Pretty Poison

(Chapter Four: Questions & Answers)

Elliot was asleep when he felt her twitch in his arms. He opened his eyes as Olivia jerked again and whimpered a little. He raised his hand and placed it on the side of her cheek as he gently kissed her forehead.

"I don't want to do this. I don't even know you," she mumbled softly as Elliot shifted to try to wake her.

She was dreaming, possibly a bad dream. Remembering something and he was not sure he wanted to hear anymore. She whined again and Elliot placed his hand softly under her chin as he whispered her name.

"Liv, wake up."

She shifted and stirred a little, but didn't open her eyes.

"Olivia….Liv, you are dreaming honey. Wake up."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently careful not to hurt her or scare her. He watched her as her eyes opened slowly and looked into his.

"Liv, are you okay? You were dreaming. It was just a dream."

Her breathing was rapid and she stared at him as her eyes widened and tears rose behind them.

"Liv?"

"Elliot," she whispered softly. "There was someone else in that room."

"Did he hurt you?"

A tear rolled from her cheek and fell beside them on the sofa.

"I don't think so. But I could feel him touching me, kissing me." She sat up on the sofa as Elliot sat up beside her. "God, it was so real," she said as she combed her fingers through her hair.

Elliot rubbed her back for a few minutes then went into the kitchen to bring her some water. He sat beside her on the sofa and handed her the glass.

"I keep seeing all of these things, but none of it makes sense. It is all foggy and I'm not sure what is real and what I imagined. There was a man there, I saw him. But I remember it two different ways. He was touching me and kissing me and we followed him to that room. Then I was on the bed with him and he was kissing me and touching me and I told him to stop." She looked up at Elliot who was now holding her hand in his. "But I also remember some things with you. He was watching us, Elliot. I turned my head and opened my eyes and he was sitting in a chair across the room watching us have sex."

Elliot looked at her and brushed some tears from her cheek.

"How did this happen?" She cried as he pulled her against him and hugged her.

"I'm not sure. But we should get some of these test results back in the next day or so and we will know a lot more then. Liv, are you sure this man didn't hurt you?"

"I am pretty sure."

"Do you think you could describe him for a sketch artist?"

"I think so."

Elliot stood up from the sofa and walked toward the hall way.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna get cleaned up. We need to head back to work and go over these files again. And we are going to have to say something about this, Liv. Maybe not the sex part or waking up naked together, but we are not going to figure this out without help. Munch and Fin have been working this case for almost two months now. There has got to be something in that file that can help us. I also think we should go and talk to some of the victims of the robbers, some of the couples. Maybe they remember something that will help us to remember."

At work Olivia sat quietly at her desk drinking strong black coffee. She could hear the people around her talking, but the sounds of their voices was just noise. She couldn't make out what was even being said.

Elliot was talking to Fin about their case. He had gone as far as to tell them that they had woke up together in the hotel room and were pretty sure they had been drugged. He just happened to leave out the naked sex with Olivia part. The more he talked about what had happened to Fin the more they both believed that the very guy they were trying to catch was the one who had worked them over that night in the hotel room.

"It sounds like my guy, El. But my gut says no."

"Why is that?"

"Well, you said that everything had been tossed, but nothing was missing. And my guy drugs the husband and wife and while they are out or impaired by the drug, he rapes the women. Liv says the guy touched her and kissed her but nothing else happened."

"Maybe nothing happened because I was there with her."

"No Elliot, that is part of his MO. He rapes the wife while the husband lays there and watches unable to do anything to help her. He wouldn't have stopped because you were there. Maybe Liv should get checked out."

"She already did. We both did. Rape kit and blood work before we when home that morning, just in case. The doctor said he is pretty sure nothing happened. But we'll know for sure when they call me today with the results of the rape kit."

"Is she alright?" Fin asked nodding his head in Olivia's direction.

Elliot took a deep breath and turned to look at her. It was obvious this was bothering her.

"She was violated, Fin. Whether he raped her or not, he took advantage of her. And I just sat there and let him do it."

"There aint nothing you could have done man. That is the way this guy works."

"I thought you said you didn't think it was your guy?"

"I don't know what to think. But whoever he is, he'd better pray I never get a hold of him."

"She is scared. She doesn't know what to think."

"Well, we have a sketch artist coming up from downstairs to get a composite. We show that to our other victims, maybe we can get an ID on this guy. I just don't know why he would change his MO after all this time. We are no where near him, El. Maybe he couldn't get it up."

"Come on Fin, it was Olivia in a revealing cocktail dress. I don't think that was the problem. Maybe something spooked him."

"Maybe he made her for a cop."

"I don't know how that would have happened. We used our undercover names, we had our new ID. We even wore our wedding rings. How could he have made us?"

"I don't know Elliot, but if this was my guy it might be better that he did. I have seen what he does to these women. He rapes them, beats them, he has cut some of them up and one woman died. He really works them over bad. I don't think I couldn't live with myself if anything like that ever happened to Olivia."

"I don't think any of us could. As of now we are not completely sure something didn't happen. But I am hoping and praying that if this guy does all of this damage to his victims, maybe that means that for some reason he didn't rape her. Right now, all we can do is wait for the results."

The sketch artist came and worked with Olivia to make a composite of the man she saw inside the hotel room. Fin and Munch took the drawing to talk to some of the other victims and see if it was the same guy.

Elliot sat at his desk with a pile of papers, files and notes from the case surrounding him. Olivia was quiet and except for her interview with the sketch artist, hadn't spoken three words since they had come in to work that morning. Elliot was worried about her and was careful not to let her out of his site.

Just then Olivia's cell phone rang. She looked down at the number and opened the phone as she stood up and walked out of the room, down the hall and into the ladies room. Ten minutes later she still had not returned, so Elliot went to check on her.

Elliot knocked on the door as he pushed it slowly open.

"Olivia?" He said softly.

He could hear her move inside a stall in the back, but she didn't answer him. He made his way to the stall and tapped lightly on the door it opened just a little. She was sitting in the floor crying and the phone was laying beside her in the floor, still opened from the call.

Elliot dropped to the floor beside her and pulled her in against him. He held her for a minute and just let her cry. He wanted so badly to make everything better for her, but he had no idea how. He was terrified at what the news in that call could have possibly been.

Olivia gasped short, shallow breaths against him for a moment then sat up to look at him. Elliot reached up and brushed tears from both of her cheeks.

"That was the lab," she said softly as she stared into his eyes for a moment. "I wasn't raped, Elliot."

"Thank God."

"And the all of the DNA from the condoms was from the same two people. You and I." She was quiet for a moment and looked at the floor. "But I know he was there. I know I saw him. I wasn't dreaming that."

"I know. They have CSI processing the hotel room now. But with it being a hotel, there could be any number of hairs and fibers in that room from other guests and employees. I don't know if that is going to help any." Elliot reached over holding her hand in his. He looked into her eyes as she stared into his. "I am so glad that you are okay."

"I will be fine, Elliot. It is just all starting to get to me, I guess. I have no idea what happened in that hotel room that night. All I know is that I wasn't raped, but I did wake up in bed with my best friend after we apparently spent an evening neither of us can fully remember having sex in front of a total stranger. A stranger who has raped and maimed four women and murdered another. We were there to try and stop him Elliot. How could this have gotten so far out of hand?"

"I got a call from Melinda a few minutes ago. Our blood samples both came back positive for a drug called Rohypnol. It is commonly associated with date rape. The drug makes you groggy and easy to influence and control. Sometimes it knocks you out completely. You wake up feeling hung over, sometimes nauseated and lose track of time and don't always remember things that may have happened."

"So we were drugged. Why? To rob us?"

"I think that was the intention. Rob us and rape you. You said you remembered him kissing you and touching you."

"He was laying with me on the bed, Elliot. Kissing me and touching me. He pushed his hand up my skirt and I asked him to stop. But he was on top of me and I couldn't get up. He was heavy and I felt weak. He kissed my neck and I pushed against him and told him to stop. Then he just did. The next thing I remember we were kissing. And then sex. I can only remember it a little at a time and so many things are mixed up. I remember opening my eyes while we were together in bed and he was watching us. But when I woke up, no one was there."

Elliot leaned against the wall of the bathroom stall and wrapped his arm around her as she leaned against him.

"I don't know why he stopped, but I thank God he did." He looked into her eyes as she exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

"So am I," she said softly.

Elliot kissed the top of her head.

"We will figure this out, Liv. Are we okay?"

"I think so," she said softly. "I guess if this was going to happen with anyone, at least it was someone I know and trust."

"Yeah. But that doesn't make it any easier for you to talk to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about whatever this is that you don't want to tell me, Liv. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. You know you can tell me anything."

"I know," she said softly. "It's nothing really. I guess I am just a little ashamed and humiliated that this could happen at all. Worse than that I can't remember half of it. The only parts I do remember are kind of graphic."

Elliot laughed.

"At least you remember something."

"Sometimes I think I would rather forget."

Elliot looked at her.

"We are just not supposed to be that way, Elliot. And I would never want to be anyway if there was even the slightest chance that it could mess this up. I need you, El."

"You have me, Liv."

She smiled at him. It was the first time he had really seen her smile since this had happened and he was relieved to see it. Elliot stood up and extended his hand to help her up as well. He looked into her eyes and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as they turned and walked back to the squad room.