Susan Ramsay was walking home, her cellphone to her ear and her briefcase in another. She was talking to her best friend (aside from her husband) Debbie.

"Deb, I can't really go to lunch tomorrow, I have a huge deadline to meet. Yeah, it's the Pearson story. Listen, I'm at the apartment, I have to let you go."

Susan hung up her cellphone and stuffed it into her coat pocket. Suddenly, a hand came to her mouth and an arm went around her chest.

"Don't scream or your brains will be all over the street." A male voice whispered in her ear.

Susan looked down and saw the man had a gun in his hand. She nodded quickly and allowed herself to be dragged into a nearby alley.

Ashok, or rather Ash Ramsay sat on the sofa going through paperwork for a fraud cause that he was working on. He wasn't too concerned about his wife, knowing that her job as a journalist often meant late hours. Besides, she was always back before midnight.

Sighing, Ash shuffled through the millions of papers laid in front of him, looking for the victim's account number. He soon heard the door opening and smiled when he heard the familiar sound of Susan's high heels.

"Welcome home. I could use you right about now, this case is a bloody nightmare."

Ash looked up as Susan stumbled into the living room. Something was very wrong. Her hair was disheveled, her skirt wrinkled, her coat missing, and her blouse only half-buttoned.

"Susan, what happened to you?" Ash walked up to Susan and saw that she had a black eye and bruises on her face. "Were you attacked? Were you mugged?"

"Help...Ash, help me."

"I will, darling, I just want to kn..."

Ash looked down and saw blood streaming down Susan's legs and was shocked when she suddenly fainted in his arms.

At the hospital, detectives Olivia Benson and Nicholas Amaro were being taken to the room of a rape victim, Susan Ramsay, by a nurse.

"The husband brought her in. Turns out she had a second degree vaginal tear which caused her bleeding."

"Does she need surgery?" Olivia asked.

"Fortunately, no. We stitched her up and then performed a rape kit."

"And?" Nick asked.

The nurse sighed. "She tested positive for both semen and pubic hairs, not to mention that the um...downstairs...was pretty red and swollen. Whoever forced her, was not very gentle."

By this time, they had arrived at Susan's room, where they found a handsome, olive-skinned gentleman sitting outside and pacing.

"Ash?"

Ash looked up when he heard a familiar voice addressing him. He managed a small smile when he saw his friend, Olivia.

"Olivia. It's been awhile."

Ash went up to Olivia and hugged her, but pulled away quickly to catch a few tears that were coming down.

"So, Susan is your wife?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, we've been married for three years..." Ash finally noticed Nick standing beside Olivia. "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is my new partner. Ashok Ramsay, meet Nicholas Amaro."

Ash shook Nick's hand. "A pleasure, detective."

"The pleasure's mine. So, can you tell us what happened here?"

"There's not much I can tell. I was at our apartment, working on a case, and Susan came home. I hadn't ever seen her look like that since I met her. She was beaten and I tried to get her to tell me what happened, before she could I saw that she was bleeding and then she fainted. I brought her in immediately."

"Ash, did Susan say anything at all before she passed out?" Olivia asked.

"Only that I help her. She sounded so scared. It was almost like a frightened child."

Olivia and Nick left Ash alone and stepped into Susan's room just as a nurse was leaving after finishing some sort of procedure.

"They had to put a catheter in to make sure that I could still take a piss with the stitches in. Are you the detectives?"

"How did you know?" Nick asked.

Susan gave a sad smile. "The hospital called right after they found the semen."

"Susan, we understand that this is a difficult time for you, but we need you to tell us what happened."

Susan sighed and then looked at the window in front of her, turning her head away when she saw Ash.

"I can't talk with Ash here. I can't let him see me like this."

"Uh, Nick, will you take Ash down to the cafeteria or something?" Olivia asked.

Nick nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Olivia pulled a chair up to Susan's bed and leaned forward.

"What happened, Susan?"

"I-I was heading back to the apartment after work. I was talking to a friend on my phone, and when I hung up...A man came behind me and grabbed me, he put his hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream, he had a gun with him. Before I knew it, he had me in an alley and he was pulling my skirt down. I tried to get away, I tried so hard..."

"Did you get a look at your attacker?"

Susan sniffled. "No, h-he wore a ski mask."

"Did he say anything to you?"

Susan nodded. "He said if I screamed then he would blow my brains out."

"Did you recognize his voice?"

"No, he was whispering, and he sounded hoarse."

"What happened after he was done?"

"He just pulled up his pants and left, didn't say a word. I was across the street from the apartment, so I was able to make it to Ash."

Olivia sighed. "Okay Susan, that's all I need for now. Why don't you try to rest?"

Susan scoffed and wiped away her tears. "Rest? I'll be lucky if I can close my eyes."

Susan turned onto her side and Olivia left the room quietly. By this time, Nick was returning with Ash who instantly went into the room.

"How is she?" Nick asked.

"She's a mess, but at least she's alive. Did you learn anything else from Ash?"

Nick let out a sigh. "Yeah, and it's kind of big."

"How big exactly?"

"Turns out Susan Ramsay is a reporter for The New York Times, and she is just finishing a story on Bradley Pearson, The Alleycat Rapist."

Just like that, it hit Olivia what Nick was suggesting. "So either we got a copycat...Or Pearson has a fan out for revenge."