"Olivia!" the chief shouted loudly at a figure sitting slumped on top of a desk, surrounded by coffee, case files, and more Excedrin than a OTC Pharmacy.

"Chief?" she questioned, lifting her head slowly off her desk. The over tiredness felt just like a migraine and a hangover pushed together. She had purple swollen bags under her eyes and her hair was stringy and messy. "What's up?"

"Liv, go home… We're set for the night. We'll call if we need anything," the chief looked at her face for some sort of reaction, but the only one he got was a defiant one. "Please, you're overworked and I'm going to get in trouble."

"Fine, fine. Give me a second and I'll go."

"I'll call a cab if you—"

"No, I'm walking. I don't need one," Olivia slurred, putting on her jacket. She grabbed her taser and looked to the chief for approval. He nodded and she stalked off toward the exit, almost plowing over Elliot in the process.

"Liv! I thought you left hours ago…" he said, bewildered. She stared up at him.

"Oh, you have no idea…"

"Do you need me to walk with you? You look rather tired," Elliot asked.

"Ok, what part of NO don't you people understand?"

"Fine, call me if you find trouble," Elliot winked and walked upstairs with the coffee he was holding. Olivia silently wished she had one.

Out on the street, she stalked quickly and silently for blocks and blocks. People passed her going out to dinner, heading to the movies, going to clubs, and here she was only going home. She paused briefly to check her watch, which said seven fifteen. She sighed deeply, wishing only for a social life, oh, and a nice warm bed wouldn't be bad either. There was one place on the way home where she always held her breath on the way past. It was an old scene of hers, one where the victim was so badly beaten, they didn't know who she was or how she got there. All Olivia knew was at least that perp was in jail. It was still a scary corner though, with both houses on either side boarded up and they looked like they hadn't been lived in for ages. There were breaks in the boards of the better looking one, though, and this scared Olivia. After all, even if she was trained, she was a girl, tired, and running only off barrowed time from her last cup o' Joe. She safely maneuvered the corner, but as she let out her breath, something attacked her from behind. She tried to pull a defensive movement, but the man was just as fast as she was.

"Ahhhh!" she shouted, which prompted her attacker to start swiping at her pockets, while Olivia fumbled desperately with the taser. Unfortunately, she missed him by mere millimeters and somehow the attacker swiped it. No, oh no… Olivia thought helplessly. Her last memories were a jolt followed by her head hitting the blunt wall of one of the buildings.

The cold winter night came and went in NYC as it had for years and years, but something didn't feel right to Elliot Stabler as he walked out of the precinct at seven fifteen the following morning. It was strange for Olivia to be late, so he thought a wake up call was in order. He quickly typed her personal cell number, carefully memorized, into his phone.

"Hi! This Is Liv Benson! Leave a message!" It beeped and Elliot was too shocked to leave a message, so he hung up. She never let her phone die… He tried her work number, but that phone was dead too. Strange, he thought. It has a twelve hour battery. It shouldn't have died unless, he gulped.

"Something's happened," he said to no one in particular. A passing mother gave him a funny look as she rolled her baby stroller toward the opposite corner. Elliot slowly started walking toward Liv's apartment, a place he had been called to several times whether for an escort to work on particularly hard cases, or even the occasional death threat or break in. About two doors from her apartment, a group stood staring at something on the sidewalk. Then someone, a younger woman who he recognized from Liv's building, was standing in front of him.

"You're a cop like Olivia right?" her voice was on the edge of hysteria and the other people turned to look at him. He nodded. "Then help her! Please!"

Elliot turned and saw the group of people had parted and lead straight up to a beat-up cardboard box, about the right size for an old computer, and a missing partner. Blood dripped from a corner. He eyed the younger woman suspiciously.

"Has anyone even BOTHERED to look in the box?!" his voice rose and the crowd cringed.

"No, no. Everyone has been too scared to even touch it. I think it's…" he listened to her right up until he put on his emergency pair of rubber gloves and opened the box.

"Liv!" he choked out. She looked horrible; almost beyond recognizable without her coat and pants she was wearing yesterday. The bottom of the box was soaked from blood and what almost smelled like gas, as if the suspect had bigger plans for this box. A red streak lead from behind the alley that lead to one of the houses he knew Olivia always kept an eye on as she walked past. What was she thinking? Assessing the fact that she was barely alive, he weighed his options. Ambulance? Too much time would pass. Pick her up? But, was her back or neck broken? His internal instincts took over and he called Cragen.

"Hello?"

"Cragen, we got a problem…" Elliot explained in brief and Cragen took in an uneasy breath.

"How much time does she have?"

"I don't, don't know," Elliot wavered.

"Time for an ambulance?"

"N-No."

"Stabler, what are you thinking then, MOVE!"

"No car."

"What?! You know what, El? I don't care. Get her out of there, NOW!" Elliot closed the phone and carefully picked up Olivia, who moaned slightly, and prominently threw up blood all over his shirt. He took of at a fast pace, the hospital being only ten or so blocks away.

"Don't worry, Olivia, I got you. It'll-be- OK."

"Elliot…I…I" she tried to respond, but her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Eventually Fin caught up with Elliot and the sped the rest of the way to the hospital. Upon arriving, the doctors and nurses took over. Elliot was getting only waves of what they were saying, being in an extreme case of shock.

"Her stats are…."

"Temp is…"

"Hypothermia on top of….."

"Oh my god how is she…."

"She's crashing!!! Find me a…"

Then, and only then, was Elliot aware he was screaming. This had to be a dream, or was it? His clothes stained with her blood, a potential cop killer on the loose, her, Olivia, oh my god… He finally blacked out. What happened after that, he didn't know until about four hours later.