Chapter Twenty Two – Call My Name

Olivia's cries and pleading requests of "please don't" had been tearing at Morgan. Her screams of "help me" had only been worse. For a short time the only thing Morgan heard was quiet little whimpers. Then, out of no where, she was screaming.

"Olivia!"

She showed no sign of hearing Morgan. The only thing the agents could do was watch as she thrashed around on her back.

"Come on. Come on!" Morgan growled, needing her to wake up so he could at least do something.

A few minutes later Olivia woke with a strangled gasp. She jerked upright, dark eyes wide with panic. Morgan reached out in an attempt to soothe her and brushed his fingers across her arm. The light touch terrified Olivia, and she yanked back out of reach. Her sudden movement had caused the chains to rattle. The sound was all too familiar, and she flinched away. That only caused the cuff on her wrist to press against her skin. The combination of the cuff and the sound of the chains sent her spiraling out of control.

She pressed her back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest and legs crossed at the ankles to provide extra protection. Olivia started shaking her head back and forth and wrapped her arms around herself. She was holding on so desperately that her nails were digging into the skin of her arms and making them bleed.

"No, no, no, no, no."

Morgan was startled by Olivia's violent reaction, and it took him a second to order his thoughts enough to try and help her. She was so lost in the terror of her dream that Morgan wasn't sure she was fully awake even if her eyes were open.

"Olivia, listen to me! Listen to me, baby girl. This isn't Sealview! Do you hear me? It's not Sealview."

She didn't seem to hear him though, and her eyes continued to dart around frantically as if waiting for something or someone to slide out of the shadows and come after her. As Morgan continued to use numerous variations of the same phrase to hopefully reach Olivia, the other agents watched worriedly.

"Hotch, look at her," Emily whispered. "Look at the way she'd holding herself. Legs crossed and pulled up tight like that. I can only think of one reason a woman would do that."

Hotch was thinking the same thing and provided more evidence to prove their theory.

"The way she jerked back after being touched by Morgan? It's a classic exaggerated reaction to touch that a rape victim exhibits."

Emily watched Olivia, her eyes flickering with deep sadness. No woman deserved to be used that way. Hotch's voice drew Emily back out of her thoughts.

"The only question now is whether she was raped in reality or if that part was only in the dream."

0~0~0~0

"Olivia, I swear to you this isn't Sealview. It's not. Olivia, please. Trust me."

The words drifted softly to Olivia, sounding muffled and far away. She didn't want to listen to them. She didn't want to listen to anything. All she wanted to do was find a little room inside herself where she could hide away and forget the pain. But the pain wouldn't leave her alone, and the voice wasn't helping.

"You're not at Sealview. Olivia, let me help you! Olivia!"

Olivia. Not her undercover name. Not Kat. Olivia.

0~0~0~0

Morgan watched as some of the too bright glassiness faded from Olivia's eyes and recognition slowly appeared. He grinned in relief. Finally! Finally he'd gotten through.

"This isn't Sealview, okay, Olivia?" he asked, repeating the message once more to make sure she truly heard it.

Olivia swallowed hard and nodded her head vigorously. It was far too jerky to be considered a normal response, but Morgan accepted it anyway. She'd at least heard him and understood what he'd said. Keeping his eyes locked on Olivia, Morgan spoke gently. She still looked skittish, and he didn't want to make any sudden moves.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do, but I want to help you. I can't do that unless you come closer though. Do you think you can do that?"

Olivia watched him uneasily, evaluating the request from every angle. When she finally spoke, her voice was scratchy from screaming and barely above a whisper.

"Yes, just keep saying my name."

Morgan was a bit confused by the request, but he was more than willing to follow it.

"Alright, Olivia. I can do that."

Once again Olivia nodded. After taking a deep breath she slowly started to unfold herself. She crept toward Morgan, her body trembling. It was only Morgan's repeated assurances and his constant use of her name that kept her going. When she reached the end of her chain it jerked on her wrist and rattled once more. Olivia whimpered, immediately flashing back to the basement causing a tear to run down her face and drip off her chin.

"Olivia, it's going to be okay."

Using her name to anchor herself in the present, Olivia lifted her eyes to Morgan's.

"Can I touch you?" Morgan asked, continuing when he saw her balk. "Just on the shoulder. That's all."

She nodded and tried to force herself to relax. As his hand drew closer to her, she couldn't help tensing. When his hand landed lightly on her shoulder Olivia trembled visibly, but she stayed put.

"I'm right here, Olivia."

Slowly Olivia's shuddering breaths eased. To Morgan's surprise, she reached up to hold tightly to his wrist with both hands. She wasn't causing him pain, but it definitely wasn't a light grip. Then Olivia dropped her head down so her forehead was resting against his arm. She stayed that way, taking deep, controlled breaths. Morgan knew exactly what she was doing, and it impressed him. When he'd come out of his own dream, Olivia had had to make him mirror her breathing to get him to calm down. Now she was doing it on her own without any prompting.

Olivia remained clinging to Morgan for awhile, not moving an inch. Morgan was worried about her, but he could hear the overly regulated breaths she was taking. He reached out with his free hand, intending to rest it comfortingly on her head, and hesitated. His eyes searched out Hotch's. After receiving a nod of agreement from Hotch that he too thought a light touch would be okay, Morgan lowered his hand.

His fingers had just brushed her hair when Olivia flinched. Morgan immediately pulled away and waited until her hitched breathing slowed again. This time he warned her before placing his hand on her head again.

"It's okay."

Olivia breathed out a heavy sigh and remained still. Morgan smiled and gently stroked her hair in an effort to help her. It seemed to work as Olivia's grip on his wrist loosened.

JJ watched Olivia in silence and shook her head in amazement. She and Rossi had come to the same conclusion as Emily and Hotch had. Considering what Olivia did for a living, JJ wasn't incredibly surprised Olivia had been dreaming about rape.

"She's so calm. It's amazing," JJ murmured.

"I'm not sure I would call it calm. More controlled."

JJ pondered Rossi's description for a moment before nodding. That was exactly what it appeared to be. She was taking what she had seen in stride and doing what she needed to in order to stay in one piece. From what JJ could tell, she was still in one piece too. Cracked perhaps, but still holding together.

"I've met a lot of law enforcement officers in our job," JJ told Rossi softly, "but she's one of the strongest I've seen. We're going through hell together as a team. She's doing it all alone."

"Not completely, but yes. There's a difference between her and us."

And he agreed with JJ. Olivia's control was impressive. Incredibly impressive.

And what was more Olivia had received far worse torment than any of them besides Morgan. And even then, perhaps not.

Author's Note: The last chapter is tomorrow, so be ready for the conclusion!