I hope I got the timeline correct. Trigger warning regarding William Lewis.
Olivia was standing at the window, looking out to the Manhattan skyline. Elliot sat nervously staring at her. There had been a long, uncomfortable silence, and he was frantically deciding if they should take another break. "Liv? Do you wanna take a break? I don't want you to feel you have to tell me anything.
"I thought you just chose not to come." Elliot noticed a tear traveling ever so slowly down Olivia's cheek. "I just need to get this out. So many things might become clearer for you…and me…once you know." She sucked in a deep, cleansing breath, and then slowly exhaled.
"Nick and I did the initial interrogation so we could see what we were dealing with. There was something really off about him. We couldn't run Lewis' fingerprints because he had burned them off his hands." Elliot's eyes widened, and he swallowed a large lump down his throat. "Jesus Liv."
Olivia turned towards him, and exhaled. "That was just the beginning." She walked to the coffee table, and sat staring directly at Elliot. "I want you to understand that this profoundly changed my life. Changed me as a person." Elliot nodded slowly, and briefly touched her hands, but quickly retreated and sat back to give Olivia his full attention. His stomach began to tighten, feeling the ominous dark energy that now was radiating off of Olivia. Whatever this story was, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear.
Olivia continued in a monotonous tone, struggling to not let herself get too emotional. "During the interrogation, we used all of our normal tricks to try and trip Lewis up. But he was good. He manipulated everything. He became pretty agitated with me because I was coming at him with everything I had." Elliot thought to himself, That's my girl, while not letting a smile come to his face. "We sent him to arraignment, and he was ROR'd. While he was out, he held hostage, raped, and tortured the elderly woman who was the only witness to the initial indecency complaint. For 18 hours Elliot. For 18 hours." A nauseous feeling began filling Elliot's body.
"While we looked for him, the elderly woman had a heart attack and died from the stress of her ordeal." Olivia closed her eyes, and swallowed her emotions that were rising to the surface while she thought of Alice Parker. "Because of the only witness being dead, and a lab technicality with the DNA, a mistrial was declared. Lewis was then released on bail." Elliot noticed tears beginning to well up in Olivia's eyes. He restrained himself from taking her into his arms, and protecting her from all these memories.
"We were all hit pretty hard with the mistrial. Cragen sent everyone home early, and specifically sent me home for two days. Mandatory." Olivia took another deep breath, and bent forward, burying her face in her hands. Elliot could barely hear what she said next because her whispered tone was now muffled with her hands. "When I got home, Lewis was in my apartment."
Reactively, Elliot quickly stood up, and brought his hands to the back of his head while inhaling and exhaling a deep breath. The nauseous feeling was now in his throat, and his brain was spinning in his head. No…no…no...no…no! Olivia sat up straight, "Elliot calm down. Sit down. Please." It took every ounce of strength he had to look at Olivia, and when his eyes fell upon her, she was still looking directly where he was sitting on the now empty couch. "Okay...okay." Elliot worked to temper his emotions, and restrain from letting his mind conjure up all of the worst scenarios of what was coming next. He slowly returned to the couch, and raised his gaze to meet Olivia's beautiful chocolate eyes…they were now filled with so much sadness and emotion. He realized he needed to hear what was coming next, but more importantly, he needed to support Olivia as she told him everything.
"Lewis held me hostage in my apartment for almost two days. He kept me tied to a chair with duct tape over my mouth. Force fed me drugs and alcohol. He beat me with my gun." Elliot went numb. "He branded me. He burned me. With burning house keys, coat hangers, and lit cigarettes." Tears pricked Olivia's eyes, and she forced closed them to prevent any tears escaping. When she opened them again, she locked her eyes with Elliot's. "This is when I missed you most El. I knew if you had been here, you never would have let two days go by without checking on me. No one else checked on me." Olivia snickered defeatedly. "No one else waited for me to blink my lights." This shattered Elliot's heart, and he fought his urge to vomit. Tears began falling down his cheeks, but he knew he had to keep listening. This was his punishment for failing Olivia. Failing her in every way.
Olivia broke her gaze, and continued on. "In the middle of the night, Lewis drugged me up with sleeping pills, wrapped me in my bed sheets, and drug me out the fire escape. He put me in the trunk of a car he had stolen." Olivia again inhaled a deep breath, and slowly exhaled before continuing on. "That day, Lewis picked up his lawyer and we went to her parents' house on Long Island, where they had dinner. She had no idea I was in the trunk." Olivia fought back tears reliving the crippling fear of being locked in that trunk. "After dinner, his lawyer took the train back to Manhattan, and we returned to her parents' house. He killed her father. Raped and tortured her mother. He forced me to watch, and if I closed my eyes, he burned her with a cigarette." Olivia stood up and moved around the living room…working off nervous energy. She looked at Elliot, and could tell this was tearing him apart. "Hey El…do you want to take a break? I could handle some water right now."
Elliot nodded, and slowly stood up and went to the kitchen to get them a drink. Olivia followed and took a seat at the island. She kept taking deep breaths trying to keep herself centered. Reliving all of this was taking an emotional toll, but she wanted Elliot to know, and understand. what happened to her. Handing her a glass, Elliot sat across from her, and Olivia focused on him. "Shall we continue?" Elliot nodded, and began to brace himself for what was coming next.
"Lewis handcuffed me to the door of the back seat, kept duct tape on my mouth, and kept a tarp on top of me. He stopped and purchased various torture devices, including a blow torch." Deep rooted rage began to boil up in Elliot. He struggled to keep himself focused on Olivia. "We were stopped by a young police officer, and after a few moments of questioning, Lewis shot and killed him. Eventually, he found a beach house where no one had been in a while. He handcuffed me to the bedframe and continued to beat, assault...and torture me." Elliot reached and placed his hand on her arm. "Liv. I'm so sorry." Olivia waved him off, and continued. "Eventually, when he was not in the room, I was able to break off the metal rod on the bed, and I attacked him and subdued him. I was then able to handcuff him and restrain him." Despite the horrific details he was absorbing, Elliot couldn't help but have a spark of pride of hearing how she took him down. That's my girl.
"Elliot…during all of this, Lewis mentally tortured me. Taunted me like he knew every raw nerve." Elliot closed his eyes and shook his head…knowing what all her triggers were. "He didn't know who you were, but he taunted me about you. Or the idea of you. He could sense I was yearning for you to come and save me." Tears began falling from Elliot's eyes. "What happened next, I can honestly say, was one of the most transformative moments of my life." Elliot hung on her every word. "Once I had him restrained, I didn't immediately call for backup. I wanted a moment to gather my thoughts and emotions. I was in so much physical pain from a broken wrist and cracked ribs, but I was also in so much emotional pain. Lewis woke up and continued to taunt me. I let rage get the best of me, and while he was still restrained, I beat him with the metal rod. El…I wanted to kill him, and I nearly did." Elliot's breathing became elevated, but he kept himself from reaching out to Olivia again.
"I thought he was dead when I called for backup. But he wasn't. When I gave my statement to IAB, I lied. Outright lied. I said that he had somehow stood up and lunged at me, and because of that, I had to beat him to subdue him." Olivia's voice became shaky, and Elliot's heart shattered into a million pieces. He knew better than anyone how much pride Olivia took in her honesty and integrity. "I had to stick with that story through the trial. El…I lied under oath. Me. I lied on the stand." Olivia diverted her eyes, and took a drink of water. After releasing another shaky breath, she continued.
"With everything he did, he ultimately never raped me." Elliot exhaled a ragged breath he didn't know he was holding. "When the DA was trying to make a deal, the only thing Lewis would agree to was pleading guilty to rape." Olivia bit on her lower lip and shook her head. "I refused to let him say publicly that he raped me when he didn't have the balls to actually do it. Ultimately, he was a coward when it came to me." Again, Elliot sensed a spark of pride seeing her being so defiant against this bastard. He knew she didn't think so, but Lewis didn't completely break her.
Olivia took time going over all the arduous details of the trial, and Elliot rode a roller coaster of emotions taking in all the information. "Eventually, he was found guilty of kidnapping and assault of a police officer, and was sent to Rikers."
Elliot sat stunned listening to Olivia recount the horrors of her four days with William Lewis and the subsequent trial. He could tell Olivia needed a break. Her eyes were heavy with horrific memories. "Liv…I'm so, so, sorry. I failed you in every way possible." He stood up and wrapped his body around her, as Olivia sobbed into his chest. "I'm going to do whatever I can to make this up to you. To build your trust in me again. I don't deserve it, but I will wait forever for you to forgive me…or at least, tolerate me." Regulating her breath, Olivia slowly pulled herself from Elliot's grasp. "El…can we take a break? There is still more I need to tell you, but I need a little time." Elliot helped Olivia stand, and they made their way to the couch. Elliot offered comfort in his arms, and Olivia rested her head on his chest…grasping at his shirt. Elliot wrapped his arms around her, and gently caressed her arms and back to help ease her tension.
Olivia closed her eyes and began building her courage to continue. Elliot didn't think it could get any worse. Little did he know.