Author's note: I just want to say thank you for the great reviews, as always. This story is one of my favorites of the ones I have written over the years, and I promise that it is not going anywhere. I already have the next arc planned out in my mind; the next several chapters are somewhat mapped out. As a quick note, this chapter was originally planned to be from Casey's point of view, but, logistically, it worked better from Olivia's. Thank you for reading. I look forward to knowing what you all think.
Olivia took a deep breath, listening to Casey's comments. It was clear that the younger woman had dissociated, and that the full magnitude of what had happened to her hadn't yet hit or. Or else, she was trying to be brave, and act like she was okay. But Olivia knew her too well to know that that wasn't true. She could see it in the way the redhead bundled herself up beneath the blankets, and in the simple fact that she was already ready for bed.
Olivia left the bedroom to retrieve some pain medication and some water. Returning to Casey's side, she encouraged the younger woman to drink the water and swallow the pills, despite her protestations to the contrary. Casey's word choice from just moments ago echoed in her mind. She knew it was anything but a mere slip of the tongue. As much as she couldn't bear the thought of what had happened because she didn't answer her phone, Olivia sat beside Casey again, and sighed. "Casey, honey, what happened?" she asked gently. "You can tell me. You can tell me everything."
Casey shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she murmured. Her voice cracked on the last word.
"Yes it does," Olivia assured her. "I'm here for you. You can trust me. No matter how bad it is...nothing is too bad. Nothing is going to make me think less of you. Please, Casey. Please tell me."
Casey remained silent for several moments, and Olivia sat up, worried the attorney would scream at her, kick her out, or some combination of the two. Eventually, however, the attorney turned to face her again, her emerald gaze flooded with tears. "I just wanted him to go away," she reiterated. "I couldn't bear the thought of being used in some filthy alley...like a p-prostitute."
"I heard the recording," Olivia answered quietly, folding her hands in her lap. "So you let him get in your car, and you drove home. Then what happened?"
Casey breathed out. "He was kind, at first. Or, as kind as someone can be when they are giving you the choice of where they are going to rape you. In that moment, as I unlocked the door, I almost convinced myself that it wouldn't be so bad, after all. Of all the things we've seen over the years, I kept thinking, there are worse people out there. I knew if I gave him what he wanted, he would leave. He promised that, after all."
Olivia fought back her own tears. It broke her heart to think that she was making out with a stranger while this was all happening to the one woman she could ever see herself with for the rest of her life. "So you let him in," she answered. "Then what?"
"I offered him something to drink, but he told me to stop being so transparent." Casey's voice was shaking, and Olivia could feel her hand beside her own. It was ice cold. The attorney took a deep breath, as if to calm herself, and then continued. "He said he wasn't going to be stupid enough to leave his DNA on a bottle of beer. He said his brother might have fallen for that crap, but he wasn't going to."
"His brother?" Olivia questioned. "What do you think he meant by that?"
Casey ignored her, continuing on. Olivia sensed that she needed to continue before she completely lost it. "I thought it was time, then. So I sat on the couch and I waited for him to say it was time, or whatever he was going to say." She bit her lip in the dim light of the early evening. "I didn't expect him to sit beside me, kiss me, and tell me he couldn't start until his friend arrived."
Olivia strangled the gasp that rose in her throat. So it hadn't been a mistake when Casey mentioned the word "they." "He brought someone else over?" the brunette prodded gently. "How many someones?"
"Just one," Casey answered quietly. She turned away, sliding even further beneath the blankets. By now, she was covered all the way up to her neck. "It only took about ten minutes for his friend to come," she mumbled. Her voice wavered. "They didn't waste any time. His friend locked the door and made sure to bolt the chain. They undressed themselves, then me."
"Did either of them have a weapon?" Olivia asked.
"Don't you think I would have told you if they did?" Casey snapped. "I do this for a living too, Sergeant." An awkward pause passed between them, and Casey sighed softly. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I..I don't know what came over me. No...they didn't have a weapon or anything like it. The friend had some handcuffs with him, and he cuffed me to the bed. Then they..." She curled into a ball, dissolving into tears.
Olivia held the younger woman as she shook, and Casey rolled over, burying her head into Olivia's chest and sobbing until well after the sun finally sank below the horizon. After a while, she took a few heaving breaths and laid still upon the bed. Olivia could feel the redhead's breathing slowly even out, and then all was quiet again. "We can stop if you need to," Olivia assured her, holding her hand gently.
Casey shook her head. "No. I want to continue. I can manage. I've been through worse things." She laughed sarcastically. "Nothing they did could compare to the bad nights with Charlie. It was practice, I guess."
"Don't say that," Olivia admonished. She continued to stroke Casey's hair tenderly. "What happened next?" she questioned.
"They stood there talking to each other. I could hear them discussing how beautiful I was, and how it made it much easier to punish me for what I did to some other person they knew." Casey sighed. "I haven't done anything to anyone, so I assumed they were just drunk. They seemed to go on talking aimlessly for hours, but I guess it was only a few minutes, according to the clock beside my bed. Finally, just when I was starting to think nothing would happen, they...they climbed onto the bed and started to take turns."
Olivia winced, closing her eyes for a moment. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all her fault. She doubted she would ever forgive herself. "How did they take turns, honey?" she asked quietly.
"Everywhere," Casey mumbled tearfully, her voice breaking all over again. "I always thought men were supposed to have a refractory period or something like it, but they didn't seem to have one at all. They were able to continue three times each..without a single break in between." She shifted uncomfortably, wrenching free of Olivia's embrace and pulling the comforter over herself again. Olivia knew she just wanted to hide and escape all of this. "They started with my mouth," the attorney explained softly. "Like it was some sort of foreplay for them. Then, one of them forced himself into my mouth, and the other forced my legs open. When they were finished, they switched and repeated the process. I thought they would continue all night, but they suddenly announced that they were finished. One of them murmured that vengeance was sweet, and thanked me for being such a good participant. And then..."
Casey took a deep breath. "They left," she concluded quietly. She curled into a ball again, and broke down crying once more. Olivia held her comfortingly, assuring her that everything was okay, and that she would remain by her side no matter what. Casey's cries were heart wrenching, truly devastating. Olivia had never heard her cry like that before, and all she could do was hold her and comfort her, wishing with everything that she had that she could fix her. By the time Casey calmed down enough to speak, another hour had passed, and the attorney fell lifeless into Olivia's arms, her body limp, her breathing coming out in uneven gasps. "That's all," Casey murmured.
Olivia was too shocked to say anything at first. There was so much that didn't make sense. They didn't want beer, for fear of leaving DNA, but they had willingly ejaculated in Casey's mouth and inside of her. That, in itself, didn't make any sense at all. The words brother and the fact that they had access to real handcuffs was also disconcerting. And just hearing what they had done to Casey made Olivia want to track the bastards down and slaughter them with her bare hands. All of her training, her years on the force, told her otherwise, but it was one thing to hear these things from a stranger, and quite another to hear it from the woman she loved. "How long ago did they leave?" she asked, finally finding a logical sentence.
"Just before you got here," Casey answered quietly.
"You changed your clothes, but please tell me you didn't shower."
Casey sighed. "I was going to, but then you showed up," she replied. "And I didn't exactly change my clothes. They left me naked, so the appropriate sentiment would be that I put some clothes on."
"You're right," Olivia conceded. She normally found Casey's sarcasm endearing, but under these circumstances, it was heartbreaking. Casey was under the covers, but Olivia surreptitiously inspected her wrists for restraint marks. Somehow, there were none. But then, she hadn't struggled, so she hadn't really expected to see any.
Casey hadn't said they had hit her, so she doubted there would be any bruises or cuts, either. But Olivia knew she had to convince the younger woman to press charges. It would be incredibly hard for her to be on the other side of the bench, but Olivia wasn't going to take no for an answer. Those bastards were going to pay, if it was the last thing she did. "Casey." Olivia exhaled sharply. "I'm going to take you to the hospital. You know what you need to do."
"Oh, yeah, highlight of my night," Casey mumbled, folding her arms across her chest. "Instead of discussing the details of a rape kit, I get to go have one done. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm just going to take some medicine and go to bed."
"That's not what you need right now," Olivia answered. "Do I have to give you the speech I give to all victims? I swear, Casey, I will if you make me." When Casey didn't answer, Olivia growled softly at her stubbornness. "You need to have it done, honey. That way we have evidence when we find these bastards. If you don't.."
"Would you shut up?" Casey snapped. She rolled her eyes in the darkness. "Fine, I'll get one done, but only to shut you the hell up. I'm not in the mood to hear it. And so help me, if you launch into the merits of pressing charges, I'm not talking to you." She got out of bed, grabbed some clothes from her closet, and locked herself in the bathroom.
Olivia could hear the water from the bathroom sink running. She sighed, leaning back against the pillows. This truly was her fault, and nothing she could do or say would make up for that. Casey had hinted at the beginning of the conversation that she knew Olivia had been with someone else, but Olivia doubted it had sunk in. If she told her, Casey would hate her, and would want nothing to do with her. But it was also just as wrong to hide it from her. Olivia sighed deeply, massaging her temple. She would have to tell her, when the time was right.
Meanwhile, the thoughts of everything Casey had just told her rushed through her mind. Her mind was already in full investigation mode. Just then, her phone beeped twice, alerting her that she had a couple of new messages. The first was from Amanda, telling her that she would be a little late. Olivia responded instantly, telling her which hospital she would be at, and instructing her to go back to the precinct and look into any of Casey's recent cases.
The other text was from the mystery girl from the bar. "I can't believe you just abandoned me like that. Most people would jump at the chance to be with a younger woman, a perfectly good piece of tail. I guess you're just too old to get it up anymore."
Olivia deleted the text, at first annoyed at the comment. But then she tossed her phone onto the nightstand, sighing at the irony of it all. It broke her heart to think that she almost slept with this girl, a complete stranger, while Casey, the only woman she truly wanted, was being tortured by two men. Olivia didn't have much time to contemplate her guilt, though, because Casey opened the bathroom door suddenly. "Let's get this over with," she murmured.
Olivia grabbed her keys and followed the attorney out of the apartment. She was relieved that Casey wasn't fighting her on this, but soon realized exactly what that meant. Casey was broken down, defeated, even. The fact that she wasn't arguing illuminated just how devastated she really was.