Title: LOVE is a Four Letter Word
Chapter One
Synopsis: When a girl is found murdered and possibly raped, the SVU squad is called in. While investigating the scene of an abandoned warehouse, it is discovered that the illegal sport of dog fighting takes place often there.
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Disclaimer: I do not own the SVU characters, much to my dismay.
A/N: So this plot idea has been circling around in my head and I've finally been un-lazy (is that a word?) and decided to type it up. I'm just going to jump right into the story, no prologue or anything like that. And just letting you all know, Elliot is /happily/ divorced yet still sees his kids every once and a while, aka whenever I feel like it.. ;D
WARNING: The story will be dealing with the horrors of animal abuse. If you can't handle the descriptions of dog fighting and the dogs, please don't read. Or at least skip the second half of this chapter.
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"Hey, what've we got?" Olivia Benson called to Melinda Warner, the Medical Examiner who was currently bent over an obviously dead body. Olivia and her partner flashed their badges at the uniformed officers and ducked under the crime scene tape. Blue and red flashes of light filled the still-dark area. It was early in the morning, just after five a.m.
Melinda stood up and nodded to the two detectives, glancing at her notes on the clipboard in her hands. "Just another young girl in her early twenties. Evidence of rape; bruises on her thighs and wrists. Her clothes are torn up pretty bad. The guy really bashed her up before he slit her throat." Melinda explained with a slight shrug, pointing to the slightly jagged dark red line. An assistant to the M.E. came over with a body bag. Olivia and Elliot quickly surveyed the young blonde before the medical examiner took her away.
"Any I.D.?" Elliot asked, looking around for a purse or wallet or something like that.
"Nope. Just the clothes she was wearing." Melinda shook her head. "Some slinky green dress. And it looks like the body was dumped. No blood splatter, but a trail leading from that building." She pointed to the east, where a beaten looking warehouse loomed in the fading darkness. Olivia and Elliot looked to each other and both shrugged, obviously thinking the same thing. Let's go check it out.
The building was about two to three hundred feet from where the body was found. The small road leading up to the warehouse was made of asphalt, but obviously very old and cracking, some pieces broken off in random places. Olivia and Elliot walked in the normal, comfortable silence, both scanning the ground for any clues or anything out of place. They were following a C.S.I, who was leading them along the trail of blood, which was abnormally straight. Few drops here and there, but always in a straight line, as if the perp (or whoever was carrying the body) was moving quickly.
"We're the first ones to check inside." The young C.S.I. informed the two detectives proudly. Olivia and Elliot raised their eyebrows at each other, not sure if that was a good thing or not. Who knows what they would find in there?
At first glance, it was just a dirty, musty, cobweb-filled, dank room. The three proceeded cautiously, and the C.S.I. had a bright flash light he was sweeping across the ground. A crunching of glass startled them all, and the C.S.I. made his way over to Elliot, who quickly backed up, only to step on more glass.
"It looks like a broken window…" Olivia concluded, bending down to examine the plates of glass which had been slipped out of the normal square frame. The C.S.I. pulled another flashlight from his jacket pocket and handed it to Olivia. She turned it on and shined it over the area. "I think we just found our murder weapon." Olivia said with a small smirk, walking a few feet to her left and bending down again. Large crates, boxes, and other junk piled against the far left wall. Among them were a few other windows, some of which were cracked. The broken window pane at Olivia's feet was smeared with blood around one edge. All of the glass was broken out, scattered in a few feet radius to where Elliot was standing. A dark, crimson red pool of blood was partially dried under the broken window and there were droplets splattered across the neighboring glass panes and wooden crates. The C.S.I. nodded, and then quickly left through the door they had come in, calling back to the detectives that he would get some people in here to secure it.
"Oh-kay…" Elliot said, looking around at the strange scene. This was different, and a little creepy. Olivia ran her flashlight over the area as she walked to one wall, the one towering with crates and boxes. She squinted at the squares, peering closely at what they used to hold inside.
"Hey, El, look at this…" Olivia didn't want to touch anything but there were hairs caught in the crate closest to where the broken window with blood was. "Long blonde hair." She smiled up at Elliot as he approached her and peered over her shoulder.
"There's more…" He said, pointing with a long finger over her shoulder to the inside of the crate. These hairs were shorter, smaller, and a dirty golden-brown. "Animal hair?" Elliot's voice was just higher then a whisper in her ear Olivia tired to ignore the closeness of her partner but it was so hard! She paused for a moment to regain her regular breathing pattern.
"Looks like it… Maybe a stray cat?" She offered after a second, blinking a few times to see straight again. Elliot couldn't help but smirk at the thought of making his partner weak for a second there. He caught it, knowing that if there was someone else around, they wouldn't have. Elliot always caught things like that, the little slipups Olivia made. She'd probably kick his ass if she knew that.
"Maybe." Elliot agreed, backing off. Olivia let out a quiet breath as he moved away. She stared at the group of hairs for a few seconds longer, hearing Elliot's careful footsteps travel along the wall and near the door. "Hey, Liv. There's a light switch…" Elliot called back to her, and then flicking the little lever up. It took a second for the large overhead bulbs to flicker on and the lighting was dim, around the edges anyway. In the center of the room there were more lights hooked up together, centered on the middle of the room. Both Elliot and Olivia approached the strange setup before them.
Everything was pushed up against the side walls and the ceiling was at its highest right above the spot with the most lights. The two detectives headed straight for the long wooden boards set up in a rough circle. The wood was old, and very worn. Olivia gasped as she came closer to it, realizing that the dark red-brown stains along the inside were dried blood. The faint stench of bleach hung in the air, but it didn't take away from the site in front of them. Scratches littered the panels of wood and dark paw prints splayed out in various places. Olivia wanted to throw up. Who the hell could possibly do this? It was the work of evil that was for sure.
"Oh my God…" Elliot muttered, careful not to touch anything as he slowly walked around the set up. "Dog fighting… It's illegal. We have to-"
"SHH!" Olivia waved her hand at him, her head turning to the back of the warehouse. "I heard something." She said quietly. With careful steps, she moved in the direction of the noise. And then she heard it again, a quiet yipping sound of a small dog. Quickly, Olivia followed the sound to a door in the darkness. The light bulbs had burnt out here on this side of the place. The door was closed so Olivia pulled a tissue out of her pocket before twisting the doorknob and swinging the door open. As if the fighting ring couldn't be enough of a site, this room was even worse. Olivia was frozen in shock. By this time, Elliot had caught up and peered around her. He muttered a few choice words before saying something about going to get help. Olivia heard his foot steps hurriedly rush across the large room and then out the door they had come in. She didn't move for a good minute.
Tight, wire metal cages lined the walls. The room was smaller then the first, only about half the size. But it gave the appearance of a closet with the amount of stuff shoved against all four walls. At least twenty pairs of eyes gleamed in the darkness at Olivia. As she took a step into the room, the creature in the cage closest to her growled quietly. Most of them backed up, not very far as the cages were only big enough for them to stand in. There was a light switch next to her and Olivia turned it on, letting more light flood the room. The stench was horrible, a hand rushing up to cover her nose and mouth. She took a few more steps in the room, surveying the dogs inside their prisons. Most appeared to be pit bulls, or a mix thereof. At the end of the room was a larger cage, and Olivia choked on a sob as she saw what was inside.
A pair of golden amber eyes peered up at her with a small, wagging tail. The little golden retriever puppy had slightly matted fur and looked to only be about five or six weeks old. She reached out with a shaky hand to pet the little thing. And at first, Olivia thought he was alone, until she peered back into the cage at the three other unmoving little bodies.
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"Olivia?" Elliot called, coming back into the warehouse. A large group of C.S.I.s filed in after him. Elliot saw the light on in the other room and he rushed over to it, wondering what other surprises could possibly be hiding in this place. He found out soon enough, totally unprepared for the sight before him. He had to take a step back and catch his breath before he could reach Olivia, who was huddled over the cage of the little golden puppy. "Liv?" Elliot moved closer to her once he regained his balance.
"Oh God, Elliot look at her!" Her voice was shaky and as she lifted her head, Elliot could see tears in her eyes, a few rolling down her cheeks. The little puppy leaped up at the door of the metal cage and tried to lick Olivia's face. She settled on Elliot's hand, which was resting on the side as he bent over. The other hand was comfortingly on Olivia's shoulder. Elliot's jaw clenched, thinking about the bastard who did this. Or bastards. And then his face softened with a sigh and he unlatched the door of the cage. The golden puppy's tail was swishing furiously back and forth and it leaped up at Olivia and Elliot graciously. A small smile spread on Olivia's face and she picked the puppy up, cuddling it to her face.
"Who ever did this is getting the needle." Elliot said solemnly, a hand reaching out to scratch the puppy's ears.
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Please Review! I hope it was okay :o