Alex finds herself standing in the main office of P.S. 135 the next day, waiting for a secretary to buzz Lauren down to the office so they can talk.
"Do you have a court order?" the secretary asks, peering at Alex over her glasses.
Alex sighs. "I don't need one," she explains as patiently as she can, trying not to sound condescending. "She's a witness in an open case and I need to speak to her."
The secretary chews on the end of her pen and finally nods. She presses a button on her intercom and calls Lauren down to the office.
Several moments later, Lauren shuffles into the main office. Alex notices a purple bruise on her wrist, as if someone had grabbed her hard, but she doesn't comment. She plasters a smile on her face and kneels down beside the little girl. "Hi, Lauren. How are you today?"
"Okay," Lauren says in a small voice.
"I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes. Is that okay?"
Lauren nods.
"Good."
They go into the conference room Olivia met Lauren in last time and sit down.
Lauren wraps her arms around herself and hunches her back. "We have reading buddies after lunch, so I can't talk to you too long."
Alex smiles. "That's okay. We'll only talk until the bell rings."
Lauren nods. "Okay."
"Lauren, I want to talk to you about your stepfather."
Lauren shivers. "I don't want to talk about that. But last night when I got home, Mommy made me brownies! With walnuts. They were yummy."
"That sounds good, Lauren, but I need to talk to you about Damien right now. Olivia and I want to protect you and make sure your stepfather doesn't hurt you anymore. To do that, you're going to have to tell some other people what happened to you."
Lauren shakes her head. "No, thank you."
"Sweetheart, you're going to have to. It's the only way Olivia and I can keep you safe."
"Nothing happened to me."
"Lauren –"
"No!" Lauren starts to cry. "Mommy says I can't talk about Damien anymore, otherwise I'll get in trouble and she won't read me any more stories or give me any more hugs or kisses and I'm going to be all alone and the police will arrest me for lying and put me in jail."
"Lauren, that's not going to happen, I promise. The police aren't going to arrest you and you're not going to get into any trouble. You haven't done anything wrong. All you need to do is tell the truth."
Lauren vehemently shakes her head. "No. Mommy will be mad. I don't want to talk to you."
"I promise your mother won't be mad at you –"
"But what if she is?"
"You can tell her to come talk to me, and I'll make sure she doesn't get upset."
"No! I don't want to talk to you anymore. I want to go back to class. We're doing spelling. I'm the best speller in my class and I don't want to miss spelling."
"Lauren – Lauren, I know you want to go back to class, but I need you to talk to me for just a few minutes."
"No. I don't want to. Damien says you're gonna get in trouble for what you did to me and he's never gonna let me go away. You want to take me away from him and he says that's bad and I'm always gonna be his."
Alex tries to keep her voice steady. "Sweetheart, I care about you and I don't want your stepfather to hurt you ever again. But for me to protect you, you need to tell me what happened."
"Damien didn't hurt me. No one ever hurt me. I don't want to talk now. I want to go. I want my mommy!" Lauren begins to cry again, her body shaking with her sobs. "Mommy!"
Alex sighs, realizing they aren't going to get anywhere today. "Okay, Lauren. We don't have to talk right now. But I'll be back the day after tomorrow, and we'll talk then. I won't come during spelling." She hopes her words will coax a smile from the little girl, but Lauren is too far gone for that, rocking back and forth and whimpering.
Alex puts a hand on Lauren's arm in an attempt to soothe her, but Lauren shrieks and claws at Alex's arm, trying to pry her hand away and scratching at Alex's skin.
Alex quickly pulls her hand back. The skin on her hand burns, emphasizing her failure like a scarlet letter. She closes her eyes and counts to ten, wanting so much to comfort Lauren, but knowing there's nothing she can do to help.
She made the mistake of getting too physically close last time and not respecting Lauren's need for distance to protect herself. But what kind of person would I be if I let this girl down? It's so hard not to hold her and comfort her as I know Olivia would. Looking down at her arm she sees that Lauren has done some damage. Blood is starting to trickle down her arm.
They both look up as the conference room door opens and a teacher steps inside. "Lauren, are you okay?" She glances at Alex. "I heard her crying. What happened?"
Lauren whimpers and runs to the teacher. "Ms. Bradley, I want to go back to class."
"Okay, sweetheart. I'll walk you back to class." She glances suspiciously at Alex and takes Lauren's hand. "Come on."
"How was school today, baby?" Damien asks, glancing at Lauren through the rearview mirror as he drives her home from school.
Lauren shifts in her booster seat. The seat belt is biting into her neck and she tries to adjust it, finally giving up and putting it behind her back.
"Lauren?"
Lauren jumps. "Yes, Daddy?"
"I asked you how school was."
"It was okay." Lauren squirms in her seat again. The seat belt is still too tight. "That blonde lady named Alex came to see me."
"Alex Cabot? The attorney?"
"Uh-huh. I didn't want to talk to her, but she made me."
"And what did you tell her?"
"That I wanted to go back to class."
"And what did she say?"
"That I had to stay and that she's gonna talk to me again the day after tomorrow."
"Do you want to talk to her?"
Lauren shakes her head.
"You know that what Alex did to you was wrong, Lauren. Lifting your skirt. That wasn't okay. And she shouldn't be allowed to talk to you if she's going to do something like that. Do you think she might hurt you again?"
Lauren nods. "I don't want to talk to her. I don't want her to hurt me again. I fought back just like you said. I scratched her and screamed really loud, stop, stop."
"Right. So you're going to need to tell the police what she did to you."
"That she hurt me today?"
"Yes. You have to tell them that Alex touched you under your skirt, and then you'll never have to talk to her again. You can be my good girl again, and Mommy's good girl. You just have to tell the truth."
Lauren nods again. "Okay."
Damien smirks. "But first I am going to take you to a friend of mine. I told him all about you and what has been going on and he's going to help us."
"How is he gonna help?" Lauren asks.
"Well, he's a doctor, my little doll. He is going to help you, me, and Mommy stop that awful woman from taking you away. He's also going to make sure that you are okay after she hurt you," Damien explains.
"But how?" Lauren's brow furrows. She doesn't understand how a doctor who helps her when she is sick is going to help her stay with her mommy.
"First, baby, you've got to trust me and listen to what I tell you. Okay?" His voice is taking on that tone that Lauren recognizes, the one that means trouble.
That bitch will not take Lauren away from me. She will be punished for trying. I will make sure of that. Damien smirks and turns the car around. They need to go to his friend in Brooklyn. That way when the doctor calls the cops to interview Lauren about what happened, it won't be Manhattan SVU that responds.
"You should have seen her, Olivia. I saw the bruises – and she was still protecting them! She's so confused. She wants is someone to love her, but she doesn't know what love is. She thinks that her mother and her stepfather love her – she was so upset that her mother would be angry with her if she talked to me," Alex says. They are sitting in her office, fingers intertwined as Alex tells Olivia of her day.
"Well, you have the day after tomorrow to try again. I will go with you this time. I'm sorry I couldn't go today. After El discharged his weapon in the Gregory case Internal Affairs has been on my ass to get a statement," Olivia says.
"It's okay, Liv. On Thursday, though, you'll need to make sure I don't screw up again," Alex says with a bitter laugh.
"Alex, please don't be hard on yourself. You haven't messed up at all." Olivia brings Alex's hand to her lips and kisses it.
Alex sighs. "This case . . . something about it's just getting to me. I don't know if it is because Lauren's mother is defending the scumbag that is raping her daughter or that the monster himself is a lawyer and manipulating the law to get what he wants. All while a little girl is being destroyed." Alex lets go of Olivia's hand and walks over to the window, looking out into the world and wishing these situations didn't exist. But then, she wouldn't have a job.
Coming up behind her, Olivia wraps her arms around Alex's abdomen and pulls her princess against her in a comforting embrace. Olivia kisses the crown of her head and whispers into her love's ear, "Alex, it's okay. We're going to fix this. We're going to help Lauren. Don't worry; we'll find a way. We always do."
Alex sighs and holds Olivia's gaze for a moment. She sees the love she holds in her own heart reflected in her girlfriend's eyes and leans in to bring their lips together.
They share a tender kiss, but before they can pour all their love into it, saying physically all that needs to be said, a knock on the door interrupts the moment and Elizabeth Donnelly storms into Alex's office. "Alexandra, Olivia."
Olivia and Alex quickly break apart, hoping to avoid another of Liz's lectures on discretion.
"Liz, what's the matter?" Alex asks, noticing the worry in Liz's eyes.
"The case against Damien Anderson has been dropped," Liz says sharply.
"What?" Olivia yells.
"I told you, Detective, you jumped the gun." She turns to Alex. "But that's not all." Liz prides herself on her professionalism – she never lets emotion get involved with the law. But this is Alex, who is almost like a daughter to her. She sees so much of herself in the young attorney, and she has to admit that she is afraid.
"What is it?" Alex asks.
Liz clears her throat. "There's been an accusation. Against you."
"Against me?"
"Lauren Davis has accused you of molesting her when you met with her today."
Alex gapes at her. "Liz –"
"I know, Alex, but I have to ask – is it possible that you might have done something that could be construed that way?"
"No, of course not."
"Alex," Olivia says. "The other day –"
Alex turns to Liz. "Is that what this is all about?"
"No, but you'd better believe that Anderson's going to use that as 'evidence.' Alexandra, what were you thinking?" Liz shakes her head.
"I wasn't. I'm sorry."
"Well, don't apologize to me. What happened today when you met with her?"
"She didn't want to talk to me and pulled a bit of a tantrum. She was scared that her mother would be angry at her if she told me about her stepfather – she said her mother told her not to talk about it. I guess I pushed a little too far and she melted down – but I didn't touch her."
Liz purses her lips. "The doctor did a rape kit, Alexandra. Why did he find your blood under Lauren's fingernails?"
Olivia's eyes widen. "Liz, you can't honestly believe –"
"No, I don't, but these are the questions a defense attorney is going to ask, and Alex, you should hear them from me first. Why is that?"
"God, Liz – I must have put a hand on her arm or something. I was trying to calm her down, and she started scratching me. I didn't hurt her," Alex says.
"Why did she start scratching you?"
"She got scared – I guess I did touch her."
"But not inappropriately."
"Of course not! Liz, you know me better than that."
"I do. But Alex, this is a serious accusation."
"I know that."
"She says that she got your blood under her fingernails because she was fighting you when you were trying to hurt her. All we have is your word to dispute that. This is serious, Alexandra."
"Liz, I didn't touch her."
"Yes, you did touch her. You just didn't hurt her. And that's a distinction I don't think Lauren can make." Liz clears her throat. "Anderson's seeking an indictment against you."
"With what evidence?" Olivia asks, her voice rising an octave as she takes Alex's hand and squeezes it.
"The blood evidence, Lauren's word, the digital penetration –"
"From him!" Alex cries.
"I know that, but a grand jury might not. And there's one more thing – one of her teachers. She walked in and saw Lauren crying, and Lauren told her you'd hurt her."
Alex covers her face with her hands. "My God. I didn't hurt her, Liz."
"We know, sweetheart," Olivia says, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder and looking up at Liz. "So what are we going to do?"
Liz sighs. "Wait and see. I don't think they'll really get an indictment –"
"But they'll try."
Alex raises her head. "What about Lauren? She's still in that house, with that monster molesting her. That's what matters."