Unknown Day
He was staring at her, his eyes dark and hollow and empty. She wanted to cringe, feeling so exposed. Squeezing her legs together to keep something from his sight, she tried to look defiant.
He squatted down before her, smiling proudly. "I have a present for you, Maggie."
Defiance was hard found when sitting before someone without so much as underwear to hide behind. She could just tell, perhaps from the hideous gleam in his eyes, that his present would involve touching her and she wanted to vomit. She'd already suffered the humiliation of having him touch her, cleaning her the way he had. She fully expected to be raped, figured it was inevitable. She didn't have to cooperate too.
Producing a bag from behind his back, he grinned harder. "This is for you. Want to open it?"
She wanted to spit in his face again, but sadly, she imagined that was where he got the idea for the gag. Instead she choked back the bile that rose in her throat at the sudden and unsettling thought he was going to produce a box of condoms.
"Oh, right, I guess you can't. Sorry." His voice was light, as though he thought it was funny the reason she couldn't open her "gift" was because he'd handcuffed her to the wall. He reached into the bag and quickly withdrew his hand with some sadistic flourish. "Tada!"
He brandished the cloth in her face, thrusting it so close she turned her head. She didn't know what she was receiving, but she could smell perfume, lotion, something flowery, even over the moldy, stagnant stench that surrounded her.
"I thought you'd at least smile, Maggie. I went through a lot of trouble to get these."
And then he was reaching for her ankles, yanking her legs straight, ignoring her flagging strength as she tried to keep her legs together. She moaned, groaned, mumbled, choked, believing her worst nightmare was coming to life. She had expected to be raped, she had, but she'd never imagined how truly unbearable the moment would be when it came upon her. Knowing it was only going to get worse, wishing she could die right then and there, she screamed as best she could with her mouth full.
He had the panties up to her knees by the time she realized what he was doing. He was quite skilled at not noticing her feelings and he looked her, seeming completely ignorant of her obvious hysteria. "I knew you needed some and the pretty lady at the laundry had so many, I didn't think she'd mind sharing."
Utter humiliation took over for the sobbing as he pulled her hips off the ground and yanked the panties into place. She couldn't think about the fact that they were dirty or that they belonged to some stranger. She was just grateful to have herself covered somewhat.
And then he raised his hands, doing something with the ring her hands were attached to. There was intense pain then, as he moved her arms, the same pain that struck every time he'd unhooked her to use the bathroom, from the length of time her arms had been raised. But she hadn't asked for the bathroom and she feared what was coming next.
He eased her cuffed hands over his head, shimmying them past his shoulders, pressing her face thoughtlessly against his neck while he settled them around his thick middle. Then he pulled her gag loose, tearing the tender skin of her lips for the hundredth time.
"You're safe now, Maggie. You can sleep."
Day Two cont'd
They walked out together, Elliot's hands full with Eli and the diaper bag, Olivia inordinately fascinated with the controls on her iPod. He turned toward her to say goodbye; she smiled and offered a wave, pretending the music was already playing. He waved back with a smile and headed to his car as Olivia deliberately altered her route so as to run in the opposite direction from the one he would take. She needed time to herself to think. He'd had a chance to plan and she thought she deserved the chance to respond.
But as she tried to concentrate on the feel of her feet hitting the pavement and keeping her breathing even to avoid a cramp, all she could think of was how her lips felt as swollen and bruised as her cheek.
Except in a good way.
She grinned happily, letting the music drive her faster, enjoying the high of being thoroughly kissed by a man who would have won an award for it, had kissing been something for which people won awards.
Hell, he deserved one anyway. She'd had orgasms that were less pleasurable.
She still felt like she was floating hours later when she walked into the precinct. Elliot was going to be late, he'd already told her about the custody meeting, but it didn't stop her from looking at his desk, hoping irrationally that he would be there.
And magically, he was.
Her eyes darted to her watch as she slid into her seat. "What are you doing here?" She was grinning like a goof, just thinking that his tongue had been in her mouth. The thought made her face grow hot and she looked down, biting back a giggle. One kiss, one long, wet, hot, full-body contact kiss, and she'd been reduced to a giggling schoolgirl with a crush.
Luckily, Elliot was grinning too. "Got postponed. Kathy had to work."
"You seem happy about that." She kept telling herself to act normal, but the smile was more stubborn than she was.
"I am." He sat back in his seat, folding his arms, arms that had been around her that morning, across his chest. She shook her head to force her mind off that subject and onto what he was saying. "Makes me look better, according to the lawyer, since I arrived on time, with the baby in perfect health, and I didn't try to reschedule once. Kathy was almost twenty minutes late by the time she called. You know, after twenty-three years of marriage, it's nice to not be the irresponsible one for once."
Rolling her eyes, she felt she had to side with Kathy, as per the rules of female solidarity. "It's probably the first time in twenty-three years of marriage that you weren't."
He shrugged, eventually offering her a reluctant nod and gesturing at the case file he'd started the night before, after he'd dropped her off for her infamous date. "So, Natalie's library?"
Wincing, Olivia's eyes darted to Cragen's office. She was hoping he wasn't in yet, but it was ridiculous to even think it, since she was pretty sure he really did use that cot. She couldn't recall more than a handful of times in a decade the older man hadn't been at his desk. "I need to talk to the cap first."
Elliot's eyes widened and his jaw fell open, revealing terror for only an instant. He immediately played it down, although his voice nearly cracked when he voiced his concern. "Not over-"
She started to laugh, the absurdity of him thinking she was going to run to tell the boss about their kiss. Like hell, she thought. She might never let that man with those talented lips out of her sight again. "No, El, don't have a heart attack."
A blush crept into his cheeks as he looked down, far more embarrassed than she would have expected considering how confident he'd been when he'd kissed her. "Then what is it?"
Her smiling face fell as movement caught her eye. There was Phil, being ushered into the room by a uniform. She was on her feet in a minute, ready for round two. "What the hell do you want?"
As if Olivia's bruised cheek hadn't garnered enough attention, her words and defensive posture did. Elliot was on his feet not quite a second after Liv, and Munch, Lake, and Fin all tensed to jump to her defense.
"Relax, Olivia. I came to return your purse." He dropped the black bag onto her desk with a thud. "Anything you had in there, I assure you, will be found exactly the way you left it. I didn't open it or steal anything."
She wanted to hit him again, but she refrained from it, snarling instead that he seemed to be rubbing her nose in the fact that he made as much in a day as she did in two weeks. Still, he'd brought it back to her before she'd had to admit to losing her badge and gun, so she was willing to let it go. Not to mention that his massively swollen nose and two ugly purple bruises under his eyes confirmed she'd done the damage she'd intended when her fist connected with his face.
Deciding to be civil, she nodded. "Thank you for returning it promptly." Her cold tone left him no room to think she might be amenable to a reconciliation, just in case he was waiting for one.
He reached down, pulling a folder from his briefcase and resting it on her desk. "In here, you'll find a copy of the emergency room bill for last night, a copy of the receipt for having my car detailed to remove the blood this morning, and I'll be forwarding the bill for my dry cleaning as soon as it's complete. I'll expect you to reimburse me for those as promptly."
She didn't even have time to pull her gun from her bag.
Elliot grabbed Phil's collar with his left hand, rearing his right hand back for a punch as he slammed Phil's back into the closest wall. Unfortunately, the closest wall was next to the door of Cragen's office. The captain, who'd noticed the posturing in the bullpen and was expecting to have to intervene, had the door open in a flash and had to hear the threat Elliot growled not a foot from his face.
"How'd you like a broken jaw to go with the broken nose? You'd be amazed how well my partner and I work together." Elliot was just itching to do it, because he always wanted to hit any man who touched Olivia, let alone one that dared hurt her.
Phil smiled cockily, glancing over Elliot's shoulder to smirk at Olivia. "Should have known she was screwing around, the little whore."
Even the presence of his boss wasn't enough to stop Elliot's fist from slamming into Phil's face. It took Fin and Lake to pull him back and even Cragen to step in front of him to keep him from delivering several additional blows. But none of them could keep him from glowering at doctor, who was once again dripping blood down the front of his suit.
"How about you get the fuck out of here and no one will charge you with assaulting a police officer?" He'd do it too, they all knew it.
Phil's eyes went back to Olivia. "You'll be paying to clean this one too."
Elliot surged forward again, putting up a hell of a fight for someone restrained by three men. "Get the fuck away from her and stay the fuck away from her or I swear to God I'll kill you."
Phil had the audacity to grin as he conspicuously checked the writing on Cragen's door. He nodded at Cragen. "Captain? I believe I was just threatened by one of your officers."
Cragen took a deep breath, looking at Olivia and noticing her marred face for the first time. Then he looked back at Phil and shrugged. "I didn't hear anything." He looked back at the three men who all looked ready to pounce. "Anyone else?"
The bullpen, which generally did a pathetic job of pretending not to be paying attention, shrugged or shook their heads as a chorus of 'no, sirs' filled the air.
Cragen smiled at Phil again. "I don't expect to see you back here unless you're the victim of a violent crime." As soon as a rather unhappy Phil turned on his heel and left, Cragen barked at everyone to go back to work. "Except you two. My office. Now."
