Disclaimer: The Wolf man owns the characters, Alexz Johnson owns the song "How Strong Do You Think I Am?", and I own the story. One can only dream...
A/N: Hello fellow readers! I am SO sorry for the late update! Things at school just got very busy so I didn't have time to write. But here it is! The next chapter... thanks again to those that are reading the story, adding it to their alerts, etc. It makes me happy! I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving :D
Mercy General Hospital
Emergency Room
365 West 32nd Street
Elliot and Olivia arrived at Mercy Hospital in ten minutes. Elliot sped around the parking lot and stopped in front of the emergency room entrance. He got out the car quickly and ran to the doors. Olivia switched places and moved his car into the parking lot.
Elliot ran through the doors and began searching for Fin or Munch. Nothing but nurses and doctors walking back and fort. Elliot glanced over to a far desk in the corner and recognized someone. He made his way over to the man and slapped his hand on his shoulder.
"Amaro, what happened?"
Nick spun around and took in a deep breath. "We're waiting for your daughter and the victim to wake up so we can take her statements."
"Where is she? I need to see her!" Elliot shouted. He began pacing back and forth, anger building up inside.
"Once she wakes up, I'll have a nurse notify you."
"To hell with that. I need to see my daughter. Now."
"Elliot, you can see her now." Fin said, walking up to the pair. Elliot followed the detective down the hall to Kathleen's room. "It's great seein' you, man. Sorry it had to be like this though."
"Yeah, same here."
A few minutes later, Fin and Elliot arrived at the room. Elliot opened the door to see his second oldest daughter lying in her bed. He saw Munch standing on the opposite side of the door. He gave him a nod and walked over to the bed. He ran his fingers through his daughter's hair as he watched her sleep.
Fin and Munch left the room to give Elliot and his daughter some time alone. Munch closed the door slowly and started walking down the hall. Olivia finally walked in to meet up with them.
"So what's the story?" she asked out of breath.
"Both Kathleen and the victim are asleep. We just have to wait for them to wake up and get their statements." Fin responded.
"Okay." Olivia said quietly. She glanced around to find her partner, but he was nowhere to be found. "Where's Amaro?"
"He was talkin' to Elliot before I took him to Kathleen's room." Fin said. "Why don't you go check up on Elliot and wait for Kathleen to wake up, baby girl. We'll send Amaro in once we find him."
Olivia gave Fin a smile and walked to Kathleen's room. She slowly opened the door and found Elliot sitting next to Kathleen's bed. He turned around and gave her a sheepish smile.
"Hey."
"Hi. How are you holding up?"
"Honestly, I'd rather be punching a wall or door right now." Elliot chuckled. He stared back down at his daughter and his eyes grew big.
Kathleen started to nudge around, and then her eyes opened. She shot up and started to panic.
"Shh, shh. It's okay, Katie." Elliot said trying to calm her down.
"Dad?" Kathleen hugged her father tightly. She looked pass her father's shoulders and noticed a familiar face standing in the background. "Liv…"
"Hi, Kathleen. How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess." She replied breaking away from the hug.
"El, I'll be right back." Olivia said. She walked out of the room to look for her partner.
"So what now?" Kathleen asked her father.
"Well, Liv and her—her new partner have to get your statement about what happened." Elliot choked up. It was hard to say his former partner's name and "new partner" in the same sentence.
"I really don't want to do it, daddy. I can't."
"Sweetie, it will be a quick process. Just tell them the truth and it will be over."
Olivia returned to the hospital room with Nick and Amanda. They walked in and stood in front of Kathleen's bed while Olivia lingered by the door to watch.
"Kathleen, I'm detective Amaro and this is detective Rollins. Is it okay if we ask you a couple of questions?"
"That's why you're here, right?" Kathleen snapped. Elliot studied her movement as she sat up straight in the bed.
"Okay then. So can you tell me what you and Michelle were doing before the attack?" Nick asked. Amanda took out a notepad and pen to take notes.
"We were at the recreation center playing basketball with some friends." Kathleen shifted again to fix her pillow. "We were there for a couple of hours."
"What time did Michelle leave the group?" Amanda asked next.
"I guess she left around eight. She wanted to go take a shower since the locker room was empty. I stayed in the gym."
"Was there anything suspicious or unusual you noticed about Michelle before the attack?" Nick asked.
"Uh no… don't think so. I mean she seemed pretty normal to me."
"Does she have a boyfriend?" Amanda asked.
"No. What does that have to do with me?" Kathleen asked.
"Just wondering…"
"Okay next question." Nick chimed in. "When did you decide to leave and look for her?"
"About forty-five minutes later or so. I know she likes to take long showers, but they usually last a half hour at most. I got worried. When I asked my friend at the front desk if she saw Michelle leave, she said no. So I went to the locker room to look for her. When I walked in, I heard someone screaming. I knew it was Michelle. Her high pitched scream is something you can't avoid." Kathleen laughed.
"Anyway, I saw the guy trying to rape her. He ripped up her clothes and had her trapped in a corner. I ran up to him and punched the shit out of him. He fell over and I helped Michelle up. The both of us then decided to give him a piece of our mind. Once we were done, I got her cell phone to call 9-1-1. Michelle just fell back in the corner and sat there until the paramedics and police came."
"Is that it, Kathleen? Anything else you want to tell us?" Olivia asked from the door.
Kathleen shook her head. "How is Michelle? Is she okay?"
"The doctor said that she is okay. She will recover perfectly fine. The man you beat up however is bruised up pretty badly."
"So where does that leave me? Am I getting charged? Oh my God, I can't get arrested again." Kathleen shouted. She began panicking and throwing her bed sheets on the floor.
"Kathleen, calm down. I won't let that happen. They won't let that happen." Elliot said as he jumped to his daughter's side. He quickly shot a glance at Olivia and Nick. "Right?"
"Well, we still have to talk to Michelle and get her side of the story. And we still have to talk to Casey and see what she thinks." Nick replied.
"Don't worry, El." Olivia said as she walked up to the group. "I think Casey can work something out. Kathleen only beat the crap out of the perp because her friend was in trouble. We can't really charge Michelle either since she did it to defend herself. Once we get the facts, we will get it worked out." Olivia gave Kathleen an assuring nod.
"Detectives, the victim is awake and settled in her room. You can see her now." A nurse said as she walked into the room.
Nick turned to Olivia and gave her a small nod. "We'll go talk to her."
The two detectives left the room with Olivia still behind with Elliot and Kathleen.
"Liv, Kathleen cannot get arrested again." Elliot said. He stood up from his chair so he can stand in front of Olivia.
"I know, El. I'll do everything I can to avoid that. Just remember, this isn't my case. I'm just helping Rollins and Amaro. This is their first case without the 'big guys'."
"Just make sure that partner of yours doesn't screw this up. I swear I'll hurt him if he does."
"El, calm down." Olivia laughed. "Everything will be okay. I'll come back in a bit."
Olivia patted his shoulder and left the room. Once the door was closed, Olivia quickly lay back against the wall and sighed.
"Hey Liv. Feeling okay?" Munch asked. He reached his arm out to give Olivia a bottle of water.
"I'm fine." She grabbed the bottle and drank some water.
"Ah, the famous phrase we all know and love." Munch got closer to the detective and lowered his head. "How are you really?"
"How am I supposed to feel? One minute I'm being told that we're getting new detectives. Cragen then tells me Elliot turned in his papers and I had to pack up his desk. Next, I get a random package and it turned out to be from Elliot. After nine fucking months, he just appears in my life with a small note he couldn't even drop off himself. The next thing I know, he's sitting at my desk in the squad room. We go back to my place as if nothing ever happened. The next day he tells me his marriage with Kathy is officially over and he's now living with me. And now we're here because of his daughter beating the shit out of a prick that decided to try and rape her friend."
"Looks like you have been very busy, my friend." Munch smirked.
"This is not funny, John." Olivia smacked him on the arm.
"I know, I'm sorry."
"So how am I supposed to feel? So much has happened in so little time. My head is spinning in so many directions."
"You're a strong gal, Liv. You can get through anything."
"I'm not so sure anymore." Olivia walked over to the waiting area and sat in a chair.
Munch followed behind and sat next to her. "Olivia, you will get through this. I know the past nine months have been hard on you. It's been hard on all of us. We lost one of our own and it wasn't easy to deal with. At least you can move forward and finally heal. Elliot is back, despite how it happened. And you seem a little more relaxed now than you did yesterday. So with him being back in the picture has changed a lot already."
"Yeah, I guess it did." Olivia smiled.
"Just keep holding on, Liv. You'll be fine." Munch gave Olivia's back a small pat and got up from his seat. "I'll go sit in with Amaro and Rollins."
Olivia nodded and slouched back into her chair.
How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?
Or the breath at the end of a kiss?
"Michelle, can you tell us what happened after your shower?" Amanda asked the young woman.
"I—I went back to my locker to get dressed." She said quietly. "I heard the door open and someone walked in. I asked who it was, but I didn't get an answer."
"What happened next?" Amanda asked softly. Munch then walked into the room and quietly moved to the nearest corner to watch.
"As I was getting my things together, someone grabbed me and threw me on the floor. I started screaming and asked the guy to get off of me. He didn't listen though. He ripped up my clothes and tried to take them off, but I kept kicking and swinging my arms to get him away. He just fought back and pinned me down. I—I was cry—crying and pleading him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. Next thing I know, Kathleen came him and pushed him off of me."
"And what happened after that?"
"We started to hit him. He was on the floor and the only thing I could think about was beating the living daylights out of that guy. After a couple of seconds, my mind kind of blacked out. I woke a few seconds later in the same corner he had me in. Kathleen was on the phone and the guy was just lying on the floor. I blacked out again and woke up here."
"Thank you, Michelle. I think we have everything we need for right now. We'll keep you updated." Nick said.
He and Amanda left the room with Munch, heading for the waiting area. They met up with Olivia and Fin.
"Do we have everything we need?" Olivia asked, sitting up in her chair.
"I believe so. We have statements from Michelle and Kathleen, we have the results from Michelle's rape kit, and the suspect is laying in a hospital bed until he wakes up from his induced coma." Nick replied.
"Well the Captain wants us to stay put until we get more details about the perp." Fin said, directing his words towards Munch.
"We'll head back to the station and start the paperwork." Amanda said.
She and Nick turned and started to walk to the exit. Nick turned around and saw Olivia still sitting in her chair.
"Are you coming, Liv?" he asked.
"Can you give me a minute?" Olivia rose up from her chair and walked to Kathleen's room. She opened the door and walked in, only to find Kathleen lying in bed. She looked around for Elliot, but his jacket on a chair was present.
"He left a couple of minutes ago, Olivia. He's talking to my mom." Kathleen said.
"Is everything okay? With them, I mean?"
"Who knows? My mom looked pretty pissed when she showed up."
"Well," Olivia sighed deeply. "Just let your father know that I'm heading back to the precinct. I'll be back a little later to check up on you."
"Thanks, Liv." Kathleen said with a small smile. With that, Olivia walked out the room, closing the door behind her.
Special Victims Unit
Squad Room
A couple of hours have passed and the detectives have been working non-stop on their current case.
Nick and Munch stood in front of the big desk staring at the many computer screens in front of them, studying the evidence they have. Fin sat with Amanda as they went over the statements they got from Kathleen and Michelle. Olivia sat at her desk filing out paperwork.
"What do have now?" Casey Novak asked as she walked into the bullpen.
"We have the statements from Stabler's daughter and the victim, we have the rape kit, and our perp is lying in a bed in Mercy." Nick answered, not breaking his focus from the screen.
"Do we know when he's going to wake up?"
"Not yet. Doctors put him in an induced coma." Olivia answered.
Casey opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by someone else. "OLIVIA BENSON!"
Olivia quickly shot up from her desk as Kathy walked into the squad room. "What's wrong, Kathy?"
"I swear to God that you better fix this mess with Kathleen! She can't get arrested again!"
"Kathy, calm down. We're working on it. I'm going to try my best to fix this all up."
"I don't believe you!"
"Kathy, why don't we go talk in private?" Olivia suggested as she grabbed her arm.
Kathy reacted quickly by pulling her arm back and smacking Olivia in the face with her hand. Olivia placed her hand on her cheek and shook her head.
"Alright, let's go." Fin said as he grabbed Kathy's arms. He placed them behind her back and led her to an interrogation room.
"Are you okay, Liv?" Casey asked.
"Yeah…" she said quietly. "I'm fine." Olivia followed Fin and Kathy to the interrogation room, her blood boiling inside. Casey quickly trailed behind.
How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,
You make it harder than it has to be,
How strong, how strong do you think I am?
Stay tuned, my friends. Read, review, do what you do best.