Time of Dying Chapter 1: Prologue, a law and order: svu fanfic

A/N: I don't own SVU, or the characters! Just havin' some fun with them.

Olivia squinted as she approached the scene. The lights from the squad cars and the even brighter flood lights illuminating the entrance of the building, intensifying the headache she had upon waking up.

Her eyes widened a bit as she turned to face the second undercover car to pull up after her own, "What're you two doing here?" She asked, Amaro pausing at her side.

Fin shrugged, "Guess it's a bad one." He responded simply before he and Amanda followed in behind Benson and Amaro.

One of the uniformed officers turned to brief them, his face was pale. "We've detained the woman who owned the apartment, she's already on her way to the hospital. She was suffering from an extremely high fever and possibly a head wound from what the paramedics told us."

"Who was her assailant?" Amanda asked, the man shook his head.

"No ma'am, you misunderstand... She was the assailant." He replied, extending his hand to lead them inside.

Fin and Olivia exchanged looks before following the man and their two partners inside the building. The officer leading the detectives paused a moment just outside of the apartment.

"It's pretty bad in there... I'll let the M.E. handle the rest of the scene." He said, his expression speaking volumes as he refused to go back into the apartment.

Olivia frowned at the response, she knew some of the uniformed officer's had weak stomachs but she was pretty sure she'd seen this man handling some pretty unfortunate and disturbing cases before.

"What've we got, Melinda?" Fin asked as he moved first into the apartment, the woman in question emerged from the first bedroom. Her expression grim.

"I'm honestly not sure at this point, the woman in this room... From what we gathered is the mother of the tenant."

Fin's brows furrowed as he looked into the room from just beyond the threshold. A rather large piece of couch was blocking the door. "She stabbed her own mother... Deserves a daughter of the year award." He said sarcastically, he shook his head before allowing the others a look.

"What's even more bizarre is she seems to have been dead several days... And the room as you can see was blocked off."

"From the outside? Sounds like the daughter was afraid of her mother... But why?" Amanda said, her eyes glancing between the senior detectives. "The woman doesn't really look like she would have been a physical threat."

Melinda nodded, "That's what I thought too, and there are no other weapons aside from the knife. If you come into the room... The back of the door is nearly worn through and the mother's nails are pretty much obliterated."

"So she was locked in here for a while..." Amaro said, his eyes studying the deep scratches to the door.

"She also appears to have been sick," Melinda continued, "We found Antiviral meds that had been purchased within the last two weeks, I'm going to check the mother for pneumonia during the autopsy."

Fin nodded, "We were warned that this was pretty bad Warner, this seems mild at best, if not a little loony. Where's the real deal?" He asked, his voice holding a knowing tone.

"Follow me but beware, this is gruesome." Melinda responded calmly. The detectives followed her to the middle of the apartment. The kitchen was littered with broken dishes and blood. Amanda frowned slightly as she took in the initial sight of it.

"God... Looks like a war zone."

Amaro shot her a look, his eyes moving back to Melinda as she paused in front of the sink.

Olivia had barely made it passed the counter when she turned away, her hand over her mouth.

Amanda looked towards the senior detective, a bit shocked by her response. The brunette pushed passed the rest of them, her color quickly leaving her cheeks. Fin stood still, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the floor before he turned with a shake of his head.

"What..." Amanda started, her voice caught in her throat as she rounded the counter. Tattered remains of flesh and bone clung to a small bloody form on the tile.

"I wouldn't recommend lingering." Melinda said softly, pulling the blonde back into the small dinning room. "This is where we found the mother, she broke the dishes and tried to attack the officers when they entered the apartment. They brought in SWAT before you all got here because of how violent she was. I was waiting outside, I'd been up working on another case when I got the call so I got here pretty fast... She was babbling like she'd been struck in the head but it could have just been the fever talking."

"She ate her baby?" Olivia asked, her voice incredulous. A heavy weight had begun to press in on her abdomen; a wave of nausea rushing up her throat. In all of her years working on SVU, she'd never seen anything like it.

"Unfortunately that's what it looks like, like I said... She could be extremely delirious from her fever. She was loud, violent and apparently was biting and scratching at the SWAT team as they subdued her. She's obviously not in the state of mind to be around a child. It's very unfortunate."

Amaro shook his head, "I need to get out of here, if that's alright..." He groaned, trying his best to think of the beautiful face of his own little girl and forget the scene that lay just feet away.

"I think it's best that you guys begin the investigation anyway. A second child was rescued safely from the apartment. He's at the hospital being checked out and he's old enough to talk." Warner offered, casting a sympathetic gaze towards Olivia specifically who was leaning heavily against the table.

The brunette nodded, straightening up. As she did so the feeling of nausea quickly passed and was replaced with anger. "Yeah, I'll go talk to him. As soon as the mother is up, she'd better have a damn good explanation as to what happened in this apartment."

Olivia looked towards Amaro, who was busily typing on his phone, "Hey, why don't you head home? I'm sure someone else can go with me. Go see your daughter."

The man shot her a weak smile and nodded before heading out, phone pressed to his ear.

Olivia glanced back towards Fin and Amanda, the man met her gaze with a serious expression. "I'm going to stay here with Melinda and see if we can't find anything else, you two chew that bitch out for me once she's up, will ya?" He said, giving the blonde a pat on the shoulders.

Amanda nodded, relief washing over her at the chance to leave the apartment.

xxx

The car ride to the hospital had passed in silence, the two women both lost in their own thoughts.

They quickly made their way from the front desk to the room the young boy had been placed in, when they entered the room they found him scribbling on a piece of paper with some crayons. The nurse smiled, dipping her head before giving the detectives some time alone with the child.

Olivia smiled at him as she pulled a chair closer to the hospital bed, his eyes moved over towards her shyly but his head did not rise.

"Hi there, Hector, what are you drawing?" The brunette asked gently, the boy glanced back down before handing her the piece of paper he'd been working on.

"Is that your momma?" Amanda asked, her own smile widening a little. The boy nodded in response, his shy demeanor still sticking with him.

"Hector... I know you've had a long night but my partner Amanda and I, we need to ask you some questions... Okay?" Olivia asked, giving the boy back his drawing.

"About mommy?" He asked finally, his voice small.

Olivia nodded, "Yes, about your mommy. And your grandma too, if that's okay."

The boy remained silent for a moment, Olivia knew he was around six years old. And although he probably hadn't understood everything that had happened in the apartment he had enough of an idea that he could give them a glimpse as to what had occurred.

"Grandma was sick... She stayed in bed all Saturday... Mommy got worried and went to see her, I heard a lot of yelling... I stayed with Sophie until Mommy came back."

"Were you waiting for her for a while?" Olivia asked, her voice still gentle.

"Yes and when I went to go potty, Mommy told me I couldn't open the door for Grandma. She wouldn't tell me why."

Olivia looked over towards Amanda before looking back to Hector, "And this was on Sunday?"

"Yes, Mommy stayed out in the living room and told me to stay in the bedroom with Sophie and watch cartoons... I heard more yelling and when Mommy came back she was hurt."

"Hurt how Hector?" Amanda asked, the boy lowered his eyes to his hands. He picked at his nails for a moment before looking back up at the blonde.

"She had a mark, on her arm." He pointed to a spot on his forearm up by his elbow, "It looked like a bite."

Olivia sat back, a thoughtful expression crossing her features.

"What happened then, Hector?"

"Mommy pushed the couch in front of Grandma's room... We stayed in the bedroom after that, me, Mommy and Sophie. I was supposed to go to school on Monday... But Mommy told me I could stay home with her, I wanted to go... Grandma kept yelling and making loud noises in her room."

"When we woke up, Grandma wasn't yelling anymore... And Mommy was sick."

"Sick like your Grandma?" Olivia asked, the boy shook his head.

"No, Mommy was coughing up red stuff..." Hector said, his eyes lowered to his drawing as he once again picked up a crayon to work on his picture.

The boy remained quiet then, as if he had nothing more to say. Olivia glanced up towards Amanda before looking back towards Hector, "Anything else before we go and check on your Mommy?" Olivia asked, flashing a wide smile towards the child.

Hector's eyes moved up finally but he didn't speak, Olivia chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before trying again.

"When did Mommy get angry?"

The boy got a thoughtful look on his face, "Wednesday... I stayed in the bedroom, she told me to. I wanted to get Sophie but I promised Mommy..."

Olivia placed her hand over the boy's much smaller one, "You did a good job Hector, you're safe. That's what matters." She said, her smile softening. Her hand pulled back as she moved to rise from her chair, returning it to it's spot against the wall.

"We're going to go and see if we can talk to your Mommy now, okay? You get some rest, we'll stop in to see you again if we can."

The boy nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips as he waved goodbye to them.

The two detectives made their way down the hall in silence at first, Amanda breaking the silence. "So... What do you think?" She asked, her eyes moving over towards the older woman.

"I think... That left us with even more questions, don't you?"

The blonde nodded, "Yes, definitely. I wonder why the daughter was coughing up blood? If she'd caught any illness from the mother, you'd think she would have had the same symptoms..."

Olivia nodded,"Yeah, I agree. We'll have to see what the doctors have to say."

Within minutes the two detectives found themselves being lead towards the woman's room, the nurse leading them stopped in front of a door with blocked out windows. "I'll pop in and see if they've made any progress but I can't promise you anything. Last time I saw her she was yelling jibberish and fighting the restraints, it sounds like they at least have her sedated now... But you won't be able to talk to her until she's lucid."

Olivia smiled, "Any form of update would be very helpful, thank you."

"Too bad we won't get an interview..." Amanda mumbled, checking her phone. "I would have loved to talk to this fine lady." The blonde said, her southern drawl holding a bit of a deeper tone as she narrowed her eyes towards the windows.

The two waited in silence a few moments before the nurse finally exited the room, a disappointed look written across her features.

"We're not really sure what's going on with her, I can tell you that they've been fighting her fever since she was brought in. But nothing we do to lower it seems to be working, she's probably not going to make it. I'm sorry ladies."

Olivia frowned at the news, that would stop the case as it was. And Hector would not only be without a family but without closure as well. Thanking the nurse, the two detective locked the knowledge they'd gathered away and headed back to the precinct.

xxx

Munch smiled as Olivia and Amanda entered the squad room, "How did it go?" He asked, Amaro and Fin looked up from their work.

"As well as it could, I suppose." Olivia responded with a sigh, "We talked to the son but his responses really only left more to figure out."

Amanda nodded, "Yeah and his Momma was out cold, still on fire 'cuz of that damn fever."

"Shit..." Fin mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I was hopin' you two would do better than Melinda and me."

"No luck?" Amanda asked, leaning against Munch's desk.

"Nada, she's looking at the Grandma's body now... Hopefully the autopsy will turn up somethin' good."

Cragen nodded as he caught the end of the conversation, "Yes, I do too. Now that I'm here I want you all to get some rest. You can continue this in the afternoon once we have more information on the case."

The group gave a collective sigh but no argument, they knew Cragen was right. There was no point in wasting their energy now when they had nothing to go on, it was better to get rest while they had the time to kill.

xxx

The afternoon passed quietly, the detectives were working on their paperwork for other cases when Fin's phone let out a loud beep.

"C'mon guys, we're headin' to the morgue. Melinda's got something."

xxx

Melinda smiled slightly as the detectives filed in, she took off her gloves and picked up her clip board.

"Sorry about the wait, guys. Had to triple check some things, you ready?"

They all nodded, eyes intently glued on the M.E.

"I checked her lungs and I did find signs of Pneumonia."

"Meaning?" Fin asked, his voice colored with impatience.

"She died from the illness, not the stabbing."

Melinda's smile had long since disappeared, her eyes shifted from person to person as she watched the words sink in for the detectives.

Amaro was the first to speak up, "Hold on... I don't think I heard you right..."

"Oh, no. You did detective. The damage to the victims nails was also sustained post mortem."

"Melinda..." Olivia started, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"I know how this sounds guys..." The M.E. said, moving over to the examining table. "But that is what the wounds are telling me."

Amaro scratched the back of his neck, "Are you absolutely positive? I mean, how can you tell?"

Melinda arched a brow at him, "Yes, I am positive. The wounds have minimal blood loss considering the injury, i.e. a stabbing to the eye. While we see some blood loss... There would be far more if the heart had been beating at the time of the attack."

Olivia's lips drew into a tight line, "How long was she dead before the injuries were inflicted?"

Melinda shook her head, "It's hard to say, decomposition was most likely a little elevated given the heater in her room... I'll give you what I have in my full, written report and you can mesh it with what you learned from the boy... How was he, by the way?"

Amanda's eyes brightened at the change of subject, "He was doin' really well, wasn't a mark on him. Our conversation with him went about as well as your autopsy though... Left lots of questions."

Melinda nodded, "I wish I could be of more help guys... But I did my job to the best of my ability with this case, the body doesn't lie."

The detectives nodded their thanks, Olivia cast one last glance towards what she could see of the body laid out on the table.