "Trust no one, the truth is out there G-Man". I kept a straight face," she said, the laughter turning silvery. The unmistakable accent caused Elliot's stomach to tighten. Something about ADA Harper made him want to fight, punch a wall, and kill someone. She'd been abused in a bad way and he knew it. Instincts screaming at him from within told him that he had to check this; it wasn't in his nature to walk away from anything. Yet everyone was telling him to let it go.
She walked into the office ahead of Olivia, and Elliot grunted a hello. He figured getting up out of the chair would scare her.
"Hello Detective. Any more personal questions you feel the need to embarrass me with?" she asked, softly, crossing to his desk. Her accent was a definite change from the American ones in the office. Soft, melodic, almost Scottish, she had steeliness to her even when her voice was low.
"Nope, I think I'll wait until we're in open court next time," he said, anger rising again. He pushed his chair back, going to rise, and she stepped back slightly.
"And then it will end up in your jacket," she smiled tightly, as he subsided, the light tremble in her voice . "Your collar is…?"
"Interview room 2," he said, "Councillor, I didn't realise you used the threat of discipline on your men," he added, eyes shining brittly.
"I shouldn't need to," she smiled back tightly, peeling her blouse aside and catching a chain. She pulled out a set of dog tags, though not before both Olivia and Elliot got more than a brief glimpse of her scarred throat. Her blouse covered it over as she tugged her dog tags over her head and dropped them on Elliot's desk.
Elliot picked them up. "Lieutenant Jaden Harper….would be who?"
"My twin brother. If I could kick his arse, and he's SAS, what are your chances Detective?" she said and Olivia laughed. She walked away and Olivia stopped smiling.
"Take those tags over and apologise Elliot. Whatever is bothering you about her, work it out without taking it out on her,"
"She's Jordaine's wife," he hissed and Olivia shrugged.
"Ex wife and in case you missed what she was really showing us, she's the one he tried to decapitate. I've caught a couple of glimpses of that scar and it looks really bad. She's a victim, just like the ones we defend. Get your head about of your ass and deal Elliot," she growled back, then crossed the bullpen to the coffee machine.
Elliot's stomach felt like the bottom had dropped out of it, and he sighed.
The Jordaine case had pushed all his buttons, and continued to do so. It had rocked the very foundations of the NYPD and DA's office to the core: one of their 'own' had been doing things that no human should. He scooped up her tags, wondering why she would be wearing them if they were her brothers. He looked at them, he top one was his, the bottom, …a woman's. Perplexed he looked more closely at the tags.
"Ceriys is my name," she told him, approaching him, her eyes reflecting delicate fear. They were slightly unfocussed, and something told him she needed….
Conscious thought wouldn't have allowed him to catch her as she passed out. One minute she was upright, the next he'd caught her, inches from the floor. Her eyes were closed, she was totally limp, a rag doll in his arms. Light as a feather, she'd still fell awkwardly and it took a bit of work to get her into a position that he could scoop her up and work out his next move.
"Liv!" his yelp must have carried across the room, because Cragen and Cabot looked out. Alex's eyes widened and she darted over.
"What did you do?" she demanded. Elliot shook his head.
"Is there anywhere quiet we can put her until medical attention…" Cragen began.
"She's not one for hospitals, and that's where she'll end up," Alex said. "I know she's not sleeping, I just didn't think…."
"If she's fainting from exhaustion, then she needs to find somewhere safe to sleep," Olivia said, meeting Alex's eyes.
"We can put her up in the cribs," Elliot said, then shifted her weight. "She's light, but….guys…"
"Put her up in the cribs and stay with her unless you get called out. If she's still out at the end of your shift, she gets medical attention," Cragen sighed. "And Elliot, if I ever hear you harassing a DA the way you have been recently, she's right, it WILL end up in your jacket," Elliot nodded curtly, then looked down at the woman in his arms.
"You've got five hours babes, and then it's a paramedic and the hospital,"
