Chapter 29 - Tutuola

Glad to see everyone's happy they finally caught Brent. Though I wouldn't get too ahead of yourselves if I were you. Anyway, thanks to nem, Katydidit, AglaiaWar, qt-angel, Lady Padfoot II, steph, LandofShadows, dadsgirl4ever, viol8dbyalizzard, and christopher-meloni-freak for reviewing.
AglaiaWar, new reviewer! You sat in front of a computer screen for three hours at two in the morning reading my story? You're truly a fanfic-er after my own heart! I have done that before and I know what a feat it is! That means so much to me, thank you!
steph, new reviewer too! Yeah, I did kind of place all the favoritism on Olivia's side. I tried to make Fin and Cragen neutral, but I guess it didn't really come through. Anyway, I'm glad you stuck with me and like it now!

Offical Alert-Okay, I've been pondering the whole 'Will Olivia get together with Elliot or not?' thing and I have finally come up with a long over-due solution! Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it is without ruining the end of the story. But I guarantee you that it will make everyone happy. You just have to trust me on that. ;) And, this is the last author's note I'm writing concerning and pairings. Oh, and just so you know, Olivia/John or Olivia/Fin were never going to happen.

Here's one more installment of this story, Fin. There are a few reasons it's only one chapter this time. The next chapter is really long (I mean huge!) and it doesn't go with this one. That, and I want to leave you all with another cliff hanger. ;) And you've all loved this story so far, right? Well, just keep that in mind when you hit the review button after reading the end of this chapter, please?

Lyrics by Kelly Clarkson – I Hate Myself For Losing You

I woke up today
Woke up wide awake
In an empty bed
Staring at an empty room
I have myself to blame
For the state I'm in today
And now dying
Doesn't seem so cruel
And oh, I don't know what to say
And I don't know anyway
Anymore
I hate myself for losing you
I'm seeing it all so clear
I hate myself for losing you
What do you do when you look in the mirror?
You got what you deserved
Hope you're happy now
'Cause every time I think of her with you
It's killing me inside
I don't know what to do
Not sure that I'll pull through
I hate myself for losing you
I'm seeing it all so clear
I hate myself for losing you…

Tutuola

"Okay, so tell me what happened." Huang stood in front of the one way and carefully observed Brent. It looked like the two of them were having a standoff. Brent placidly sat in the interrogation room, his cool, calm, and collected eyes blankly staring at the one way like he could see right through it. Huang watched him with the same expression, trying to figure this bastard out. Brent's nose had finally stopped bleeding, luckily requiring no medical attention, but it was starting to swell.

Cragen, John, and I carefully went through a play by play, Cragen starting, and John and I picking up when we entered the picture. Once we finished, Huang just nodded for a moment.

"It's exactly as I thought," he declared a little triumphantly. "He represses his feelings, causing sudden violent outbursts. I'll bet that in school he was always the black sheep. In life he is constantly pushed and pushed and instead of dealing with it or standing up for himself, he just takes it, allowing the rage inside him to build up and consume himself. Every now and then though, someone does or says something that pushes him over the edge. He responds by taking out all his anger on that one person, then retreating back into his almost sociopathic self." He pointed towards the window. "That, and during those episodes, they are mostly about him proving that he has control over the victim."

Munch was the first to speak. "So what, his girlfriend turns him down and he loses it?"

Huang nodded again, turning towards the three of us. "In that instance, he probably felt that she was threatening hismasculinity when she refused him. And that's why he started beating her into submission. And, I'm willing to bet that if the girlfriend hadn't fallen unconscious, he would have raped her."

"What does being unconscious have to do with it?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Huang's eyes sort of lit up, like he was fitting in the last pieces of a huge puzzle. "Like I said, his violent outbursts are mostly about showing he has control over the victim. She said no, but he wants to prove that she has to do what he wants. A big part of rape is just proving that the attacker has control over the victim. It doesn't even have to do with sex half of the time. He would have raped her to show that he is the alpha in the relationship, that he has the control. He would have taken pleasure from beating her into submission and keeping that control over her. But if she isn't conscious, she can't fight back and it makes it pointless for him."

"So why go around and rape somebody else?" Cragen turned towards the one way as he asked about Olivia.

"Because his macho status had been threatened. He felt he needed to prove to himself again and that anger was still inside him. So he just went for the next best thing." He shrugged and turned back towards the mirror. "Any other woman who would fight back that he could force into submission, it wouldn't matter who."

"Let me just get one thing straight, right now. He's not going to be able to use an insanity defense, is he?" Cragen pointed towards the mirror.

"I don't think he has any mental illnesses really. He knows the difference between right and wrong. And he is obviously in full control of himself during these episodes. He's almost like a sociopath in the sense that he knows what he did was wrong and illegal, but he shows no remorse. He can't manipulate people though. Aside from his outbursts, he always has a beta-like personality."

"You arrested him?" I heard a bewildered voice yell out from behind me. It was Casey. "I gave you a warrant to search his apartment, not arrest him!"

"Casey, you know all the evidence we have on him," Cragen started, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, and I know it's all circumstantial!" She threw her hands in the air. "You have absolutely no evidence directly placing him in Olivia's apartment the night of the attack."

"Casey," I interrupted, "he was in the building the night she was attacked."

She crossed her arms. "Along with God-knows-how-many-other people."

"He beat up his girlfriend in the next apartment over." Munch tried.

"Any witnesses?"

"He stole her master keys to all the apartment rooms!"

"No, when she woke up they were missing. Did you find the keys on him?"

"Olivia IDed him!"

"After identifying Elliot as her attacker!"

"We found his DNA inside her!"

"You found someone's, and I don't have enough to subpoena his DNA to try and match it."

"So what are you saying?" I shouted, disbelief in my voice. "That you're just going to let the bastard go after what he did to Olivia!"

"No," she calmly lowered her voice and we locked eyes. "I'm saying that there is nothing within the legal system that I can do to prove that it was him. All your 'evidence,' " she turned to Cragen, "is circumstantial and will never get an indictment from any judge. Even if I tried to use it, his lawyer will poke holes through everything like I just did." Her voice was low and harsh as she spoke again. "So stop yelling at me and either you get a confession or find something that will hold up in court, or I have no case."

"We'd have plenty if we could get a DNA sample," John spat under his breath.

Casey turned to him, anger flashing in her eyes. "Then you better hope you have a pretty damn cooperative suspect then because like I said, I have nothing that would convince a judge to give me a warrant for that." Defensively, she started storming off, back to her office.

"Casey!" I ran after her, only getting her to stop once we were out of earshot of everyone else.

"What?" She whipped her head back around and glared at me, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Isn't there anything you could do? Any favors you could call in?" I begged, no longer feeling any anger towards her. "Something?"

"I'm sorry," she said softly, her expression softening. "You know I'd do anything to help Olivia after what she went through…" Her eyes traveled to the floor and I knew she was thinking about the night Olivia had spent at her apartment. If Olivia was acting anything like any other rape victim, then she probably woke up screaming every hour or so that night. "But being an SVU A.D.A., I owe more favors than are owed to me."

"Okay," I nodded, understanding that she'd gotten all of us, and her, out of so many jams that she'd probably more than depleted her resources. "Thanks anyway." I put my hand on her shoulder, a small attempt at comforting her. "Sorry about yelling… before."

"It's all right." She smiled and shrugged it off. Just before leaving, she stopped and caught my attention again. "Fin?"

"Yeah?"

"When you and John question him, be careful," she warned. "Whatever you do, try not to let him lawyer up. If he does…"

"We're screwed," I finished for her.

"Without a doubt," she confirmed.

"Got it." I nodded and walked back to the one way where John and the Cap seemed to be having a heated discussion.

"There is no way I'm letting this-"

"John!" I stepped between the two of them and put a hand on John's chest, pushing him away. "Chill man. This isn't what we need right now." I focused my gaze on John's face. It was slowly turning crimson red as his anger started boiling to the surface.

"What?" He snapped at me, turning his sights on anyone that dared to get in his way. "D'you get anything from kissing Casey's a-?"

"John, stop it!" Huang suddenly spoke up from behind Cragen. "Insulting people and pushing them away isn't going to solve things any faster."

"Whatever. I'm going in." He turned around and reached out for the doorknob to the room.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I stopped him. "Casey says that if he lawyers up we'll never find anything out. And beating him up will make him do just that."

"This coming from the man that slammed his face against a fire escape ladder!" John shot right back.

"That was an accident and he was resisting arrest!" I defended myself. Whether or not the first part was true…

"John, go back to the squad room," Cragen quietly ordered him. "Listen to your partner."

"But Cap!" Incredulity brought his normal color back. "You can't-"

"John, you are becoming way too invested." Just as John was about to open his mouth and fire back that we were all invested, he spoke again. "I know we all want to see him behind bars, but you are in no condition to interrogate him." We all heard the hesitance as he forced himself to say one last thing. "Argue with me again and I'll take you off the case," he threatened.

John's mouth literally fell open, as did mine. We all knew that John couldn't have been anymore invested in this case had it involved his own flesh and blood, but still, Cragen's threat must have cut him down to the bone. John would do anything to protect Olivia and get this guy and I think he'd sooner take a bullet to the heart before being taken off this. Though severe, the threat seemed effective.

"Can I at least watch?" He pleaded, talking about the one way.

Cragen mulled it over before answering. "Fine, but don't push it. I meant what I said."

John just nodded obediently, anything being better than being taken off this case.

"Anything we should know before we go in there?" Cragen turned to Huang.

He thought about before he answered him. "I think only one person should go in. Probably you," he nodded towards Cragen, "because he already has a grudge against Fin. He's used to being the outsider. So sympathize with him, accept him, be like a father figure and he should be all too happy to open up to you. Start with your own story and then work in Molly."

Cragen nodded in understanding and went to go inside.

"Oh, and be careful. If you push him into another outburst, a lawyer will probably be the first thing he requests."

"Yeah, no pressure," I sighed as the Cap walked in the room.

As soon as he closed the door, John and I stood on either side of Huang, staring at the mirror, making sure we could see all that went on.

"Hey Brent. How's your nose?" The Captain casually started small talk as he took a seat on the side of the table so that he was facing Brent but his back wasn't to the mirror.

"It's fine," Brent shrugged with a nonchalance tone.

"I'm sorry about my detective. He's too over-zealous sometimes." Cragen sat back in the chair and crossed his legs. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to me about what?" He asked, careful not to show too much curiosity.

"Nothing really. Actually, I probably shouldn't be in here. I have another case that my superior wants me to work on. It's so ridiculous," he gave a half-chuckle. "Some broad and her husband got into this big fight."

"About what?" Brent easily fell into Cragen's trap.

"Okay," Cragen picked his leg up and leaned forward. "Now I shouldn't discuss this, but since you seem like a guy who'd understand, I'll make an exception. Now this guy works sixty hour weeks sometimes, so when he gets home from work he's a little tired, and understandably so, right?" Brent nodded, captivated. "Well one day he gets home and his wife accuses him of having an affair! Right out of nowhere! After he spent his life working just to support her and her kids, some of which, weren't even his."

"Really? What did he do?"

He shrugged. "Nothing, until the wife demanded that he pack his stuff up and leave. Leave his house! So he just pushed her around a little, showed her who was boss, nothing much. But now, all my detectives want me to lock this poor guy up!"

"That's rough," Brent nodded, as if he understood completely. "I know what he was feeling."

"You mean with Molly?" Cragen carefully worked her into the conversation.

"Yeah!" I could sense that even just the mention of her name made him livid.

"What did she do?"

"All right," Brent leaned forward and lowered his voice like he was telling an old buddy a secret. "So I take her out to this really expensive show, then I buy her a big, costly dinner afterwards at some fancy restaurant, right?"

"Then what?" He pressed, trying not to act too interested.

"Then we get home and I figure, I'll get a little action outta the whole deal, ya know?"

"After all that money you spent on her," Cragen pointed out, seeing where he was going.

"Exactly! So I start putting the moves on her, and ya know what the little bitch got the nerve to say to me?"

"What?"

"No!" He said like it was unthinkable, him being turned down. "She says 'not tonight Brent, I'm tired.' " He mocked her in a high-pitched voice.

"So what'd you do?"

"I pushed her around a little. Then she starts spazzing out and runs away, falling onto the floor. She was out cold and I left, taking the bitch's cards, paying myself back for the date." He leaned back, pleased with his actions.

"You didn't just push her around Brent." Cragen suddenly produced a manila folder as he stood up. "You broke her leg, bruised her ribs, gave her a concussion, a black eye!" At each injury, he produced a different picture from the folder and tossed it in front of Brent.

"What! No I didn't!" He shoved the pictures away from him and scrambled to his feet.

"Yes you did!" Cragen yelled. "And then when she became unconscious, you stole her keys and went to the next apartment over. Maybe to steal money, whatever the reason, then you ended up raping a woman!"

"Hey!" He started backing away from Cragen, knocking his chair over in the process. "I didn't rape anyone!"

"Then give us a DNA sample! Clear yourself!"

"No way! I've watched Court TV, you'll just frame me!" He backed into a corner, fear on his eyes for the first time since he'd been dragged in. "And I want a lawyer!"

"Damnit!" "Sonofabitch!" Munch and I cursed and he slammed his fist against the one way, both of us realizing that any case we had was now officially gone.