Olivia sighed when she felt movement down by her feet as Grace rolled over for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour, struggling and failing to get comfortable and fall asleep. At this rate they were never going to get any sleep, and tomorrow was far too important for them to face the day dead tired. Then Olivia heard quiet sobbing coming from the foot of the bed and she immediately turned on the light and carefully approached her distraught little one, kneeling on the bed next to Grace's body. Grace was currently lying on her belly with her head facing away from Olivia, but the young submissive turned her head to look at her Mistress when she felt Olivia's gentle hand rubbing her panty-clad bottom. Olivia's heart shattered when she saw the frightened, broken look on Grace's sweet face.

"Come here, angel." Olivia welcomed Grace to snuggle into her arms, "There, there. I'm right here, my sweet baby, just cry it out."

"I don't want to talk to him!" Grace sobbed.

"I know, sweetheart. I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry this is something I can't protect you from. We are going to get through this together and then it will be over. You are so strong and I am so proud of you." Olivia soothed.

Olivia took Grace to the kitchen where she made a glass of warm milk with honey and instructed Grace to drink the entire glass. With that accomplished, Olivia took Grace back to the bedroom and the young submissive settled herself comfortably over her Mistress's lap, relaxing her bottom muscles without being told as Olivia gently pulled her panties down. Grace closed her eyes and relaxed over Olivia's lap as her beloved Mistress began to spank her to sleep. When Olivia deemed that Grace had been sufficiently spanked, she guided Grace back up and into her arms where she held and cuddled her for a while and then she guided Grace to settle back in her place at the foot of the bed, and Olivia tenderly rubbed Grace's spanked bottom until Grace's big blue eyes drooped and finally closed.

"Grace. Gracieeeeeee. Come on, my baby, let me see those pretty eyes." Olivia coaxed the next morning, gently rubbing Grace's panty-clad bottom to rouse the sleeping submissive.

"Not going. Staying home." Grace whined, snuggling down into her pillow, and Olivia decided to overlook the whining.

"I'm afraid this is one of those times when I can't give you a choice, little one. Come on, it's time to wake up, I already have a bath waiting for you. We don't know when you will be called to testify, so we have to be there every day until then, and then after you give your testimony I promise we don't have to go back. When the trial is over, ADA Carisi will call us and tell us the verdict over the phone, just like last time."

"Damn fucking trial." Grace mumbled, and she yelped upon being given one sharp spank to her panty-clad bottom.

"Little miss mischief, it is way too early in the morning for me to have to wash your mouth out with soap already. No one expects you to be happy about any of this, but you will mind your tongue or pay the consequences. Now get up, I won't tell you again." Olivia scolded.

Upon hearing the familiar nickname that usually preceded a spanking, Grace's big blue eyes shot open as she realized what she had just said. Olivia couldn't help but chuckle as Grace sprang out of bed and practically ran to the bathroom, reaching back to shield her bottom as she hurried past Olivia.

"That's what I thought." Olivia smirked and calmly walked into the bathroom to give Grace her bath.

It was pouring down rain and thunder rolled overhead as Olivia pulled the car around in front of the courthouse, and the brunette detective rolled her eyes upon seeing the swarm of reporters hanging out in front of the courthouse. Carisi pushed his way through the crowd and walked with Olivia and Grace with an umbrella as Olivia guided Grace through the crowd with her arms around her. Grace did as she had been told to do and walked quickly without making eye contact with any of the reporters.

"Grace, why are you trying to destroy the doctor's reputation?" a reporter stuck a microphone in Grace's face.

"Grace, my sources claim that Detective Benson walked in on you and the doctor having consensual sex. What do you have to say?" another reporter asked.

"My client has no comment." Carisi did his best to block Grace from the microphones being shoved in her direction.

"Why do I have to sit in a holding room? During Melissa's trial, I was allowed to sit in the gallery with you until it was my turn." Grace asked fearfully as she was led down a series of hallways with Olivia's arms still wrapped around her protectively.

"Melissa's trial wasn't anywhere near as high profile as this one is, sweetie. There's been a lot of media coverage, and we can't risk having anything or anyone taint your testimony, so the judge has ordered that all witnesses are to be kept in holding rooms to avoid the possibility of any of you accidentally crossing paths before your testimony." Olivia explained.

"But I want you to hold me." Grace's lower lip trembled.

"I know, baby, and I promise as soon as we get home I'll hold you for the rest of the day if that's what you want, but I'm afraid I can't right now. You have to be my brave girl and go into the holding room by yourself. Whether you testify today or in a couple of days, I will be sitting right there in the gallery when you come in to give your testimony, and after you give your testimony you will be allowed to come straight to me and I will take you home." Olivia promised. Outside the door of the holding room, Olivia tenderly kissed Grace's forehead and Grace reluctantly turned and walked into the room, being escorted by an officer.

"There's coffee over there if you want some, and there are a few magazines on the table over there. None of them are news magazines, so your testimony won't be tainted by anything you see in them. If you get called to testify today, I will be back to bring you to the courtroom. If not, then I will be back with your Mistress at the end of the day so you can go home." the officer explained.

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Grace said politely. The officer left and closed the door behind him, leaving Grace alone in the room. Grace sighed as she sat down and reached for a magazine. As she flipped through the magazine, she reached up and gently caressed the heart-shaped lock at her throat.

Olivia made her way into the courtroom and found a place to sit, not at all surprised by how packed the courtroom was. She nodded at her detectives, who had all showed up to offer their support to their Captain's submissive. Don and Eileen had also shown up to offer their support, along with Emily and Victoria, and there was an interpreter at the front of the room so that Emily would understand everything that was being said. Olivia immediately spotted Dr. Lindstrom sitting at his table in the front of the room, and she did her best not to glare at the man. He didn't even notice her as he shuffled through a stack of papers and looked something up in a book. Since he was representing himself, he was sitting at his table alone and he had been allowed to change from his orange jumpsuit into a regular suit and tie. At the other table in the front of the room, Carisi was also flipping through a book doing last minute preparations. To Olivia it seemed like forever, but it was only a few minutes before a door opened and Liz Donnelly walked into the room.

"All rise! The honorable judge Elizabeth Donnelly presiding!" the bailiff called out.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Dr. Lindstrom, seeing as how you are representing yourself in these proceedings, it is my duty to warn you that you are under no circumstances to approach the witness stand too closely and you are expected to abide by the same rules and standard of behavior that I would expect of any lawyer in my courtroom. If I see any badgering or intimidating of a witness, you will be held in contempt." Liz said in her typical stern fashion.

"Of course, Your Honor." Dr. Lindstrom agreed.

"Very well, then. According to my notes, it has been agreed between the two of you that Mr. Carisi will be the first to give his opening statement. Mr. Carisi, you may proceed."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Carisi stood up and addressed the jury, "while I was in law school, one of the most famous trials that we studied was the trial of Ted Bundy. Much like Mr. Bundy, Dr. Lindstrom has chosen to represent himself in these proceedings today. Now, you may ask yourself, why would such a well known therapist…"

Carisi spoke for a few short minutes, getting straight to the point, and as Olivia listened to him speak she also kept an eye on the jury. The jury consisted of six men and six women, some of them wearing collars around their necks and others not, some of them appeared to be around Grace's age and others seemed to be closer to Olivia's age, and Olivia was satisfied that the jury appeared to be divided fairly. When Carisi sat down, Dr. Lindstrom stood up to give his opening statement.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am not a lawyer, I am a therapist and have been for over twenty years. I intend to prove today that I have been falsely accused of rape. You just heard Mr. Carisi compare me to…"

After both men had been given the opportunity to make their opening statements, Carisi was given the opportunity to call his first witness.

"The prosecution calls Mariana Perez to the stand." Carisi said. A door opened and the thirty-year-old Mariana Perez was escorted into the courtroom and made her way up to the witness stand. She placed her right hand on a Bible and raised her left hand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" the bailiff recited his line.

"I do." Mariana replied and then she sat down, smoothing her skirt behind her as she did so.

"Ms. Perez, can you please tell us how you know the defendant?" Carisi asked.

"He was my therapist from about May of 2010 to August of 2010." Mariana replied.

"And what was your experience with him like initially?"

"Initially, it was very good. He listened to me talk about some of my problems and gave me a lot of good advice."

"But then that changed one day?"

"Yes. I came in one day for my session at the beginning of August 2010, and when I walked in I didn't see him lock the door behind me. While I was in the middle of talking about something, he interrupted me and told me how beautiful I am. He came to sit down next to me and he put his hand on my leg. I told him to stop and he got angry and pushed me down on the couch. He told me that I was a bad girl, that he was my therapist and he had the power to recommend that I be sent to Block C if I didn't let him do what he wanted."

"And then what happened?" Carisi asked.

"I tried to fight him off of me, but he was too strong, so I let him do what he wanted. When he was finished I ran out, and I refused to go back. I told my parents what happened to me, but they didn't believe me. The only one who believed me was my Mistress. We tried to press charges, but the SVU in the Bronx refused to press charges."

Carisi continued his questioning until he was finished, and then he sat down and Dr. Lindstrom stood up.

"Mariana- excuse me, Ms. Perez, isn't it true that what actually happened between us stemmed from the fact that you came into my office very upset, and I tried to comfort you and accidentally triggered a memory from the molestation you experienced as a child?" Dr. Lindstrom asked.

"I was molested as a child, yes. But you raped me back in 2010." Mariana stated strongly.

"Did you have a rape kit done?" Dr. Lindstrom inquired.

"Yes. But as I said, the Bronx SVU refused to press charges against you. I don't know what happened to my kit."

Olivia struggled to refrain from rolling her eyes. This was not the first time she had heard of such incompetency coming out of the Bronx SVU. The trial continued in the same fashion, going through several witnesses. Olivia sighed when she realized that the trial had been going for quite a while and it was completely obvious that Grace was not going to be called to testify today, which meant that they would have to come back again tomorrow.

Back in the holding room, Grace had started to cry. She had been alone for hours, indicating that she was not going to be called to testify today, and right at this moment she wanted nothing more than to be held in her Mistress's arms, and on top of everything else, she was hungry and wasn't sure if she was allowed to leave the holding room to find a vending machine. The young brunette looked up when suddenly the door opened and an officer escorted Olivia into the room. Grace jumped up from the couch and ran into Olivia's arms, bursting into tears when she felt Olivia's strong arms wrap around her protectively.

"Come on, baby, let's go home and you can have a cuddle on my lap." Olivia said kindly.