SVU: Let me remodel your thinking

Disclaimers: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its characters-Elliot Stabler, Olivia Benson, Donald Cragen, Odafin ‘Fin’ Tutuola, John Munch, M.E Warner, George Huang and Alexandra Cabot- belong to Wolf Films, Universal Network, and NBC Studios. No copyright infringements whatsoever are intended. I own the original characters and the story. And no, I am not making any money off of this, I am just having some fun.

-“Hey, guys listen to this”, said Liv and motioned for the men to come closer. “Carter was a former full time racer with Farlan. She and Annie joined the moment they got out of college. Apparently up until that point they were just training to make the cut, but once they were free they went in on it full time. Chris Farlan is the owner of the club. “

-“I say we pay him a visit”, Elliot snickered.

-“I’ll dig into Marquise’s past”, Munch commented.

-“Yeah, an’ I’ll see what I can find out bout our sweet partner”, mumbled Fin.


The humming of the engines crew louder and louder as the motorcycles zoomed past them at unearthly speeds. Liv and Elliot looked at each other and shuddered. They put their life on the line daily, but none of them could imagine doing such a thing for a living, or pleasure. Racing was not settling to well with them. Elliot headed towards a small booth in the pit stop area. He saw men rushing back and forth between motorcycles, checking computers, communicating times and statistics in words that seemed to come from another language. Liv followed close by and kept her eyes open. No one even noticed them. They were caught up in their work, they were addicted to it. Her hand reached out towards on of the guys behind a computer and waved the badge in front of him. That caused the younger guy to drop his headphones off of his head and pay attention.

-“We’re looking for Chris Farlan”, said Liv.

-“He’s in the recording room, monitoring the motorcycles out on the track. Tall, long haired guy, can’t miss him”, said the man and returned to his work.

She nodded and motioned for Elliot to follow her. He did so. His eyes roamed over each person that crossed his path. Everyone was a suspect, including Carter. This time he could not afford to let anything slip between the cracks. One strong hand pushed open the door to the recording room and he walked in. Quickly Olivia entered and closed the door thus causing the noise from the outside to die. The tall well built man looked up at them and rolled his eyes. He immediately stood and seemed angry.

-“I thought I told you damn people that I am not giving any interviews. Who the hell let you in here?

-“SVU”, Elliot stated and showed him the badge. ”I’m detective Stabler and this is detective Benson”, continued the man and motioned towards Liv. “Chris Farlan?”

-“Oh.. sorry bout that detectives. Ever since this tragedy I keep being stalked by reporters. Fucking sharks.”, he said and sighed. “Please sit down”, murmured the man and showed them two chairs “What can I do for ya detectives?”

Both him and Liv took a seat. She pulled open her coat and sneaked out a little pad and a pen. Sure Benson was not one to be very keen on taking notes, but the situation called for it. Her partner’s interest in this case almost demanded it. This struck close to home.

-“We are investigating the murder of Annie Marquise and Vanessa Carter”, started Elliot.

Liv seemed surprised when he stated that Carter was dead as well but she knew that an explanation was going to be provided the moment they were alone. Farlan’s expression changed immediately. He appeared to be struck by lightning.

-“Carter’s dead too?”, he barely whispered.

-“I am afraid so. We are sorry for your loss”, continued Elliot.

-“Yeah.. shame. She was one of yours too though. A cop.. damn…”

-“Yes, but with a different squad”, Liv quickly said and nodded at a lightly puzzled Elliot. “When was the last time you saw them?”

-“Hell, Nessa was like clockwork. Each morning at 6 am she’d tear down the track here and then deplete my coffee reserve for the morning. She always stays here till 7:30 then takes off to get changed and go to work. She was here yesterday. When I didn’t see her today I thought that she might need to sleep off her birthday, though it never happened before.”

-“What about Annie?”, asked Elliot.

-“She comes in at 6:30. Courtesy between those two. They gave each other 30 minutes of solo track laps. Nessa came in at 6 and left at 7:30, Annie showed up at 6:30 and took off at 8.”

-“Was there ever any animosity between the two?”, Elliot wondered.

-“Animosity? Those two were like sisters. Annie was Nessa’s prodigy. The woman was not as talented as Carter, but she worked hard to make up for that. Everyone knew that they were inseparable. Only a team that could afford both could get them. They wouldn’t split up. For Christ’s sake, Annie was Carter’s best friend.”

-“Did you notice anything strange the days before? Any unusual behavior in any of them?”, Liv continued.

-“Nah… The only thing strange was this morning. 7 rolls in an’ neither of them are on the track. I thought that something was wrong. Nessa would never miss practice.. not at this time. I had Fox, one of our technicians call her and Annie. Neither of them picked up. When I heard that I told him to go check on them. He called an hour later hysterically blabbering how he was at the police station. So I was right.. Nessa didn’t miss practice…she didn’t let us down”

-“Why’s that?”, prodded Elliot.

-“You don’t follow motorcycle races now do ya?”, asked the man.

-“No , I’m sorry but it’s not for me”

-“Eh it’s an acquired taste. Any way, this next race at Suzuka is one of the biggest. If we pull a win on this one then our team gets the championship even if we lose all other races. Annie already holds the title. Well she used too because now that she’s dead, god rest her soul, the title goes to Fred Alman.” The man sighed “That son of a bitch finally got his wish. Now our team will lose the title and the trophy.. and 500.000$”

-“Excuse me if I’m wrong but, Carter was not a part of your team. Besides you seem to have plenty of good riders out there. Why is this so important ?”, Olivia wondered.

-“She’s on our team . I chose who races and when. No one raced Suzuka except Nessa. No one dared. Annie always had her back in this race. All my other racers are great, but not good enough to take on Alman on that track”

-“Why didn’t anyone dare race except Annie and Carter?”, inquired Elliot quite puzzled.

-“Oh man… “, sighed Farlan and then rubbed his hands over his face “ 6 years ago at the Suzuka, Nessa and her husband were running for the team. Annie was our back up racer. Joey, her husband, pulled back and let her take the lead so he could keep Alman off her ass. He was dangerous on that track, desperate for the title. Nessa went on and won the race but when she got to the pit stop she found out her husband was dead.

-“An accident?”, asked Liv

-“Yeah right…It was an accident alright , an accident that the federation still allows Fred to ride. Alman closed in on a turn and got to close to Joey’s bike, he had to break and lost the back of the motorcycle. Went straight for the wall and died on impact. Alman finished second. Ever since this is a mourning for the team and no one races except her.”

There was silence in the room. Elliot stared at the floor struck by the reality. He looked over at Olivia who sighed. How could Nessa still race after all that, how could she hold on so strong. Maybe that is why she was afraid, maybe that was the reason why she kept her distance even though her heart told her to do otherwise.

-“Thank you for your time. We’ll call you if we need any more information”, said Liv and handed him a business card.

-“Any time. Just get the man who killed my racers detectives. Send my condolences to the family and her boyfriend.”

-“Boy friend?”, Elliot turned and looked at Farlan a little puzzled.

-“She had this guy in her squad. They were not together but from what I gather they were kinda teasing each other. She seemed to care for him. Ahh.. Vanessa always said he was dreamy, tall, blue eyes, had a couple of tattoos.. her kind of man. Well.. I have to get back to work and try to save what ever is left of this team”

-“Thank you for your help. We’ll keep in touch”, Elliot said and shook the man’s hand.

They walked back to the car. Liv kept eyeing him. He now seemed more happy and relaxed. She chuckled lightly and came closer to her partner.

-“Hey tall and dreamy, care to tell me why we told the man that Carter’s dead?”

-“Because, my sarcastic partner, if some one was on to kill them they will not stop until they are dead. Safest place for them is the grave”

-“You mean for Carter”

-“Yeah.”. He paused for a second and eyed Olivia “I’m tall and dreamy?”

-“Don’t flatter yourself. Let’s get something to eat and then pay mister Alman a visit”


Her eyes were heavy, her ears were ringing and her head hurt as if she came through a 3 ft thick brick wall without a helmet. Vanessa moaned in pain as her body shifted under the covers. She knew that pain all to well. Fractured ribs, broken arm and foot and an incredible pressure in the back of her head. Her thighs were burning, her insides felt as if they were on fire. Incoherent mumbles escaped her lips. The woman wanted to get her partners down there, wanted to find out what had happened to Annie. Her left hand clung to the buzzer and pressed it repeatedly. The nurse rushed in followed by the doctor. They looked over the machines she was hooked up to and checked the IV.

-“Hey, welcome back among us “, said the young doctor and tapped her hand.

-“Call Sta…bler”, she murmured and gripped the doctor’s hand “N..ow..”

-“Right away. Just rest. I’ll go call him right now”

She sighed and closed her eyes still under the effect of her medication. Now the woman felt more comfortable. Elliot was going to be there, he was going to answer her questions and make everything better.


-“Stabler, Benson, go to the hospital and arrest Nessa. She’s awake”, Cragen said.

-“Do we really need to do that? Hasn’t she been through enough?”, Elliot asked.

-“You either do it or I will have some on else arrest her. I don’t like it either. Let her know she is under arrest but allow her to remain in the hospital for as long as it is needed. “, Cragen sighed and continued “ The law makes no exception, not even for a fine cop. I’m sorry”. With those words the man entered his office and closed the door.

Fin walked up to them and looked from Liv to Elliot. He seemed still upset and bothered by all this.

-“Ya do it or I will…we don need that kinda crap here”

-“I said I’ll do it”, Elliot snapped and grabbed his coat.

Liv just stood there and glanced at Fin. She shook her head and then decided to follow Elliot. By the time she reached the parking lot he was gone. With a sigh the woman returned to the office to look over the new information Fin had pulled out for them. Apparently Carter raced and won every race at Suzuka for the past 6 years. Before that, Joey Carter, her husband, and her, shared the podium. Always behind them was Fred Alman. All the records showed how she, Joey and Alman battled for races through out their carrier. Maybe he got tired of being second best, maybe he wanted the Carter dynasty out of the way.
Annie’s phone list showed several calls from a certain Jack Dem, another racer for Farlan’s team. Liv looked over his file. He was clean except for a few speeding tickets and a night in jail after breaking the speed limit a little to much. Her hand rose and she motioned for Munch and Fin to come over.

-“Wanna pay a courtesy visit to mister Jack Dem?”, asked the woman with a smirk and handed them the address.

-“Who the hell is he ?”, asked Fin and eyed the profile

-“Another racer on the same team. He called Annie the night she died. Right after his call she phoned Carter”

-“And I assume you suspect that Annie and him had a fight and needed a pity party for herself so she calls Carter?”, Munch commented.

-“Hey…at this point I don’t suspect anything. Maybe you two can charm your way into this guy’s graces and find out what happened”

Fin and Munch rolled their eyes and took off to take care of business. Munch was quite happy for some reason while his partner was rather bugged by the situation. It just had to happen. The new girl on the block decides to make a mess and turn the whole precinct upside down. Sure her rape was a tragedy but it also raised a lot of suspicions. It made Elliot act weird, made Liv all tensed up and Cragen was walking on thin ice. He was being pressured to show mercy for the woman but he did not want to create a precedent.


Elliot drove to the hospital without even knowing he was doing it. His mind was on auto pilot. Automatic moves, scattered thoughts and the new findings on his partner’s life did not make things easier. Yet some of her actions made more sense to him now. He parked the car, get out, locked it and moved quickly to the upper levels of the hospital. The nurse pointed him to her room. He almost ran to it. His hand was almost timid upon reaching the knob of the door and pushing it open. He went there to arrest her. Great… Yet it could not be helped. No one wanted to do that and he assumed it would be easier for her if he took care of it. Elliot stepped inside and walked up to her bed. She was pretty messed up. Her right arm and left leg had a cast on them, bandages on her face, a broken lip and a very black eye. She was sleeping, or just resting her mind. Her eyes were closed. All sort of wires dangled around her frame, IVs, blood pressure monitors.. all the shebang.

-“Hey”, he whispered and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

He placed his hand over her right one and squeezed slightly. His brows furrowed at the sight of her in that condition. The perfect flower was now nothing more than a beaten down weed. How could something like this have happened.
Nessa opened her eyes slowly and grimaced in pain. A moan escaped her lips and her tongue reached out to wet them. She was so thirsty. She turned her head to the side and looked at him. Her hand gripped onto his as if it was her life.

-“Mhhmm… hey”, she murmured.

-“How you feeling?”

-“Like I’ve been run over by a truck. “, once more she whimpered as her body need to shift and her ribs bitched at the sudden movement “How’s Annie?”

Elliot looked down and sighed. He tried to find the words to let her know that her best friend was dead. Nessa looked away and pulled her hand from his. She brought it to her face as tears started streaming down her cheeks.

-“Nessa I’m so sorry”, he whispered.

-“NO!.. GOD NO!”, she cried out and looked at him “How did she die? Who did this?”

-“She was shot.” He paused to gather all his strength. “ Ness…I have to arrest you”

-“For what?”, the woman asked and looked at him between tears

-“For the murder of Annie Marquise. I’m so, so sorry. There is nothing I can do about it.”, he whispered and tried to hold her hand but she pulled it away.He sighed and continued “ You have the right to …”

-“I know my rights Elliot. But I didn’t kill her”

-“I know…”

He looked at her and pulled out a tape recorder. Sure he’d rather hold her and comfort her but he needed to prove that she was either guilty or innocent. This story had to be done with .. and fast. Her eyes moved to the tape recorder and she snarled lightly at it.

-“I’m waving my rights. What do you wanna know Detective?”

-“Ok. What happened last night?”

-“I got a call at 12:50 from Annie. She was upset, crying.. hysterical. Annie told me that Dem was threatening to publish some pictures of her unless she either stepped down from the race or paid him”

-“Dem?”

-“Jack Dem. He’s a racer with our team. Chris Farlan, the owner, has been keeping him on the bench for a while now. I started racing again to get my mind off of work, this moved Dem out of the track.”

-“What pictures?”

-“Annie and I went to a team party a while back. She got drunk, I went home and the next day I find out that she and Dem had a nice night together. She didn’t remember him taking pictures of her.. but he refreshed her memory. He was extorting money from the woman. She went to the police but they did nothing. Dem’s brother’s a cop”

-“Then what happened?”

-“After you left I get changed, took my motorcycle and drove to her place. I walked upstairs and the door was open, cracked open. The moment I stepped in I pulled my gun. Something was wrong. Cop’s instincts… Then I got hit in the back of the head..i went to sleep.”

-“Anything else you remember?”, he asked and looked at her with saddened eyes” Ness ya got to tell me everything…I can’t help you if hold things back from me”

-“God , Elliot…” she sighed and brought her hand to her face to wipe the tears from her eyes “I got out of it a few moments later, or … I think it was moments. They had me on the bed, naked. Hair was on my face so I could crack my eyes open just enough to see without them noticing it.”

-“Them?”

-“Yes, two men, about 5’9, 6’0….I couldn’t see their faces. They had black helmets on, black visors on them as well. They wore costumes, like the pit stop costumes. I think they were made out of Kevlar. They also had gloves on their hands.”

-“Alright, keep going”

-“I wanted to move but I realized my arm was broke, my foot as well. Trust me Elliot, I recognize that pain anywhere. Even if I tried to fight them… I stood no chance. “she paused and took a deep breath before continuing “They were raping me. I could feel them all over my body, probing, pushing inside of me , scraping my skin with the fabric of their gloves. My body was in so much pain, I was bleeding…the heat of my own blood and the smell of it ..they didn’t care they just kept going and going as if I was nothing but a piece of meat.”

He watched her, he watched those tears stream down her face as she told her story. Elliot was furious. She had gone through so much pain and now he had to put her through even more. Her eyes were empty, as if nothing was left inside of her. She looked at him and sighed.

-“Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t need pity. Find them.. find them and you find your killer and your rapist.”

-“Ness… look..i need you to keep telling me what happened. I know this is hard and god’s my witness I don wanna put you through more pain but you have to keep telling me your story.”

-“I’m not blaming you Elliot.”, she murmured and took a deep breath “ After they were done with me they sat back on a chair and watched. I could feel their eyes on me but by that time I barely had any sanity left. One said that they were done… The other was pissed, he wanted to kill me but his friend reminded him that I was suppose to be alive… they needed me alive.”

-“Who would want to hurt you ?”

-“I don’t know…I kept thinking and thinking. It has something to do with the races. Those costumes , the helmets.. they are expensive, made for a competition. The costumes were black and blue, and I saw a falling star on the back of them.”

-“Look we’ll go pay a visit to Dem and Alman, and I’ll check with the lab on the evidence we have. Until I get back .. please take care of yourself. Ness… I’ll get you out of this”, he murmured and kissed her forehead.

Elliot walked out of the room. She watched him go and then closed her eyes. Her life was going to hell right under her nose and there was nothing she could do about it.. nothing.

NEXT CHAPTER- The evidence points to Vanessa but the facts don’t add up.While she is in jail, Elliot and Olivia discover that Dem was more than blackmailing Annie.