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Release	By : KaticaLocke Category: G through L > Law & Order Views: 3499 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Law & Order, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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"Is something wrong?" the officer asked, eyeing Bobby like he'd lost his mind.

"Nicole," Bobby growled, the sound deep in his chest. She blinked, then set her briefcase on the table.

"Detectives Goren and Eames, I presume," she said, her accent running a bit thinner, but still present. "My name is Satrina Anastasius." She held out her hand, but they both just stared at her until she let it drop back to her side. "Very well. I insist that you release my client immediately." Alex recovered from shock first.

"I'm sorry, you're who?" she asked. She waved the uneasy officer out of the room. He left reluctantly.

"Satrina Anastasius, Mr. Kier's attorney."

"Kier?" Bobby repeated. Ms. Anastasius regarded them in icy silence for a moment. She looked so much like Nicole, sounded so much like her, but there was something ... different, something ... off about her. This wasn't the same the woman who had taunted and tormented them in the past.

"Mr. Leland Kier, the man seated directly to my right." Alex looked at Raum. He was scowling at his lawyer.

"My name is Raum," he said angrily. Ms. Anastasius ignored him and opened her briefcase with a double click of the latches. She pulled out a thick manila file folder and dropped it on the table between Bobby and Alex.

"His medical records." Bobby flipped the file open, glanced at it, and drew back as through stung.

"He has schizophrenia?" Alex pulled the file toward herself and quickly scanned the top page.

"Paranoid schizophrenia," Ms. Anastasius said. "He believes that he is some sort of sorcerer, being hunted by an organization called the Council."

"He is sitting right here," Raum said, sounding highly peeved. "And I'm a warlock, not a sorcerer."

"I rest my case," Ms. Anastasius said, sitting stiffly on the edge of her seat beside Raum. Alex glanced up at Bobby, who still looked quite shell-shocked.

"If you'll excuse us a moment," Alex said, touching her partner briefly on the forearm to get his attention. He followed her silently out the door. "Can you believe - The nerve of that - What a load of bull - Bobby, you're not buying this crap, are you?" He headed into the observation room without answering. On the other side of the mirror, Raum and his lawyer sat silently, neither speaking to, nor even looking at each other.

"It sure looks like her, doesn't it?" Bobby asked after a moment.

"Yeah, it must have taken him forever to find a lawyer with such an uncanny resemblance."

"What if she's right, Alex?"

"Look, Bobby, I know you have a ... soft spot ... when it comes to the mentally ill - " She had been going to say 'weakness', but thought better of it. " - but Raum is not one of them. He's an evil warlock, he - "

"What?" Bobby asked suddenly. "What did he do?"

"The curse," she said, as if it couldn't have been more obvious.

"We can't be sure that was him." Alex crossed her arms over her chest. He was right. Raum had gloated over the phone, but that didn't prove anything. "Actually, the more I think about it, I - I don't think Raum did send the curse. He doesn't act like a man without passion, or - or he wouldn't be ... enjoying this so much."

"What about on the roof?" Alex asked. "He attacked us, set us and Bishop on fire, and Bishop fought him as a crow."

"There was a crow, yes, and we were attacked, yes, but can we be sure it was that man?"

"What about when we were in the circle? He hit Olivia with a metal pipe."

"Which proves he's crazy, not magickal." Alex paced to the other side of the room and back.

"Just before he attacked Olivia, he reached out toward the edge of the circle, and lightning shot from his fingertips. You can't tell me that's a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia."

"With all that was going on, can you really be sure that's what you saw? How do you know that's not the reaction anyone would have gotten when reaching toward that circle?"

"Well, why don't we ask John, I'm sure he'd know." She headed out into the squad room. Munch wasn't at his desk. A quick walk proved his wasn't in the break room, or the crash room. She dialed his cell number. No answer. "I told him to rest, not disappear," Alex muttered. She joined Bobby back in the observation room. "I can't find him anywhere."

"It makes sense, Eames," Bobby said, leaning one hand on the wall above the mirror as he studied the two people on the other side. "This makes more sense than anything else. Did you read his file? About a year ago, this guy was in the same institution as my mother. That's how he knows me, how he knows about the puzzle box. It's in her room; she always thinks someone's trying to - to steal it. Usually me." He didn't even look up as the door to the observation room opened.

"So, is it my turn yet?" Elliot asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his tie was completely absent. "Who is that in there with him?"

"His lawyer," Bobby said flatly. Elliot scowled.

"You let him call a lawyer?"

"No, we have no idea how he contacted her," Alex said. "He wasn't let anywhere near a phone."

"Bastard," Elliot growled. "Is there any way we can get rid of her?"

"Doesn't look like it. She's claiming he has schizophrenia and that this witchcraft is one of his delusions."

"Delusion, my ass," Elliot said. He stood with his feet planted shoulder-width apart and his hands on his hips. Alex could tell he was just itching to beat the crap out of somebody.

�Actually, she could be right,� Bobby said quietly. �If someone else cursed me, if someone else attacked us and Bishop in the form of a crow ... this man, Leland Kier, may have been put on that roof to take the fall.�

�He attacked - � Elliot started angrily.

�I know,� Bobby cut in, �but if he�s sick, if he�s off his meds, it wouldn�t take much to - to nudge him in one direction or another. We can�t condemn him without proof.�

�You want proof?� Alex asked, raising her eyebrows. �You want proof? Oh, I wish Carver was here, he�s never going to believe me, otherwise.� He gave her a good-natured frown, then slipped back into brooding silence, staring through the glass.

�Well, let�s see if I can�t shake �em up a bit,� Elliot said with a grim smile. Alex reached to flip on the intercom, but it was already on. They heard Elliot open the door into the silent room. �So, the Council�s on it�s way,� he said, smiling coldly at Raum. �What do they do to guys like you, turn you into toads? Into stone? Feed you to goblins and ghouls?� Raum opened his mouth to speak, but Ms. Anastasius held up her hand and he fell silent.

�I will not allow my client to be treated in this manner, do you understand? He has an illness, and you are deliberately trying to aggravate it. Now, would you mind telling me what my client is being charged with, and why there is no record of his arrest anywhere?�

�She�s so calm,� Bobby remarked, �so cool, like nothing could bother her.� Alex recognized that tone of voice.

�You want me to try?� Bobby shook his head.

�Not yet, let�s see what Stabler can do.�

�Your client assaulted a detective,� Elliot was saying, �but he hasn�t been arrested yet.� The lawyer looked pointedly at Raum�s handcuffs. �We restrained him as a precaution. He was a danger to himself and others.�

�But he is not under arrest?� Elliot shook his head. �Then take the handcuffs off; we are leaving.�

�Well, we could arrest him, if you want,� Elliot said, leaning back in his chair. "I was hoping we could straighten a few things out right here and now and save us all a lot of paperwork."

"And what do you need clarified?" asked Ms. Anastasius coldly.

"How you got up onto the fire escape," Elliot said, speaking to Raum now. "That's the only way you could gotten onto the roof this morning. So what, you snagged it with a stick, caught it with a rope, stood on a dumpster, what?"

"I flew up, Detective Stabler."

"You saw that big, ugly bird, too, huh? Now come on, how'd you really get up there?" Anger stole swiftly and silently over Raum's features.

"I told you, I flew." Elliot laughed.

"Right. Well, if that's true, why don't you prove it. Come on, fly for me. Do some magick."

"I can't," Raum snarled, rising to his feet. Elliot stood with him, leaning on the table until their faces were inches apart. "Your clever Detective Munch made sure of that." He rotated his arm outward, revealing a small, neat bandage.

"What is that?" Ms. Anastasius asked, rising from her seat to get a better look. "Did you sedate him against his will?"

"It was just something to calm him down," Elliot said with a shrug.

"I don't care if it was heroin or vitamin C, you violated his civil rights. I'll have your badge for this." She turned to Raum. "Don't speak until I get back." Grabbing her briefcase, she headed for the door. Bobby walked away from the mirror and stopped her in the hall. Alex followed, leaning in the doorway to watch the show.

�Your accent - you�re from Australia, right?� She regarded him for a moment, then made to walk past, but Bobby moved in front of her, ducking his head and smiling faintly. �Brisbane, right? I - I knew someone from Brisbane. She�s dead now.�

�My sympathies,� Ms. Anastasius said, attempting to step to the other side of Bobby. He blocked her once again.

�How long have you known Mr. ... Kier?�

�Several years.�

�You�ve been his lawyer for a while, then?�

�No, Mr. Kier has never had any trouble with the police until now. We shared a mutual acquaintance. Now, if you will excuse me.� Alex watched as Bobby headed her off for a third time. Most people, even very polite, patient people, would have been irritated by now, but if Bobby was more than a minor inconvenience, Ms. Anastasius was hiding it very well. �What else can I do for you, Detective?�

"I'm sorry, were you ... going somewhere?"

"In case you didn't hear the first time, which I can't see how you could have missed it, standing behind that mirror as you were, I have papers to file and careers to end." Now it was Alex who stepped up and blocked her way.

"Looks like our suspect isn't the only one off his rocker," she said conversationally. Talking to this woman was like standing in front of a painting of fire. It looked all right at a glance, but there was no life in it, no heat. Alex suppressed a shudder and continued, trying to se if there was even a spark in this painting. "Are you two seeing the same therapist, or something? What makes you think we'll bow to these empty threats? Do you have any idea who we are?"

"I know exactly who you are, Detective Eames," she replied, the fluorescent light playing across the lenses of her glasses as she turned her head to regard Alex. "I am also beginning to realize exactly what you have done to my client. Last time I checked, injecting a suspect with Goddess only knows what in order to coerce a confession from them is illegal."

"So is assaulting a police detective," Alex said fiercely. Not to mention murder. But they weren�t charging Raum with murder; they weren�t charging him with anything, if they could help it. People could disappear in the blink of an eye, but paperwork was forever.

�Your client is lucky we haven�t charged him with - with murder,� Bobby said, glancing at her.

�Murder,� Ms. Anastasius repeated. �My client is not capable of murder.�

�He confessed,� Alex said. �I�m sure if we asked, he could give us all the gory details, things only the real killer would know.� Like how every bone in her body was broken.

�Information you fed him, no doubt. Nothing he says can be believed, and no jury in the country would convict that man of jaywalking, let alone murder.� Bobby stared at her for a moment, his brow furrowing. Alex knew that look. The pieces were falling into place, in a moment he'd nail both their asses to the wall.

"You're right," he said softly. "If this goes to trial, he will walk. It'll probably be kicked by the Grand Jury, if we can even find a DA willing to prosecute." For the life of her, Alex couldn't see where he was heading with this. She didn't think he needed to be reminded that they had two ADAs who were very personally involved. The Grand Jury might be a problem, but prosecution would not. "So you get him off, Ms. Anastasius - That's quite a mouthful - Is it Greek? - May I call you Satrina? - He goes free, and then he kills again, and it's your body we pull from the East River with every single bone in it broken. Because that's what people like your client do when they no longer have a use for something - they throw it away."

"Thank you for the word of warning, Detective Goren, now, if you don't mind ..." Bobby stepped aside and let her go. Alex watched her walk away.

"Bobby, what the - " But her partner was already heading for the interrogation room. "Hey, hang on a minute!" She caught him by the arm just outside the door. "You're just going to let her go?"

"She'll be back. This game is only just beginning." From inside, there came a muffled shout. Arching one eyebrow, Bobby opened the door. Elliot had Raum pinned against the wall and was speaking quietly in his ear.

"Everything okay in here?" Alex asked. Elliot glanced back and gave them a predatory grin. Alex was momentarily unnerved. This was a no-holds-barred interrogation, but from the look on Elliot�s face, you�d have thought it was vengeance and torture night at Madison Square Garden. It�s just for show, she assured herself; psychological torture was just as satisfying and didn�t leave any visible bruising.

"Just great,� he said, his smile faltering a little. �You guys want him back now?" Alex let her gaze sweep over Raum, watched the apprehension seep into his stoically placid expression. Better play it up, she decided.

"No, I think we'll get some coffee,� she said. �His lawyer'll be gone for a while, I think. Have fun, just try not to leave any marks on his face." She waved to Raum as Bobby shut the door again. "This isn't a game, Bobby," she said, jumping back into the conversation as if the interruption had never happened.

"It is to them," he replied. "Can't you see it in their faces? I walk into the room with them and - and I can feel it. This is just a game, one they don't think they can lose, because they wrote the rules - but Nicole has forgotten what a quick study I am."

"So that really was her, then?" Alex asked, glancing down the hall the way she had gone. Going by looks alone, Alex would have agreed with him whole-heartedly, but after talking to her - it was like something alien, something inhuman was inhabiting her body. "I don't know ... Raum said she was dead. If he's really a warlock, then he has to be telling the truth, but if that's really Nicole, then he lied, which means he's not a warlock, he probably is Leland Kier, and delusional, and if so, why the hell is Nicole Wallace pretending to be his lawyer?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson," Bobby replied with a quirk of the lips and smiling eyes.

"I am not your Watson," she informed him, trying to sound stern, but giving in to his sudden good humor and smiling back. "Can you prove that she is Nicole?"

"Proof? Me? This is better than proof; I've got a hunch. Or rather, Raul has it and should be sending the results along any time now."

"The black feather you sent up to the lab? What does that - Wait ... " She gave him a sideways look. "You think that feather was Raum's."

"I was talking to Munch while you were ... napping in Sledge's arms. He believes that only the form changes, not the DNA."

"And what good will it do us, even if Raul can extract Raum's DNA from that feather? We've got nothing to compare it to, the defense will claim contaminated evidence, and no jury will believe, nor understand the technical process behind it." They stepped to one side of the hallway as a handful of detectives filed past, perhaps moving closer together than was necessary, but hey, this wasn't their turf and they didn't want to get in anybody's way. She looked up at him, watching his eyes rove over her face before finally finding her own.

"We don't have to worry about a jury," he said in a dark, bedroom murmur, a voice more suited for candle light than the harsh fluorescents over head. "No defense is going to save either of them. And as for a sample to compare to ..." He stepped back and rapped lightly on the interrogation room door before stepping inside. Alex followed, closing the door behind them. Elliot was standing on one side of the room, a light sweat beading his forehead, his chest rising and falling faster than normal. Raum was seated in the metal chair, at first glance looking as if nothing had happened, but then Alex's cop eyes took over, noting the little inconsistencies. His hair was mussed. His face was paler than before, and gleamed sickly with a sheen of sweat. The skin around his eyes was tight with pain; his lips were white from being pressed together. "I just need to borrow him for a moment," Bobby said.

"That's good," Elliot replied. "I was just getting warmed up." Alex thought she saw Raum cringe at these words, but it could have been a trick of the light. She rubbed a hand across her lips, watching Raum. This wasn�t right; this wasn�t what cops were supposed to do. As if he could feel the weight of her stare, Raum raised his head, his gray-green eyes meeting hers. Hatred welled up inside her, anger and disgust curling her lip in a sneer. Any pity she might have felt for him shriveled up and died. After what he had done, he deserved every bit of what he got. Bobby crossed the room in three purposeful strides, grabbed Raum by the neck, and jerked a lock of hair out by the roots. Raum drew a pained breath through his nose.

"You will pay for that, Detective Goren," he said through his teeth. Bobby ignored him and pulled a small plastic evidence bag out of his inside jacket pocket, depositing the hair inside. It must have been more than just hair, though, because a trickle of blood had begun to run down the side of Raum's face.

"Oh, good, I was wanting a blood sample," Bobby said, pulling a swab out of another pocket. Alex smiled. He was a regular walking evidence kit today. Raum jerked his head away as Bobby went to take a sample of the blood, but Bobby just grabbed him by the throat again and held him still. "All right, Stabler, he's all yours. Unless -" He looked at Raum. "- you're ready to cut the crap and tell me what I want to know." Raum raised his chin defiantly. "No? Okay." He shrugged and headed for the door.

"You can't break me, Detective," Raum called, his voice a little too strained with pain for the intended effect.

"Oh, yeah?" Elliot said. "You'd be surprised how fragile human bones can be. Or maybe you wouldn't, considering what you did to that woman, to my friend's friend." Without a backward glance, Bobby closed the door on them and strode down the hall, forcing Alex to hurry to catch up.

"So what's our game plan?" she asked. He stopped in the middle of the squad room, glanced around, tapped his fingers on the surface of Munch's desk.

"Find him; I need to ... talk to him. When Nicole gets back, don't let her see Raum. Have her detained in a separate room - see if you can't get a - a decent set of prints. I have go see Raul." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "I better call him; make sure he doesn't leave. See you in a while, Alex." He strode toward the front doors, digging in his pocket for his cell phone as he went, then did a sudden about-face, nearly running into a young officer toting a stack of files as he returned to her side. "I almost forgot," Bobby said, encircling her waist with one arm and kissing her soundly on the lips.
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