Location: Riker's Island Correctional Facility. The Next Day.
Elliot stormed down the long hall, following the corrections officer to interrogation. The anger raged inside of him, burning with the fire of a thousand suns. Fin followed closely behind him, worried that Elliot would lose his temper.
"You need to calm down," Fin told him
"I'm fine," Elliot lied, coolly.
He couldn't let Fin see him lose control. Elliot vowed to say or do whatever it would take to make Harris talk. But Fin wasn't fooled.
"Man, you are fired up," Fin called him out on his lie. "I think you should let me do the interrogation."
"Not a chance," Elliot tried to keep his cool. He's mine! He added silently. "I'm fine. Really. Besides, he didn't tell you anything before, what makes you think you'll get something now?"
"We have more ammo," Fin replied. "At least let me go in there with you."
"Fine," said Elliot, reluctantly. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to the hospital."
"Liv will be fine," Fin assured him. "There's a uniformed cop outside her room. And we have the hospital on full alert. Tucker won't get near her. She's safe."
"I thought she was safe before," said Elliot, remorsefully. "Look what happened."
"That wasn't your fault," Fin tried consoled him. "You need to stop blaming yourself."
"I know," he Elliot admitted. "But I can make it right. I have to."
"How about I ask Munch to stay with Liv?" suggested Fin. "Would that make you feel better?"
"Yea, it would actually," replied Elliot.
Fin called Munch and relayed the message.
"Munch is on his way to the hospital," Fin told Elliot.
"Good," said Elliot, slightly relieved.
They finally reached the interrogation room where the corrections officer opened the door and led them inside. Through the two-way mirror sat Harris at a table in chains and cuffs. He wore a smug grin and the usual orange prison jumpsuit. If anything he seemed more satisfied than he had the last time Fin interrogated him. Something inside told Fin that Harris wasn't going to give anything up anytime soon.
"So how are we gon-," Fin stopped short.
Elliot had already entered the room and locked the door, with only himself and Harris inside. He then grabbed a chair and wedged it under the door.
"Dammit, Stabler!" Fin yelled, tapping on the glass. "I knew something like this would happen! Just don't do anything stupid!"
Inside the interrogation room, Elliot could hear Fin yelling, but pretended to ignore him.
"Sorry, Fin," Elliot muttered to himself. "But I have to do this."
Elliot circled the table, staring down Harris hard.
"Lowell Harris," Elliot said, sternly. "Long time, no see."
"Cut the bullshit," Harris glared at him. "What do you people want from me now?"
"So do you go by Harris now?" sneered Elliot, rolling up his sleeves. "Or can I call you Carl?"
"I see someone's been doing their homework," Harris snapped.
"Oh, I could write a novel with what I got on you," Elliot quipped. "You're brother, Alan, told us quite story. He told us about your cousin, Dennis. Or do you prefer to call him Ed Tucker?"
"Alan always was a pussy," Harris scoffed. "But you should know I'm nothing like my brother. You can't make me talk so easily."
"Wanna bet?" Elliot stood behind Harris' chair and spoke into his ear. "I will make you talk if it's the last thing I do."
"Is that a threat, detective?" Harris taunted.
For a moment, Elliot neither spoke nor flinched. He simply stared Harris down like lion hunting its prey.
"So where did you come up with a name like Lowell Harris?" questioned Elliot, regaining his cool. "Did you find it laying around somewhere? Or did you steal from someone?"
"I'm not telling you shit," Harris glared at him. "Especially since you insulted my manhood! And you can't prove anything!"
"Is that what this is all about?" Elliot yelled, his temper flared, and his face red with intense fury. "You had my family killed because I made fun of that limp noodle you call a penis?"
That comment made Harris lose his temper. He stood up to lash out, but Elliot pushed him back into his seat.
"You had your cousin rape my partner!" Elliot screamed into Harris' ear. "Why? Because she humiliated you at Sealview? Because she threw your ass in jail? WHY?"
"Rape?" Harris chuckled, turning to Elliot with a twisted grin. "From what I heard, that little whore enjoyed it. I heard she was moaning and squirming like crazy."
Elliot couldn't stand to hear Harris talk that way about Olivia. A fire raged inside of him and everything turned red. He kicked Harris' chair out from under him. Elliot picked him up off the floor. He was so enraged, he did not hear Fin yelling and beating against the door.
"I'm done playing games!" Elliot roared, putting Harris in a sleeper hold. "You worthless piece of shit! Where's Tucker? WHERE IS HE?"
Elliot squeezed harder, watching Harris struggle to stay conscious.
"Not so tough now," snapped Elliot, squeezing even harder. "Are you? You sick fuck! Tell me where Tucker is! Tell me where the fuck he is!"
Suddenly the door burst open. Fin pulled Elliot away from Harris, while the corrections officer grabbed Harris, who was catching his breath.
"What's so special about that bitch?" taunted Harris, realizing Elliot's weakness. "Is she that great in the sack? I heard you two fucked like a couple of jackrabbits."
Elliot pushed Fin away and went after Harris. He punched Harris in the face knocking him and the officer down. Elliot hit him again and again. Once again, Fin pulled Elliot off Harris. The corrections officer secured Harris' cuffs and chains, then led him away.
"We'll have to do this again sometime!" he teased Elliot, as walked down the hall, his face bruised and bloody.
Fin stood between Elliot and Harris, but Elliot didn't falter. He simply stood there, knuckles all bloody, glaring at Harris as he went back to his cell.
"What the hell was that?" Fin yelled.
"I'm sorry," Elliot apologized. "I never mean for it to get that far out of control. But did you see the way he reacted when asked him about his name? I bet if we find out more about their aliases, maybe we'll find Tucker's hiding place."
"Yea, I saw it," answered Fin. "But that's not gonna stop Cragen from tearing you a new one."
Location: SVU Squad Room.
"Stabler!" Cragen yelled, angrily. "My office! NOW!"
"Dad's mad," mumbled Munch under his breath.
"You think so?" Elliot said sarcastically, as he smacked Munch in the head.
Elliot followed Cragen into his office. Meanwhile, Munch and Fin set to work looking into Tucker's and Harris' aliases.
"I'll take Tucker's file," offered Fin.
"Fine by me," Munch said. "I'll take Harris' file.
At that very moment, Warner walked into the squad room. TARU technician, Ruben Morales walked in beside her, carrying his laptop.
"Are Cragen and Elliot around?" she asked. "I have the results of Olivia's rape kit. By the way, how's she doing?"
Morales spoke up. "And I have video footage from Olivia's motel room from the day of the rape."
"Olivia's still in a coma." responded Fin. "Nothing has changed."
"Elliot's in Cragen's office, getting his ass chewed out," added Munch
"Not anymore," said Fin, as he watched Elliot re-enter the squad room with Cragen following behind him.
"Warner, Morales," Cragen addressed each of them. "What have you got?"
Warner and Morales exchanged looks.
"Ladies first," Morales insisted.
"Thanks. Glad to see chivalry isn't dead," Melinda turned to the rest of the unit. "Spermicide was present, meaning your he used a condom. But I was still able to get DNA. The condom broke during the rape. I found a condom fragment and semen inside of Olivia. The DNA was a perfect match to Dennis Granger. A.K.A. Ed Tucker."
"That's great, doc," Cragen complimented. "That will go a long way in helping us put him away for good."
"That's not all I found," Warner added. "His DNA was a match to twelve other rape cases. Five of which, the statute of limitations has expired."
"That's eight more rapes we can nail him for," gasped Fin. "And that's including Liv's."
"Now you just have to find him," Cragen looked over at Munch and Fin, then over at Morales. "Your turn."
Morales opened his laptop. "The convenience store across the street from the motel had a camera with a view of the motel parking lot, including the Olivia's room." He clicked on the video feed. "Here's Tucker entering. Then five minutes later, Elliot leaves."
"Biggest mistake I ever made," Elliot muttered.
Morales continued. "No one enters or leaves until about fifteen minutes later."
The unit watched the video intently as a green sports car pulled into the motel parking lot. Alan exited the car with a bag in his hand and knocked on Olivia's door.
"Well, I'll be damned!" cried Elliot. "There's Alan at our crime scene."
"He arrived after the rape," stated Morales.
"How can you tell?" Cragen inquired.
"Keep watching," Morales instructed.
Morales zoomed in on the video. The door opened and Tucker stepped out, his shirt covered in blood. Alan pulled a clean shirt out of the bag and handed it to Tucker, who then grabbed the shirt and bag, ushering Alan inside. Morales fast forwarded the video ahead ten minutes, where they saw Alan leaving the room, stuffing the bloody shirt in his bag. He then got in his car and drove away.
"Fin was right," Munch said. "Tucker had Alan help him stage the scene to make it look like a break in."
Elliot wished he never saw that footage. He clenched his fists, feeling his blood begin to boil. He wanted to wrap his hands around Tucker's neck and squeeze every ounce of life out of his body. But he restrained himself and took a breath.
"So what do we do now?" Elliot asked Cragen.
Apparently, Elliot wasn't the only one upset by the video footage. Cragen and Morales looked as if they were going to be physically ill. Fin and Munch looked as angry as Elliot felt inside. And Warner was fighting back tears.
Cragen looked at his detectives in shock. "We now have enough evidence for a search warrant. Search his place from top to bottom. And keep looking into his and Carl's aliases. Also, look into the seven other rapes cases whose limitations hasn't expired. Look for anything that stands out."
Location: Hospital. Intensive Care Unit. One Week Later.
Elliot stepped out of the elevator and onto the third floor which housed the ICU. He made his way down the hall to the ICU. He walked past the nurses station and towards Olivia's room when something startled him. The uniformed officer outside Olivia's room held her door open as a nurse came out wheeling a machine down the hall.
No! Elliot prayed. Please, God! No!
His heart began to race. Why did he leave her again? Fearing the worst, he ran after the nurse.
"Excuse me," Elliot called after her, flashing his badge. "Detective Elliot Stabler, from Manhattan Special Victims Unit. What's going on? Why are you taking that out of her room? Did something happen to Olivia?"
"Detective, it's okay," the nurse assured him. "Calm down. Everything is fine."
"Then why...," Elliot started, but could find the words to continue.
"Olivia started breathing on her own," she informed him, then pointed to the machine. "I'm sorry if all this upset you. I didn't mean to give you that impression."
Oh, thank God! Elliot thought to himself. That was the best news he had heard in weeks.
"It's alright," he assured her, feeling relieved. "Has she shown any other signs of waking?"
She took a deep breath. "Yes, she has. But I don't want to get your hopes up, detective. You see, it's common for comatose patients to show signs of waking. But, anything can happen to cause them to go deeper into the coma."
"I understand completely," he told her. "Thank you very much."
He proceeded to Olivia's room. He entered and sat down at her bedside. He held her hand, hoping she would squeeze it again. He wanted to believe more than anything that she would awaken from her coma. He watched her breathe softly and quietly in her sleep. It was almost as if they were back in the motel room, holding her after they made love, watching her sleep. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. He noticed the scar on the left side of her face was beginning to heal. And her bruises were fading.
"Mmmm," Olivia moaned in her sleep.
"Liv?" Elliot spoke softly.
"Mmmm" she moaned louder.
Her body began to tremble and tears flowed down her face as she began to cry loudly. Elliot stood up and cradled her in his arms. He realized she must be dreaming of the rape.
"Shhhh," he whispered into her ear, gently stroking her hair. "It's okay, Liv. Elliot's here. Everything is gonna be alright."
He continued to hold her until her she stopped trembling. Her crying softened to a whimper, until it ceased altogether and Olivia was once again calm. Elliot sat back down beside her.
"Come back to me, Liv," he gently urged her. "I know you're in there, fighting for your life. Open your eyes, please. I miss you so much!"
"El...Elliot..." she moaned softly. "Ohhh...Elliot...El..."
"That's right," Elliot sat up straight. "It's me, Elliot!"
Olivia gently squeezed his hand.
"Yes, Liv, come on!" he begged quietly. "Wake up! Squeeze my hand! Anything! Just come back to me! Please! I need you!"
Will Olivia wake up? Stay tuned! More to come soon! Please feel free to read and review! Thanks so much!