Disclaimer: Didn't do this in the opening chap 'cause I thought it'd ruin the mood. So, as always, I don't own the show or the characters. If I did own the show, you'd know because Cassidy would have never left the show. [sniffles] He was so cute… I miss him… But I saw him on Rescue Me. XD Yay.
However, I do own the original characters and basic idea created and used herein this story. So there. ;p
This is going to be your standard SVU fare, therefore there's no foreseeable relationship stuff between the detectives of the unit in the future of this fic. Chapters will generally be one scene long, unless the scene is really short. Also, this is my first SVU fic so all comments, suggestions and corrections are most welcome. Since I don't live in New York, have never been there, and know practically next to nothing about it besides what I see on TV, I'm most likely going to make mistakes about some stuff, so forgive me in advance about that. ;p
The title of this fic was taken from the Finch song Worms of the Earth, from the lyrics 'Absence of heart makes a boy, a man, a monster.'
And lastly, I have a livejournal (link's on my profile) that I keep updated on how my progress on my fics is going. Check it out if you ever want to know what I'm up to and when the next update will be.

[ Special Victims Unit
Squad Room
Monday, June 14th ]

The girl looked around nervously, her gaze noting the nearby presence of Munch and his partner, Odafin Tutuola, and she swallowed silently. "Do we… do I have to tell you everything out here?"

Elliot stood up. "Not if you don't want to. We have a room where you can talk with us alone if that will make you more comfortable."

"Yeah, it's right over this way." Olivia stood also and gestured towards the destination.

"You sure you don't want anything to drink?" Elliot asked, "I was going to go get myself a cup of coffee anyway…" He trailed off.

"Well," the girl licked her lips slowly. "If I could have a cup of water-"

"No problem." Elliot smiled and looked at his partner. "Coffee?" Olivia nodded in confirmation before turning to lead Eve to the room where she could talk easier.

The girl sat down in one of the chairs, her fingers resting on the table in front of her where they started to tap quietly in an agitated tattoo. Olivia sat in the chair across from her, laying the pad of paper down on the table. She glanced surreptitiously at the one-way mirror the unit's captain, Donald Cragen, could look through in his office and hoped he was watching now.

"Oh, I just remembered, we never introduced ourselves. I'm Olivia Benson and my partner's name is Elliot Stabler."

The girl nodded. "Okay."

"Now, before we start, I have a question for you; why did you come straight here instead of to a hospital?"

"Uh, well, I wasn't hurt bad, just really shocked. I wandered around disoriented a bit after it happened and found my way here…" Eve replied lamely, stopping her fingers' movements. "I'll be able to explain it better after you know how, um, it," she stressed the word as if it were poison, "happened."

"Okay. Why don't you start with telling me how your day started?"

Eve nodded. "I woke up early, about eight-ish, and I showered, got dressed and all that stuff, then my friend came and picked me up."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Amos. Amos Baker. We hung out for a while, by ourselves and then with some other people, 'til about ten-thirty when my dad called my cellphone. He wanted to know where I was and what I was doing and so I told him." Elliot had come in and he handed Olivia her coffee and set Eve's water on the table. "He got kinda mad 'cause he thinks Amos is a bad influence so he told me I should go back home and stay there until he got back, which he said would be around six 'cause he was meeting with some people."

"Why's he think Amos is trouble?" Elliot asked, blowing on his hot coffee absentmindedly.

Eve scratched a fingernail over the table slowly, avoiding looking into the detectives' eyes. "Well, he got in a bit of trouble with the cops. He's learned his lesson though and even if he hadn't, he's one of my best friends, you know?" She shrugged, looking up at Olivia. "Anyway, Amos dropped me off at my place soon after that and I opened the door and walked in. Then this feeling kind of hit me. I felt woozy and faint and I think I vaguely remember a cloth over my mouth. Then I just blacked out. I figure it had something in it, you know, like the chloroform stuff they always use in movies."

Olivia nodded in agreement while Eve picked up her cup to drink. "That's very likely."

"What's the next thing you can remember?" Elliot inquired.

"Well, I woke up and I was on my bed and I was, well, naked." She blushed faintly, looking away from Elliot. "And the man was… doing his thing." She stared at the cup in her hands, her expression blank.

"Did you get a look at him?" Elliot's tone was gentle.

"No. He had me on my stomach with a pillow under my belly, propping me up for a better angle." She spit the words out angrily. "He must have noticed I was awake too, because next thing I knew, there the cloth was over my mouth again and I blacked out like before."

She looked up, her expression transformed to reflect sudden excitement. "I did see his hand though! The left one. He was white and he had a tattoo of barbed wire in a ring shape on his ring finger. Will that help you?"

"Yes, it will." Olivia smiled encouragingly at Eve and made a note of the tattoo on her paper. It wasn't much to go on for IDing the perp but at least it was something.

"Anyway, I came to again sometime later, no idea how long or anything from when I first woke up. It was eleven forty or somewhere around there though when I came to for the second time. I was fully dressed and except for feeling a little funny and somewhat sore, I was totally fine. I think if I hadn't woke up while he was doing it, I wouldn't have known it happened. Just think I fell down or something and my dad put me in bed." Her brow furrowed. "Except, I was a little wet. My hair wasn't. Just my body. Like the guy wiped me down or something."

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?" Elliot asked Eve.

"No… nobody." She sniffled loudly and rubbed her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. "I didn't recognize the tattoo so I don't think it's anyone I know."

"Well, Eve, I'm going to take you down to the hospital, okay? We need to have you checked for any injuries and we need to run a rape kit for fluids," Olivia said gently.

"Fluids?" Eve looked scared. "As in sperm?"

Olivia nodded.

"You think there's a chance I could get pregnant?" Her lip trembled and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"They have a pill for rape cases that you can take at the hospital. It'll stop any fertilization that might occur." Olivia turned to look at Elliot. "While I'm with her at the hospital, you want to tell the Captain?"

"Sure." Elliot nodded, taking the notepad Olivia handed him. He looked at Eve. "What's your dad's number?"

Eve froze like the cliché deer in the headlights. "You're gonna call him?" Her voice broke with emotion and sounded choked with tears.

"Yeah, we need to let him know what happened."

"You can't! He's my dad!"

"And that's why we need to tell him." Elliot smiled sympathetically at her. "He'll want to know about this and if he doesn't know where you are, he's going to be worried. I'm a father too and I know I would be."

Eve stared at Elliot for a moment, torn between her fear of how her father could react and Elliot's reassurances. Finally, she told him he could reach her father by his cellphone and recited the number for him. Elliot grinned at her, looking up from the notepad where he had written the number. "Thanks."

"Anything else you need to know?" she asked with a resigned sigh.

"One more thing. What's his first name?"

"Richard."

"All right. Ready to go?" Olivia looked at Eve as she stood. The teen nodded and followed Olivia out of the room.