From Hell To Heaven

A/N Big review thank yous to Turquiosejem, SteffieDawn (still excited for your new idea ;) ), maerae93, Hutch917, spacekitten2700, DeLene, Lou3174, Amber77, courtneylovejason and Kristy6. You are all a major encouragement and make me feel so confident and positive. And thanks for being patient with me; I did say I would update every 3 days, but (just my luck) things get in the way, so thank you for sticking with it x

Thank you to fantasyinmymind (love the name btw lol) for adding a my story to your story alerts.

I started this chapter by repeating the ending of the last chapter to give it context and a bit of a refresher, seeing as it's been a while since I updated. Also, there's a slight flashback (Italics) for Olivia, (as I didn't want it to seem like she's suddenly over what she experienced, it would be unrealistic and naive to assume such a thing) that hints back at Harris. I had written this very differently, but just before I updated the last chapter I changed my mind. Before I had Olivia be very subtle and Max being very calm, but then I thought of this angle. Many have mentioned the last chapter being short and, to be honest, a bit boring, I know. I completely understand that, but if I had waited til I rewrote this chapter I wouldn't have posted the last chapter til today, which is an exceedingly long time. :) Hope you like it x

Chapter 20- Max Pain

Olivia turned the handle and stepped inside. Max was sat at the table, his head in his hands. He looked up when she entered.

"Bitch, what did you tell them?" he yelled, lunging that her.

He threw her against the wall, her body colliding in numbing pain. She braced to turn and run but before she could he was behind her, grounding his body against her.

Olivia's hands dropped the file and flew to Max's shoulders to balance herself as she ploughed her knee in to his groin.

Max let out a deep, throaty moan as he keeled over in agony, dropping to his knees. One hand clutchedat his groin, while the other groped at himself. Olivia let out a deep breath she hadn't realised she was holding. She paused only to pick up the file, ignoring Max beside it as he coughed with his eyes squeezed shut.

Olivia took her seat behind the table and sat waiting for Max to be released from the pain she had inflicted. After a minute or two, his breathing regulated and he dropped his hand from his groin, using it to push himself up. He turned to her with his face slightly red from his muscles being tensed so tightly.

"That was below the belt." he accused, supressing a groan as he tried to walk towards the seat. Olivia decided not to point out how obvious his statement was. He slowly lowered himself in to his seat.

"You know, I just don't get you," he further accused, his head tilted to one side. "You know, one minute your hot and the next you're a black widow. You should really see someone about that, there may be some underlying mental issue."

She ignored him, knowing his insinuations were just an attempt to feel in control. Not much chance of that happening.

"I'm legally required to ask if you want an attorney present or your union rep?" she professionally asked, refusing to give in to his taunts.

"I don't need them; I didn't do anything!" he insisted. "Olivia, what did you tell them?" he asked in a quieter tone, a look of concern crossing him brow.

"It's Detective Benson." she corrected in a loud voice. She looked at him for a moment before opening the file. Her photograph was pinned inside, as well as a section of evidence photos, though they were thankfully tucked behind the report papers. "You're here as a suspect in an ongoing rape/murder investigation-"

"What? But I didn't do anything!" he pleaded.

She ignored his interruption. She placed a photograph on the table in front of him. "That is Martine Olivia. She was 36 when you murdered her-" she said with eagle eyes; monitoring his reaction.

"I did not murder her!" he interjection.

"-And raped her." she continued without break, not giving him a chance to deny it.

"I didn't rape anybody! This whole thing is ridiculous!"

"She was a prostitute, known for 'fraternising' with cops. Is that how you met her? Busted her for prostitution and decided to get your money's worth?" she goaded.

"I've never seen her before in my life." he said calmly yet insistently. "She's just another hooker who got whacked by her pimp." he said dismissively.

"No, she wasn't." Olivia rebuked. "She was brutally beaten, but there wasn't a mark on her face. I have it on good word from a collegue that a pimp would have targeted her face. Try again." she challenged, knowing eventually his excuses would run out.

He looked at the picture, growing increasingly panicked. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know this woman, I've never see her before let alone raped and murdered her."

"She was attacked from behind." she pressed. "What, were you not man enough to give her a chance to fight back?" she said, trying to rile him up in an attempt to trip him in to admitting something.

His fist collided with the table. "I. Did not. Do this!" he almost yelled. "What evidence do you have to implicate me?" he demanded rhetorically. "You haven't charged me so I'm assuming you're running on a gut instinct. Does your Captain know you're targeting the ex?"

"You weren't an ex." she said without thinking, annoyed she's let him get to her. "It was one night and she didn't even get together. There was never anything between us, Max. This is only about the investigation."

"Oliv-Detective, I am not involved in this."

She pressed on further, used to the lies suspects usually spouted. "In the early hours of wednesday morning I was attacked."

"What? What happened? Are you ok?" he hurriedly asked, leaning closer.

"You hit me in the back of the head with a rock." she accused, earning a look of disbelief. "You tore open my blouse, pulled off my pants and left me to die in the park."

Behind the glass Elliot flinched as she declared the horrible truth.

"No, Olivia." he said with a conerned frown. "I wouldn't do that."

"But you did." she refuted.

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did! You attacked me! Destroyed my home! You raped and murdered Martine Olivia! And then you killed April Benson! When that lab report comes back I'll have you for her rape too!"

"NO!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, banging his fist on the table once more. "I did not do those things! I am not guilty!"

"Sit down, Mr Swanson." Olivia ordered, not allowing him to intimidate her.

"No. I did not kill those women. I am not a rapist and I did not attack you." he said holding eye contact.

"You can say what you want but the evidence is piling up on you, Max. You were in my apartment Monday night. You took the spare key from my living room and then you went back."

"That's crazy, Olivia." he remarked, shaking his head.

"What did I do that made you so angry? Or was it what I wouldn't do that pissed you off?"

"Olivia, I told you the last time I was here; I saw your badge and your ID. That was all! There was no spare key." he denied. "I didn't do this." he stabbed with his finger at the photographs of Martine Olivia, pushing it away from him.

"You seem very confident of that."

"I think I would remember raping someone, Olivia." he sneered, leaning back in his chair and not looking at her.

"You know, usually the criminals can bare to look at photos of their handywork, so I guess you must be innocent for refusing to look at them, huh?" she asked. He cut a glance at her. She leaned across the table. "But as a cop you would know that. You know how to act innocent; so don't think for a second that your act is fooling me. We'll get you for this Max," she said, sliding the photos out in a line before him. "Because somewhere, somehow, you've slipped up; all perps do. We're going to find your DNA somewhere, and you're not going to be able to get away with this. You're going to prison." she firmly stated.

He sighed, tired of defending himself, and turned to face her. "Detective, I've already stated that I don't know what you're talking about." He piled the photographs back up and tossed them back at her. "And you're right, I'm a cop; so I know enough to see that you don't have anything to hold me on, this is all circumstancial. You have nothing that shows I took any key, went back in to your apartment and absolutely no evidence that places me in Central Park when you were attacked."

"How'd you know I was attacked in Central Park?" she demanded; she didn't remember telling him that detail, that was her holdback.

He looked at her for a second, their eyes linked for what felt like an eternity before he gave a short, brash laugh. "One of my buddies told me about it, said he heard your name mentioned and thought I should know, seeing as he thought we were 'dating'."

She now felt disgusted by the idea of being with Max, but she didn't believe him for a minute.

"Do you know any of these men?" she asked, sliding a six-mugshot lineup in from of him. Five of the men on the paper were ramdonly plucked from the system, but one was very familiar. One man on the paper was Lowell Harris. She watched Max's face, looking for a slightly raised eyebrow, a lick of his lips, repetitive blinking or a shift in his posture; any signs of recognition. But he was perfectly still. Too still for her liking. He gave nothing away.

His eyes quickly scanned the images. "Nope." he said innocently. "Sorry Detective, but I don't recognise any of these people." He handed it back to her.

"Have you ever been to Sealview Prison, Mr Swanson?" she challenged, pressing on to find some sort of connection.

He considered for a moment. "No, I don't ever recall visiting that institution."

"I could easily check your employment file." she warned.

"I'm aware of that." he remarked, a slight smile on his lips.

She remained quiet for a moment, he watched in satisfaction.

"You're a little fish, Olivia."

Her head shot up. "What did you call me?"

He held back a grin. "A fish. You're on a fishing expedition; you've got no evidence and yet you're fishing for answers."

She watched him in disbelief.

"You've never been to Sealview?" she asked doubtfully.

"No."

"And you've never met Lowell Harris?" she demanded.

"Who?"

"Stop with the games, Max!" she said jumping to her feet. "You did this! You killed these women and now you're messing with me! I'm going to get you for the crimes you've committed and-"

"Ha! 'Get' me? You don't even have anything to hold me on, Olivia." he taunted in smug satisfaction. "Now, I want to call me Captain; I think I should be back in work within the hour, don't you think?"

She observed the arrogant smile that crossed this face for only a moment before she gathered the file and stormed out.

John stood waiting for her as she shut the door. "He's right, Liv, all we've got is a hunch; nothing physically places him at the scene. If we arrest him we're opening ourselves up to a lawsuit."

She sighed, trust Munch to rub it in. "Give him his gun and get him out of here." she barked, shoving the file in to John's hands, and marching away. 'Nearly caught the bastard and he gets away on a damn technicality!'

She headed up for the cribs, her place of solace. She was vaguely aware of someone following behind her, she walked faster, hoping they'd take the hint.

A/N What do you think? I wanted this scene to be a bit of a confrontation, but not violent like the Harris interrogation. Also, a lot of you have settled on who you think the bad guy is, so I wrote this with areas open to interpretation. Did his friend really tell him about Liv in Central Park, or was it because he already knew she was there? Is he innocent or is he capable of acting innocent? Well, all I'm going to say is there is a big twist ahead, which I love, I'm just working on the fine details, the when/where/why details so it's straight in my head when I come to write it. Hoped you enjoy it, and it was worth the wait lol Reviews make me smile :) xx