Close Calls
Summary: see ch1
Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: O man, I am soooo sorry that it took sooo long for me to update! I have just been so busy with school! I really do apologize! This story is nearing its end, and I have so many ideas for a sequal, it is just a question about when i will find the time to write it, so when this is over, u may have to wait a while for the sequal, i apologize! I hope that I havent lost or angered too many readers! ENjoy!
Court
The next few days were tense for Elliot and Olivia, both in their work and romantic relationships.
Olivia was nervous about Richard's up coming trial, but she wouldn't admit it. Because she was bottling it all up, as usual, it just came out as anger. Unfortunately for Elliot, he was the one getting the brunt of it.
"Damnit Elliot, will you stop putting your files on my desk!" She said in an accusing tone. The two had been sifting through unsolved rapes for a case, and the files were strewn about the two desks. "How the hell am I supposed to know what was read and what wasn't? It's gonna take us twice as long to get through all this!"
"Well excuse me; I wasn't aware I was hindering your work so much." He shot back.
"Benson, Stabler, cool it." Cragen warned. He knew that the two hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few nights between their case, and Richards.
"If Elliot would stop throwing the files every time he didn't find what he was looking for, like a pompus ass, there wouldn't be a problem." Olivia said coolly.
"Go take a nap Benson!" Elliot shot back. He loved her, but couldn't stand to be around her when she got like this.
"Screw you." Olivia spat.
"Enough!" Cragen said, intervening. "Now you have both been up for three days straight. Olivia, you have to be at court in a couple of hours. I want both of you to take 20, now." He ruled. He wasn't a babysitter, and refused to play referee between these two.
Olivia and Elliot both just glared at each other, insinuating their reprimanding had been the others fault. They pushed out their chairs and both huffed up the stairs to the crib.
"I say we put them in a cage and let them fight to the death." Munch offered when he was sure the two were out of ear shot.
Cragen just glared at him.
"What? It would be more entertaining." He shrugged.
"Yeah, and probably safer." Fin added. "20 bucks says only one of them come down from that crib alive!"
"Can we get back to work people? Despite what you may think, I am trying to run a police precinct here." Cragen warned before returning back to work.
Upstairs Olivia flopped herself on the first bed she saw. Elliot stood, leaning against the post of the bunk.
"What?" Olivia asked, her eyes closed.
"Why didn't you tell me you had court today?" He asked, the coolness completely gone from his voice now. When there was no answer he added, "I thought we decided that you could tell me stuff Liv."
"It's not that I didn't want to tell you." She sighed, looking at him from her bed. "I guess I was just avoiding even having to think about it."
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He said, sitting near her feet, and placing his hand on her calf.
Olivia just shook her head. "Yeah I do. I tell victims all the time that the best thing they can do is to confront their attackers." She sighed.
"You're not a victim." He said, knowing that she just needed to hear the words. "He didn't take anything from you."
"Not this time. But if I don't do this, then there could be a next time." She answered.
"Do you not want me to be there?" He asked, convinced that her mind was already made up.
Olivia was silent for a moment. "I need you there." She said almost inaudibly. "I can't face those cameras and reporters alone."
"Then I'll be there." He said, patting her calf with the hand that was resting on it. "Right next to you."
Olivia just smiled. "Then you have 3 hours to sleep."
"That's 2 more than I need." Elliot joked. He kissed her forehead, and then claimed the bed across from her.
"I love you." She said gently as sleep overtook her tired body.
"Love you too." He answered watching her drift off to sleep.
Three hours flew by, and before Olivia knew it, she was standing in a court house, waiting for Casey to come out and get her for her testimony.
Elliot was standing right next to her, but wasn't able to get too close, in case someone walked by.
"You can do this." Elliot comforted.
"I don't understand why I'm so nervous. It's not I've never testified before." She said, forcing a small laugh.
"You've never been in this position though. It's okay to be nervous. It's okay to be vulnerable." He reminded her.
"Not when the defense is gonna come at me with all they've got." She answered.
Just then, the doors to the court room opened, and a bail lift stuck his head out. "Detective Benson, they're ready for you."
Olivia took a deep breath, nodded her head, and made her way into the room. Elliot followed behind her, and took a seat in one of the back rows.
She slowly made her way up to the stand, passing both Richard's and Casey along the way. She just wanted to get this over with.
After being sworn in, she took a seat in the chair she was so familiar with. She took a deep breath, and readied herself for what she was about to admit to the world.
"Detective, how long have you been working for the NYPD?" Casey began. She needed to show Olivia's credibility to the jury before any of the tough questions began.
"Ten years." Olivia answered.
"And how long have you been working for the Special Victims Unit?" Casey continued.
"7 years." Olivia answered. These were the easy ones.
"How do you know the defendant William Richards?" Casey asked.
"We suspected him of the rape and murder of Cynthia Rambles" Olivia answered.
"What made you suspect him?" Casey was using Olivia to both get information about the murder he was on trial for, and to tell what he did to her.
"We found his semen on the cloths of the victim." Olivia answered. "Our Medical Examiner had determined that she had been raped, and murdered. After conducting an investigation we discovered that Mr. Richards had been stalking Cynthia for some time, and we believe that he killed her because he was jealous of her new boyfriend." Olivia explained.
"Objection, Speculation." The defense attorney noted.
"Sustained." The judge ruled.
"Was there any evidence that told you why Mr. Richard's may have had motive to kill Cynthia?" Casey rephrased.
"We found journal entries indicating that he had been watching her, and was growing angry at the fact that she seemed to have been seeing someone." Olivia answered, happy that Casey had beaten the smug defense attorney.
Casey walked back to her table and picked up a book in a sealed bag. "Exhibit E is the journal that you found in Mr. Richards apartment, correct?" She asked, walking back to Olivia.
"Yes." Olivia answered.
"Can you read the highlighted passage please Detective?" She asked.
Olivia took the journal and read: "Cynthia seems awfully friendly with this guy. I don't like him. I don't like it. The bitch needs to remember her place. She is mine, and I will be the only one to have her." She finished.
"Thank you detective. Now, you found this evidence a few months ago correct?" Casey asked.
"Yes." Olivia answered.
"And, when did you finally arrest him?" Casey asked.
"Well, we arrested him on the night the journal was discovered, however he was let out to assist in another case." Olivia answered.
"And, can you please tell the court what lead to his final arrest?" Casey asked, getting to the hard stuff now.
Olivia took a deep breath, and slowly told her story. "A few nights after leaving our station house he attempted to rape a cop." Olivia answered cautiously. Was she ready to do this?
Casey could tell that she was apprehensive, but she needed Olivia to do this in order to make her case stronger.
"And how do the police know this?" Casey pushed gently.
"The Special Victims Unit, who were trailing Mr. Richards at the time, received a call from Mt. Sinai Hospital that he had come in to be treated for a stab wound to his thigh. He claimed that he tripped and the wound was self inflicted, but considering he looked good on Rambles rape and murder, we were skeptical." Olivia answered.
"Was the knife ever found?" Casey asked.
"Objection." The defense argued. "What does my clients leg wound have to do with anything?"
"Consular?" The judge asked Casey.
"It does have relevance." Casey assured the court.
"Well then get to it." The judge warned.
"Come on Olivia. You can do this." Casey thought.
"Detective Benson, can you please tell the court where the knife that stabbed the defendant was found?" She pushed.
Olivia was silent for a moment, she looked at her lap. "My apartment." She said quietly.
Elliot could tell that she didn't want t be up there, and wished that he could sit with her.
"And, why was it at your apartment?" Casey asked.
Elliot crumpled paper into a ball as he sat, helplessly, as Olivia struggled to tell everyone what had happened. He knew how much pride she had.
"Olivia?" Casey asked, as she approached her.
Olivia raised her head, and let out a sigh. "It was in my apartment because I took it… after I stabbed him." She admitted.
The court buzzed loudly causing the judge to slam her gavel on the bench. "Order." She called. "Continue consular."
"Why did you stab him?" Casey asked.
"Because he tried to kill me with it." Olivia answered. "I was coming home, and the defendant grabbed me from behind, and put the knife to my throat." She said with a pause. Her gaze was fixed to Richards. He seemed to be enjoying watching her re-live her humiliation.
"Can you tell the court exactly what happened that night?" Casey asked, knowing that Olivia would be able to get through this.
"He told me that if I went for my gun, he would kill me. Then he pulled me into the alley next to my building. I tripped him, and he dropped the knife. I ran, but he pulled me back down, and got on top of me. He hit me… and… tried ripping off my cloths, so I stabbed him." She finished.
"And what did you do with the knife?" Casey asked.
"I put it in a plastic bag, and left it under my bathroom sink." Olivia answered honestly.
"Why?" Casey asked.
"Because…" She said, thinking. "I was ashamed." Tears began filling in Olivia's eyes. "I'm a cop. I should have known he was there." She added.
"Who attacked you that night Olivia?" Casey asked gently, once again approaching the bench.
"The defendant, William Richards." Olivia said matter of factly.
"Thank you. No further questions." Casey said quietly and returned to her seat.
Olivia collected herself as the defense readied their assault on her. She quickly eyed Elliot, and he silently let her know that everything would be alright.
"Detective, were you angry when the US Marshalls walked my client out of your precinct?" The smug attorney asked.
"I wasn't happy that justice wasn't going to be served." She answered honestly, yet chose her words carefully.
"And would you say that my client spending the rest of his life in jail is just?" He asked.
"Being that he raped and murdered a young girl, yes, I'd say that would be just." She answered skeptically. She knew that he was up to something, she just couldn't' figure out what.
"Why were you able to arrest my client the second time, yet not the first?" He asked.
"Because the US Marshalls saw that their way to dealing with Richards wasn't working." She answered honestly.
"So, because he attacked another woman, who just happened to be a cop you mean?" He asked.
"Yes." Olivia answered.
"Now, you don't find it awfully convenient that my client attacked you, giving you just what you needed to get him off the streets?" The lawyer asked. "And you just conveniently have the weapon sitting in your apartment to turn in?" He added.
"Are you trying to accuse me of something?" Olivia asked, fully understanding where he was going.
"Just answer the question Detective." The lawyer spat.
Elliot felt his fists clench in rage. How dare this man talk to his partner like that!
"I guess it worked out, but the stupidity of your client has nothing to do with me." She answered.
"Detective Benson, you told the court that this attacked happened days after my clients first arrest. Correct?" He began.
"Yes." Olivia answered indignantly.
"And, the next day your entire squad searched the entire Metropolitan area for a victim. Is this also correct?" He added.
"Yes." Olivia answered angrily; she knew where this was going.
"So, if you knew that you were the victim the entire time, why let your unit waste the man hours searching?" He asked, turning to face Olivia.
"Like I said before, I was ashamed. I didn't want anyone to know." Olivia answered meekly.
Elliot's fury grew when he saw how this man was making Olivia shrink before his very eyes.
"Were you ashamed, or did you just figure that an attack on a cop would be a sure fire way to put my client behind bars!" He asked, raising his voice.
"Objection! She already answered the question!" Casey spat.
"Sustained. Move onto something else?" The judge ruled.
"Detective, do you have any solid proof, besides your word, that would support your story?" He asked.
Olivia thought it over for a moment. "Besides the fact that I went into work the next day battered, and that the knife in my apartment matched the stab wounds in your clients leg, and that the blood on it matched both his and mine, and that the cut on my neck matched the knife, no I don't." Olivia answered smugly. "Your client attacked and killed Cynthia Rambles, and then he tired to do the same to me." She added before anyone could stop her.
"No further questions." The attorney said, defeated. He turned and sat.
Olivia sat with a smug smile on her face, and Elliot returned it. "That's my girl!" He thought.
TBC... Like i said, sry it took so long for an update, I promise the next will come sooner!
REVIEW!