They already knew he was out. He'd been out for three days, leaving nothing to track him, except the dead body of his prison doctor and assisting paramedic. No one had seen him since he disappeared into the ambulance on the way to Bellevue. No one had heard from him since he called the precinct two days before.

Olivia, who had answered, dropped the phone and backed away. He said he'd missed her. But maybe it was just something to scare her. Maybe he was running. For a moment, as she sat in her desk, Olivia believed what her detectives were telling her. Maybe Lewis really had run for his life. Maybe he'd left the city altogether.

But the anxious feeling that had settled in the pit of her stomach the moment she'd gotten the call from him refused to go away. Something was telling her that it wasn't over. He hadn't left.

The darkness of the impending night swallowed the city and everything in it. The clouds that had moved in, a spring storm, brought the mood an even greater ominous prevalence. Her office door was closed, sealing her off from the action outside where Nick, Amanda, and Fin all sat in their individual spots. They were ready to track Lewis, but there was nothing to tell them where he had been or where he was going.

Olivia stood up and walked wearily to the entrance of the office. The door opened easily, and its frame supported her body's weight as she leaned on it, her hands shoved in her pockets.

"You guys can go home. There's no reason you should be here losing sleep." Olivia's voice made it clear that she was tired of being afraid, living in constant fear that Lewis would be the next person she saw every time she turned around.

Neither Nick nor the others wished to cause her more discomfort, so they stood up, acknowledging her order.

"I'll drive you home." He offered as the first streak of lightning came through the windows of the precinct.

Olivia pushed herself upright again and shook her head. "I've got the protection I need. Seven officers are plenty. You just go home. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Fin and Amanda gave each other looks that they easily read. Their exhaustion mingled equally with their anxious tendencies.

"You be careful, Serg." Amanda commented as she began to leave.

"Yeah. You too." Olivia replied with a small nod, the last of her energy required to make the gesture.

Fin looked back at his sergeant. "Get some sleep, Liv." He suggested lightly. There hadn't been a time he'd seen her more drained than she appeared then.

Three days - she hadn't slept a wink. It was evident in the darkness of her eyes, the lack of volume when she spoke, and the solemn expression in her face.

"I will." She lied.

Fin didn't believe her, but he left her tired gaze.

It had been impossible to sleep more than fifteen minutes before being jarred awake by a small sound either in the precinct or in her apartment. The fridge kicking in, the dishwasher humming, every little thing that met her ears put her on high alert.

And then there were the nightmares. If the noises of the apartment didn't wake her, the startling, vivid nightmares she experienced did.

Nick approached his partner after the two had gone from the room. "Let's go." He said softly.

She knew he wouldn't let her drive home alone until Lewis was back behind bars. The guilt he'd felt after her attack had cut him so deeply that he wished never to have to experience it again, and Olivia knew that. There was no way he would let his partner, the woman Lewis had brutalized for much longer than just four days, go out into the night alone.

Olivia didn't argue. She gave him a look of both thanks and disappointment. He waited at the door for her as she grabbed her phone and bag, her coat nowhere to be seen. The warm April day had made it impossible to even think about wearing one. It was unusual for the end of the spring month to be so warm, and meteorologists confirmed that the city would soon be back in its regular temperature state. The storm rolling through would break the warmth hovering above the coast.

Olivia walked down to the elevator, got to the parking garage, and entered the vehicle without so much as a word. Nick noticed immediately the way she let her head sit back against the headrest. As he started the engine and began the drive, he spoke.

"How you hangin' in there?" He tried to get her eyes on his, but she avoided his gaze as she sighed.

"I'm ready for this to be over." The honesty couldn't be filtered when she hardly had the energy to speak.

Nick swallowed hard. "Me too."

The headlights of the vehicles they met were so bright that they pained Olivia's head. She squinted as they continued the onslaught of her headache. The way she felt made her want to cry and explode in anger all at the same time. This time, she couldn't hide anything, not any one emotion from her squad. They each knew what she was thinking just by the look in her eye. And that was ok. They'd showed her that they didn't think any less of her after all that had happened the past year.

"Liv, we'll find him." Nick's assurance was small.

"We'll see." Olivia didn't bother sugar-coating what she believed. They would never catch him - not before he killed someone else. Maybe not even then.

Nick changed the subject. "Is Brian home tonight?"

Olivia took a deep breath. She was looking forward to Brian's company at home that night. He'd told her that he was going to be home no later than 8:00. With that thought, she nodded. "Yeah."

Nick let her rest then, unwilling to cause her to expel any more effort to speaking dismally. The storm ripped the sky open, pouring buckets of rain down upon New York City. Even the smallest smell of the damp air took Olivia back to the day Nick himself had walked her out of the house in which Lewis had almost taken everything from her. The flashback played over and over until Nick stopped the car in front of her building.

The officers on protective detail in the three cars behind them pulled into parking spots around the perimeter.

"Maybe tomorrow will be the day." He hoped it was - the day they caught Lewis, or at least someone did.

Olivia finally met his eyes, trying to offer a weak smile accompanied with a single nod. "Maybe." She moved to open the door, but stopped. "Nick if anything happens -" something about that night was different than all the others. She felt something pressing down. Something was going to happen. Every nerve in her body was on overdrive.

"- none of this is your fault. It never was."

The thought that Olivia could read him as well as he could read her never crossed his mind, until then. She could see the guilt in his eyes. She could feel it radiating off his body. Another swallow did nothing to remove the marble in his throat. It kept him from talking, but a strangled answer made its way out.

"I know. Liv, maybe I should stay. Just until Brian gets home."

Olivia smiled just a little at his comment. He'd stayed with her the past two evenings until Brian had arrived home. "You know, he's going to be home any minute. Protective detail won't let anyone else in. I'll be ok. But thanks, Nick. You go home - get some rest."

Olivia reached over to touch his arm for but a second. "Goodnight." Olivia left him in the car, jogging into the building to get out of Mother Nature's shower.

He watched her frame disappear into the building. Someday, he'd hear her laugh again. One day, he would see that beautiful, full smile she brightened the world with.

Olivia took the stairs up to her and Brian's fourth floor apartment. The hallways were darker than she'd remembered, everything was. Exhaustion crept into her bloodstream as she took the key out of her bag. Her hand unlocked the door of her home shakily, but she let herself in. It was empty, like most other nights when she came home.

She checked her watch. 7:48. Brian had to have been on his way home. She would be able to hug him soon, have the comfort only he could offer. A couple dim lights switched on when her hand caught the light-switch panel inside the door. Thunder from the storm rumbled around the city, causing the floor of the apartment to vibrate a little.

It didn't phase her. Her legs took her across the floor to where the kitchen was illuminated. She leaned against the counter waiting for the door to open. Her phone rang moments after she'd stepped in.

"Liv. Listen, Tucker is on my ass for these nights I've been taking off. We're short staffed and he's making me pull a double. I'm chained to this desk until 6:00 A.M. tomorrow."

Her shoulders fell. She tried to hide her disappointment. "Well I guess I'll see you then."

Brian knew. "I'm sorry, Liv. I did everything I could to change his mind. But you know Tucker."

She nodded. "I do. I'll see you tomorrow then, Brian."

"Alright. Goodnight, Liv."

She hung up before he could ask if Nick was there with her. She assumed he thought that Nick was with her like he was every other night. Right then, she needed to be alone - alone with her thoughts, her fears.

From the cupboard above the coffee maker, Olivia grabbed a fresh bottle of wine. From the drawer just below her she retrieved the opener. Her mind wouldn't let herself be reminded that her mother before her had depended on alcohol to survive. Olivia pushed that out of her thoughts. She needed an escape and that's the only way she felt she could find one.

The first glass was gone in under two minutes. It didn't burn as it went down her throat. It didn't give her a calm feeling as it settled in the pit of her stomach. Something was going to go wrong. Her bones shivered even in the warmth of the room. It would be tonight.

The strong spring storm threw wind gusts at the high-rising building of Lower Manhattan. The sheets of rain coming down blurred the view of the city's lights to faded shades of white and blue. Bolts of lightning lit up the sky faintly, with streaks reaching the ocean turning the entire sky into daylight.

The electricity it sent through the streets had no one to touch. Every street was abandoned as the weather grew increasingly dark. That very darkness swallowed everything bright that had been blooming during the beautiful day. The warm rays of the sun were gone. The reflections of the rays from the windows in the buildings had turned to flashes that cast terrifying shapes upon them.

Night wasn't the same as day. It washed away every bit of comfort that the day brought. Night was unforgiving.

Brian, in his desk during that storm, couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to where he knew Olivia was sitting in their apartment - alone. He wanted it all to be over. It should have been over four months before when Lewis had been put away at last. Olivia had believed it. So had he.

It killed him to see her fearing for her life again, that man sucking all the energy from her without even confronting her. The thing that scared Brian the most was the idea that Lewis would come back for Olivia, or that he was already trying to get her back. And what if he did? What if that beast had another chance to kill her?

If Lewis ever took Olivia's life, Brian knew his own life would be gone as well.

Olivia sat down on the couch to drink what she could. Sheets of rain driven by the wind slammed into the windows every once in a while, startling her. With sighs of frustration, she'd try and calm herself. Every noise, every shadow on the wall was him. Lewis was coming back. There was no proof of that, but Olivia had no doubt in her mind. As a man of his word, William Lewis would drive her to the point where she had to give in before being driven mad.

At 9:40, her cellphone rang. The glass of wine she'd been holding left her hands on the coffee table as she turned her phone over to find a number she didn't recognize. Not thinking twice, she answered.

"Sergeant Benson." How she hoped it was a call back to work. Her mind couldn't take the down time no matter how tired her body felt. There was nothing she could do to rest.

The chills that went down her spine made her entire body shake as the voice on the other end answered.

"Well well. Sergeant Benson? It's been a long time."

Nothing could convince her that she was hearing things. It was for real this time. Olivia's mouth had gone dry, hanging open in an attempt to reply. On a shaky breath, a word came out: his name.

"Lewis."