"You mean to tell me that it's not this guy's fault he slammed into me?" Toni asked Munch when he told her what the nurse had relayed to him.

"GHB knocks victims out, renders them unconscious, easy pickings for any sex fiend in their vicinity," Munch told her, "If Mike had that stuff in his system he must've been near unconsciousness already at the time of the crash."

Toni looked at Munch and said, "I don't know much about date rape drugs but that doesn't make sense because he had to have been attacked before he bashed into me…unless whoever attacked him gave him a second dose after raping him, but I've never heard of anyone doing that."

"Neither have I," Munch replied, "That's why it doesn't make any sense."

"So what're you going to do?" Toni asked.

"I don't have a choice," Munch said, "I have to call it in…" he looked at the man lying in the hospital bed and shook his head, "My partner, I can't believe it."

"Baltimore?" Toni said, "What was he doing in New York?"

"Well he's not in homicide anymore, he hasn't been for a while," Munch told her, "He became a private eye, for all I know, maybe he still is."

"Oh, a private dick, eh?" Toni laughed, "That's got to make him some enemies."

"Yeah but I can't think of anyone who would resort to sodomizing him," John replied.

"Exactly why would somebody trade being a cop for a private investigator? They don't solve crimes like in the old movies, they catch cheating spouses. Either way there's blood and a high body count."

"He was thrown out of homicide after the Luther Mahoney shooting," Munch told her, "It's a long story."

Toni hovered over Mike and looked him up and down, then she leaned over to his side and yelled into his ear, "Hey Mike Kellerman, are you in there!"

Mike leaned back and moaned but he never opened his eyes.

"Don't do that," Munch told her, "Look, Toni, you better go back to your own room, I'm going to try and keep you out of this as much as I can."

"Hey wait a minute, John, I didn't do anything to him, you don't need to keep me out of it," Toni said.

"Cragen is going to want to know why I just happened to be in the hospital in the middle of the night," he explained.

"If that's the case, you can't protect me," Toni said, "So call it in."

"What you said earlier…"

"I know what I said, that was when this was just a car crash," Toni said, "This is a rape investigation, call it in."

Toni had gone back to her room and was just starting to fall asleep when she heard someone outside her door again. Not a nurse, she could tell that much, who then? She heard the door slowly open and heard the mysterious intruder quietly walk in and over to her bed. Without opening her eyes or looking behind her at the person, she said bluntly, "Hello, Fin."

She heard his breath quicken and he took a step back as he said, "Damn you're good, how'd you know it was me?"

"I know you, Fin, I know what your footsteps sound like, I know what your breathing sounds like," Toni answered as she rolled over, "What're you doing here? Don't tell me, John called you down here to keep an eye on me?"

"Pretty much, what the hell is going on around here?"

"Oh it's a long story," she said, trying to brush the whole thing off, "I got into a car crash tonight and the driver of the other car is one of his partners from back in Baltimore…Mike Kellerman he said…guy was raped apparently."

"Damn!"

"Oh it gets better," Toni said as she sat up in the bed, "The reason he slammed into me on the highway was because he'd been slipped a date rape drug, now, I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I'm also trying to figure out what kind of a sick son of a bitch we're dealing with here."

"Where's John now?"

"Still waiting for Mike to wake up," Toni answered with a yawn as she settled back down in bed and closed her eyes, "Some big deal about him back in Baltimore…something to do with the Luther Mahoney shooting, whatever the hell that is." She yawned again and was about asleep when she bolted up in bed and repeated, "Mahoney?"

"What is it?" Fin asked.

"Follow me," Toni ran to the door and burst into the next room and saw Mike was still unconscious in bed and Munch was standing over him.

"What're you doing in here?" Munch asked her as Fin came in behind her.

"I'm going to try this again," Toni stormed over to the bed and once again yelled into Mike's ear, "Hey Mike Kellerman, are you in there!"

This time Mike opened his eyes and tried to jump up in the bed but his body wouldn't let him. He looked up and saw Toni and looked past her and saw Munch standing over him.

"John," he said slowly, still clearly out of it, "What's going on?"

"Mike, do you have any idea where you are?" Munch asked him.

"I…" Mike looked around the room and said, "I'm in a hospital?"

"Do you know why?" Munch asked.

Mike closed his eyes and tried to think. Slowly he seemed to be coming around and was more coherent now. "No, I don't remember, what happened?"

He looked up at Toni again and flinched in response, then he said to John, "How come you never told me you had a daughter?"

"Ha ha," Munch dryly remarked, "Very funny, Mike, I don't have any kids."

"Oh," Mike nodded his head.

"No, allow me to introduce myself," Toni said as she grabbed him to get his attention, "My name is Toni Keller and I'm the person you sideswiped on the highway tonight."

"What?" Mike asked, his head still swimming.

"You don't remember crashing into her?" John asked.

Mike shook his head, "I don't remember anything…" he tried to move and groaned, "What the hell happened to me?"

"That's not going to be so easy to explain," Munch told him, then turned to Toni and gestured for her to get out of there. Fin grabbed Toni and took her back to her own room.

"What's with Munch?" Toni asked, "It's not like Mike's got any military secrets to tell."

"It's going to be hard enough for Mike to find out what happened to him without everybody else around to hear it," Fin told her.

"What's the big deal? We already know what happened to him," she said.

"It's different for guys."

"No it's not, Fin," Toni said, "If I can tell a roomful of strangers and freaks in badges what happened to me, anybody can endure it."

"Except you never told us anything," Fin reminded her.

"I told you guys enough," Toni replied, "Munch doesn't have all the details, only what the doctor told him…somebody attacked Mike, why would he be embarrassed by that? Isn't that what you people at SVU are always telling the victims? 'It wasn't your fault, you didn't bring this on yourself'? If somebody gets the hell beat out of them they don't act so prudent when they go to report it, why is this any different?" she asked him.

"That's different also."

"Not to me it isn't," Toni told him, "Where I'm concerned, rape is only another degree of assault and battery, people don't let their lives be ruined because somebody clocked them, why let it because somebody penetrated them? It's not about sex, it's power, isn't that what you all say? So as long as the victims allow themselves to feel helpless and see themselves as victims, their attackers have the power, move on with your life and they don't have it anymore."

"Not everybody puts things together like you do," Fin told her, "Everybody doesn't get it like you do."

"And that's a good thing?" Toni asked.

"I was raped?" Mike asked.

"Technically, sodomized," Munch explained, "They ran a kit and weren't able to find any forensic evidence, which isn't going to give us much to go on. Now you T-boned into Toni around 11, where were you before that, do you remember? For that matter, why are you in Manhattan? Do you know that?"

"I was…" Mike tried to think, "I was coming here for a reason…no, I don't remember."

"When did you get into New York?" John asked.

"Uh, let's see…I think that was around 6 tonight."

"Where did you go?"

"I stopped at a diner in Queens for dinner, after that…I can't remember."

"It's alright, take your time," Munch told his former partner, "It's bound to come back to you. Now try to think, Mike, is there anyone who you think would be capable of something like this?"

"Eh…s…" Mike scrambled his brain in trying to think of a name, he almost got a couple out but decided against them at the last second.

"What did you say?" Munch asked.

"I was gonna say…Falsone or maybe Stivers," Mike said, "But that's crazy, I haven't seen them for years."

"Is there anymore bad blood between you guys?" John asked.

"No, just the usual, all these years later, you can be sure Stivers still has a chip on her shoulder for me and the whole…"

Toni came barging in just at that moment and upon seeing Mike was awake and talking and visibly more coherent than he was to begin with, she went over to him and said, "So you're the son of a bitch that blew away Luther Mahoney back in 1997, is that right?"

Mike groaned and said, "I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"Hey, anybody who knew about Luther Mahoney knew the son of a bitch got exactly what he deserved," Toni said.

Mike looked at her and asked, "How did you know about the case? That was 10 years ago, you would've just been a kid at the time."

"I read the newspapers," she said, "Everybody knew about the Mahoney drug war that killed so many people, and he kept getting away with it until you blew him away…I always wanted to meet you."

Mike laughed painfully and said, "Yeah, I'm such a hero, the drug lord gets 300 people at his funeral and I get thrown out of the squad and accused of being dirty."

"They did that to you?" Toni asked him, "You kill the untouchable drug lord who killed hundreds of people and never spent a night in jail, and they threw you out for that? The freaking mayor should've given you the key to the city for that one, they threw you out? I'd like to find the guy responsible for that and knock his head off."

"Yeah well you'd need a shovel to do that," Munch told her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because the guy responsible for that was our commanding officer, Al Giardello, and Al Giardello has been dead and buried for the last seven years," Munch explained, "You must've read about that, he was running for mayor and he got shot while making a speech."

"He was going to legalize drugs, and then the gunman came into the operating room and blew away the surgeons who were operating on him at the time," Toni recalled, "He survived that, but died from an aneurism, I remember. Why the hell wasn't he wearing a vest when he made his speech? He was a cop, he knew what happened to people like that, and he gets up on the platform with no protection whatsoever, how stupid was he?"

Toni had her back to Munch so she couldn't see the brief glint of rage in his eyes, but Mike saw it. John restrained himself however and calmly explained to Toni, "It probably wouldn't have done him much good, everybody, Crosetti, Kay Howard, Felton, Bolander, and finally Bayliss, they all put on vests for the job, and they all got shot regardless. Teflon bullets, known commonly as the cop killers, and I'm here to tell you they really are."

"Bayliss," Mike said, and his head was swimming again, "Bayliss…I thought I remembered something about him…"

"It's alright, Mike, just take it easy," Munch told him, "Oh, but do you remember the name of the place where you went to dinner tonight?"

"Uh…no," Mike said in defeat.

"Oh joy," Munch replied, "Well, don't worry, I'll find out."

Toni followed him out of the hospital room and asked John, "How're you going to find out where he went? You think anybody's going to remember seeing him?"

Munch took out his wallet and took out a small picture, Toni realized it was one of Mike from years ago, and he didn't look much different. "You keep a picture of Kellerman in your wallet?"

"I keep a picture of all my partners in my wallet," Munch told her as he took out several more photos, "Incase I ever need to identify their bodies…see? Here's Fin, Olivia, Elliot, Monique, Mike, and that's the Big Man Stanley Bolander, and that's Kay Howard, Megan Russert, and that's…Tim Bayliss."

"I get it," Toni said, "You don't have children so you carry these around to show off to people instead."

"Something like that," Munch told her, "You get back in your own room, I'll be back later."

"Okay but you better take Fin with you," Toni said, "I've no use for him."

"Very funny," Fin replied as he joined them in the hallway.

It took Munch and Fin three hours and searches of 15 diners, but they finally found one where the staff recognized the picture of Mike Kellerman, but they couldn't help much beyond that; he had come in that night for a burger and a drink and left shortly afterwards. No, they didn't notice if anybody seemed to be following him or paying any attention to him whatsoever, and no, he didn't say anything about where he was going or what his plans for the night were, he didn't ask directions for anywhere.

"Well we got nowhere slow on this one," Fin said as they left the diner and headed back to the car.

"Okay, I need to think," Munch said, "Why was Mike in New York? What was he doing here? I don't think he's ever been to New York, so why come now? He was coming here for a reason, what reason?"

"Maybe he was coming to see you," Fin commented.

"Why, because I'm such a warm and hospitable person?" Munch asked.

"With what we have to go on, you're the only thing in the state with a connection to him," Fin said.

"Alright, so maybe he was coming to see me, but it's been seven years since I last saw him, why would he be coming now?" Munch asked.

"That's what we need Mike to tell us," Fin said, "Did the doctors know if he's going to remember anything anytime soon or not?"

"They said there's no brain damage, other than that they weren't much more help than they usually are, which is not at all," Munch answered.

They got in the car and Munch leaned back against his seat and looked up, "Okay, let's try this again…let's say he did come to New York to see me, was coming to Manhattan, to where I work, to see me…why? Why now? Why any of it? What's going on? Is somebody chasing him? Is there still some remaining member of the Mahoney family who's hunting for him? What? I'm lost on this one. Maybe I should look up some of my other former partners and see if they've heard anything from him."

"Like who?" Fin asked.

"I don't know, Stan's been retired for a long time now, I think he moved to Florida…Kay, I could see where she is…Lewis, no, not Lewis, he won't have anything to do with Mike after the Mahoney incident either…Frank quit homicide and was working at a Catholic school last I heard…Falsone and Stivers…maybe Mike was onto something there…"

The door to Mike's hospital room came in and Toni appeared once again, yelling in a singsong tone, "Hey Mike, are you asleep?"

Mike's eyes popped open and he groaned and said, "Oh no, I was just lying here wondering why nobody's come through that door for two hours." He turned over and saw her, "What're you doing in here?"

"Hiding," Toni closed the door behind her, "It's about time for Nurse Bedpan to come into my room and do another bed check, so I'm going to screw with her and not be there, then she can tear the whole hospital apart looking for me. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said.

"Well you seem to be a bit more lucid than the last time I saw you," Toni said, "The drugs they got you on finally wear out?"

"I think so," Mike said as he sat up in the bed, moving a bit stiffly as he did so, "I'm still trying to get my head around what's happened...you," he pointed at her, "I crashed into you?"

"Bingo, not exactly my idea of a good time," Toni told him as she sat on the bed beside him.

"And Munch came in here and told me that I was…I'd been…"

"I know, I know, penetrated with something," Toni said, "You know he's a sex cop now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he wasn't a primary on any of my cases but I have had to call on SVU for help a few times over the past few years," Toni said, "And Munch has always helped a lot…he does a good job of letting people think he hates everything, doesn't he?"

"Is he still going on those long rants about everything?" Mike asked.

"Oh yeah," she answered, "You can about set your clock by it. So, Mr. Private Dick, what brings you to New York?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

"You know, John told me a little about you, but he never really gets into much from his Baltimore past," Toni said, "I guess it's too much to remember, all his former partners, and who all's dead or moved on…you he never mentioned much, in fact until tonight I had never heard of you at all from him. From arson to homicide to photographing cheating husbands, you've come a long way, but it all seems ass backwards to me."

"Yeah well the paychecks don't," Mike responded.

"That is usually the number one motivator of anything for anybody," Toni said, "But since we're alone and the cat's gone away, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Like what?" Mike asked.

"Well, you got a wife worried out of her mind by now with you not coming home all night?" Toni asked.

Mike laughed and shook his head, "No."

"Any kids?"

"Nope."

"Are you seeing anyone?" she asked.

Mike shook his head again and then looked at her, "Why?"

"Just wondering," Toni said, "How old are you?"

Mike laughed nervously and answered, "Too old for you."

Toni stood up beside the bed and told him, "Don't flatter yourself, Mike, I've had and been had by some of the best and a lot of the worst in this city. If I was in any mood to go jumping anyone's bones, I think you'd be my first stop." She reached out and ran a hand across one of his bruised legs and watched him twitch, "You're just the type I'd go after."

"What type's that?" he asked inquisitively, "The trapped and injured type?"

"No," she answered, "There's just something about guys like you that always set me off."

"And exactly what was your case with Special Victims?" Mike asked.

Without missing a beat, Toni answered, "I'm a raging nymphomaniac."

She laughed when she saw the look on Mike's face and she sat down beside him again and admitted, "No…no, I haven't been with anybody in about four years…they handled a few cases for me, but it was more a matter of who I knew instead of what happened…sex didn't have much to do with anything, it was all very simple assault and battery and attempted murder, but I know one of the detectives personally, Elliot Stabler, you'll probably meet him soon, he handled my cases. Nice guy, but he's Catholic."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Mike asked.

"Well he's always feeling guilty about everything," Toni said, "And that's no way to live."

"That doesn't come from being Catholic," Mike said, "It comes from being a detective, for every case you solve…about a dozen more either don't get solved or they get pleaded down to nothing."

"I know, justice isn't pretty," Toni said, "In today's world, justice isn't even allowed to live, they've put it on life support and are squeezing the tubes constantly just to screw with it even more."

"Sound like you've been hanging around Munch for quite a while," Mike noted.

"He's a nice guy," Toni said, "You know he's looking for a new bar to buy."

"Oh no," Mike laughed, "Not again."

"Oh yeah."

The door opened and Munch and Fin came in and both looked somewhat surprised to see Toni there with him.

"What're you doing here?" Munch asked.

"Hiding from that dragon they call a nurse," she answered.

"Well get out of here, I have to talk to Mike alone."

"Why, you become a priest all of a sudden?" she asked.

Fin went over to the bed and pulled Toni to her feet and dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Mike, have you managed to remember anything else yet?" John asked.

"I'm trying, John…I'm trying to remember how I got here…and why I was even coming here…"

"You haven't found any surviving Mahoney members have you?" Munch asked.

"No."

"Okay," he sounded relieved at that.

"John, what happened to my car?" Mike asked, "I left my stuff in the car, maybe there's something in it that'll explain why I came here."

"That's a good idea," John said, "I'll go check it out." He headed towards the door and then stopped, and looked back at his former partner, "By the way, Mike, for what it's worth, I always knew you were clean."

"You were the only one," Mike said as he folded his arms behind his head and rested against the pillow again as Munch left the room.