THE TEXT MESSAGE

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The room was dark, the black sky cloudy; one can only expect heavy rain from those kind of clouds.

In the background the sounds of the city were making their way through the buildings' walls serving as a lullaby.

Olivia Benson was in deep sleep when her phone started to vibrate and the text message alert tone resounded in the room. When she opened her eyes, they were heavy and couldn't focus on the yellow-green fluorescent numbers displayed by the alarm clock; it was all a blur. She batted her eyelids three times trying to figure out the time but that didn't work. She had to rub her eyes to achieve the goal.

03:42 am.

She couldn't believe it; a quick count in her head told her she had been sleeping for less than four hours. She finished her report on her latest case that night so that she could sleep more in the morning; what the hell was going on now?

Olivia reached out her hand from the sheets to grab her phone on the bedside table. She was cautious enough not to swipe to unlock the keypad in front of herself because the strong light would have blinded her; she needed her eyes to adjust slowly.

She heard the characteristic sound of the keypad unlocked of her iPhone, so she looked down through the sheet; that helped to reduce the struggle for her pupils. The thin white sheet allowed her to see the blue rectangular box, not the writing, including the sender's name, but at the moment that was enough. She tapped with the right thumb on the box and the white message screen opened.

She pulled it out to read it. As soon as the light hit her sight, she squinted; all she could see were two black lines. She hinged on her left elbow to put some distance between her head and the phone and after a few seconds she could bring into focus:

"13 yrs old. Raped and beaten up. Meet you at Mercy."

Olivia closed her eyes, exhaled loudly and a sad feeling took over. A lump formed in her throat, she tried to swallow it down but the bastard had put down roots.

Olivia looked down again and laid her eyes on the message; that's how it was signed:

"-Fin"

The lump grew stronger followed by a sensation of soreness until a sob slipped out.

Three weeks had passed already since he left, her partner, her longest relationship… Elliot.

Her stoicism wasn't going to win, another battle lost…yet again.

"Be there in '30" was her reply.