Apartment of Olivia Benson
August 28, 2011 7:30pm
(Olivia's POV)
"… after Alex told me he was out, I lost it. I did something I never wanted to do. I… I…"
"Olivia, don't say anything else without a lawyer present… please!" Don was practically shouting at me to stop, but I had to keep going. By this point, tears were running down my face.
"I turned into my mother! I took a drink, then a second… and eventually I lost count… Don, I don't remember much from the last three days… to be honest, I don't know why you're here."
"Olivia… Harris is dead… well, murdered actually… and I… I don't know how to tell you this but… Oh, Liv… I wish I had a good way to say this…"
"Captain, you're scaring me." Did he think Fin did this? Did he think I did? Did he think I hired someone to to it?
… DID I DO IT?
Apartment of Olivia Benson
August 28, 2011 7:45pm
(Cragen's POV)
I was scaring her… she thought I was scaring her. She was scaring me. She had no idea what she'd been doing for the last three days, which meant she couldn't even alibi herself. I knew I had to tell her. There wasn't an easy way to do it. She was like a daughter to me. How could I even think for a minute that she could be a killer? It would break her heart… hell, it was breaking my heart! "Olivia, your prints were found at the scene… and he was shot with a 9mm… which you use…" I trailed off, unable to continue anymore.
"Did I kill him?" Olivia asked me in a quivering voice.
"I don't know." I truly didn't! All the evidence pointed to her, but she wouldn't… she couldn't… What if she did? "I'm not going to lie to you Olivia. You are a suspect. Please tell me you know something that can help you out of this!" I was begging now, clutching for straws in a world that no longer made sense.
"I wish I could tell you something… anything that could help… but I can't. Don, I'm scared. What if I did kill him?"
I knew what I had to do next, but that didn't make it any easier. I had to make sure I preserved the crime scene… I had to make sure she didn't do anything stupid… I had to bring her in. Not arrest her, just… keep her safe… at least for now.
She seemed to know what I was thinking. Silently, she got up, put on her jacket, grabbed the keys to her apartment, and opened the door. I followed, unable to speak. When we got to my car, we both stood there. She didn't know where to go, and I didn't know where to put her. After a few minutes, I opened the door and she slid in. I shut it and watched as she tried the door handle. It had automatically locked when I closed it. A single tear ran down her cheek. I didn't blame her. I felt like crying too.
Cragen's Car
August 28, 2011 8:15pm
(Olivia's POV)
I feel like scum… I feel like a criminal. He put me in the back like any other perp. He told me he wasn't arresting me, but I think he forgot one word… the word that changed the meaning of the phrase… YET. I knew for the first time what it felt like to be in the back. The only other times I'd ridden in the back of a police car, I was undercover… It wasn't me, so I didn't feel like this… This time was different. This was ME! I knew that it was only a matter of time before I was arrested. I knew how bad this was. I just kept praying that I'd wake up soon. I pinched myself and yelped.
Don turned and looked at me, briefly. As soon as our eyes met, he turned away and went back to driving. He was the only father I ever knew. If he thought I was guilty… maybe I was.