West Side Adolecence Counciling
Fin opened the door to John Bailey's office and found a group of girls sitting alone.
"Mom?" Ashley said, getting up from a couch. "What's happening?" Then she looked at the detectives. Olivia caught her eye. Benson knew this must be humiliating for her, but she also knew that the girl had commited a murder, and her job was to arrest, not to help.
"Ashley Waters, you are under arrest for the murder of Jamie-" Benson began.
"No!" She cried. "Mom?"
"What are you talking about detective?" her mother demanded an answer.
"We found DNA -Ashley's DNA- on a piece of Jamie's clothing." Fin explained.
"But...that can't be!" her mother said softly in disbelif.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Waters." Olivia said to her with a stern tone in it that dared the lady to protest.
"You have the right to remain silent..." Fin continued the routine statement, and took Ashley outside.
"Mommy where's Ashley going?" Benny asked, running up to his mother. Mrs. Waters said nothing to her son. "Mommy?" The boy looked to her for any sign of acknowlegement. "Mommy? Are you crying?" he asked, and tears began to fill his eyes too. "Mommy what's happening?" he cried, hugging her leg, and she picked him up, and hugged him back.
Meanwhile, Benson looked at the situation in front of her. The group of girls sat staring, in shock. Some were begining to cry. Olivia sighed.
"Ok, girls. Where is John Bailey?" she asked. Benson looked from girl to girl. All were scared, embarressed, and shocked. Most however, had held themselves together, and stopped themselves from crying. Only one had let it go. Olivia turned to her first. It was Heather. She sat down next to Heather. Another spoke then.
"All he said was that he was going to be late. He hasn't come yet." she said. Benson could have sworn she saw relief in her eyes, though she was very tense, but then Olivia nodded.
"Ok, thank you." She took out a walkie-talkie. "Fin, John hasn't come yet." she warned him.
"I'll call for back-up." his vioce came through.
Heather began to sob. "Oh gosh Heather, just be quiet!" another girl yelled at her with disgust.
"All right, let's just keep calm." Olivia held up both her hands. "What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked the girl who had just yelled.
"Nicole...and I'm sick of Heather being such a cry-baby. Gees! Everyone knows that this stupid pervert made us do stuff. I mean, it was illegal." her voice lowered. "Right?"
Benson nodded. "Nicole, everyone deals with it differently, ok? I understand you're upset." Nicole rolled her eyes, but did not have another outburst after that. They all heard sirens comming from the street. Elliot came into the room. "Hey." Liv greeted. "How's Maureen?"
"She's doing better. There're officers surrounding the building, and some hiding a few blocks away in all directions." he replied. Benson noticed Heather breathing heavily again.
"Elliot, can you stay with these girls?" she asked him. He nodded. "Hey," she whispered to the girl, "come on, honey. Let's go somewhere more private, ok?" She put her arm around Heather and helped her go into a back room. There, she closed the door, and helped her lie down. "Heather, why are you breathing so hard?" Olivia asked, smoothing the girl's hair out of her face.
"I...I...think...I'm having...a panick attack" she answered.
"Ok, just try to calm down, honey, alright?" Olivia told her, searching franticly for a bag for her to breathe into.
"Is...is he...going...to get us?" she gasped out between breaths.
"No. No, honey I'm not going to let him get you." Benson shook her head. "Shhh. Calm down sweetheart. Do you have a history of panick attacks?" she asked, and grabbed a pillow from a nearby chair.
Heather nodded. "I'm sorry." she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"No, Heather, I don't want you to get any more upset, alright? Just try and calm down. I want you to try breathing through this pillow." she said, and placed the pillow over the girl's face. Heather grabbed the pillow with all of her might and began to breathe through it. After about five minutes, her breathing began to slow down. "That's it, honey. Just keep breathing through it." She heard muffled cried beneath the pillow. "Sweetheart, you need to stop crying. That's only going to make it worse. You're going to be ok." Five minutes later, the girl dropped the pillow, exhausted.
"I'm really tired." she said, her eyes closed. Olivia sighed. "Ok, you're going to be just fine." She probably needs to sleep, Benson thought, and took the pillow Heather had dropped, gently lifted her head, and placed the pillow underneath.
Thank you to krazypirategurl for her continuous reviewing. You've really kept me going.