52nd Street

Saturday November 6th

6:29 P.M.

Two pairs of feet pound down the cold New York cement. Sharp, bitter air enters his chest as he runs forward in hatred for the man in front of him, letting nothing hold him back. The man seems to be miles away, but he's gaining. He slowly turns his head in such a casual way to give a sly grin to the chaser. This was a fatal mistake. He had gone too far.

Elliot could feel the rage overflow into his legs, moving him faster and faster to the smirking face running in front of him. Elliot dogged left, right, up over trash cans pushed over to slow him down, but Elliot was too pissed to let this guy go. The cold air and his weakening legs couldn't even hold him back.

Elliot raced forward, knowing that he had to get that grinning bastard, no matter the cost to himself. He made a promise, and he wasn't about to go against it.

SVU Squad Room

Tuesday October 3rd

8:56 A.M.

"Hey Liv, want to some coffee?" Elliot asked as he rose to get fresh a cup for himself. His partner looked like she wasn't even close to awake.

"Liv," Elliot attempts again, still without a response. He grabs a pen and throws it at her. He laughs as it hits her square on the forehead. Without needing to open her eyes, his partner responds, "Elliot… yeah, I want coffee, but do you always have to throw a damn pen! I gave you that stress ball for a reason!"

Elliot laughed again, "I though it was for stress, not to wake you up for coffee." Olivia rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at her partner's antics. She grabbed the stress ball that she had given Elliot after getting a bruise on her forehead from Elliot's daily pen throwing to wake her up for coffee. She gave it a good squeeze, and then launched it at her partner.

It would have hit him square on, but just in time he ducked down. At the same time Cragen came out of his office, heading to Elliot and Olivia's desks. He arrived just in time to have a stress ball hit him square in the face. Olivia clamped her hands to her face in an attempt to hold back her giggling, "I'm so sorry Captain!"

"Sure you are," Elliot said joining in on Olivia's laughter. Cragen raised a suspicious eyebrow at the two, but dismissed his thoughts.

"I have a case for you two. Head down to St. Mercy to talk to the victim." He said as he handed the closer of the two, Elliot, a piece of paper with the information they needed to find the victim. Elliot and Olivia seized their coats and left for the hospital.

"Heh, so I'm not the only one seeing it?"

"Huh? Seeing what?" Cragen questioned as he turned to face who had just spoke to him.

"I saw you watching them from your office, and the look you gave them as they had their giggle fit. You're thinking the same thing as me."

"Yeah, I know I am John, but those two know what they're doing. I trust them. They love their jobs too much to put it on the line." He said with an uncertain sigh.

"They do, but that doesn't mean that they won't." Munch said as he starred down Cragen. They both knew he was right.

"Let's just hope whatever their choice, it works out for the better." Cragen said as he walked back into his office to attempt to finish more work.

St. Mercy's Hospital

Tuesday 3rd

9:32 A.M.

"Hello, can I help you?" a nurse behind the white nurses' station counter asked as she saw a man and a woman approach in suits, looking very serious.

"Yes, I'm Detective Olivia Benson, and this is my partner Detective Elliot Stabler. We're here to talk to Mary Lemquise." Olivia explained to the nurse as both she and Elliot showed their badges.

"Oh, yes. I was told you were coming, she's in room 527. Take the elevator to floor five and then go to your right."

"Thank you." Elliot said with a nod as they headed to the elevator. Olivia pushed the up button for the elevator as they both waited. "Hey Elliot, did you see that look Cragen gave us at the precinct? " Elliot thought she sounded confused, almost concerned.

"Yeah," Elliot answered as they stepped into the elevator, pushing the button for the fifth floor, "and I don't have a clue what it was for. I though he was just looking at us for laughing at him, but… it looked like it held something more."

"I know what you mean, he looked almost worried. Maybe it's just about the case?" she said hopefully.

"No," Elliot said without doubt or hesitation, "Cragen has a different look to him when he's worried about a case. That look, it was… more of a personal worried look."

"But why would he have any personal worries about us?" she asked, slightly bewildered, as they stepped off the elevator.

"I don't know Liv, but it can't be good."

They both walked into room 527, still lost in the thoughts of Cragen's worried look, but soon forgot all about it as they saw their victim.

She had numerous defensive wounds all over her arms and a large bruise covering most of her left cheek. "Mary Lemquise? I'm Detective Elliot Stabler, and this is my partner Detective Olivia Benson." Elliot said as they moved slowly to the side of Mary's bed.

"Hi…" she said in a hushed voice with a small bit of fear in it. Elliot gave her a reassuring smile as pulled out his notebook to signal Olivia to start the questioning. "Hi Mary, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling ok I guess."

"I'm glad to hear that," Olivia said with a smile to try to comfort the young victim. "Now Marry, can you tell us what happened?"

"Yeah… I was at home alone when there was a knock on the door. My parents had left me some money a note telling me they were both working late, and that I could order pizza for dinner.

I opened the door, thinking it was the pizza man, but the man at the door didn't have a box with him. He smiled at me and said, 'Girls left home alone, such a pity." Then he grabbed me and forced me into a black car." She took a pause here, taking a deep breath. Olivia and Elliot though she was starting to breakdown, but instead her eyes filled with anger.

"That man," she spat out at the detectives, "took me to a place he called a home for girls that were abandoned. I slapped him and screamed at him when he said that that was the name of the place where I was. I knew my parents wouldn't abandon me, ever.

At first he glared at me, but then he smiled. Then he took me to a room all in black. He said this was the room for poor little girls in denial. He said that after a while in this room, I would know that he was right, that my parents had truly abandoned me.

He left me alone in the room. It was pitch black, with no light what-so-ever. I had to find my way around for a place to sit down. I found what felt like a bed and sat down to cry. I knew he had to be lying to me.

After a while later he came back in. He asked if I was out of denial yet. I screamed at him. I told him that I could never believe the lies that came out of his mouth. I told him I knew he was full of crap. But he just laughed and locked the door. He came over to me on the bed and laughed in my face. He said… 'Soon you'll believe'."

Mary took in another breath before continuing. "Then he grabbed my wrist and locked me into locks that were on the bed. He did the same with my legs. Then he pulled out a pair of scissors that were in his pocket and cut off my shirt and pants. Then he tore off my underwear."

Mary's eyes now filled with more rage than either of the detectives had ever seen from a victim. "He started to rape me, the whole time whispering into my ears how my mother thought I was a whore, my father thought I was a waste of space. He kept saying how they never loved me, and only kept me because I lowered their taxes.

He laughed and laughed and… and…" Mary began to sob uncontrollably. Olivia ran to her and held her in her arms. She looked over to Elliot who shared her look of pure terror at the idea of a man keeping young girls locked up in a house to rape.

"It's ok Mary. We can stop for now." Olivia said as she tightened her grip around Mary. "Shhh, it's ok Mary. You're safe now."

Chapter 2

Pam's Coffee and Cake Shop

Tuesday October 3rd

10:49 A.M.

Neither Elliot nor Olivia could go back to the precinct right away after hearing Mary's story.

"Liv…" Elliot said, trying to break the haunting silence between them. Olivia gave him a faint smile.

"Elliot… that girl, did you see, the rage in her eyes? She went though hell, but was hurt more by the thought of her parents leaving her than being raped. I never knew any child could feel that strongly about their parents…" she said as she took another sip of coffee.

"I know, I mean, I never hated my parents. Well, yeah, I did in the 'I'm-a-teen, parents-suck' stage of life, but I still loved them. Even still, I don't think I would ever react like she did to what that guy said to her." Elliot assumed as he looked into Olivia's eyes.

He knew what she was thinking. "Liv…" Elliot tried to find the words to say he knew what she was thinking, but was unsure how to do so safely.

"Look, Elliot, I know you know what I'm thinking. And don't try to sympathize with me about it. My mom was who she was, and I'm who I am…"Olivia starred him down. "Look, we need to get back. Cragen needs to know what we found out."

"You're right…" Elliot said with a sigh and stood up.

"Elliot…" Olivia said still in the booth. Elliot turned to face her. Olivia felt for this girl. All that Mary wanted was her mom and dad. "Let's get this guy."

Elliot smiled, he knew that Olivia's heart went out to Mary, and Olivia wouldn't take no for an answer to find this guy. "You got it partner. Oh, and Olivia, I'm glad you are who you are."

SVU Squad Room

Tuesday October 3rd

11:14 A.M.

Elliot relayed everything for John, Fin, and Cragen back at the squad room. All three had the same look of terror that Olivia and Elliot had in Mary's room.

"Marry must have one hell of a bond with her parents." Fin said looking over the notes Elliot had taken at the hospital. "Do we know anything about this guy?"

"We're going to have to visit her again. After she started to tell us what he did to her in the room, she broke down." Olivia said with a sigh. "The doctor on staff sent the rape kit to the lab and told us we could come back to see Mary once she was doing better."

"How long is that going to be?" John asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"We don't know. The doctor said he would call us." Elliot answered for Olivia. Cragen had a frown on his face as he listened to the details. "So, do we know where the parents are?" he asked.

"No, not yet. Mary only said that they had been working late the night she was taken." Elliot responded.

"Alright then, I want you and Olivia to get what you can on the mother. Fin, Munch, find what you can on the father." Cragen ordered as he went back into his office.

"Well, what did you find?" Cragen asked his team of detectives.

Munch started with what he and Fin had found. "It's you're average 40 year old male. Grew up in St. Louis, went to college at NYU, left college to marry his girlfriend, now wife, had only one daughter on the 25th of October in 1995, goes to work Monday though Friday as an owner of a school supply store called 'Teacher's" ."

"Did you find out anything to help us other than the fact that he likes erasers John?" Cragen asked slightly irritated.

"Yeah, we found out that the store has been closed since the 19th of last month. And that their neighbors haven't seen him, or her, since then either." Munch said with a bit of a smug look to Cragen.

"Ok, now we're getting some where. What did you two find?" Cragen asked as he turned to Elliot and Olivia.

"Well," Elliot started, "she's a native New Yorker that, as we know thanks to John, went to NYU, found love, then got married to her college love. She works at both her husband's store and at a book store called "The Book Worm" two doors down from her husband's store part-time. We called the bookstore, she hasn't shown up for work since the 20th . "

"Did you ask if she worked the day before?" Fin asked.

"When you told us about Mr. Lemquise not opening his store on the 19th, we asked the bookstore if Mrs. Lemquise had worked the 19th. They told us that she worked at her husband's store that day." Elliot responded with a grim look.

"So," Olivia jumped in with the same grave look, "that means that there's a chance that the two of them were abducted on the 19th. And I bet you that's the same day that Mary was too."

"So you think that the same guy took both Mary and her parents in the same day?" Cragen asked, all ready knowing that it was most likely true.

They all nodded in agreement with Cragen's question. "Ok then, I want you all to go down to 'Teacher's" and get me some clues to find this sick bastard."

Let me know what you think!