Bad Men: An SVU Fan Fiction by Vandaline Z. Terrice Disclaimer- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and it's cast of characters belong to NBC and Dick Wolf. I am only borrowing them for mere fun and pleasure and promise to return them with as little harm inflicted as possible. Ellandra Seymour, however, is my creation, so whatever torture I bring to her life is my choice, and ha, ha, ha there will be no mercy :o)

Bad Men


Prologue

Bronx Storage & Supplies Inc.
Park Av.
Saturday, April 21st

Eric William Stanberry was a good kid. Usually. He would on occasion disobey his mother, but never to spite her. His was only ten, so that wouldn't start for another two to three years. Until then, he was usually a good kid.

This moment, however, his mother would not put in the 'usually' category. In fact if his mother had know what he and his friends, Teddy and Jamal, were up to at this very moment, and she survived the inevitable heart attack that followed such a discovery, she would have locked him up in his room for a very, very, very long time and forbid him to see Teddy and Jamal ever again.

The three of them were embarking on a mission innocent enough to young children who had seen too many Disney films and had not enough sense to pay attention to the lives outside their third floor Bronx views.

They were going to see the Bad Man, so called because the only shirt he ever wore was emblazoned with the words "Bad Man" in maroon. They didn't have an appointment or anything. It was a dare from a couple of bullies from school. The had to go to where the Bad Man lived and steal something. Teddy and Jamal hoped he slept in something other than his tee-shirt. They were dreaming of becoming school legends.

Eric just hoped he was dreaming.

The three of the rounded the corner and saw the school to their right. They all looked to the left, at an alley where the Bad Man supposedly lived.

Eric's stomach hurt. "Hey, guys, come on." he was whispering, though just why he didn't know. "Let's just go back. Please."

Teddy looked at him, his brown eyes boring into Eric's. "Don't be such a friggin' pussy, Eric. What do you think David and Gator will do to us if we don't bring something back?"

"I told you, we'll fake it."

"With what? One of your mother's Ginsu knives? You gonna tell them he started chasing us with it and we tripped him and he dropped it and we took it and ran?"

Actually, Eric had been thinking of something less dramatic.

Jamal looked at them. "Let's do this. Come on."

They crossed the deserted street and walked into the alley. There weren't any people milling around or bonfires in barrels like he'd seen in the movies. It was just dark. Somehow that was creepier. Scarier.

"Okay guys," Teddy said in a harsh whisper, giving Eric a start. "Equipment."

Jamal got his penlight and Eric got his pepper-spray, while Teddy twirled the baseball bat in his hand. Eric thought he did it to look tough and bad, but to Eric, Teddy looked just as scared as he was. Maybe Teddy and Jamal were.

Teddy looked at him and Jamal. "Remember, the tee-shirt is the main objective here, got me soldiers?"

Jamal nodded, but Eric couldn't see the logic. "What are the odds Bad Man sleeps in jama's, Teddy? He's homeless. He ain't got nothing. And he sure won't be sleeping butt nude in this weather."

"Hey, man, get off my back. I said main objective. We're going for anything that can prove we were here."

"We should have taken your dad's video camera." Eric said slipping the safety off the spray.

"Right, man. Sure. My dad would have killed me."

"Yeah, well, Ban Man's gonna kill all of us, here."

Jamal turned to them both, shining the pen light on them. "Shut the damn hell up. Both of you. You wanna talk being pussy, Teddy, you should have brought your dad's stupid camera."

Teddy looked chastised. "Whatever, man."

Jamal ignored him. "Anyway, we're here." He pointed to the warehouse. "So, now what?"

Teddy looked unsure. "We go in," he said, his voice wavering, exposing the fear inside.

Jamal opened the unlocked warehouse door. It creaked loudly and the three kids jumped back.

"Shit!" whispered Teddy. Eric thought about asking him where, but now was definitely not the time.

"Jamal." Teddy was looking left and right, his eyes wary for the first sign of movement. "Just open it a little further, and we can squeeze in."

Jamal nodded and slowly opened another six inches. Eric breathed a sigh of relief when the door moved without a sound.

Jamal got out two jump-ropes tied into one long length and the three of them silently tied it around their waists. Teddy then nodded and went it. They had agreed earlier that day that it would be him to avoid a loud argument at the warehouse.

Jamal followed and Eric brought up the rear with his finger on the trigger of the pepper gas. Jamal's penlight, used instead of a flashlight because they thought a flashlight would be too easily seen, did nothing to brighten the area. He shrugged and turned it off, putting it in his pocket. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the night, and they could see around in the warehouse pretty well.

Eric looked around, then summoned the courage to speak. "I don't see him. Or the shirt."

Jamal shook his head, and Teddy, still looking ahead with his baseball bat said, "Maybe he's not here."

That's when Eric suddenly went cold. He heard someone breathing behind him. He spun around, throwing his friends off balance, and faced the man that was right behind him. Before he could scream he saw the man's hand raise in a fist towards his face. Eric's head started briefly to hurt, and he fell to the floor. For a moment, he heard Jamal and Teddy yelling his name and felt a tug and release as the jump-rope snapped. Then his world went dark.