Author's Note: I apologize for the wait. I was on vacation and I did not get time to update before I left. Please enjoy!

Chapter Four

Special Victims Unit

May 7th, 2006

12:43 am

"I don't know what kind of sick and twisted joke you are trying to play on me but I don't want to be a part of it," Olivia announced to Joseph Steele after he claimed he was her father. Olivia did not believe his confession for a second and she completely dismissed any possible chance that he was indeed her father. "Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to get back to working. Have a nice day." She turned down to her desk and pretended to do some paperwork.

Joseph Steele remained there, occasionally staring at Olivia and then scratching his head in frustration as to what to say next. He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned more of his weight on one of his feet.

"Look," he said. "I know what I'm saying seems unlikely and ridiculous but you have to believe it. It's the truth, Olivia."

"Okay, listen," snapped Olivia. "You're bothering me incredibly right now and it takes a whole lot to bother me. So I'm going to ask you one more time, please, go away. If you don't, I'll have you removed."

Joseph's old eyes stared at her and she kept her gaze with him to show her seriousness. He looked defeated but it was clear he was not going to give up. As of now though, he could do nothing. He turned away from Olivia and headed out of the precinct.

That is when Stabler approached her.

"What did he want?" asked Stabler as he seated himself at his desk.

"To argue," answered Olivia.

"About what?" asked Stabler.

"About how his son is innocent and all that bull," answered Olivia. Her animosity and annoyance was recognizable but Stabler decided to not question her anymore. He saw how angry she had gotten after exiting the lab, he did not want to aggravate her more. They sat in silence for a while, Olivia failing to focus and Stabler worrying for her. The feeling of awkwardness was uncomfortable between them.

Finally, Olivia got up out of her seat and she broke the silence. "I'm going to get something to drink, like a coffee or something."

"Okay," said Stabler. "Do you want me to go or..."

"No it's okay," said Olivia. "I'll be back soon." She exited the precinct rubbing her temples and running a nervous hand through her hair.

Olivia in fact, did not go and get a drink. She made her way to a park not far from the precinct. It was a small park with green lush plants and bright blooming flowers. It had several benches along a cemented pathway and numerous trash cans to keep the park clean. Unfortunately, the sky above was now becoming cloudy and the sun began to disappear, thus taking away some of the beauty of the park.

There was a bench in the park where Olivia liked to sit specifically. It was a top a small hill and from the bench you could see the whole park, which was where it looked its best. Olivia sat there for hours just watching people stroll through without a care in the world and she longed for that freedom. Deep down, although she knew she should never, she sometimes wished she did not work for the Special Victims Unit. It was of course because of stress and some of things she saw. Despite this feeling, she knew that she was good at what she did and she helped a lot of people and she loved that feeling. The feeling she got in her stomach when a young child thanked her for making their lives safer. She was born to do this.

The bench reminded her how much she had on her plate. She rarely had time for herself.

Olivia made her way to the bench and found it empty as usual. She sat herself down and leaned an arm against the arm rest as she fiddled with her fingers. A strong breeze blew past her, causing her to shiver. Weather was not suppose to be like this as Spring was fading into Summer.

Olivia's eyes managed to close for comfort and let the wind glide across her face and through her hair. Despite the chill, it was comfortable. Her moment of time to herself did not last long.

"So you go here too?" said a voice.

Olivia's eyes shot open expecting to find Joseph Steele or Stabler but she found neither of the two. Instead, it was Eric Armstrong with his hands in his pockets and producing a bright smile.

"Occasionally," Olivia answered returning a small grin.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked. She was not going to be rude to the new detective. Besides, the silence between them, if there was any, would be far less excruciating than a silence between her and Stabler.

"No, of course not. Sit," assured Olivia. He did so.

"Beautiful view," he commented.

"Yeah," agreed Olivia.

"So, Detective Benson," he said.

"You can call me Olivia," she said to him. "I prefer it anyway."

"So, Olivia, why is a nice, pretty girl like you working in sex crimes?" he asked but quickly apologized, not giving Olivia time to answer. "Sorry if I'm being nosy and prying. You don't really have to answer if you don't want." He did not sound nervous when apologizing but sincere.

"No, its okay," she assured him. "Well you see, my mother was raped and well, I was the child born because of the rape so I kind of always wanted to stop rapists from destroying a woman's life like that. And not just women, everyone. It's a stressful and incredibly difficult job but I enjoy the challenge. How about yourself?"

"My younger sister was raped," he told Olivia. "And since then, like you, I wanted to protect innocent people."

The conversation between them was comfortable and Olivia was glad she let him sit down. The feeling she got around him was alleviating and refreshing. It reminded her of times she had with Stabler when they talked for hours about anything and everything. The feeling made her feel like she was friends with Detective Armstrong despite the fact that the questions involved things most friends would know about her.

"So, I don't see a ring on your finger," he noted. "Have a boyfriend?"

Olivia laughed a short laugh. "No I unfortunately don't. Most of them never work because my job. Some are either way too interested in it that it scares me or they are way too scared of me because it's my job. I've kind of stopped with love for a bit."

"You can never really stop with love," he said to her. "It follows everyone. Especially the good looking ones." He winked at her. That was another trait he had similar to Stabler. Both made her feel cared for. "Well then, cheers to us single people," he said. "I'd love to toast with a bottle of champagne but I unfortunately have none."

Olivia placed her finger on another trait he had relating to Stabler. Both men could have her forget about all her stress that was currently bothering her. She almost completely forgot that Joseph Steele has claimed he was her father today.

Olivia's Apartment

May 8th, 2006

1:44 am

Unfortunately, that night, Olivia could not get the words of Joseph Steele out of her head and she kept thinking about what he had said. She still did not believe a word of it and she was sure she never would. For a moment though, she thought of the possibility of it being true. Maybe her father was not a rapist as her mother said. Maybe her mother divorced her husband and lied to protect her from him. But why would she? He was from a rich family and he probably could have supported her. She shoved the thoughts out of her mind. Joseph Steele was a liar.

The bed creaked as Olivia turned and twisted striving to find a comfortable position. She attempted to stop her mind from racing but she could not. If she did not believe what he was saying then why could she not get it off her mind?

Special Victims Unit

10:23 am

Later on that morning, Joseph Steele was still fresh in her mind and it did not seem like he was going away. It also did not help that the DNA results did not come back yet leaving Olivia with basically nothing to do besides sit at her desk.

As more people became involved in their own work around the precinct and Olivia was left alone for a while she moved the mouse of her computer to stop its screen saver. Her desktop came into view.

What Olivia had known about her mother rape claim was that she never found out who it was that raped her. Joseph Steele's word did not fit into what her mother had told her. The way he talked about it, it seemed as though he knew her mother personally and if he indeed raped her, he cared enough to know if he had a daughter. The next thing Olivia knew, she was searching on her computer for her mother's rape claim. Why she second guessed the truth behind her mother's story, she really did not know.

Numerous results came up but as time progressed Olivia found nothing relating to her mother. This though, was not proof that Joseph Steele or her mother was lying nor telling the truth. It was possible that her mother just never went to the police after being raped. Olivia knew deep down though, that possibility was unlikely.

Olivia closed the search window and even though she found nothing gave more of a reason to believe Joseph Steele, she still thought his claim was unimaginable.

Anne's Pastries and Coffee House

12:03 am

May 9th, 2006

After another sleepless night and finding boredom at the precinct, Olivia made her way to her favorite Coffee House for a brief visit to Pattie and to grab some lunch. She went alone.

Olivia entered the Coffee House on a beautiful afternoon and was surprised to find it nearly full of customers. Unfortunately, Olivia found out that news of Kurt Steele's arrest had spread through the New York Times and was on every television station that had at least two minute news segment. The small television, which was never turned on, was showing a news station covering the rape claim and numerous eyes were watching it. Olivia could only imagine the number of people across America who were watching the same thing. Kurt Steele was shown on the front page of every paper she saw in there. Olivia also unfortunately discovered there that Alexa Stewart's name had some how found its way to the press.

Olivia's favorite place soon turned into the most uncomfortable place she could ever be. She contemplated exiting the coffee house but that was when Pattie saw her and greeted her with a smile. Olivia could not just leave. She sat herself down at a stool and Pattie came up to her.

"So, was this that rape case?" asked Pattie who clearly was not enjoying all this chat about rape.

"Yeah and unfortunately for the poor victim, the perp's a television star," answered Olivia.

Pattie shook her head. "It's been like this all morning. People come in with news and papers, a group of them leaves and then another group comes in talking about the same thing. I've heard a number of stories. The only reason why I have the television on is because well, its bringing in customers and this may sound terrible but I need the money."

"I understand," said Olivia.

"So, are you going to stay for something or would you like to leave?" asked Pattie with consideration. She knew Olivia was not enjoying all this and she was not going to have her stay to keep her company if she did not want to be there.

Olivia knew though, that she was going to face a lot of this in the upcoming week so she decided to stay. "I'll have something to eat. A coffee please and one of those apple pastries."

"Alright," Pattie grinned and walked off.

"A young girl, who's name is Alexa Stewart, has gone to police claiming she was a victim of rape. Her rapist? None other than the popular, secret agent actor Kurt Steele," Olivia heard a female news reporter say on the television. "Kurt Steele claims the charge is preposterous and he says quote, 'The girl is claiming I raped her because I'm an easy target. She wants the attention and the only way to get noticed is to say that a successful, well known star raped her. I would never take advantage of a woman and especially a high school girl.' Alexa Stewart is claiming that he raped her at a party which Steele attended because his younger cousin was the host. A court date has not been scheduled and Donald Cragen, captain of the Special Victims Unit has no released a statement."

"Overwhelmed?" said a voice, startling Olivia. She turned and saw that Joseph Steele was sitting next to her. She became enraged but kept her anger concealed.

"What do you want?" asked Olivia.

"I want to tell you the truth," he said to her.

"I know the truth and I believe every word my mother said to me," Olivia told him. "You don't need to tell me anything."

"And what did your mother tell you?" he asked.

"I thought you knew the truth," said Olivia.

"Will you listen if I tell you my side of the story then? You don't have to believe me, you don't have to think it's the truth. I just want you to listen to me."

Olivia did not say anything. She stared at him. There was a part of her that wanted to hear what he had to say. This feeling of suspense and questioning was sudden and she did not understand why she was feeling it. Without Olivia answering, Joseph Steele began speaking.

"I met your mother in high school," he began. "We were lab partners in Biology, she was a sophomore and I was a junior. After almost a year of being friends we began dating. When I was a senior and she was a junior we were incredibly deep in love. We were so dependent on each other. Then, one night we had sex but this time your mother wanted it to be unprotected. I thought it was a bad idea but she told me she was going to take pills afterwards. So, we did it. I forget how many months afterward, but she told me one night on the phone that she missed her period and she began to worry. You mother then discovered she was pregnant. Her parents, your grandparents, were furious with her and then she blamed and took it out on me. Then one night, your grandfather came to me and said that he wanted me to marry my daughter so his grandchild wouldn't be out of wedlock. It was a shotgun wedding, if you will. My parents were furious with me about the whole thing but they understood where your grandfather was coming from so I told him that I would. But, we soon found out your mother did not want to marry me. She blamed me for taking her high school years away and I remember her...screaming at me, telling me I was a monster. She began yelling louder and calling me a rapist and she said if she was going to be forced to marry me she was going to kill our child and herself. I didn't want that to happen so I stayed away from her. She told her friends that I had raped her and the rumor circulated through the school. Your mother gave birth to you and then managed to finish high school. After you were born I asked if I could see you but she said to stay away from you. I tried to send money to help support you and I was perfectly willing to do so because my family had a lot of money but your mother refused to accept it. She didn't want anything to do with me. Your grandparents secretly sent pictures of you and wrote letters about you. They told me about the first day you walked, your first word, everything. They told me your name. But, unfortunately, they died and I lost all contact with you. Then a few years ago I found your mother's obituary and all it said about you was that she left one daughter behind. But then when I heard your name was Olivia Benson that afternoon in the precinct I felt as though it was a dream, it couldn't be true. My daughter was standing in front of me. I wanted to hug you but I couldn't and I wanted to tell you who I was. I knew ahead of time though, that you wouldn't believe me."

"You were right," said Olivia. "I didn't believe you and I'm sorry, but I still don't." The words were sent right through the old man. He looked stunned and was speechless. "My mother told me that my father was a rapist and she did not know who he was and she never saw his face. And I still believe her."

Pattie now walked over with a coffee in a Styrofoam cup and Olivia's apple pastry.

"Thanks Pattie," said Olivia. "I have to head back to the precinct now. I'll stop by sometime later." Olivia got up with her food and drink and left the coffee house. She was not heading back to the precinct. She was heading for Alexa Stewart's house to see how she was coping with being on television. Olivia already predicted she needed comfort.

Joseph Steele sat there and watched her exit. He had a short temper but he managed to control his anger.

"Would you like anything, sir?" asked the woman who Olivia called 'Pattie'.

"No thank you," he answered.

He stared at pictures of his son on the covers of newspapers and spotted him several times talking with reporters on the television about the rape claim.

Joseph was determined to get Olivia to believe him. He needed to help his son. He did not think that she was going to believe him when he told the story. As he told it though, he thought he was grabbing hold of her but it seemed as though he did not capture her at all with her last words she said to him. Joseph Steele would not just give up, though. He had another idea to get Olivia to believe him. His chances, he knew, were slim but this idea had a great likelihood to get her to accept him.