Chapter 9: Protection From The Pain

Suddenly, Olivia noticed Elliot shaking. This alarmed her, but she knew what to do. She wrapped her arms around him just as he had done earlier. "What's wrong, El?" she asked softly/

"How do we do it, Liv?" he asked, holding back the first tears that Olivia had seen from him in a long time. "How can we see what we see every day and still come home whole?"

Olivia wasn't sure how to answer that question. She'd been searching for the answer for years, but she hadn't come up with anything. "I don't know, El," she admitted honestly. "It's not easy, and it causes us a lotta pain sometimes, but somebody's gotta speak up for these victims, and I think it's our destiny to do that."

Elliot nodded. Olivia's words made sense to him. She always knew just the right thing to say. She had a gift for pulling him back from the edge, and he didn't know if he'd ever be able to repay her for that. "Liv?" he said questioningly.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Do you ever have second thoughts?" he wondered.

Olivia nodded. "Sometimes, but then I remember why I do it," she replied. "I do it for girls like Hope and for men and women like me. I was raped a couple of years ago, so I started working here to avenge other victims because I couldn't fight my own attacker."

"That makes sense," Elliot told her. From that moment on, his respect for her soared, and he began to see Olivia in a whole new light.