Part Nine

Olivia's world seemed to be entirely comprised of fog, both internally and externally. Her brain didn't seem to be working at all. Nothing seemed real, not the past, not the current. She simply sat there, staring in disbelief or shock or despair or something. It was better, she guessed, than that overwhelming pain she'd felt since discovering her thong under Elliot's seat. Perhaps enhanced by the lack of sleep, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

She heard Cragen's voice, coming from somewhere behind her, and she turned to look, realizing that the man no longer occupied the chair next to her. She had no idea how long he'd been gone, but she suspected it was too long for her to not have noticed. With some forced concentration, she focused her eyes on him and tried to make sense of the words.

He was standing beside Elliot's desk, face to face with the man who'd turned her world backwards and upside down and inside out, the older man's voice pinched with the effort to not lose his temper. "Interview room. Now."

Elliot's face, which Olivia had only so recently discovered she wasn't any good at reading, seemed confused, but she didn't trust anything she saw there. "What? What's going on?" His stare turned suddenly, finding Olivia's presence in Cragen's office, his eyes seeming to sharpen. He took a step toward her, but was hindered by Cragen stepping in front of him.

"Get your ass in the interview room now before I have someone put you there." Cragen's anger showed in his words and voice and in the dark stare coming from his eyes.

Olivia was glad he wasn't that mad at her. It made her shiver to realize that he was that mad for her.

Elliot's face turned to her again, questioning, searching, knowing she had something to do with the situation, but clearly unable to grasp the concept that he'd been caught red-handed. "What the fuck?" Even as he muttered and shot a last curious glance at Olivia, he obeyed Cragen's directive.

Munch and Fin were just returning from somewhere, each accompanied by a woman Olivia recognized from her building. The one with Munch grabbed his arm, nodding in the direction of Elliot and Cragen's disappearing frames.

"I don't need a sketch artist. That's the guy, right there." The young brunette was pointing beyond where Olivia could see, but it didn't matter. Olivia knew exactly who she was pointing at.

Munch, on the other hand, was rather surprised. "Which one of them?"

"The taller one." The girl sounded sure.

"Elliot." Munch called the man's name, succeeding in getting his attention. Then he looked at the girl who Olivia realized was serving as a witness. "Is that the man you saw?"

The girl nodded. "Absolutely. He held the elevator for me."

Disappointed because he didn't realize that Elliot being in Olivia's building was anything out of the ordinary, Munch sat the girl at his desk and walked back to where Olivia was still sitting. "Sorry, I thought I had a great witness for you. She said she got a good look at a guy outside your place last night." He shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find someone who saw something besides Elliot."

Olivia stood up, her shaky feet unsteady as she crossed in front of Munch. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Munch ignored her, turning to his partner who was taking notes from the other woman. "Fin, what did you find?"

Smiling politely at the woman, Fin looked up. "She saw a car parked outside the building last night with someone inside."

Thinking she was supposed to join in, the woman turned toward them and nodded. "He was there on my way to my aerobics class and he was still there on my way back and I even stopped to buy a latte."

Fin shrugged. "Didn't get a look at his face, though?"

She shook her head. "No, it was too dark. But I can describe the car."

Olivia sighed, muttering under her breath at Munch. "Let me guess, a dark blue Chevy with scratches on the passenger side door."

Munch looked at her, thinking he was catching on. "Elliot's car?"

Without bothering to answer, Olivia moved past him, running her hand along the wall to help her rubbery legs support her. The bullpen was oddly silent, except for a low, persistent buzzing sound, and Olivia was fairly sure it was all in her head. In fact, some part of her recognized that she was going to wind up on the floor if she didn't eat something soon. But the idea of food sickened her. Even water seemed like it would be too much for her system.

She carefully made her way to the interrogation room observation area. Although Cragen hadn't said anything to her, she knew he expected her to wait, probably in his office. But it was her partner he was questioning. About her assault.

The fuck she was staying out of it.

She pressed the button on the speaker, filling the dark room with Cragen's voice.

"Where's your wedding ring, Elliot?"

Elliot's eyes were narrowed, his hands clenched in front of him. He was uncomfortable, Olivia thought, but more from confusion than understanding of the boat he was in. Finally he shrugged. "On my dresser where I left it."

"You sure of that?"

Elliot swallowed, his eyes moving around as he searched his memory. "That's where I left it."

"When?"

He shrugged.

"Come on, Elliot, you're telling me you don't know when you saw your wedding ring last?"

"I haven't been wearing it." Elliot's eyes darted down, like he was embarrassed. Or he was lying. Olivia couldn't tell. And she couldn't swear to the last time she'd actually seen the ring on his finger. But the man was married. She'd stopped noticing the ring a long time ago.

"So to the best of your knowledge, your wedding ring is sitting at your house on your dresser." Cragen stopped pacing and turned to lean his hands on the table across from Elliot.

Elliot sighed, still not getting it. Of course, Olivia chastised herself, she couldn't be sure what was real and what was fake. Not from him, not anymore. "Yes. I left the ring on my dresser. A couple days ago, I guess. That's where it is."

Cragen reached for his pocket, pulling out an evidence bag, tossing it on the table with a thunk that made Olivia shiver. "Try again."

Elliot reached for the bag, automatically checking to be sure the ring was his. His mouth fell open as he looked up at his boss. "Where did you find it?"

Cragen was practically snarling. "Olivia found it."

She watched as Elliot's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. It appeared that he was starting to get it. He dropped the bag back on the table like it had burned him. "Where did she find it?"

"Why don't you tell me? Tell me what rooms you've been in at Olivia's."

Elliot's expression was growing darker by the second, the veins standing out on his neck a testament to the fact that Cragen's physical safety was going to be threatened very soon. "What the hell is going on here?"

Cragen likely recognized the signs of Elliot's impending outburst, though Olivia doubted he was quite as familiar with them as she was. Still, he ignored it, an action which usually only incensed Elliot further. "Tell me what rooms you've been in at Olivia's. It's not a hard question, Elliot."

He stood up, shoving his chair back into the wall. "I want to know what the fuck is going on here."

"Sit down." Cragen's eyes were just as dark as Elliot's, something far more frightening simply because Olivia had never seen him so angry. When Elliot didn't move, Cragen walked around, standing directly in front of him, daring Elliot to do something stupid. "Sit your ass in that chair, Elliot."

Seething, Elliot did as he was told. "I want to talk to Olivia."

"You'll be staying the fuck away from her from here on out if you know what's good for you."

Elliot's eyes widened, and Olivia found herself believing reality had truly just dawned on him. "You don't think-why-" He looked down, swallowing hard, his face contorting with pain and shock and anger. "You think I hurt her? I would never hurt Olivia. Never. I'd die first."

She had to give him credit. He was one hell of an actor. At that moment, she would have sworn he was telling the truth. It took everything she had left to stand there, watching silently as Cragen continued to question Elliot. Every night something questionable had happened, Elliot claimed to be home, even nights Olivia herself had known him to be somewhere else. At one point, Elliot mentioned getting a lawyer, but Cragen shut him down, reminding him that he hadn't been arrested yet, taunting him as to how guilty he would look if he refused to talk without a mouthpiece.

When she couldn't take it anymore, when she seriously started to think that she might step in there, stop Cragen, defend her partner, she had to walk away. She didn't know what it would take for her to overcome that instinct. She decided it would probably be sometime after she started to believe any of it had really happened.

Returning to the bullpen, she saw a familiar blonde woman waiting by Elliot's desk. Olivia groaned. She barely believed Elliot capable of what he'd done. She'd already had to tell Cragen; she couldn't believe that she'd have to tell Elliot's wife as well.

"Kathy."

She turned with a smile that faltered as soon as her eyes fell on Olivia's bruised cheek. "Are you ok, Olivia?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she didn't bother to answer. She simply took Kathy's elbow, directing the woman whose arms were full of a squirming toddler toward Cragen's office. "Let's talk in here."

Kathy's face paled and her steps faltered. "Oh, god, what happened?"

"Nothing. Elliot's fine," Olivia lied.

Kathy was still panicked, disbelieving Olivia's claim. "I was so mad. Elliot didn't pick up Eli at the babysitter and I had to leave work to go get him. I just assumed he forgot or something."

Olivia doubted that "or something" included being questioned by his boss about assaulting his partner. Pulling in a deep breath, Olivia tried to put herself in cop mode despite the dream-like quality that was still hanging over everything. They already had evidence against Elliot; a broken alibi was all they needed to arrest him.

"Kathy, was Elliot home last night?" She started with the easy one, knowing he hadn't been, knowing there were already two witnesses that put him somewhere else.

Kathy looked confused, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "How should I know?"

Olivia tried not to see Eli, fidgeting unhappily in his mother's arms. She tried not to see her partner's wife, waiting nervously for visual confirmation that Elliot was uninjured. "Look, Kathy, it's really important. I need to know where Elliot was last night between six and eight."

Kathy started to understand something was very, very wrong. "I don't know where he was."

Olivia nodded, glad that Kathy wasn't lying. "What about four nights ago? Wednesday night. Was he home then?" She was trying to keep the days straight in her head, when her pajamas moved, when her lingerie drawer was messed up, when her thong had disappeared, when the rose had appeared.

"Wednesday was five nights ago." Kathy, who'd probably gotten more sleep in the previous few weeks, knew what day it was. She shifted Eli to her other hip. "I don't know where he was, Olivia."

Olivia squeezed her eyes closed, certain she was going to drop any minute. "I know this seems stupid, but it's really important. I need to know if Elliot was home when he said he was."

Kathy sighed, fixing Olivia with an intense stare. "Elliot moved out about two months ago, so if he was home at his apartment, I can't help you. We're getting a divorce." She searched Olivia's face as she spoke. "You didn't know?"

Olivia shook her head, dropping into the chair she'd occupied earlier. Elliot hadn't given any indication that he was having problems with Kathy, unless she counted the constant drinking and attitude problem and lies.

"Besides, aren't you more likely to know where he is anyway?"

Olivia looked up, hearing the annoyance and not comprehending it. "How would I know?"

Kathy sat down carefully in the chair beside Olivia, shifting Eli around in her lap. "When he left me, he said there was someone else and that he couldn't stay married to me when he was in love with another woman."

Feeling like she'd been sucker punched and not quite sure why, Olivia somehow managed to hold back the howl of pain. She shook her head, unable to look the other woman in the eye. "I didn't know."

"I wasn't really surprised, I mean, I've kind of thought he had one foot out the door for a while." Kathy pressed a kiss onto Eli's curls and shrugged half-heartedly. "I asked him if I knew her and he said yes." She looked over, waiting until Olivia looked up. "I just assumed it was you so I didn't ask anymore questions."

Shaking her head, Olivia felt like someone had pulled yet another rug out from under her. "No, no, it's not me." Maybe Elliot hadn't wanted to tell her about his girlfriend. Maybe he thought she'd be mad. Maybe all those lies he'd told her had been an attempt to protect her feelings, designed to keep her from finding out he was seeing someone. But even if the lies made some kind of sense, nothing else did. Following her. Stealing from her. Trying to rape her. Choking on the lump in her throat, Olivia started to think Kathy had been right, that Elliot had left Kathy for her, except that Elliot had left Kathy to stalk her. Twisted, yes. Sick, yes. In need of psychiatric treatment, yes. But possible, absolutely.

Kathy's hand was warm when it tapped Olivia's shaking one. "Olivia, what's going on?"

The cop in her tried to take charge once again. His alibi was useless, home alone wasn't going to cut it. "Elliot's going to be arrested."

"What?" Kathy was on her feet in a second, squeezing Eli in panic.

Olivia tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't cooperate, so she stayed where she was. "He's being arrested for attempted rape, among other various charges. You should probably warn the kids." She knew, based on the sensational aspects, it would probably hit the papers. Cop goes crazy, attacks partner. Just what they all needed; more reporters prying into their lives.

"She's lying! Whoever she is! Elliot would never hurt a woman, not like that!" Kathy was all restless energy, moving from one side of Cragen's office to the other, grabbing Olivia's hand and clawing at it. "He might be thoughtless, but you know him. You know he's not like that!"

Olivia wished she could have that utter faith back. She'd had it that morning and it hurt so much to lose it. She could only shake her head, feeling Kathy's nails digging into her skin. "She's not lying, Kathy." She forced herself to stand, feeling that she needed to be on her feet to argue.

"How do you know?"

Looking at Kathy, she felt the tears start to spill. "Because he tried to rape me."

The clawing at her skin stopped, her hand dropping heavily to her side when Kathy released it. She heard Kathy's voice, quiet, scared, meek, but she couldn't hear the words. There was another voice, a deeper one, but she couldn't even figure out whose it was. The voices faded away, buried behind the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She could hear herself breathing and wondered why it was so loud. The whole office seemed to slip away, at first graying around the edges of her vision, then closing in until there was only blackness.

Luckily, Kathy's frantic cries had summoned Fin's attention so Olivia didn't hit the floor when her legs buckled.