The rest of the squad understood why the lawyer kept pacing the perimeter of the private waiting area that was really a conference room, but it started to grow annoying rather quickly. They were each frustrated and paranoid as the facts of the situation became tinted with horrifying possibilities as it was replayed in their heads. Regardless, no one said a thing. Not to each other, and especially not to Barba.

Barba was angry. He was seething with pent-up vexation, as it is rather hard to quell a possessive fire in one's heart when the person you want to protect is not allowed to have visitors right now. He wanted to be with her. To control the situation, to decide who can have contact with her at such a sensitive time. Instead, he was wearing down the carpet with his livid tread while the seated detectives thought in silence. An irate warmth grew in his chest, aching to satisfy that caveman instinct to punch something. To hurt the one that hurt Olivia. But Joe was already in the ICU, so he just snapped at the inquisitive beat cops instead. Even worse, he wasn't one of the immediate responders to the second scene like Fin or Carisi or Dodds, so he had almost no information other than uneducated inferences. Dodds had a change of clothes, suggesting that the Sergeant's previous outfit was stained with blood. Was it Olivia's or Joe's? The question haunted him and fueled his pointless anger simultaneously, so instead, the hardened lawyer mentally repeated the few facts he did know until he couldn't think straight.

They used road spikes. They found her alive. There was a gunshot. Tess was escorted away, uninjured. Olivia was taken into an ambulance.

That was the full extent of his knowledge, and it drove him mad.

Fin, however, was in total shock. Everything escalated too quickly, and now that it was over, he had the chance to evaluate just how suddenly it all occurred. Olivia was safe, then she wasn't. Joe was in the townhouse, then he wasn't. It progressed so quickly that nobody had the time to process any of it. At least with Harris, the whole squad knew of the risks Olivia was willingly undertaking days before she stepped foot in the prison, even if only very few knew the traumatic results. They had time to understand the risk. With Lewis, threats were made, and a sense of anticipation and failure fell on the squad like a hailstorm even before the abduction. They had time to feel the danger. With Utley… Utley was different. They didn't have time to wrap their heads around any of it. He wasn't a sadistic psychopath like Lewis or had an unspecified amount of private time with Olivia as Harris did – and thank god for that – but any fool knows that drugs, paranoia, and pressure are an explosive mix. Neither Fin nor the rest of the squad was informed about what had occurred within the townhouse or the car– in fact, they knew very little – but the abruptness of the whole ordeal hit him like a shockwave.

Carisi had too many questions, and his fidgety restlessness came from the overwhelming concern he had for Olivia. She was his boss, friend, and the only adequate mother-like figure in his life now. She guided him through the murky waters of SVU like a torch in the night, lectured him gently when he made rookie mistakes and gave him a bear hug when he aced his civil torts final. The young man was absolutely not prepared to help the medics untie the blue-ish shirt that was choking his Lieutenant, although he purposely rushed to the scene before anyone unfamiliar jostled her into the ambulance. She was clothed, sans shirt, which was a good sign. But was it possible that Joe rap–… assaulted her… and then reclothed her to avoid an additional charge? Carisi refused to use the "r-word" and winced at the thought. Luckily, he doubted that Joe had the time or presence of mind to do that but being almost sure was not comforting. Like Fin, he thought the suddenness of it all stung as well. The detective was sitting at his desk no less than 3 hours ago, Lieu perfectly healthy and safe, and now what? What had happened? Or more importantly, what happens now? There were no answers.

Rollins was sitting at home, still on partially forced maternity leave, when Carisi informed her of the situation. No concrete news. The nervous young man gave no indication that there was any sexual assault, but the young detective still knew that Olivia would be shaken even if she didn't show it. Their relationship had been rocky, to say the least, but at the end of the day, both women knew they had each other's back. Olivia fought like hell for Amanda in the past – even forgiving career-ending mistakes – and the younger detective had every intention of returning the favor. Amanda promised herself that she would try to talk to proud Lieutenant, knowing the power of a supportive friend, but also knew that such a sensitive conversation would have to wait until later. Until it sunk in. She also made a mental note to talk to Carisi himself, as being one of the first officers to arrive at the scene was surely traumatic for him.

Dodds was swimming through memories. The sergeant was covered in blood no less than 20 minutes ago. Joe's blood… or was some of it Olivia's? He didn't know. The gunshot wound in that scum's stomach glared at him through memory like it was the sun. The young man took comfort in that the more he thought about it because that way at least most of the blood was Joe's. Dodds didn't see any immediate wounds on his superior, but he didn't really get a close look as he was helping the paramedics board Joe into the ambulance, either. Rationally, he knew that helping the injured man get medical care was almost an automatic reflex at this point – and they required by law to help injured suspects so it wasn't really a choice– but if he had more time to think about it, Dodd's wasn't sure he'd make the same decision if he could go back and do it again. The drugged-out man was in surgery, anyway. The Sergeant and his father both hoped that the son of a bitch would just die and save them all the trouble, but his father's statement had a much more self-serving connotation rather than true concern for the woman.

William Dodds was almost annoyingly calculating, living alone in the reality that Joe just created and urging others to end their disbelieving shock and join him, but the squad wasn't ready to move on to the next phase quite yet. Not even Barba was thinking specifics about the next legal steps right now, although the ADA was hellbent on prosecuting everybody involved.


Olivia's first thought after regaining consciousness wasn't really a thought. Just a general sense of confusion. The light was blinding, and Olivia's eyes did that weird thing where they contract involuntarily due to a mixture of the bright white light and the exhausting fatigue.

The second thing she felt was the stickiness of her face. It wasn't warm, or cold, but thin and stiff. Suddenly, the events of the previous couple of hours invaded her brain like water flowing through a groove. Ignorance was bliss, and she missed it. Olivia reached up with her right hand to scratch at the mystery substance and prayed to God it wasn't his… fluids. After she inspected the flakes that had chipped off under her fingernail, relief washed over her as it became obvious that it was dark red blood. Her body collapsed back on the light blue sheets with exhaustion. Even sitting up induced a sharp sense of fatigue.

She drifted off into unconsciousness once more.


Dr. James Cameron was tired, hungry, and overwhelmingly curious. He recognized Olivia Benson from two years ago, although only through the news reports, but promised himself to not display any knowledge of the previous events or pity. The man was semi-experienced in dealing with sexual assault patients, enough to know what to do but not enough to call himself an expert. Luckily, he was literally dealing with the experts of sex crimes.

As his white coat swayed into the closed conference room – no, the waiting room – all eyes immediately darted towards him like moths to a flame. They scanned his features for signs of hope, or distress, and awaited his information with heavy anticipation.

Despite one man's pleas – that quickly turned into the demands that matched his irate posture – Dr. Cameron was unable to disclose any information except to immediate family. Luckily, Olivia had wisely categorized Fin under the "siblings" category years ago, which she felt only marginally fudged the truth.

Dr. Cameron took him aside, farther than normal because of all the inquisitive eyes and listening ears as he explained her physical state. Olivia had bruises and two cuts on her face which required stitches, bruises elsewhere on her body, and a mild concussion. The most concerning injuries were her broken wrist and 3 fractured ribs.

"Can we visit her?"

"Yes." The doctor formed a small comforting smile, matching Fin's relieved grin. "But only 2 at a time. I've convinced the shift nurse to allow for an overnight visitor, but only one."

"That'll be me." He stated it rather proudly, as both he and Olivia were well aware that he never failed to be there for her.

Dr. Cameron gave him another reassuring smile. "I'll let them know that you're cleared to stay."

Fin, despite his relief that there was no long-term physical damage and that he would be there to comfort her, was still concerned about her emotional health. "Was she… uh… assaulted?"

The soft-spoken doctor understood the sensitivity of the situation and proceeded to talk slowly in comforting tones. "Unfortunately, the patient did not let us perform any genital examination and we barely managed to convince her to remove her pants without a sedative, so it is possible that she was raped. However, we didn't find any traces of visible body fluids on her clothing. Sexual assault, and especially privacy, is taken very seriously around here, so if there is a rape kit your precinct will be the first to know about it."

Fin was grateful for her relative health after such a dangerous incident but was weighed down by the possibility that she was assaulted. Again.

Dr. Cameron's pager interrupted the somber moment with its obnoxiously loud beeping, and the man quickly rushed off to tend to an emergency, leaving Fin's curiosity not entirely resolved.

He rejoined the rest of the group and informed them of her physical injuries but neglected to mention the second half of their very brief conversation. Nevertheless, the other members of the squad still wondered about the very same topic.

Rafael was visibly relieved that she didn't have any life-threatening injuries, although she would have trouble with her wrist and ribs. He was, however, frustrated that Fin had claimed the overnight privileges before he could, but understood the detective's importance to Olivia.

Fin briefly departed for both his and Olivia's apartment to pack overnight bags for both of them, his car exiting the parking garage at a barely-legal speed.


Rafael elected himself as the first visitor, to no one's surprise. In fact, Carisi and Dodds shot each other knowing looks as he shot up from his seat upon hearing the news, which provided a brief break from the suffocating apprehension that was only somewhat diminished by the previous news.

The lawyer was uncharacteristically nervous as he started to transverse and attempt to navigate the white hallways. His anger was only partially abated, but he pushed it down as not to scare Olivia. His Olivia. Except she wasn't really his. Not yet, anyway. He knew better than to think that this was the time or place to examine the subtle intricacies of their undefined relationship, but couldn't help but succumb to the temptation. It was the little things, really. The way she walked and talked like the world couldn't touch her, despite all the pain she's been through. The way they shared meals during rare movie nights at her apartment, the resulting sexual tension so strong that he often had to take care of the problem under the guise of a bathroom break. The way he subconsciously looked at her after a particularly clever line of questioning or when he won a case, her nod of approval sending jolts of pride into his chest. It was everything, to both of them.

Rafael stopped in his tracks as he came to a realization.

He was hopelessly in love with Olivia Benson.