Elliot found Olivia cowering on the floor with her head in her hands to protect it from further blows. A bruise was forming on her neck and her left eye was starting to blacken. She was sobbing as Trevor kicked her. She looked up when she saw Elliot, then ducked her head back down in shame. He knew her dignity was so important to her and he knew how hard it was for her to let him see her like this, but he would have thought she'd be tin too much pain to care.

Trevor's foot extended and Olivia braced herself for another blow. The powerless, defeated look in her eye was too much for Elliot. "Police!" he screamed, tackling Trevor and knocking him off his feet. He pinned the lawyer to the ground and began throwing punches, "You son of a bitch," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Olivia, still weeping softly, her frail body trembling in terror, her face white as a sheet, got to her feet and started to wipe away her tears. "Elliot!" she shrieked, "Don't!"

Elliot hit Trevor one last time for good measure, then hauled him to his feet and slammed him into the wall. Slapping handcuffs on his wrists, Elliot shouted, "Trevor Langan, you are under arrest for aggravated assault on a police officer!" He marched Trevor out the door while reading him his rights.

* * *

Elliot locked Trevor up in an interrogation room, leaving John and Fin to keep an eye on him while he went to check on Olivia.

He found her sobbing on her kitchen floor, clutching her knees to her chest, her head resting on her knees as she wept.

Elliot walked toward her slowly so as not to startle her. "Liv," he said softly. "What did he do to you?"

She began to rock back and forth and cried harder.

Elliot took a moment to compose himself. He had never seen his best friend like this before. Tough-as-nails Olivia had been destroyed, leaving a broken, weeping woman in the wake of its destruction. Elliot wanted to murder the bastard.

He crouched down next to Olivia and took her small, cold hand in his. "Liv," he whispered. "Talk to me."

She looked up, displaying a bruised, battered face, but she didn't pull away. "He loves me," she whispered, but the words sounded hollow.

"No, Liv," said Elliot gently. "He doesn't. He wants to control you. There's a difference."

She shook her head. "You shouldn't have come."

"Liv, he might have killed you!"

She leaned back and closed her eyes, mumbling something unintelligible. It sounded to Elliot like, "He should of."

"No, no," cried Elliot, squeezing Olivia's hand. His heart was breaking into a million tiny shards. "Never, ever think that."

"El," whispered Olivia. "He's going to kill you. He said – he said if I ever told you, he'd shoot you and he'd make you watch."

Elliot clenched his fists as Olivia burst into a fresh round of sobbing. "I can take care of myself," he assured her. "I'll be fine. Now, I need to take your statement and then we need to get you to a hospital."

The fight drained from Olivia's face. She went limp and murmured, "I – I can't."

"Liv," said Elliot gently, taking it one step at a time so as not to overwhelm him. "I need you to tell me what happened."

She took a deep breath and told him everything. "At first, it was good. He called me his princess and treated me like one. But after we moved in together, he – he sometimes – he hit me. If I didn't have dinner ready on time or – or if I came home ten minutes late or if I didn't . . . give myself to him. Every night."

She outlined the beatings in a dull monotone, clearly dissociating, and Elliot found himself struggling not to cry for the pain Olivia had endured.

When she was done talking, he took her to the hospital, promising he'd return to check on her later.

"Be careful," she whispered as he left.

The helplessness in her eyes just about killed him. "I will," he promised.

He crept out into the dark night and drove back to the sixteenth precinct. He entered the interrogation room to find Trevor sitting with his hands clasped, casual and prim, on the table.

Elliot wanted to kill him.

Instead he pulled out a chair. Holding back his anger, he sat down next to Trevor. He found he had only one question for this pathetic excuse of a man. "Why?"

Trevor shrugged. "The bitch deserved it."

Elliot couldn't contain himself any longer. He reached out to grasp the bastard's throat and slammed his head into the table as hard as he could. "You – don't – call – Olivia – a – bitch!" he growled, hitting Trevor over and over.

The door flew open and Captain Cragen pulled Elliot off Trevor. "Take a walk," he ordered. As Elliot started to protest, he added, "Now."

As Elliot, fists clenched, started to storm out, he could make out Trevor's throaty hiss. "You better watch yourself, Elliot Stabler. You just better."