A.N. Ok, I'm still going backwards here, although that might change in later chapters (if I decide to continue).

This chapter starts at the beginning of the week and leads up to the first two chapters. So that would be a day or two after the attack, but before the discussion (in ch 1 and 2). OK? This chapter is meant to show the changes in Olivia's behavior and Elliot's reaction. So its just parts of random days. Let me know if I'm getting too confusing. Thanks. Please review.

Earlier that week.

Monday morning

"Hey," Elliot greeted his partner cheerfully as he swaggered through the squad room. Olivia lifted her head and nodded in acknowledgment. "Been here long?" She shrugged. "Its not even eight," he pointed out. "What are you doing here?"

Olivia shrugged again. She couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't say that being in her apartment made her physically ill. She couldn't admit that she was afraid to stay there alone. She couldn't tell him that she has been unable to shake the horrifying images from her mind. She couldn't mention that the couch, the entire living room in fact, is just a painful reminder, and she would rather be here, anywhere, then there.

"Why are you in so early?" she returned after a brief pause. She had learned at an early age that there's no better way to avoid answering a question then asking one.

"Me?" he replied as he removed his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. "I gotta be in court at nine a.m. sharp." He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and sat down at his desk. "I want to finish some things before I leave. Casey said this might take a while so I don't want to leave myself too much work for later."

"How responsible of you," she said drily.

He smiled, missing the lack of humor in her statement. "That's me-Mr. Responsible."

Olivia dropped her head and returned her attention to her work. Not even twenty minutes passed before Elliot spoke up again. "Must be some pretty interesting paper work."

"Hmm?" She seemed a little distracted. She didn't even bother to look at him.

"You seem rather engrossed over there," Elliot grinned.

"Just working." Again her eyes went to the papers in front of her. Elliot watched her for a few moments. She felt his eyes on her. "What?"

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Nothing. Just working." She flashed him an annoyed look. She wasn't in the mood for friendly banter or games. Once again she focused on the paper work covering her desk.

Another ten minutes ticked by. "Ok, what's going on with you?" Elliot asked, finally unable to sit across from her idly.

Olivia lifted her eyes. "Nothing." He didn't buy that. On any other day he would easily be able to bait her into some frivolous conversation. Today she seemed unapproachable, distant.

"Bad night?"

Her eyes widened. His question throwing her off course a bit. Could he tell just by looking at her? She brought her eyes up to meet his but quickly adjusting her gaze so she was looking at the floor. "Yeah," she answered quietly, closing her eyes and trying not to think about it.

"What?" He could barely hear her.

Olivia shook her head. "No, nothing. I'm just a little tired." She offered him a weak smile.

"All right." They continued to work silently.

Wednesday afternoon

"This girl hasn't given us a single straight answer," Fin said heading straight for the coffee machine. He immediately filled two cups.

Munch followed him through the squad room. "She's a victim, Fin. She's scared and traumatized."

"I don't know," Fin replied as he brought a cup to his lips and took a long sip.

"You think she's lying?" Munch asked. Fin handed him the second cup and he sat down behind his desk.

Olivia, who had been working at her desk with Elliot, lifted her head to listen more carefully. She was starring at Fin, waiting for him to answer.

"I think she was too tanked to know what the hell she was doing that night," Fin answered.

Munch nodded. "That's why we're investigating. This guy took advantage of her."

"How do we even know she said no? For all we know she woke up the next morning with some serious regrets and decided to cry rape." Noone answered, but Olivia couldn't tear her eyes away from the two detectives. "Look, I'm all for locking up rapists, they're the scum of the Earth, but the truth is only two people know what happened in that room. Why should we automatically take her word for it? After all she was the one who was drunk."

A grumbled sound of disgust escaped Olivia's mouth. Quickly she pushed her chair back, stood up and rushed out of the room. Only Elliot noticed her demeanor.

When she returned, Elliot was waiting to talk to her. "Where's Fin and Munch?" Olivia asked looking around but relieved they weren't there.

"Something came up with their case," he answered. She nodded and sat down. Elliot waited a couple of minutes before attempting to ask her about what just happened. "You all right," he asked. He leaned back in his chair and tried to act casual.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She tried her best to sound normal.

"You were in such a hurry to get out of here a minute ago."

She smiled innocently. "I had to go to the bathroom."

"It didn't bother you then?"

"What didn't?"

"Fin and Munch's conversation," he clarified.

"Why would it?" Olivia returned, overcompensating for her anxious state with uncharacteristic indifference.

Elliot shrugged. That he really didn't know. "You just seemed," he hesitated, "invested."

"Nope," she said simply. She started to flip through some papers on her desk. He stole one last glance at her before returning to his own work. That was his last venture into the complicated mind of Olivia Benson, he told himself.

But it was only a matter of time before he tried again.

Friday morning

The hospital waiting room was almost vacant, although it still held the depressing feel that seemed to accompany all hospital waiting rooms, packed or empty. The lack of people was highly unusual for such a busy city, even at 3:54 in the morning. Olivia sat on one of the hard ugly plastic orange chairs with a cup of coffee in one hand and her head in the other. Across from her, a young child clinging to his mother's dress and clutching a small asthma inhaler wheezed heavily. A few chairs over a middle-aged man held his right arm in his left hand, writhing and gasping in pain. Olivia threw him an annoyed look. She'd broken her arm before-it doesn't hurt that much. Be a man.

Elliot approached the waiting area. His partner always beat him to crime scenes. He had to come all the way from Queens. Most of the time she didn't even have to get on the highway.

He came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey Liv," he started. She jumped from the suddenness of his touch. Her shoulder jerked back in defense, the cup of coffee dropped to the floor and she sprang to her feet. When she turned and saw it was him she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Damn it," she muttered looking down at the mess she made.

Elliot took a step back in confusion. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," she said firmly. "You just startled me."

"I'll get something to clean that up," he said, eyeing her strangely. She was never that easy to scare, or startle.

"No. I'll do it." She walked away, leaving Elliot worrying about her in a puddle of coffee.

Minutes later she returned and knelt down to clean the floor. Elliot knelt beside her and took some paper towels from her. She didn't refuse his help. That's a start, he thought. "Did Cragen fill you in on the case?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered, taking the soaked towels and throwing them in a nearby garbage can. "Where's the kid?"

"Exam room. We can't see him till they finish stitching up his head."

"He's awake?"

Olivia nodded. "Woke up just as I got here."

"Wow. I would think a baseball bat to the head would keep a nine-year-old out a little longer." Elliot tried to shake off the brutality of the crime. He couldn't fathom why anyone would want to hurt a child like that. "And the stepfather?" He didn't know the man but he hated him.

"In custody," Olivia answered. "Uniforms picked him up three blocks from his house."

"Stupid and slow," Elliot mumbled. Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. She knew how much cases like this got to him. Seeing a hurt child never became routine. "Who called it in?"

"The boy's little sister. She's five. She watched the whole thing from the closet. Mother's on her way. She was in Boston on business."

Friday evening

"Mr. Greene," Detective Stabler hissed as he walked into the interrogation room. His partner was already sitting across from the suspected child abuser. "Brian," he began, "could I call you Brian?" He flashed the man a crooked smile."You wanna tell me what happened this morning."

Brian shifted in his seat anxiously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you always go for runs around the neighborhood at midnight?" Olivia asked unable to deliver her normal intense stare.

"Midnight?" Brian repeated. "I wasn't even home till two. Ask the baby-sitter."

Olivia thought for a moment. She shook her head recognizing her mistake. "Three," she corrected. Elliot gave her a long look. Big deal, she thought glaring back at him, so I forgot the time-line. It happens. She tried not to let her mistake bother her, but the truth was it made her angry. Wasn't it enough that the rape was consuming her mind and screwing up her personal relationships? Now, it had to interfere with her work too. It's too much. It's not fair.

"Your stepson, Spencer," Elliot said to take back the interview. "You smashed him over the head with a baseball bat." He sat down next to Brian and threw a folder on the table. "Wanna see?"

"Get those away from me," Brian cried, pushing the pictures Elliot took from the folder aside.

Elliot nodded. "Well, at least you don't take pride in your brutality. Good for you."

"I didn't do that!"

"Brian, Brian, Brian," Elliot droned. "Spencer says differently. He destroyed your entire record collection. He doesn't respect you. You got mad. That's understandable."

"No," Brian protested.

"There's a witness."

"Spencer's lying. He's always making things up. And Melissa doesn't know what she's talking about. She's just a little kid."

"The kid's lying-there's an excuse we never heard before. Hey Liv, let's let him go, the kid's lying," Elliot said patronizingly. Olivia didn't respond. Her mind was somewhere else. She was supposed to play along, make the suspect nervous. Elliot moved along trying not to think about Olivia.

Stabler continued to grill Brian Greene without any help from his partner. "What? You can't do that!" Brian shrieked in response to one of Elliot's threats. "Could he really do that?" He asked turning to Olivia. She didn't respond once again. "Hey lady!"

"What?" Olivia answered realizing she was being addressed.

Elliot gave her a disapproving look. "Detective Benson, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Olivia stood up with a long sigh. She knew where this was going.

"What's going on?" Elliot asked once they stepped outside.

"Nothing. I'm just a little distracted," she answered shrinking back from him. She didn't know why, but he made her feel so small. As if she was a little kid being scolded.

"Please Olivia, just tell me what is going on with you lately," he pleaded.

"Nothing," she insisted.

He nodded angrily. "Nothing? Nothing-that's all I've heard from you this whole week. I some how doubt its nothing. I've never seen you be so unprofessional during an interview," he roared. She looked hurt. Elliot took a deep breath and adjusted his tone. "I want to help you Liv, I really do, but you gotta let me know how."

It was getting harder and harder to turn away his concern. Part of her wanted to just break down and tell him everything. But the more logical part told her to hold herself together and get over it. It was better that he didn't know, that no one did. She was starting to think her logic might be wrong. If this was the right thing to do why did it feel so wrong? Why did it hurt so much? She wasn't getting over it. Tell him, you'll feel better, something inside her screamed.

She coped out. "I don't need any help. Nothing's wrong." She leaned back on one leg and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't be distracted every once in a while?" She couldn't tell him. Not today. What would she say anyway? Hey, guess what happened to me? No. This is best, she told herself.

"Of course you can," he answered. "But this is more than that." His voice was soft again.

"Don't make a big deal out of nothing."

"Nothing-there it is again." He started to walk away but quickly turned back to her. Now he was pissed. "Why did you even bother coming in today if you're just gonna act like a child?"

"Leave me alone Elliot!" Who was he to yell at her? Couldn't he see this isn't the time?

"Well, I'd be better off in there alone."

"Fine! Go!" She turned and walked out of the squad room in a huff. What was it about each of them that got the other so fired up?

TBC...most likely.