Title: An Eye for an Eye
Chapter Title: Let It Snow (ch1)
Pairing: Elliot Stabler / Olivia Benson
Summary: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind!" –Alex Cabot, Law and Order: SVU
Rating: this story is rated R for sexual themes and some mild language
Disclaimer: I do not own, please do not sue!
An Eye for an Eye
"Benson," a tired Detective Olivia Benson answered her cell phone. It was around 2:00 in the morning and Olivia lay wrapped up in her coverlet, unwilling to move.
"Sorry Benson, but it's a rape homicide down on Bentley Ave between Forth and Fifth Street. Stabler will meet you there!" Olivia heard a click as Captain Cragen hung up the phone. Sighing, she rolled out of bed and grabbed some clothes.
The streets were totally clear except for snow and Olivia turned the heat up another notch or two. I hate winter! Benson thought, pulling her car up to the corner of Forth and Bentley. An ambulance was situated in front of a tall, brick, apartment building. It was ten stories tall, with mix matched curtains at the windows and flickering lights in a couple of windows.
A crowd of people were gathered at the end of the block, most dressed in pajamas with heavy, down jackets and snow boots. A large object, Olivia assumed to be the body, was covered by a heavy canvass blanket. Picking her way through dirt covered snow, Benson stopped next to an overweight policeman standing next to the ambulance.
"That's the body?" Olivia motioned to the object lying on the wet side-walk. The cop nodded and the pair took a few steps forward so that Benson could peek at the corpse.
Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia noticed a man kneel down besides her.
"What do we got?" Detective Elliot Stabler asked, taking a look at the body as well.
"Blonde female, I'm thinking about age 15, maybe younger." Olivia stood up and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call Cragen, tell him what we know!"
Elliot nodded and stood as well; he watched as his beautiful partner dialed the precinct's number by heart and waited for the Captain to answer. He watched her yawn into the chilly air leaving a cloud of mist in front of her.
"Hey Cap, yeah, he's here. Blonde female, 15 maybe, not much blood, we'll be back in a little bit. Okay cap, I'll call you again later."
The flip phone shut with a snap and Olivia turned back to her partner. She gave him a lopsided smile, trying to suppress another yawn.
"Hey Liv, did you see her eyes?" Elliot gently pulled his partner back towards the corpse and lifted the cover from her face.
"What eyes?" Olivia yawned, unable to hold it in any longer.
Elliot just nodded slowly and raised his eyebrows. He exhaled a long breath and patted his partner's arm.
"Oh my God!" Olivia muttered, rubbing her forehead, "She has no eyes."
Feeling slightly nauseous, Olivia Benson looked away while Elliot covered the victim again.
"Do we have a name yet for our Jane Doe?" Captain Cragen paced through the squad room holding a steaming cup of coffee and rubbing his sore temples.
"Munch and Fin are checking it out," Elliot replied, explaining why the other two detectives in the precinct weren't present at the time.
"We are assuming she lived with a guardian or parent being as she's a minor!" Olivia added, taking a long sip from her own mug.
Before anyone could say anything else, Detectives John Munch and Fin burst through the door and slapped a large file onto the desk the group had congregated around, Olivia's.
Fin slouched against a wall while Munch stood at the center of the group grinning like an idiot. The group stayed silent, waiting for an answer from the partners.
Finally the captain spoke up, "Well? Did you get identification?"
Munch wisely dropping his 1000-watt grin and cleared his throat a couple times.
"Yeah, um, her name is Virginia Thompson, age 16."
Elliot let out a low curse under his breath before jumping up from his perch on Olivia's desktop. Holding his head in his hands, Elliot stormed out of the squad room, narrowly missing Alex Cabot the DA rushing in. Olivia got up to follow after her partner but a voice stopped her.
"Benson, talk to Stabler now, but after, you two are heading to Bentley Ave again. Virginia's parents deserve to know. 111 Bentley Ave apartment 5C." The captain stated before turning back towards Alex Cabot.
Olivia nodded before running out the doors after her partner. She found him leaning against the white washed wall, hands in pockets, eyes turned on the few snowflakes starting to fall from the gray New York sky.
"El," she soothed, placing a comforting hand on his strong shoulder. "El, what's wrong?"
Her partner whirled around quickly, grabbing a hold of her wrists. Gulping, Olivia found her back pressed against the cold wall, Elliot body only inches away from her own. Her pulse quickened, as his penetrating eyes drilled into hers.
"That girl is only a year older than my daughter Kathleen, Benson! That could've been her for all I know!" His breath was ragged, as he tried to pull himself together. "I haven't seen her for three months, or Dickey or Elizabeth. I'm falling apart here Liv!"
Olivia Benson followed Elliot's eyes with her own. Matching stare for stare.
"What the hell do you mean Stabler?" Olivia snapped, wrenching her wrists away from him,
Elliot just gave her a sad smile, "Kathy kicked me out three months ago, Liv. I haven't seen them since." He pushed off of the wall and shoved his hands back into his pockets.
Olivia slid down the wall, holding her wrists, with her jaw still hanging open.
"Where do we have to go Benson?" Elliot asked, still oblivious to his partner's shock.
"Bentley," she choked out, struggling to stand up, refusing the helping hand her partner offered.
Elliot nodded and the two headed out for his brown sedan. The snow was falling heavily when the detectives pulled their car up in front of the tall brick apartment. Olivia rang up to the fifth floor to talk to the parents of Virginia Thompson and the partners headed up the five flights of stairs.
Olivia paused before knocking on the door to 5C and turned to Elliot.
"Why didn't you tell me El?" she made sure that their eyes locked and wouldn't let him look away.
He did anyways, "I guess I just thought that if I didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be real! Stupid I know, but I was blinded as a father!" Olivia squeezed his hand tightly in comfort before she smartly rapped on the door.
A tall, tottery, blonde woman opened the door, her clothes were a bit crumpled and she had large bags under her eyes. A Man walked up behind her, he was wearing a long, blue bathroom and his hair was wet. He glared at the detectives for a moment before walking away to return to his shower.
The woman gave a furtive glance at her husband's retreating back before turning back to the detectives. "I'm sorry, can I help you?" the woman tiredly asked, leaning on the doorframe for support.
Noticing that Elliot still looked upset, Olivia stepped forwards, "Sorry to bother you, I'm Detective Benson," she pointed at Elliot, "and this is Detective Stabler, we are from NYPDSVU," They showed the shocked woman their badges before Elliot finally added on to what Olivia said,
"We think we might have some information about your daughter, Virginia Thompson."
The woman turned deathly pale and motioned for the two detectives to come inside the apartment. She rushed around to make three cups of tea before sitting down on her couch, looking up at Benson and Stabler.
"Did you find my baby?" she held the tea in her hands, but didn't take a sip.
"Well, yes, and no," Olivia started, putting her mug down on the coffee table in front of Mrs. Thompson.
Elliot finished, "We found your daughter, but we found her before you filed a missing person's report."
Mrs. Thompson nodded, looking at her hands rather than the detectives, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out of her mouth.
"Mrs. Thompson," Olivia bent down next to the other woman, "Virginia was raped and murdered." The mother let out a choked sob and her face crumpled into tears of anguish. "I'm so sorry," Olivia began to say, but the woman cut her off with a smack to the face.
"What kind of cruel prank is this? You have no right to barge in here and tell me lies like this! Get out before I call the police!"
Elliot, who had caught his partner when she stumbled backwards, glared down at the distraught woman.
"Look lady, my whole damn job consists of finding victims of sexual assault, telling family members, and then finding the assholes who hurt them. It is against policy to hurt a woman unless in self defense, but I might just have to break that because of what you did. You just physically threatened a policy officer and I'm sorry but we're going to have to take you in."
Olivia stared in shock at the protective outburst from her handsome partner. He still had a strong arm around her waist to keep her standing and his glare was deadly.
"El," she murmured, "She was just an over reacting mother! Leave her alone!"
Elliot just shook his head, "She hurt you Liv. Besides, if she won't believe me, she can have a nice little chat with Cragen."
Unaware of the partner's conversation, Virginia's mother stood up defiantly.
"I want to talk to your supervisor," she spat out menacingly, "Now!"
"And anyways," Elliot continued to Olivia, "She wants to come!"
Captain Cragen glanced at the sinewy woman his two best detectives brought in before turning to them.
"What are you doing?" he hissed at Elliot, who had his hand on the cuffed woman's shoulder. "You weren't supposed to arrest the mother! She isn't a suspect!"
Elliot just unlocked the cuffs and led the woman into an interrogation room, leaving Olivia to tell the rest of the story to Cragen.
"She didn't believe what we told her, saying we made it all up and she'd call the police."
"But that gave Stabler no grounds to arrest the lady!" Cragen exploded, throwing his hands into the air. "I can smell a heavy lawsuit up ahead!"
"Actually I did have a reason, Benson just didn't tell you!" Cragen glared at Elliot, who had just stepped out of the interrogation room to join the two.
"And?" the captain pressed,
Elliot's eyes turned cold, "She assaulted Olivia!" He stated picking one finger up to trace the red spot on his partner's face.
"Physically?" Cragen asked, walking a tight circle around his only female officer.
"She only slapped me cap!" Olivia put in; feeling herself blush at the gentle touch Elliot gave her.
"Only? That's assault of a police officer; I want to talk to that lady myself! Benson, Stabler, I want you to go to this girl's school. See if any of her friends knew of someone stalking her. Our perp was probably a teenager, didn't use a condom!"
"Have we determined cause of death yet?" Elliot asked as he started to escort his partner out of the precinct.
Cragen nodded, "She was knocked unconscious and then left out in the cold while covered with water. Our girl was frozen to death. There was slight bleeding in her brain, from her empty eye sockets but that wasn't what killed her."
Trying to stifle an onset of yawns, Olivia nodded and dragged her partner out of the double doors. The pair again slid into Elliot's car where Olivia directed him towards a local high school. It was Tuesday and still before the beginnings of classes. Elliot muttered in disgust as he watched couples every where make out heavily. He had yet to see a teen guy there who wasn't copping a feel or locking lips with a girl.
"Are you sure that this is the place?" he asked Olivia, standing close to her.
"Yup, this year's Science Fair Project was awarded to Virginia Thompson from this school! It was in her living room!" Olivia picked her way around sprawling teenagers, over to a tall, good looking boy standing near the school entrance without a girl on his arm.
"My name is Detective Benson, this is Detective Stabler, can we ask you a few questions?" the boy nodded in answer to Olivia's question and shoved his hands deep into his jean pockets. "Did you know a Virginia Thompson?" she asked pushing her hands into her pockets as well.
Again the boy nodded, "Of course I do, we've been going out since August!" he answered nonchalantly. Elliot stepped a bit forward.
"When was the last time you saw her?" Elliot asked the boy,
He shrugged "Yesterday at school! Why?"
"Standard procedure!" Olivia ventured before asking another question, "Did she ever talk about anyone following her around?"
Again the boy nodded, "Some guy, she pointed him out on a couple of our dates, saying that he was following her. It never struck me that he was stalking her though."
"Did this guy ever talk to Virginia or you?" The boy shook his head.
"He was weird though, once, we were at the movies and there was a close up of this girl's eyes. This guy started jerking off two rows behind us. Ginny and I left the theatre, it was disgusting!"
Elliot leaned over to whisper something into Olivia's ear. "You do know that we can arrest our perp for that alone!" Olivia nodded slightly and turned back to the boy.
"What's your name?" she asked taking a step closer to him and away from Elliot.
"Daniel Spade, but my friends call me Danny." He slouched against the crumbly stone wall of the school and looked Olivia straight in the eye.
"So Danny, do you think you could describe this man to us?" Elliot asked for his partner, allowing her to turn away and yawn.
Danny shrugged noncommittally, "Maybe," he answered, "He was tall, about 6'3" and overweight. He had brown hair and a short beard. I never saw his face because he always wore a Yankees baseball cap." Danny shrugged again, "Sorry if that's not very helpful!"
"No, that's great Danny," Olivia smiled at him, "Could you guess his age, maybe saw a dog he had or the type of car he drove?"
"Yeah," Danny replied, "he was about 50, maybe younger. I'm not sure the make of his car but I know the plate numbers. They were New York plates EYE 246"
Olivia thanked the boy before turning back to Elliot. The partner's walked down the front steps of the school and back to Elliot's car. Once inside, Olivia pulled out her phone to call Cragen.
"We got a suspect; we know his plate number and a general description. Okay Cap, see you around."
Olivia hung up the phone and began to fiddle with Elliot's radio, trying to find Christmas carols. She finally settled on a station playing Let It Snow and sat in the passenger seat, humming along with the radio. Elliot glanced over at his partner. The cold sunlight was pouring over her hair and it almost looked like she had a halo on her head.
An angel without wings, Elliot mused to himself, pushing the thought away as Olivia stopped humming and began singing the words.
He pulled the car up at the precinct and turned off the engine, letting the radio play the last few lines with his gorgeous partner.
"Well the fire is slowly dying, and my dear we're still goodbying; but as long as you love me so, Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
To Be Continued in next chapter
A/N: Please review! This is only my second fic so please check out my first one called The Someone Else.
P.S. The summary is taken from an actual Law and Order: SVU show although I can't remember which one! The line was written by Dick Wolf but this story is mine!