Warning: Remember, this fic is rated M for language, sexual content and some violence.
Lauren dashed out of the cab and hurried up to the door of her building, while holding a hand over her head in a futile attempt to shield herself from the rain. Shivering, she got into the elevator and made her way up to her apartment.
When she walked in her door, she hastily put her purse and bags down and then made her way to the small guest bathroom. She grabbed the hand towel to dry her face and hair as much possible before putting the groceries away in the kitchen. As she walked out the bathroom, she was startled to see him sitting in the leather chair.
"Hey," she said and then quickly looked down at the way she was dressed. She had on low-rise, loose-fitting, tattered jeans, a peasant top and a hoody jacket. "I didn't know you'd be here. I…" she tried started to explain. He didn't like to see her like this. He always requested that she wear a revealing dress or lingerie.
He didn't say anything in response. He just continued to watch her.
Feeling the burn of his gaze, she thought quickly. "Just give me a minute, I'll change—"
"Don't."
Lauren tried to stop herself from shaking, now more from him than the cold. It was never good when he showed up unannounced, but truly, it was just never good.
He just watched her for a few minutes. She didn't move.
"What did I do?" she finally asked in a timid voice. "Are…are you mad—"
"Go make yourself a drink and then join me out here," he said in a calm tone.
Frowning, Lauren turned to walk toward the kitchen. She poured vodka into a small glass, and then drank it in one quick drink. Then she poured herself another and hesitantly walked back to the living room. As she approached, she noticed that he'd opened a laptop computer. It appeared as though he was watching something. When she got closer, he turned up the volume. Before she even could see the screen, her heart sank.
She heard herself moaning and breathing heavily. Then she heard Danny's low voice asked, "You okay, baby?" Before she got any closer, she heard a crash as her drink fell to the hardwood floor.
"What…oh God…" she said as she took another step forward. The laptop screen showed the images of her and Danny making love. She was moving on top of him, in the midst of an orgasm. The sound of her almost screams filled the room. "Stop. Turn it off," she said as she lurched forward, not wanting him to see her like that.
He grabbed her arm to stop her and push her into the adjacent chair. "Sit there. Don't move," he commanded as he returned to watching the encounter.
Lauren closed her eyes. She couldn't believe it. She had no idea that he'd been taping her. Hearing the sound of Danny's low groan, she opened her eyes. Now he was on top of her, thrusting…panting. Lauren looked at the man. He hadn't taken his eyes off the screen. After Danny climaxed, the man turned the volume down, but left the video playing. The man watched as Danny walked to the bathroom and then return minutes later to take Lauren in his arms.
Finally, the man turned to look at her. "This was a surprise," he said in a cool tone.
Shaking her head, Lauren tried to remain calm. "Am I always being watched?" she asked as she looked around the loft.
"There's a motion sensor in the bedroom. Usually, the camera stops taping when there's no movement in the room."
"So you tape everything…every…time?" she asked, her voice choked with emotion.
"I do, but that's not the point I want to talk about. Where did you meet him?" the man asked as he motioned toward the screen.
"I don't--"
"This will go much easier on you, if you are completely honest. Lie to me, and you will regret it."
Knowing she had no other choice, she admitted, "I met him at that awards dinner at the Ritz, the one you told me to come to."
"So you did fuck him that night?"
Lauren shook her head. "No, we didn't…nothing happened, until later."
"Are you in love with him?"
Lauren looked up, completely caught off guard by the question. "No. I'm not. Considering my current situation, that would be unfair to him, don't you think?" She knew she sounded way too flippant, but she figured things couldn't get much worse.
"Why did you bring him here?" the man asked.
"I don't know," Lauren answered, sincerely wishing she never had brought him here.
He just watched her for a few more moments and then rose. Lauren felt a sense of dread, figuring that he was going to take her to the room now. Reaching down, the man picked up his coat and put it on.
Lauren rose as well, thankful that it seemed like he was leaving.
The man started to walk toward the front door, crunching a couple of pieces of broken glass under him. Before he reached the door, he turned, " Invite him back."
Not sure she heard him right, Lauren said, "What?"
"Bring him back there…and this time, tell him you want to play a game. I want to watch him fuck you while you are handcuffed to the bed."
"Are you crazy? I won't…I can't…"
"It's not a request. It's an order. You'll do it or you'll suffer the consequences. Set it up for Friday," he said before walking out the door.
Friday Night
Lauren's heart was beating a mile a minute and she'd been on the verge of tears all day. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the front door. She'd actually considered leaving town earlier that day. She'd gone as far as packing an overnight bag, but knew the consequences of leaving would be too dire.
When the elevator opened in the hall, she had to swallow hard to stop herself from being sick. Slowly, she rose to her feet and walked over to the sofa. As she was sitting down, she heard him walk through the door.
He walked in and folded his coat over a chair. Then he addressed her. "Is he on his way?"
Lauren shook her head. "He's, um, he's working. He couldn't get away."
With one long stride, he was in front of her; he grabbed her hair and leaned down in her face. "You lying cunt—"
"He's working! He has an unpredictable job!" she pleaded in a desperate, frightened tone.
Getting even closer to her face, he said, "You stupid, bitch! You really think I don't know who he is or that he's an FBI agent? I know exactly who he is. I know exactly who he works with, and I know they don't have a case tonight. So call him. Get him here. Now!" he commanded as he roughly let go of her hair and backed away.
Running her hands through her hair, Lauren took a deep breath. "You know who he is? If you know who he is and who he works with, then how…why would you want to get him involved in this? You're out of your mind. This is a risk you don't want to take," she pleaded with him.
Getting in her face again, he grabbed her chin. "You should have thought about that before you fucked him. You should have thought about that before you brought him here. You're the one who involved him, not me," he said and then pushed her back on the sofa.
Gathering every ounce of strength she had left, she rose and made a feeble attempt to get in his face. "If you want him here, you call him. You tell him about the game, and how you like watch. You tell him what you like," she said as she gained courage with every word. "You've never wanted to watch someone twice. This isn't about me, is it? It's about them? Isn't it? You like watching the men, don't you? He must be your favorite kind to watch, huh? Like the waiter at the party? It's the men you want to fuck, right? That's why you've never fucked me!"
Before she could move, he lunged toward her and put his hands around her neck. "You whore. I'll kill you," he said as he pushed her back onto the sofa.
Lauren didn't make any move to push him away. She actually tried to smile, as he was squeezing the life of her. But before she could pass out, he let go of her. Panting uncontrollably, Lauren tried to catch her breath.
As she tried to catch her breath, Lauren watched as the man walked into the bedroom. She heard the two way-mirrored door close. Sitting up, she wiped her eyes. She knew what she had just done was dangerous, not only for her but for the people she cared about most in the world. But she had no other choice. She couldn't have deceived Danny like that. She had already deceived him, enough.
Earlier that Morning"Morning. This is a surprise," Danny said as he opened the door to greet her. He'd just gotten out of the shower so he was only wearing a towel.
"Hey," Lauren responded in a soft tone. "Sorry to stop by so early. I had every intention of going for a run this morning, but I ended up taking a cab here hoping you hadn't left for work yet. Crazy, right?"
"No so crazy," he responded ushering her into his apartment and shutting the door. "I was beginning to think you were mad at me."
He'd called her a couple of time since they had spent the night in her loft, but she hadn't called him back.
"No. I'm not mad. I just…"
"You just what? Did I do something wrong that night?"
Lauren had to take a short breath to stop herself from crying. "You could never do anything wrong, Danny. I just shouldn't have brought you there. That was a mistake."
She couldn't do it. She couldn't ask him to be there tonight like that man had wanted.
Feeling completely helpless and alone, she just need to find some strength. "Um, would you, um, would you just hold me?" she asked in emotional voice.
Danny didn't respond, he just put his arms around her and held her tightly against his chest. Gently, he kissed her forehead. Then she looked up at him and let him kiss her lips – soft, tender kisses. And sometimes she forgot how good it could feel to be touched and kissed.
"Do you have time?" she whispered in between kisses.
"Mmm-hmm," he responded before taking her hand and leading her to his bedroom.
He'd been so worried about her. Just thinking about how safe he'd made her feel comforted her.
She snapped back to reality when she heard the door open in the bedroom. Then she heard him opening and closing drawers in the bedroom. Soon after, the man walked out.
"Clean yourself up," he said as he tossed a lacey red teddy at her. "Put that on with the red shoes. They'll be here in twenty minutes. No need to tell them what to do, just do whatever they tell you."
Lauren took a deep breath. She didn't know what concerned her more, the fact that she knew this meant someone was paying for her this time or that he'd said "they".
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After it was over and the man had left, Lauren tried to find the strength to get up off the floor. This time, he hadn't offered to have Charlie take her to the doctor. Slowly and with great pain, she pulled herself up and braced herself against the bed to stand up. Very gingerly, she walked into the bathroom.
They hadn't done much damage to her face. There was redness from stubble-burn and her crying, but she couldn't see any damage until she looked at her neck. It was still red from where he'd tried to strangle her, mixed with various bite marks and bruises. The rest of her body was marked as well, and she was still bleeding.
Cautiously opening the door, Lauren stomach felt queasy when she saw the two men. They looked like the man from weeks before who thought she was a prostitute. They were both wearing suits and ties and they both wore wedding rings.
"Hi," she said in a quiet tone.
One of the men let out a dry laugh, "Burns was right. She's fucking hot," he said as he nudged the other man.
The other man smiled. "You fucked one of our friends a while back. We've been trying to set something up with you for weeks, but kept getting a no. Then tonight, I get a call saying you're available, and that you were up for a double."
Lauren opened the door wider, resigned to her fate, once again. "I'm up for anything."
Opening the medicine cabinet, Lauren took out a bottle of pills – strong pain medication that her doctor had given the last time she'd been hurt. The bottle was still almost full. And then she grabbed the half-empty bottle of sleeping pills.
Still naked and with both bottles in hand, she walked to kitchen.
"We brought some toys," one of the men said. "We heard you like games."
Opening the freezer door, Lauren took out the half-full bottle of vodka.
"We both want to do you at the same time."
Feeling cold, she put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Then she sat down on her bed and washed five pills down with a long drink of vodka.
"You like it when it hurts, don't you, baby?" he said as he tightened the straps around her wrists.
More than five pills this time. Another drink of vodka.
"We're getting our money's worth tonight. No telling when you'll be available again."
She laid down after finishing the first bottle of pills. Then she reached for the other one.
The man walked out of the mirrored door and stood over her curled-up body. "Don't ever deny me again. I own you. Don't ever forget that."
Lauren took another drink. The vodka was almost gone. When she heard the telephone ring, she was so out of it that it didn't even occur to her that she shouldn't answer.
"…lo," she croaked out.
"Lauren?"
"Da...anny? Dannny?" she started to cry upon hearing his voice.
"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Good…bye," she said as she let the phone fall to the floor.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pulling out a twenty, Danny tossed it at the cab driver, and said, "Keep it." Dashing out of the cab, he quickly made his way into the front door of Lauren's building. Taking out his FBI credential, he flashed it at the night security man.
"I need to get up to Lauren Palmer's apartment. I think she's in trouble."
"I'll call up—"
"No! I've been calling her for the last fifteen minutes. There's no answer. Now give me a goddamn key to her apartment."
Sigh heavily, the night security man got up from his chair. "I'll take you up there."
Danny just nodded as he headed toward the elevator.
When they got off at her floor, the night security man tried knocking on her door.
"Just open the fucking door or I'll kick it in," Danny commanded.
The man took out his keys and opened the door. Pushing him out of the way, Danny hurried in and scanned the living room before making his way to the bedroom. As he approached, he saw her curled up on the bed. If it wasn't for the almost empty bottles and phone off the hook, he'd have thought she was sleeping.
"Call an ambulance!" Danny shouted to the security man. "Tell them it's an overdose on sleeping pills and Vicodin." And then he bent down and tapped her face lightly. "Lauren, Lauren, wake up. Wake up, baby. Lauren! Lauren!"
Finally, she opened her eyes. "Dann…Sorry…"
"Stay with me. Stay awake. Okay. Let's get you up," he said as he tried to sit her up on the bed.
"No…no…me sleep…please," she muttered.
"No sleeping. You need to get up, baby," he said as he looked in her eyes. "Open your mouth," he said as he tried to see if there were still pills in her mouth. "Come on. Let's get you to the bathroom," he said as he picked her up.
He got her in the shower and turned on the water. She came too a little bit more when the cold water hit her face. Danny grabbed a toothbrush from the sink to attempt to make her vomit. He knew it was the best way to get any undigested drugs out of her.
Laura gagged and tried to push him away as he forced her to throw up. He held her in the shower as she got sicker and sicker. Finally, when she started to sob uncontrollably in his arms, he just turned off the water and held her, knowing that if she continued to cry that she would stay conscience.
Finally, Danny heard the paramedics enter the apartment. Seconds later, they were in the bathroom.
Danny gently laid her against the wall and moved out of the way to give the paramedics access. He showed them the drugs she'd taken and told them that she had thrown up. When they were ready to take her downstairs, he went down with them and got into the ambulance with her.
XXXXXX
Two hours later, Danny sat in the ER waiting room. It was 1 a.m. and he was getting very impatient. He'd asked how Lauren was doing several times, but couldn't get a straight answer other than she was still alive.
Finally, he decided to take it a step further.
"Excuse me," he said to the ER attendant. "I need to see Lauren Palmer, right now."
"I'm sorry, sir. Like I told you before, she is still being treated, and since you aren't family—"
"I'm an FBI agent," he said, showing her his credential. "And I need to see her or her doctor right now."
The attendant inspected the credential and then sighed uneasily. "I'm sorry, sir, but Ms. Palmer was put in a secure room. We were told not to allow you back there until NYPD arrived."
"What? I brought her here. I assure you, this is a mistake—"
"It's no mistake," a voice said from behind him.
Turning around, Danny locked eyes with a man who was wearing a badge. "Who the hell are you?"
"Detective Elliot Stabler, NYPD. We have some questions for you."
"Questions? For me? She overdosed. I called her and realized she was in trouble. I came over, made the security guard let me in, and then I tried to help her. What part of that don't you understand?" Danny asked in a frustrated tone.
The detective smiled slightly. "There are some holes fill in, Mr?"
"Danny Taylor," he said, taking out his FBI id again.
"You're a Fed?" the detective asked in a mock impressed tone.
"That's right."
"Well, then you know the drill. We'd like to question you."
"You want to question me about a suicide attempt? Lauren is okay, right? She didn't—"
"She's alive, but I wouldn't say she's okay," the detective replied in an annoyed tone. "Look, this will go much faster if you just come over here and let me ask you some questions."
Sighing heavily, Danny followed the detective to an empty waiting area.
"Have a seat," the detective said as he sat in one of the chairs. "What's your relationship with Ms. Palmer?"
"We're friends."
The detective nodded thoughtfully. "Just friends?"
"What is this about? What's going on?"
"Are you sleeping with her?"
"Go to hell," Danny said as he started to get up.
"Agent Taylor, I wouldn't walk away right now, if I were you. Walking away makes you look guilty," Detective Stabler stated in a warning tone.
Frowning, Danny shook his head. "Guilty of what? Of helping her commit suicide? I stopped her."
"No. Guilty of rape."
"Rape?" Danny repeated, completely shocked. "She was…I didn't…"
"You didn't?" he asked, clearing not believing Danny. "Then why'd you put her in the shower? To wash your DNA off of her? Right?"
Standing up, Danny tried to control his anger, but was failing. "Fuck you! I didn't rape her. I put her in the shower to wake her up. She was unconscious when I got there."
"Well, someone worked her over tonight. Will you submit to a DNA test?"
Closing his eyes, Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Worked her over? What happened to her?"
"You want to play it this way?" Detective Stabler asked, still not believing him. "Like you don't know what happened? She was raped and sodomized. There are ligature marks on her neck, and a good portion of her body was battered. That's what happened to her, and I'm pretty sure you had something to do with it."
Eyes widening with everything word the detective said, Danny's swallowed hard. "Christ," he muttered as he collapsed back into the chair.
"I think…I think you raped her, then she calls you after taking the pills, so you come back to wash the evidence away."
"No," Danny responded in a distant.
"Then let's take your DNA to prove me wrong."
Danny shook his head as he rubbed his tired eyes in frustration. "That won't prove you wrong. My DNA is probably going to be all over her."
"Now we're getting somewhere," the detective said as he leaned forward.
"No, I mean, I wasn't with her tonight. But we did see each other this morning. She came by my apartment, but I swear to God, I didn't hurt her. I'd never hurt her. And I sure as hell didn't sodomize her. But we did have sex, and there are scratch marks on my back, so she could have my DNA under her nails."
"Did you use a condom?" the detective asked.
Danny nodded. "Look, I'll do whatever you need me to do. Chances are, there's more DNA on her from who actually did this, so if that's the case—"
"Then we can compare yours to anything else we collect," the detective finished, sounding a little more like he believed Danny. "Do you have an alibi for the time before she called you?"
Danny nodded. "We worked a case today. I work Missing Persons. I didn't leave the office until 10. I called Lauren after I got home because I was worried about her. She seemed so sad this morning, and I had to leave quickly…after…because we caught a new case. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"I'll be discreet when I check your alibi."
Danny nodded again.
"Do you know of anyone else who could do this? There are no signs of breaking and entering in her apartment."
"There's a another guy. She's involved in this relationship—"
"Danny?" Lauren called out from behind them.
Danny turned and stood up. She was in a hospital issue sweat suit, common for rape victims.
"Lauren, what are you doing out here? You should be lying down," Danny said as he walked towards her.
"You don't think he did anything, do you?" Lauren asked frantically as she looked at the detective.
"We're just establishing what may have happened, Ms. Palmer. Danny's cooperating."
"He didn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt me. The other detective said you were questioning him, but nothing happened. Nothing happened," she pleaded, almost hysterically.
"Lauren, baby, you need to lie down. You've been through a lot. Don't worry about me. I'm more concerned about you. Who did this to you?" he asked as he tried to stroke her arms, but she shrugged him away.
"There she is!" a nurse called out from behind them.
A woman with dark hair walked up to them. "Ms. Palmer, you need to let us help you."
Detective Stabler interjected, "Agent Taylor, this is my partner Olivia Benson. She was taking Ms. Palmer's statement."
"She's not talking," Olivia responded to her partner.
"You're right. I'm not talking. I want to go home," Lauren said as she looked pleadingly at Danny.
"Lauren, they need to know the truth. They're going to investigate this with or without you," Danny responded in a gentle tone.
"I don't care what they do. I just want to go home. As long as they know you didn't do anything, then I just want to go home. Please," she said as she started to sob. "Please take me home."
Danny looked at the detectives as he sighed deeply. "Okay, let's go."
"Ms. Palmer, you could be in danger," Detective Benson stated.
"I'm not in danger because nothing happened. I wasn't raped. I just took a few too many sleeping pills, but I'm fine now," Lauren replied in a guarded tone.
Danny just gave the detectives an apologetic look as he led Lauren out of the ER.
They didn't say anything in the cab. Lauren sat as far away from Danny as possible and looked out the window. When the cab came to a stop, they got out after he paid the cab driver. As they walked to her front door, Lauren came to an abrupt stop.
"I…I…don't want you to come up with me," she said in almost a whisper.
"You shouldn't be alone."
"I'm fine."
"You were raped."
"I wasn't raped, Danny."
"The detectives said—"
"It doesn't matter what they said, I never said no to anything that happened tonight. And that's all I'm going to say about that," she interrupted on the verge of tears. "I hate that I involved you in my pathetic excuse for a life. I never should have let it get this far. But I can't do anything about the past."
"Why won't you let me help you?"
"I don't need your help. I just need this to end between us. So don't call me. Don't stop by. Just forget you ever met me," she said as she walked back to the entrance of her building.
Notes: I haven't watched Law and Order: SVU in a long time, but I decided to use the two detectives from that show instead of creating new detectives. If you aren't familiar with them, that's okay. It's not necessary to know them for the story. Stay tuned...the rest of the story is very Danny-heavy and focuses more on his POV, instead of Lauren's.