Close Calls
Summary: See ch1
Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Wow, this is officially the longest chapter I have EVER written!
You Have the Right to Remain Silent
When Olivia first woke up, she was a little confused. While she had the warm feeling she always seemed to get when she woke up in Elliot's arms, she was also quite uncomfortable.
When she looked down at herself, she realized why. She was still in her jeans and sweater from the day before. Then the memories from last night came back to her, and she groaned out loud remembering that she was supposed to tell Cragen today.
She looked over at her clock and realized that it was only five o'clock in the morning. They didn't need to be in work until seven, which meant Elliot could still sleep for another hour.
She knew that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep, so she quietly slid out of the bed, and made her way into the kitchen. She stopped dead when the smell of last night's pizza hit her.
"That is disgusting." She said aloud as she dumped the pizza into a garbage bag. She wiped down the table. When the kitchen was straightened up, she decided to take a nice, long shower.
After she had washed her hair, and rinsed her body, Olivia just stood under the warm water, letting it gently sooth her still aching muscles.
She was too busy focusing on her aches, and the stress of what she still had to do today, that she hadn't even heard the bathroom door open.
Elliot quietly tiptoed into the steamy room. He could never understand how Olivia could stand taking such hot showers.
He silently stripped off his cloths, and gently pushed the shower curtain back.
"Want some company?" He asked softly.
"I could always use your company." Olivia smiled, taking his hand and leading him into the steamy shower.
She let him wrap his arms around her waist, and hold her under the steady stream. She rested the back of her head on his chest.
"You ready for today?" He asked.
"Cragen is gonna grill my ass for not telling him sooner." Olivia answered.
"He'll understand." Elliot tried to sooth.
"El, I wasted an entire day and about half the squad tracking down 'leads' yesterday, when the whole time I knew who the 'victim' was." She answered sternly.
"Don't worry about it. So he'll scold you a little, it's not like it's never happened before." He commented, making her smile. "And it's not like it'll never happen again." He added quickly.
"Hey." She laughed, turning to swat his chest.
He responded by capturing her lips in a deep kiss.
"Besides." He continued when they separated, "I'll be right there with you."
"No Elliot." She told him, pulling further away. "I'll be fine. It's not like he actually raped me or anything. He just roughed me up a little bit. I can handle it by myself."
"But Liv…" Elliot began.
"Elliot, I'm going alone." She concluded, shutting off the water, wrapping a towel around herself, and leaving the shower.
She knew that it would be a fight. Sure, she understood that Elliot wanted to be there for her. But he had to understand that just because they were dating didn't change the fact that she was still the same independent Olivia. Besides, it wasn't like she had to tell Cragen that she was raped. She just had to tell him that he jumped her, and she fought back. That wouldn't be all that difficult.
The two dressed quickly and made their way to the precinct. They were the first to get there, so they didn't have to worry about being seen coming in together.
Olivia took a deep breath, and made her way straight to Cragen's office. There was no use in procrastinating the war path she would surely send her Captain on after telling him that she wasted his time. Besides, it was better to get it over with now while the only witness would be Elliot.
"Good luck." He said with a smile, indicating he was thinking, 'better you than me.'
"Yeah, thanks." Olivia answered.
She meekly knocked on Cragen's office door.
Cragen looked up from his desk, and smiled when he saw Olivia. "What's up?" He asked. He was a little confused as to why Olivia was there that early, and why she would be knocking on his door.
"Can we talk for a second?" She asked, pushing the door open all the way.
"Sure." Cragen answered, indicating a chair with his pen.
"Thanks, I'll stand." She answered, walking all the way in and shutting the door behind her.
Cragen pushed out his chair and rose to meet her. "You don't want another new assignment I hope." He said, truly hoping against it. She was one of his best detectives, as well as being the closest thing to a daughter he would ever have. He didn't want to go through losing her again.
"No. No it's nothing like that." Olivia assured him.
Cragen studied her face closely. He could tell there was something bothering her. He walked around to the front of his desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back on it.
"So, what is it?" He asked suspiciously.
"Well, I know who Richard's second victim is." She admitted.
"Really? And how do you know that?" Cragen asked. He wanted to know why she hadn't come forward with this information sooner, and just where she had gotten it.
Olivia was silent for a moment. "He didn't rape her. He just… tried to." Olivia answered, not entirely ready to tell him the truth. "Guess she fought him off before he could do too much." She added under her breath.
"Again, how do you know that?" He asked once more.
Olivia just stared at the floor. She took a deep breath and then began, "I was coming home from work. I was exhausted, and I guess I didn't hear him coming up behind me." She explained. "I didn't even know he was there until the knife was at my throat and his hand was around my mouth. He told me that if I went for my gun, he would slit my throat." She said with a pause. "He pulled me into the alley next to my building, I managed to trip him. He pulled me to the ground, and sat on me. I had gotten the knife when he went down, so I stabbed him in the thigh. He rolled off, and I ran to my apartment." She told him, looking up to see if he was mad when she done.
Cragen was silent for a moment he didn't know what to say.
"Look Don, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this yesterday. I just… I didn't want anyone to think any less of me." She apologized quickly, folding her arms now.
Cragen rubbed his face with his hands, and took in a deep breath. He was just allowing everything to sink in.
"Are you alright?" He asked first.
"I'm fine. A few scratches and bruises, but nothing major." She answered honestly.
"What did you do with the knife?" He asked second.
"Now, it's sitting on my desk. I put it in a bag and had it under my bathroom sink." She informed him. "I didn't really know what else to do with it."
"Do you realize how much time we wasted looking for a victim?" He then asked. After he was sure she was okay, the anger started setting in. She was a cop, she should know better than to let everyone run around in circles like she had done.
"Yes, I know." She said quietly, lowering her head.
"We could have had Richards back in a holding cell yesterday. But now he's had another 24 hours to possibly commit another crime." He said, raising his voice now. "What if attacked another woman? What if she wasn't as lucky as you!"
Olivia's eyes darted around the room. She hated when Cragen had to reprimand her. In the past, however, it had always been for something she had believed in; something she had thought was the right thing to do. Now, he was yelling at her because of what she had done out of cowardice.
"Why wouldn't you come forward Olivia?" He questioned.
Olivia just shook her head. "You're not a woman in a mostly male squad Captain." She offered as an answer. "Since I was in the academy I had work twice as hard to prove to everyone that I could do whatever the boys could."
"Don't pull that crap Olivia." He warned. "You know that no one in this squad has ever discriminated against you because you're a woman.
"Please Don!" Olivia argued, now raising her voice to him, and flinging out her arms. "The NYPD is an 'all boys club' and you know it. Yes there are a rising number of successful women in the department, but they have to prove themselves before they even start."
"Everyone had to prove themselves around here." Cragen fought back, his voice lower now.
"The only reason I've been accepted in this unit is because I showed everyone that I could handle has much as the rest of the guys could; whether it be a grotesque crime scene, or the most brutal of rape cases." Olivia still pushed. "I mean, I saw the look on Elliot's face when you first told him that I was going to be his new partner. He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or drop dead right there."
"Alright, so maybe it is harder for women to break into the department, but since you've been here, you've been treated like one of the family. Why couldn't you come forward with this?" He asked, conceding.
"I didn't want anyone to think any less of me." She said quietly, finally giving in. "I mean, I already got my partner shot and almost killed. Now I can't even take care of myself." She admitted. Unfortunately, she really did feel that way.
Cragen dropped his arms, and pushed himself away from the desk to go over to her.
"Liv, no one thinks anything less of you around here. We all trust your abilities as a cop. It seems like you're the only one who doubts them." He told him, putting one hand on her shoulder.
"Now look, we can tell everyone that the… victim wants to be kept anonymous." He offered.
"The Marshalls will probably be more apt to leaving him in jail if they know it was a cop." She told him.
"You tell me what to do Olivia." He said, stepping back. "This one's your call."
Olivia took a moment to think it over. If she did report what happened, it would probably be in the papers, and then every perp she went to arrest would know that someone almost got the better of her. But if she didn't there was a good chance that the Marshalls would bail him out again; especially if they couldn't be introduced to an actual complaining victim.
She took a deep breath before answering. "We need to get him off the streets." She answered. "Just let me do the honors of handcuffing the bastard."
Cragen nodded his head, fully understanding why she agreed to report it, and at the same time being proud of her decision. He knew it wasn't easy to come to.
"Go pick him up." He told her.
She went back out to the bullpen where Elliot sat patiently at his desk.
"Heard some yelling in there. Everything okay?" He asked.
"We have to pick up Richards." Olivia answered.
"What are the charges?" Elliot asked to be on the safe side.
"Assault and attemptive rape of a detective." She said confidently. "Cragen should be on the phone with Casey now for the arrest warrant." She told him.
"Then let's go." Elliot said, pushing out his chair, and following Olivia out of the precinct.
The ride over to the residence of Billy Richards was silent. Olivia kept her eyes trained on the road ahead of the car, and Elliot just stared out to where he was driving.
He pulled up to the curb in front of the house and shut off the car.
"You ready?" he asked.
"It's an arrest El. How ready do I have to be?" She asked as she opened her door and stepped out.
Elliot knew that she wanted to keep this as normal as possible. He understood how hard this must have been on her, so he decided to help her keep it as normal as possible.
"Just let me slap the handcuffs on this bastard." She added as they walked side by side to the brownstone the Marshalls had him in.
The walked up the steps and Elliot knocked on the door and then stepped back as he waited for Richards to answer it.
"Looks like we're putting rapists and murders up in three story brownstones. That's justice for ya." He noted as they waited for the door to open.
When it did, Marshall Andy Eckerson stepped out.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" He asked, eying the street to make sure it was still safe for their charge.
"We're here to arrest your witness." Olivia answered.
"You can't do that. We've already had this discussion." He told them, annoyed.
"That was for the rape and murder of , this arrest is for the attemptive rape and assault of an NYPD Detective." Elliot replied with a cocky smile. "Where is he?"
"You can't do this. We need him to testify." Andy said under his breath. "If he has something like this on his record he won't be credible."
"And if we don't he'll just attack more women." Olivia told him. "We know you can't keep track of him, seeing as after you took him out of our custody he tried to attack someone else."
"And this time it was a cop. She was lucky, but the next one may not be." Elliot added.
"I'm sorry Detectives, but I can't let you. Putting a serial killer with 15 bodies to his name in prison is more important than one body and an attemptive attack." Andy answered as he went to shut the door.
Elliot stopped it before it closed. "He attacked a cop Andy." He said sternly. "We have a warrant for his arrest. Now, you can either let us in and take his ass down to our precinct, or we can arrest you now for obstruction, and then arrest Richards. Your call."
Andy stared at him for a moment to attempt to figure out if he was being honest or not. When he determined that Elliot was telling the truth, he backed down. He stepped away from the door, and let Elliot push it open.
Both Elliot and Olivia pushed passed him.
"This could blow our whole case." Andy simply seethed.
"You should keep a better eye on your witnesses then." Olivia answered before following Elliot into the hall.
"Where is he Andy?" Elliot asked.
"Upstairs." He sighed.
"Liv, how could you do this? You know how important he is to our case." He whispered as Olivia walked past him.
"Talk to me after he's tired to rape you." Olivia simply answered. She walked up the stairs behind Elliot before he could answer. He was left at the bottom of the stairs with his mouth agape. Never in a million years would he think Olivia could be in that kind of danger. This changed everything.
When they reached the top of the stairs they checked the first bedroom only to find it empty.
When they reached the second one they saw Richards sitting on a chair surrounded by a few Marshalls watching a football game.
Everyone in the room looked up when Elliot pushed the door open further making it squeak.
"What is this?" One of the Marshalls asked standing.
"Billy, I'm gonna have to ask you to step outside." Elliot simply offered as his answer.
"Why?" Richards asked, eyeing Olivia.
"Because the law states that we can't arrest you in your house." Olivia answered. "Now, you can step outside, or we can make a big scene in front of all your Marshall friends, and bring you outside." She smiled.
"I won't testify. A murderer will go free." He tried to bargain, knowing full well why he was being arrested.
"A murderer will also go free if we don't arrest you." Elliot answered.
"Go with them." Andy suddenly said from behind Elliot and Olivia.
"You need my testimony." He argued, growing angry.
Andy stalked over to Richards and stopped when he was nose to nose with him. "You being able to assault and try to rape a detective without consequence was not part of the deal." He seethed.
"You need me." Richards repeated.
"Not at the expense of my friends." Eckerson answered. "Now, you can either go with them willingly, or I'll personally force you." He smiled.
Richards looked at each of the people in the room. He realized that he wasn't going to be able to take on all of them, so he just sighed, and lead the way out of the building.
Once his feet touched the step outside of the front door Olivia pulled his arms behind his back, and tightened the handcuffs on them.
"Ow, you're hurting me." He said quietly.
"Oh, my heart breaks for you." Olivia mocked. "Billy Richards, you are under arrest for the assault of attemptive rape of Detective Olivia Benson. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can, and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?" She asked as she led him to the waiting squad car.
"Thanks Andy." Elliot said as he watched Olivia lead Richards away.
"Don't thank me. She'll always have a place in my heart. Anyone who hurts her, better be prepared to deal with me." Andy answered.
Elliot just nodded his head, and walked over to the Sedan to drive both him and Olivia back to the 1-6.
TBC... tell me what u think!