A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the conclusion of Mad World! As always, thank you for taking this journey with me.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.
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One month later
"I don't understand," Annabelle whispered to herself, reading and then rereading the email from New York University. "But why? How? This isn't true! This isn't fair!" she sobbed into her hands, tossing the email aside.
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16th Precinct
"Hey, Olivia?" Alex briskly walked into the squad room, an email clutched tightly in her hand. "I just received something that's a little bit on the disquieting side, and I thought that you should see it."
"What is it?" Olivia curiously asked, reaching for the piece of paper.
"It's an email that was forwarded to me by the dean of admissions at New York University," she replied, taking a seat at the detective's desk. "It involves our little friend from Reddington High School."
"What?" Olivia started scanning the document, her eyes widening in surprise as her face turned red in anger. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What is it?" Elliot asked, coming up behind Olivia.
Handing the email over to her partner, she frowned. "It's a photo shopped picture of Annabelle in a compromising situation, with the caption stating that she'll do anything to get into New York University's law program. It also has drug paraphernalia in the background, which is probably why it made its way to Alex's desk in the first place."
"Wow," Elliot returned the email to the assistant district attorney. "That's, uh—" he cleared his throat.
"Insane," Olivia muttered under her breath. "Ridiculously, without a doubt, insane. Do you know who sent it?" she then asked Alex. "The email address is a hotmail account with Annabelle's name, but you know just as well as I did that she didn't send it."
"We tracked the email through the IP address once again, and it was sent from a computer at Reddington High School. We worked with the IT department to determine which student was logged on to that particular computer at the time that the email was sent, and we came up with—"
"Sam," Olivia and Elliot both said at the same time.
"But the problem is that the original email was also sent to Annabelle's school email account. If she's seen this," Alex continued, "She probably isn't doing too well. New York University means everything to her."
"We're on it," Olivia was already heading to the door, Elliot right behind her.
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Home of Annabelle Lewis
"Elliot," Olivia very quietly whispered under her breath, holding her gun out in front of her as they entered the house at 113 Pemberton Street. Blood. There was too much blood, and it was everywhere.
"I know," he whispered back, glancing down the hallway as he cautiously inched along the corridor. The trail was leading them directly toward the residence's home office, and for once, he had no idea what to expect. He and Olivia wouldn't have known that anything was wrong in the house to begin with, as a matter-of-fact, had it not been for the copious amounts of blood on the doormat. After knocking and ringing the doorbell numerous times to no avail, they called for backup, and entered the home.
Be careful, Olivia mouthed to her partner, stopping just in front of the office door. Count of three, she held up one finger, then two, followed by the third. Gently nudging the door open, she couldn't stop the surprised gasp that fell from her lips; the room's only occupant was Annabelle Lewis, the ninth grader whom they had been working with for the past several months. The young girl looked to be a complete mess: her hair was matted from sweat, her face was red and blotchy from tears, and she couldn't seem to stand still.
Carefully pushing past his partner, Elliot scanned the room for any signs of an intruder, slightly sighing in relief when he couldn't detect one.
Pointing her weapon at the ground, Olivia gazed at the young girl in concern. "Annabelle, what happened? Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay," Annabelle anxiously blurted out, standing just in front of her opened laptop, a gun held loosely by her side. "Does it look like I'm okay?" she asked, blood caked along several shallow cuts near her left wrist.
"What happened?" Olivia gently probed, cautiously walking further into the room. Although she had certainly noticed the gun, she really didn't think that the young girl would hurt her, especially given all that had taken place between the two of them over the past sixty days.
"Don't come near me," Annabelle shrieked, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Bringing the gun up to her own head with a shaky hand, she added, "I don't want you to come anywhere near me, got it?"
"Okay, okay," Olivia immediately took a step backward, not wanting to scare Annabelle into making the biggest mistake of her life. Knowing that Elliot still had his own weapon out, she holstered hers. "I won't come near you, but I need to know what's going on, honey," she murmured.
"I'm going to kill myself, that's what's going on, and everyone is going to be able to watch," she sniffled her reply, her hand now shaking even more. Nodding at the camera connected to her computer, she returned her gaze to Olivia.
The detective's eyes widened in shock. What the hell was going on? "You don't have to do this, honey," she whispered to the terrified teenager, holding her empty hands up and open. "Please don't do this; you have other options, trust me."
"Trust you?" Annabelle couldn't help but laugh in disbelief, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You want me to trust you? Why should I? You haven't been able to help me so far," she added, holding the gun closer to her right temple.
"I know it may not seem like that," Olivia tried to remain calm, "But you don't want to do this, Annabelle. Think about what you're about to do," she inched toward the ninth grader.
"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" Annabelle took a step backward, instead wildly waving her gun at Olivia. "You have no idea what it's like to be me, do you? Do you even remember ninth grade, Olivia? Huh? Do you? Ninth grade sucks! They suck!"
"I know it does, honey, and I know that they do," Olivia remained still, her gaze riveted to Annabelle's face. "But please don't give them the satisfaction of ending your own life. Let us help you," she kept her voice even and steady. "Let me help you. Please," she practically begged.
"It's too late for that," Annabelle choked back a sob, shakily returning the gun to her temple. "I tried, Olivia, I really did. I tried so hard to stick it out, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry," she cocked her gun.
"Alex has already contacted New York University," Olivia quickly spoke up, "And they understand the situation. Our partners have also arrested Sam for the email, and your principal has been suspended by your school district pending an investigation. You don't have to do this," she murmured. "Really, Annabelle, it's over this time. You've won."
Annabelle stared at Olivia, her tears seeming to somewhat slow down.
"I mean it, honey, it's over. Please, just put down your gun."
"But I wanted a fair chance at New York University someday," Annabelle whispered, "And Sam took that away from me."
"She hasn't taken anything away from you," Olivia softly smiled at the ninth grader. "In fact, you should see what Alex managed to do for you. But I need you to lower your gun. It's time."
Annabelle sniffled once more, but lowered her arm so that the gun was now pointed at the ground rather than at her temple. Allowing Olivia to take the weapon away from her, she sank to her knees. "Am I going to be arrested for threatening the life of an officer?"
"I didn't see you threaten anyone, did you, Elliot?" she asked her partner, kneeling on the ground beside Annabelle. Pulling the sobbing girl into her arms, she slowly rocked her back and forth.
"Nope, I didn't," Elliot holstered his weapon, taking care of Annabelle's gun.
"But we're going to get you some help," Olivia whispered, continuing to rock her back and forth. "I promise."
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16th Precinct, later that day
"Annabelle," Alex smiled, walking into one of the conference rooms. "I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes about your desire to pursue law as a career.
"I don't think that any law school will want me anymore, given everything that's happened," she mumbled her reply, not even making eye contact with Alex.
"That isn't true," Olivia interjected. "You can't think like that, honey."
"But after the email that went out? Why would New York University ever want me in their program?"
"You were a victim," Alex reminded her, "And nothing that happened was your fault. I explained everything to the admissions board, and they understand. Besides, you still have three more years until you can graduation."
"True," Annabelle acknowledged. "Maybe I can get my grades back up by then."
Alex and Olivia exchanged knowing glances.
"And I wanted to offer you a mini-internship of sorts," Alex continued. "I'm afraid that I can't offer you a job because of your age, nor will the work be all that exciting, but I'd like to give you the chance to shadow me once a week for as long as you're interested."
Annabelle's head shot up as she gazed at Alex. "Are you serious?"
"I don't lie," Alex chuckled. "What do you say?"
"I—I'd love to!" a real smile graced her lips for the first time in months. "When can I start?"
"How about Friday?" Alex returned her smile.
"I won't disappoint you, I promise!"
"I know you won't," Alex murmured. "I have no doubt in my mind."
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Reddington High School, three years later
"It is my privilege and honor to announce that this year's valedictorian is Annabelle Lewis, a young woman who has already been accepted into New York University's pre-law program. Annabelle?"
Annabelle took the stage to thunderous applause, with the loudest cheering and clapping coming from her very own 16th Precinct and ADA cheering section.
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Finis