Finding Olivia
Chapter 9: Home
"Detectives," Dana's doctor stood in the doorway "She's awake and asking to speak with you."
Munch entered the room first followed by Fin. He took a seat beside the bed while Fin stood back and leaned against the wall. Munch took out his notepad and pen "How are you feeling Dana?" he asked.
"I got shot," she answered humorlessly "How do you think I feel?"
Munch shook his head at the woman's attitude "Do you know who shot you?" he asked.
Dana sighed "Not a clue," she took a deep breath "I really have to come clean," she whispered.
"Yes," Fin said flatly from the other side of the room "You do."
Dana took a deep breath again "A little over three years ago," she began, trying to keep her voice even "My partner and I were working a case. An underground pornography ring had claimed the lives of three innocent women. The footage turned up everywhere. Just when we thought we'd gotten it all out of circulation, another copy surfaced on some website or in the back room of some sleazy video store," she paused and made as if to reach for the box of tissues on the table beside her bed.
Munch handed them to her "Here," he said softly, willing to let this broken woman take the time to tell her story.
"Thanks," she said as she pulled a tissue from the box and dabbed at her eyes "It was sick stuff," she continued "Those women must have begged for their deaths by the time that they were finished with them," she attempted to stifle a sob and added in a small voice as she reached for another tissue and instead buried her face in her hands "I know I did."
"How did it happen?" Munch asked softly, leaning forward in his seat, his pen poised above the notepad.
"We were in Oregon," she told him "A new tape had just surfaced and we were trying to figure out where it had come from, we thought we were getting close and… we found another body. We split up and went to see if anyone knew the woman," she pulled the blankets on the bed up to try and hide her face, her shame.
"Go on," Munch gently prodded.
"It doesn't matter," she shook her head "The point is that they got me and they kept me for eleven months. When they were done, they beat me mercilessly and dumped me by the side of the road. I survived."
"The papers said you had retrograde amnesia," Munch was skeptical of how this woman who had claimed to have forgotten everything about her months of captivity could suddenly talk so lucidly about it.
"It wasn't just Oregon," she whispered "They're everywhere, in every dark crevasse of society and even in plain site. One of them came into my hospital room when I first woke up. He was a doctor there," she allowed the tears to fall "That first day, he asked me if I wanted to die," she turned her back to the detectives "I should have told him yes."
"But you didn't," Munch laid a hand on her back but quickly withdrew it when she flinched.
"No," she whispered "I chose life and it came with a price," she tried to pull the blankets even tighter, wishing that she could just disappear "I kept my job but I was put on tracking down home grown terrorists. The ring left me alone as long as I kept my silence about Oregon and the eleven months I spent there."
Fin became impatient and although he felt sorry for everything Dana had gone through, he wanted to get to the truth "Who was paying you off?" he asked sharply.
"He wasn't paying me," she protested "I didn't want the money, I didn't want to do what I did. He paid me for a coincidence and a lie."
"Was it someone from the pornography ring?" Munch asked.
"No, he wasn't one of them," Dana responded "I don't know who it was but he deposited the money for me and told me that I had to do this job for him or I might one day find myself back in that basement," she began to shake like a leaf in the wind "I couldn't go back but I did something much worse. I sent someone else."
"Dana, listen to me," Munch spoke firmly but softly as he fought the urge to strangle her for what she had done to Olivia and to Elliot "I need you to tell me what ever you can about him."
Through her tears, Dana nodded. She opened her mouth and was about to speak when suddenly she collapsed onto the bed. The heart monitor and other machines began to beep emphatically. Suddenly the room was filled with frantic doctors and nurses.
"Prep the OR!"
"She's seizing."
Through the commotion, Munch screamed at the motionless woman who lay on the bed "Who was he Dana! Who was he!"
"Sorry detectives," a doctor said as he pushed Munch and Fin aside "We have a job to do."
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"Ladies and gentlemen we have landed in New York City. The local time is 4:30pm. The temperature is sixty one degrees. Enjoy your stay and thank you for flying with us."
Elliot looked down at Olivia who had allowed herself to fall asleep on his shoulder. Occasionally her face would twitch into an expression of pain and Elliot would have to fight the urge to wake her. He didn't want to leave her to her nightmares but at the same time, he knew that she needed her sleep. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and shook her gently "Liv," he whispered "We're here, we're home."
She woke with a gasp, shooting straight up in her seat and glancing around wildly. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was "Elliot," her gaze finally landed on him.
"We have to get off the plane now sleepy head," he smiled as he stood up and grabbed their bags from the overhead bin.
She rose from her seat and took her bag from him "Thanks," she smiled at him as he wrapped his arm around her and they walked off the plane. She really didn't mind that he was so close to her. She felt protected and at the moment, that's what she needed. She allowed her head to rest on his shoulder as they walked through the airport. Suddenly a thought occurred to her "Is anyone picking us up?" she asked.
"No need," Elliot smiled as they reached the parking garage "My car's right here." He opened the passenger side door for her and she slid in. He got in the driver's side and started the engine "Where to first?" he asked her.
Olivia thought for a moment. She wanted to go home but her apartment was lonely and for the moment, unfurnished. She wanted to go get her things out of storage but it was too late in the day to do so. She would need to hire a moving van and everything. They could go back to work right away but she had already agreed to take a few days off. She leaned her head back against the headrest "I'm not sure," she admitted.
"My place," he offered simply. He knew that going to her apartment included a lot of other stuff that she probably didn't want to deal with yet. He decided that when they reached his place, he would call Cragen and ask about her apartment and the storage. She had taken very little with her to Oregon and most of her clothes were there as was her furniture and her photographs. She had been instructed only to pack clothes and a toothbrush and she had followed Star's orders to the letter. He wished she hadn't. He wished she had never left in the first place but the past was in the past. All that mattered now was making sure that she was all right.
Olivia nodded "that sounds nice," she said, allowing herself to relax just a little bit.
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The doctor appeared in the doorway, a somber expression on his face. He looked at Munch and Fin and wondered where the woman's family was. He wondered why these detectives were still hanging around. He wondered if they even cared about the woman's fate. He took a step towards them, knowing that when he delivered the news, they wouldn't cry, they probably wouldn't even feel a thing "Detectives," he began softly "I'm sorry but she died on the operating table."
"Damn," Munch muttered. Even that one word reaction surprised the doctor but Munch wasn't upset about Dana, at least not outright. Deep down, Munch did feel a little sad that that poor woman would never get the help she needed but truly he was more upset that she could never tell them who had asked her to do what she did. He turned to Fin "We should go," he told his partner.
Fin nodded and the two of them walked out of the waiting room, leaving the doctor alone, with the exception of the two men in black who nodded to him from behind the curtain.
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"You wanna watch some TV?" Elliot asked as he opened the door to his house and let Olivia inside.
She made her way to the couch and sat down "Sure," she managed a small smile and patted the cushion next to her "Come sit with me."
Elliot willingly obliged. He could call Cragen anytime. Right now he just wanted to spend time with Olivia. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pondering whether he should ask the question that had been on the tip of his tongue all day. He hated going an entire week without seeing her and never wanted to go another day without her being near him. He looked down to where she had laid her head on his shoulder and found the courage to ask "Move in with me?"
She looked up at him "What?"
"This house is just so big and lonely," he told her "I was just thinking…" maybe it was too soon to ask. Maybe she wanted to go back to her apartment and be alone.
"I'm not sure Elliot," she told him as she thought about it. She had slept in the same bed with him last night but she didn't think she was ready to share a bed with someone every night. On the other hand, she wanted nothing more than to be close to him.
"You could have the guest bedroom," he was almost begging. He had a powerful urge to be close to her. He never wanted fate to separate them again like it had so many times before "We can get your stuff out of storage and set it up in there. We can be roommates."
She smiled at this thought and kissed him on the lips "Roommates with benefits?" she asked.
"Anything you want," he whispered as his hand became tangled in her hair.
"Sure," Olivia smiled.
"What?" Elliot almost missed what she had just said "Did you just say yes?"
"Technically," she grinned "I said sure but yeah that's a yes. I'll be your roommate Elliot."
THE END
A/N: That's the end of "Finding Olivia" but stay tuned for the sequel "Saving Elliot" it'll take place about a month later. Please review and tell me what you thought of this final chapter.