"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

It comes with the Badge

A/N: This will be more of a mini-chapter because of a violent attack from a muse. Also note that by mini-chapter I mean around three thousand words. Thank you all for your reviews. Also note, ADA Alexandra Cabot is portrayed as bisexual in this chapter, if that offends anyone, oh well.

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Last Time:

Cragen waited for them by Olivia's desk. A single piece of paper was in his right hand. He looked all too serious and the two cops fell silent as they approached. "Detective Jamerson, I believe it is critical that you see the sketch of the perp. that your victim described. It might alarm you but do not worry, it will be handled appropriately." As Ryan approached Cragen and reached for the piece of paper, Detective Jared Moore walked in and smiled.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you?" She stopped what she was doing and allowed him to put an arm around her but she flinched as he placed a kiss on her cheek.

Captain Cragen looked nauseas but remained silent.

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Chapter 4

 Betrayed

Ryan looked up at Captain Cragen with a worried expression. "Is everything alright Captain?"

He shook his head and looked at Jared oddly. "Ryan, will you and Olivia come to my office immediately?"

Olivia nodded and Ryan followed her in to the office. As they watched from the window, Cragen spoke quietly with Munch before turning and heading towards the office.

"We've discovered the identity of the other victim. She's an aspiring actress who was just making it big. Her two movies are coming out this winter, she was definitely a high-profile character. Her name was Kiera Knightly."

Ryan gasped. "Are you serious? This guy must be high-profile."

Cragen shook his head. "No, he's your average Joe with a pent up rage that could blow away half of New York. I'm going to put Munch and Fin on the case with you and postpone their other case."

Olivia nodded. "Let's get this bastard. Can we see that sketch?"

He shrugged. "It's skewed. I need you two to pay a visit to him and get the original. He lives at 1603 west 39th and his name is Chris Barton."

Ryan smiled lightly. "Great. We'll get this bastard."

Olivia's cell phone rang. "Benson."

The ME replied. "Olivia, I have good and bad news."

"Bad news first please."

"Well, the samples of blood are totally scrambled. Scene two has the first vic's blood for the writing."

Olivia frowned. "Good?"

She smiled. "I've got the perps blood. It's male and it matches the semen. It was used to make the first message."

Benson thanked her. "Oh, one last thing. What did the second message say?"

The ME frowned. "It said 'Watch out ladies, your guns are useless against a friendly foe.'"

Olivia shivered. "Creepy."

"Definitely. Well, I've got another body to process, I hope it was of some help."

Benson nodded. "Of course. Thank you so much." The click on the other end sound and Olivia hung up. "The second message said 'watch out ladies, your guns are useless against a friendly foe.'" Shaking her head, she frowned. "The DNA was also weird. The DNA from Nicky was at the second scene and the perp's blood was the paint in the original message."

Ryan's eyes went wide. "That means there'll be another victim if we don't get this guy."

Olivia nodded. "Let's find Chris."

Jamerson grabbed their jackets and grabbed the keys. "How fast do you drive?"

She shrugged. "Average for a New Yorker."

Ryan laughed. "I'm driving." Handing Olivia her jacket, she ran out to the sedan without another word.

Cragen walked out of his office and looked at Jared's hand. "When'd you get that?"

A large cut was wrapped up under white bandages. "Two nights ago, never argue with a steak knife, it's not pretty."

Munch laughed and looked at Cragen. "So we're on the case now too like you said right?"

When Cragen nodded Munch called fin up and told him to hurry his ass up.

***

Olivia walked in to the house first when she noticed the door slightly ajar. Luckily, she managed to keep her stomach down. "They're dead."

Ryan looked at her. "They?"

Following Olivia's hand, she saw the sketch artist and his wife lying in a pool of their own blood. What scared the even more was the message scrawled across the walls. 'This is the last kill I'll make detectives. Catch me if you can.'

Olivia called for an ambulance even though Ryan couldn't find a pulse. "Twenty bucks says this is Warren's blood." She motioned to the message. Olivia nodded as the ME came in to claim the bodies.

That's when Ryan found the sketch of the perp. It was sitting on the coffee table. She screamed. Blood. So much blood. Pain. Screaming for help. HELP ME! All the memories washed back anew. When she finally opened her eyes again, Olivia was crouched on her knees next to her. She had curled up on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. NO! Bleeding, begging for help, pleading for mercy. Peace. Darkness, unconsciousness is the only release. Stop fighting, hopeless. Blood. So much blood. The Knife. Screams. She screamed again. Olivia wrapped her in a soft hug. "Shh. It's not Jerry, don't worry."

Choking on her tears, she pointed to the picture. "Look..." she swallowed hard and wiped tears away. "It's him."

When Olivia picked up the picture, she wanted to scream too. Wrapping Ryan in a comforting hug, she whispered to her. "Shh, it's okay sweetheart."

Ryan clawed at her and pulled herself away. "Don't call me sweetheart!"

Olivia bit her lip. "Come her Samantha." She remembered Huang's sessions with Ryan and how her mother called her that. Right now, Ryan would need a motherly figure. Taking her in to her arms, she cradled her weeping body. She opened her cell phone and dialed Elliot's cell.

"Stabler."

She took a deep breath. "Elliot I need you to get down here right now. We're at 1603 West 39th."

Elliot frowned. "I can't find Jared anywhere."

Olivia nodded. "I'd expect not. Come along. If you find Jared, don't bring him. Get down here now." When she hung up the phone, her hands were shaking. Poor Ryan. Olivia kissed her forehead softly. "It's going to be okay. It's all going to be okay."

Ryan's chest heaved in protest as sobs racked her body. Elliot walked in. "What's wrong Olivia?"

She held up the sketch of the perpetrator and Elliot backed up a step. "No way. This has to be some kind of hoax."

Olivia shook her head. "No, it's real. It can't be anyone else."

Elliot saw Ryan lying in a heap sobbing. "Oh God. IBA is going to have a field day with this. Not to mention psych evaluations for all the new cops are due in two weeks. Ryan can't pass that exam after all this."

Cradling the woman's head in her arms, Olivia looked up at Elliot. "She won't have to. I'm going to make sure it's postponed. There's no way she can be fairly evaluated after such a traumatic episode."

Stabler nodded. "She has her testimony against Jerry coming up too."

This caused Olivia to find the ground intensely interesting. 'She will still testify after this fiasco ends, but I cannot bring myself to do it.' Shaking her head slightly, Olivia looked up at Elliot. "Think you can pick her up?"

He nodded. "No problem."

Bending over and gently picking Ryan up and holding her in his arms, he felt her racing heart and her shaking torso. Her pain was emanating from her body.  Olivia shook her head. "I can't believe I've been so selfish to think that I have it bad."

Elliot kissed her forehead. "You're not selfish sweetheart."

Olivia smiled and walked with him towards the car. Olivia sat in the back with Ryan while Elliot drove back to the precinct. "I think I'll stay with her in the crib tonight."

He turned to her at a red light. "Would you like me to stay too?"

Smiling at the offer, Olivia shook her head. "One of us should get some sleep."

Elliot smiled. "I love you Olivia."

Somewhat shocked, she didn't respond as Ryan's body stopped shaking and she laid her head in Olivia's lap. Olivia brushed her long hair away from her face and smiled down at her. "Sleep will do you good Ryan." As the dark haired girl lay in her lap, she reminded Olivia as a broken doll. A porcelain doll who'd been played with too much and was now broken. She was only twenty-seven and she'd been through pain Olivia could only imagine. Yet, through it all, she'd survived. Olivia knew she'd be a great cop in the SVU. Now the challenge at hand was making sure she remained in the SVU despite upcoming psych evaluations.

Stabler broke her train of thought. "Want me to carry her in?"

Cragen walked outside, having received a call for a warrant for Jared's arrest and saw Elliot carrying Ryan. "God, is she okay?"

Olivia looked up at him. "She's physically perfect."

Elliot walked past him and in to the station house. Setting her on the bed, he turned to Olivia and Cragen. "Do you have the warrant?"

Cragen handed it to him. Elliot placed it in Ryan's limp hand. "She gets the right. I'm going to detain him for questioning all night and she can arrest him when she wakes up.

Olivia smiled at Elliot. When Cragen walked back in to his office, she kissed him softly, shyly. "I love you too Elliot."

He ran a hand along her face. "I was so worried about you when I got that call." Her partner placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. "Stay safe for me, love."

A soft blush lit her cheeks as he kissed her goodnight and headed for the parked sedan to pick up Jared Moore.

***

Morning came quickly, and when Ryan woke up, she found her head resting in Olivia's lap as she leaned against the wall, dozing herself. Looking at the warrant in her hands, she sat up and shifted Olivia's sleeping body down so that she was lying on the cot. Scribbling a short but sweet thank you note, she went to arrest Jared and planned on writing her resignation. She'd never pass the psych exam coming up in three weeks.

Smiling faintly at Fin and Munch, she walked up to their desks. "Where's Jared?"

Fin looked up at her. "Elliot's been grilling him since last night. Interview room 3 I think."

Ryan gave him another forced smile and nodded. "Thanks." Approaching that room, she wanted the whole past day to disappear. Walking in to the room formally, she smiled at Elliot. "Thank you Detective Stabler."

Elliot, sensing she was being formal to spare any shred of sanity she had left, nodded politely. "My pleasure Detective Jamerson." He walked out, knowing the punches he'd delivered to Jared were nothing compared to what Ryan would do to his mind.

Looking in to Jared's deep eyes, her grey eyes seemed stone cold. "You bastard. You realize we have DNA on you right?"

He nodded. "I don't give a damn. Maybe if you'd actually let me have you like Jerry did I wouldn't have had to look elsewhere."

Ryan kicked him in the balls. "Shut up. I do the talking here. We already know that your alibi is a clear as mud and that you raped and murdered these people. Janet Warren was an innocent girl! You bastard! She was getting married next month!" She punched him in the stomach as he got to his feet. "How could you?" Another punch in the face knocked him down again. "That's for the poor actress you mutilated. She has bruises all over her body. Luckily, she'll live to testify against your pompous ass." Once more she kicked him, in the stomach. "That was for lying to me." She pulled him up and showed him the warrant. "I hope you like it in prison. You'll get plenty of sex there, but I doubt the kind you want. I'm going to tell them all you're a pedophile. They won't care enough to check the story." Ryan pushed him against the table as she cuffed him. "Get used to this position Jared, you're going to be seeing a lot of it where you're going." She pulled him up and walked out of the interview room. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, the court will appoint one for you. Other than that, you're mine asshole."

Jared turned around. "I give up my right to a lawyer. I did it. I confess. I raped those two young girls; they were fun. Then, when I found out one of them lived and that she talked to Chris, I followed him home. There, I tied him up and raped his wife in front of him over and over. Then, I told him he could chose. I'd either shoot his wife now in front of him, or kill him quickly and give her a slower, more painful death. He had me shoot the Misses. Then I raped him and shot him too."

Pulling out her tape recorder, she grinned. "You're fucked asshole." She roughly pulled him around until she ran in to Alex as she glanced at her desk. Fin offered to handle Jared, and she agreed as she went to greet Alex.

"Good morning." Ryan smiled at her. "I got you a present." She played the tape for Cabot and Alex grinned.

"Lovely job Ryan. I need to tell you though, I terribly sorry that it was him."

Ryan's stone eyes stared back at her blue ones. "I'm not. At least now I know what kind of person he really is." Walking away coldly, she grabbed the keys to her F-150 and headed out the door. On her way, Fin stopped her.

"Hey, you're strong Samantha. You're a good cop."

She smiled faintly through tear-filled eyes. "Thanks."

Fin placed a hand on her shoulder, still maintaining his distance. "Where you headed?"

Ryan looked up at him. "To be honest, I'm going to a bar with the soul intention of getting incredibly drunk off my ass."

He frowned lightly. "Sounds like a plan. Do you mind if I join you?"

She shook her head. "It'll be nice to know there's someone I can trust there. If Olivia can trust you, I can trust you."

Fin smiled. "I'll drive you." Ryan handed him her keys without anymore than a slight thought of dispute.

As the two got in to the truck, she turned to him. "How did you know my middle name?"

He smiled. "Olivia told it to us. She said it'd probably be best to call you that for a while. Your mother calls you that?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes. It's my middle name."

Fin started to drive away. "Where to?"

Jamerson sighed. "Any place with alcohol."

With a soft laugh, he turned left and headed down the street. "Samantha suits you better."

She rolled her eyes. "Everyone says that. They say I look more like a ballerina than a cop."

"I wouldn't beg to differ." A slight grin crossed his lips. "Munch's going to be jealous that we left him behind."

Ryan shrugged. "Oh well. I'm going to have a nice glass of brandy."

Tutuola laughed. "Yeah? You seem like a wine girl."

Refusing to take the bait of that comment, they drove in silence to the bar.

***

Jared smiled at Cabot with his lawyer at his side. Teresa Jensen was his lawyer. Alex had heard of her before, she was notorious for getting rapists off on lesser charges. She smiled sweetly at Alex. "I was thinking we could plead down to manslaughter and rape in the second..."

Cabot closed her briefcase, stood up and laughed. "Absolutely not. I have a perfectly sound confession and enough evidence to convict him twice over."

He blew a kiss through the air. "I am in the room Miss Cabot."

Ignoring him, she gave his attorney a smug smirk and walked out. If I can't put Jerry away on Olivia and Ryan's rapes then I will put him away. For life. Seeing Elliot and Olivia leaving for the bar with Munch, she joined them, hearing that Fin and Ryan were already there.

***

Ryan stared at the empty-inside of her glass. Laughing lightly, she turned to Fin. Elliot and Olivia had joined them about an hour ago. "It's empty again."

Fin shook his head. "I don't think you should have another..."

Elliot laughed. "I second that motion."

Slurring her words together slightly, Ryan looked at Olivia. "Come on Olivia, tell them I can have another drink."

Before Olivia could object, a song Ryan knew came on and she began to hum softly. Olivia shook her head. "Let's get you home."

Fin smiled. "She looks even more like a ballerina now."

Munch couldn't help but laugh as he approached the group. "She looks happy."

Olivia looked up from her beer. "At least she's forgotten Jared."

Ryan stopped singing. Her eyes glanced from Elliot to Olivia to Munch to Fin and back. "No, I never forget. And I never forgive." Her voice was very solemn, which worried the other detectives because of the severe contrast to her earlier mood.

Benson stood up and grabbed Ryan's keys. "Want me to drive you home?"

After a moment of nearly dead silence, Ryan looked up. "Me? I..." She looked at Fin.

Tutuola smiled. "Go with her, I'm going to have to drag Elliot home." He laughed lightly.

Ryan nodded. "Alright then." She followed Olivia out.

***

Waking up in the morning was just plain painful. Her head pounding, her bladder screaming and her eyes protesting the light, Ryan sighed heavily. Trying to remember what on earth got her in to this situation to begin with as she fumbled her way to the bathroom was difficult. She washed her hands and looked in the mirror. Her mascara was running down her cheeks, she'd been crying. Walking back in to her bedroom, she cried out softly. Olivia was lying in her bed.

Trying not to wake her sleeping partner, she slid in to the kitchen and sat down for a moment. 'Why the hell is Olivia here?' Trying to remember was futile; all she could remember was getting terribly wasted.

Fixing a pot of coffee and drinking from a brimming cup deep in thought, Ryan barely noticed Olivia walk in. She was wearing a t-shirt and her pants, which were unbuttoned. Ryan felt her cheeks blush lightly. "Good morning."

Olivia smiled kindly. "I'm glad you slept well Samantha."

That name made her even more suspicious. Ryan laughed, unsure of how to ask Olivia what she needed to ask. "I...uh..." She took a deep breath. "I can't remember a damn thing about last night, what happened?"

Benson gave her hand a soft squeeze and poured herself some juice. "When I was about to leave last night after coaxing you in to pjs, you started crying. I realized that after Jerry and now Jared, you needed someone's touch you could trust."

At first, Ryan assumed the worst. "I...sorry?"

After fully digesting Ryan's thought pattern, Olivia laughed. "I gave you a comforting hug until you calmed down and I decided to stay the night so you would feel safe."

Letting out an all-too-relieved breath, Ryan nodded. "Of course."

Olivia gave her a sly grin. "What? Did you think we had hot passionate sex?"

Ryan refused to comment and took a heavy gulp of her coffee. Her partner laughed. "I haven't even had sex with Elliot since my rape, let alone my partner."

Jamerson found herself blushing again and stood up. "I should get dressed. You need an extra pair of clothes?"

Before Olivia could respond, she put an uneasy hand over her mouth and made a rush to the bathroom. Ryan followed her and frowned when she heard Olivia throwing up. "You okay?"

Olivia walked out and blushed. "Yeah, it's been happening more and more often so far. Doctor says it should be over by the fourth month though."

Ryan recalled Elliot talking about her being pregnant. "Oh, right. I forgot."

Benson smiled before taking the clothes Ryan had held out to her. "I wish I could sometimes."

With a false smile, Ryan walked back in to her bedroom to change. Walking out in her dress slacks and a button-down, she sighed. "I really don't want to go to work. When will the new recruit be coming in?"

Olivia shrugged. "Let's go find out." The two got in the F-150 and headed for the station house. Jared was going to be put away, Ryan was sure of that. Now she only had to worry about her testimony.

***

As soon as Ryan got in to the station house, Cragen called her in to his office. "I'm not going to be calling in another partner for you for a while. I want to see how you do on the psych exam before I take on another unit, okay?" He paused. "I understand what all of this has done to you so far, but I just want you to know I've delayed the evaluation three weeks. That gives you plenty of time to give your testimony and a week or so for a break afterward. It will be paid leave, but I am enforcing that you do not get involved in the cases running at that time, if you do I will submit you to the evaluation immediately. Is that clear?"

Standing in front of Cragen and realizing how much he cares about his detectives, she nodded. "Thank you Captain Cragen." As she turned to leave, she looked back. "How come you didn't go with us to the bar to celebrate last night?"

Cragen smiled faintly and shook his head. "AA."

Giving him a look of understanding, she walked out and closed the door. Alex was awaiting her to prep her for her testimony tomorrow morning. She greeted the ADA with a pleasantly fake smile. "Hey Alexandra, how are you?"

Alex gave her a kind smile. "I'm doing okay, I've been better."

Ryan could tell she'd missed out on a full night's sleep. "Did you go with us last night?"

Trying not to laugh, Cabot nodded. "I will take it that you don't recall."

Jamerson raised an eyebrow. "Recall what?"

With a coy grin, Alex shook her head. "Nothing Samantha, nothing."

She groaned. "You're not going to start calling me that too are you?"

Alex laughed. "I could always call you, how did you put it? Damn sexy?"

Not willing to ask what Cabot was referring to, Ryan looked seriously at her. "I'm ready to testify. It's tomorrow right?"

She nodded. "At least you remember something."

Ryan gave her an eat-shit-and-die look before walking with her to the parking lot, the two bound for her office to prep.

***

Elliot walked in to the station house to see Olivia drinking from a coffee cup and looking over the case he and Jared had been working. He whispered in her ear. "Coffee's bad for the baby."

She jumped slightly and turned around. "God Elliot, you know I hate it when people sneak up on me. It's not coffee." She handed him the cup and he saw the orange juice. "I'm going to die without the caffeine but oh well."

He patted her back and kissed her cheek. "You'll manage."

Olivia looked at him. "So, what parent doesn't teach their six-year-old child not to open the door to strangers?"

Elliot looked down at the case and recalled the details. He was raped and murdered in his house while his parents were at work. Stabler sighed. "I'm sure they taught him."

"Then, maybe, he thought this guy was allowed in. There was no sign of forced entry?"

When he shook his head, he paused for a minute. "It could be a family member, I remember looking up the family and finding an uncle or some other relative in the city and he has a father in Queens."

Olivia stood and grabbed her jacket. "Is the mother single?"

"No." Elliot paused. "There's a step-father."

Benson shook her head. "Let's talk to them first and see where that goes."

Elliot nodded and grabbed him keys, heading towards the lot with Olivia at his side. He took her hand shyly.

***

Alex looked at her watch; it was almost two. "Want to grab lunch? We can work some more after that..."

Ryan let a small smile pull at her lips and nodded. "That sounds great. Are we going to cover what cross might ask me? I don't want any ludicrous questions setting me off-guard."

Cabot handed Ryan her jacket and grabbed her own purse. "Well, I can't completely safe-guard you but I can ask you questions that I'd ask if I were in his position, and remember, just keep the answers short, concise and truthful."

Jamerson nodded. "This has been a great help."

Alex smiled. "That's my job. Now, where to?"

Thinking for a moment, Ryan shrugged. "How about you chose?"

Sighing lightly as they took the elevator down to the parking garage, she laughed. "You like Italian?"

Pushing thoughts of Jared's dinner less than a week ago from her mind, she nodded. "Italian sounds great."

Alex opened her car with the remote and climbed in. Ryan was surprised. It was a red Lexus SUV that made Ryan almost envious. The inside was beige leather interior and it was more luxurious than Jamerson first expected. Alex turned the car on and drove out.

Ryan turned the radio up lightly. "I like this song."

Cabot nodded. "Me too."

"I didn't think anyone else here was religious...Mercy Me* is a Christian Band."

Alexandra nodded as she turned right and in to a parking lot. "I know. I love their music. Now, come on, let's get something to eat."

Ryan nodded and got out. As the two met around the front of the car, Alex leaned in and whispered in her ear. "This is on me by the way."

At first, Ryan sought to oppose this but she noticed Alexandra's determined look as the waitress sat them and gave in. "What are you ordering?"

Alex picked up the menu and read through the bottom of her glasses.

Ryan found herself watching Alexandra; she looked very beautiful. "Well?" She blinked a few times, taking her out of her trance as she glanced at her own menu.

Cabot laughed. "I already told you, I'm going to have seafood alfredo. I asked you what you are going to have..."

Jamerson looked up at her again and forced herself to return her gaze to the menu. "Right. Sorry, I'm still a bit tired. Um, I think I'm going to get a salad and spinach ravioli."

Alexandra wrinkled her nose up. "Spinach hmm?"

Ryan nodded. "I'm not a big fan of red meat."

Her companion's blue eyes lit up. "Me too, well, I try to stay away from meat. Seafood is okay in my book though."

Jamerson gave her a coy grin. "You could use the meat on your bones." 'Not really, her bones look just perfect to me...'

Alex blushed faintly under her glasses and Ryan smiled at her. "I eat plenty, it just seems to vanish."

As Ryan slid off her coat she nodded. "I know what you mean. I felt awful when I leant Olivia one of my shirts today and I had to get one of the bigger ones I never wear..."

A fair blond eyebrow rose. "Olivia spent the night? I thought she and Elliot..."

Ryan interrupted her. "Yes, they are together. She just stayed to comfort me. I wasn't in the best condition mentally..."

Alexandra took her hand and smiled at her. "It will all be over soon with Jared, don't worry."

***

          Alex smiled at Ryan. "Would you please tell the court what Jared confessed to you just outside of the interview room?"

          Ryan nodded. "He told me that he'd raped those two women." Her lip quivered lightly and she wiped her eyes. "Then he told me that if I'd had sex with him, he wouldn't have had to go elsewhere." Unable to look at Cabot anymore, she looked down. "Then he confessed to the murder of the sketch artist and his wife. Saying he raped the wife in front of the husband, and sodomized the husband." Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

          "Did this seem like the same Jared you knew?"

          Shaking her head, she looked up at Alex. "He always treated me so nice, but I could see it in his eyes. He wasn't lying. He meant every word of it."

          "And what can you tell me about the sketch artist's composite?"

          Ryan swallowed hard. "It looked almost as much like him as the picture I used to keep on my bedside."

          "Used to?"

          Jamerson's eyes lit with fire. "He raped four people! And he murdered three of them in cold blood!"

          Cabot was pleased, even though Ryan's tears hurt her to see. This was a open and close case. "Thank you Ms. Jamerson."

***

Ryan sighed heavily and nodded. "That is correct, I was dating the defendant at the time."

The defense proceeded. "Did anything lead you to believe he was capable of rape?"

That's when Ryan remembered something a shivered lightly. "I'd always told him that I hated it when he winked at me because when I was raped, the rapist winked at me as he left...but in the four days prior to the attacks, he had winked at me more than any other time during our entire relationship. When I confronted him about it, he didn't even seem regretful, he only laughed and told me to stop being so up tight."

Defense questioned her again. "Had you ever slept with the defendant?"

Alexandra stood up. "Objection!"

The judge looked at the defense attorney through her half-moon glasses and frowned. "Where is this going Ms. Jensen?"

Teresa looked up at the judge. "Character of the witness, your Honor."

Frowning, the judge sighed. "Watch your step Ms. Jensen. Answer the question Detective."

Ryan shook her head. "No, I've never slept with Jared."

Teresa stepped closer. "I thought you'd been together for four years or so?"

Once again, Alex was on her feet. "OBJECTION! Badgering the witness."

Judge Ramsey sighed. "Sustained."

Ms. Jensen frowned and redirected. "When you first saw that sketch, did it ever run through your mind that it might be someone else?"

Ryan shook her head. "It was the final piece to an intricate puzzle. He was always MIA during the time of the crime and his alibi was always paper thin when Elliot wanted to know where he'd been."

"So, you'd thought about Jared being the rapist before?"

She shook her head again. "Never. Why would I? He was my boyfriend, I trusted him." Tears brimmed in her grey eyes.

Ms. Jensen sighed. "You trusted him but yet you suspected him immediately?"

Ryan sighed. "It looked exactly like him, it still does and now there's no doubt in my mind that he did it."

Teresa grinned. "Are you so adamant about that?"

Suspicious, Ryan looked to Alexandra. Alex nodded for her to answer. "Yes, I am. I have been told that DNA and eye-witness testimony corroborates my opinion."

Ms. Jensen pounced on her one chance. "That's right, you'd know how exactly to explain to the girl what her rapist looked like because you're a cop and understand the proceedings."

"OBJECTION!" Alexandra was furious.

With a smug grin, Ms. Jensen returned to her desk.  "Withdrawn. Nothing further your Honor."

***

After the trial, Alex smiled and hugged Ryan. "The jury only took thirty minutes, you did great."

Ryan blushed faintly in her embrace. "I feel exhausted."

Alex paused. "Tell you what, I'll take you back to my place to sleep. That way you'll have someone with you and it's only about twenty minutes away."

She remained silent for a moment, and nodded. "I'd like that." As the two headed out of the courthouse, Ryan's cell rang. "Jamerson."

Olivia smiled. "How'd it go?"

Ryan sighed. "The sentencing is in a week."

Sighing with relief, Olivia grinned. "Do you want a ride? I know you went there with Alex."

Blushing, Ryan responded negatively. "Actually, Alex has offered to let me stay at her place for the night."

Olivia laughed lightly. "You do know that Alex is bisexual, right?"

Ryan paused for a moment, looking at Alexandra, and nodded. "Yes I do."

"Are you?" Olivia earnestly awaited an answer. Munch and her had a bet going on whether or not the two would hook up, not that she'd tell Ryan that.

Shrugging lightly, Ryan felt a shy smile tug at her lips. "We'll see."

Olivia laughed. "Have fun Samantha."

"Is everyone going to start calling me that?"

Benson nodded. "It stuck, sorry. Well, have fun. See you after your break."

Recalling Cragen's orders, she nodded. "Right, see you then."

As Ryan hung up the phone, she climbed in to Alex's car. "Are you intending on calling me Samantha too?"

Alexandra blushed. "I'm not sure, maybe we'll find out later." Listening to Alex's words made Ryan blush brightly as the two drove to Alexandra's apartment.

***End Chapter Four***

* I do not own this!