Heartbeat

Chapter 2: Unchartered Waters

By: Sarah Carey

As the unmarked van pulled to the surrounding perimeter, they were quickly spotted by local news cameras. Fin pulled the van around the block, attempting to find a different way into the chaos that had erupted in the south Bronx. The word had quickly spread, turning viral news that a catholic charter school was under lock down. The media spun the tale that there was an armed shooter, but thanks to Captain Murphy, the SVU team knew better.

The old boss had still been under cover, attempting to track the sex trafficking ring all the way to its core. Evidently, some of the members were working as teachers in said school, allowing them their pick of which students to smuggle into the ring. Though Olivia did wonder how they had managed to hide in plain sight for so long.

"It looks like this alley is as far as we're gonna get," Fin offered, speaking over the sirens and helicopters above. Liv nodded from the passenger seat, looking in the back to Carisi and two other officers who had volunteered for the trip. John and Mark often assisted on a hand full of things in there past few months at SVU, but they were still the newbies.

"I'm only going to offer this once, because once we're in there you don't have the liberty to change your mind. This is, a rogue operation, violating a direct order. If you choose to follow me in there, you must understand that,-" Liv was speaking calmly and concisely. They had no back up, if they were going in they were not only going in blind, but they were going in without the support of the NYPD. If things were to go badly, there's a chance they may not make it out.

"Lieu," Fin began, "We ain't just doing this for you baby. It's a school full of middle school kids, we have don't have a choice,"

"Yeah, I mean what if it was Noah, or Jessie?" Carisi added as an afterthought. "Besides," he said shaking the aforementioned idea of Jessie from his mind, "we trust your lead boss, we follow you," he continued, as the other officers in the back seat nodded.

"I got your back," Fin said, securing his bullet proof vest without making eye contact. Their bond was the longest one she had at SVU, and it was by far the most unique. Fin didn't use his words to communicate, he used his actions. Him being here as her Sergeant, understanding far better than any of their younger officers what was at stake, spoke volumes to his loyalty to her.

Liv didn't allow the moment to sink in, because if she did she feared it would made her too emotional. This team, her squad, had become so much more than a bunch of fellow officers who worked together. It reminded her of a time when her bond with Elliot ran so deep, it was more than being friends. But now, that band of closeness, the one she only let stretch to Elliot, was stretched to encompass more; it was a bond she shared with her entire team. And she knew it was why they all worked so well together.

They were here risking their shields, their reputations, and their lives because of their faith in her. They knew that even when the lines seemed blurred for them, Olivia would always lead them to do what was right.

Carisi nodded to his other officers, and opened the back of the van getting out swiftly as the three of them took off on foot to access the situation. Fin and Liv stayed back to study the blue prints Rollins had printed out. They didn't have eyes they could trust on the scene.

There was no one else from Manhattan there, and Murphy had made it clear that the Bronx SVU and their PD unit had been infiltrated. There were members of the ring working within the ranks, and it solidified that they couldn't be trusted to have their backs. Anyone could turn on them at any moment. Within twenty minutes Carisi and the two agents were back, sliding the van doors shut behind them.

"There's two officers west side of the cafeteria, guarding the emergency exits to the road. If we can take them out, with Murphy having disabled the alarms, we should be able to jack open those doors, and free some of the kids," Carisi began, explaining what their search had revealed to them. "But Lieu, ESU is on their way we have to move now, or we're gonna lose our blind spot to get in,"

"All right, Murphy is going to make sure we get in the door, but after that, we're on our own. They still believe he's one of them, so we'll have to make sure there are no slip ups. Carisi you and I will go in first, we need to see how many guards are blocking the cafeteria doors, and how many are inside before we can start letting the kids out," She suggested.

"Fin, you John and Mark take point outside the Cafeteria. I'll need you there to guard the kids and make sure they come out safely. After the kids are secured, I'll find Lucia. But don't move in until we give you our signal."

"We're ready boss,"Fin offered, and as Olivia opened the door to step out she felt a hand on her arm and turned back, "Be careful Liv," he said softly, nodding firmly at her.

She offered a half smile, "You too Oda."

Before anyone could say any more, Olivia was out the door not bothering to make sure Carisi was behind her. After dash and run moves between various trees, signs, cars, and buildings they had approached a safe space against the far wall of the exit instructed to them by Murphy. Olivia leaned carefully, glancing in and catching his eye. He gave her barely seen 'no', and she quickly leaned down out of sight.

"You good Carisi?" Liv asked noticing the sweat beading off his forehead. But before he could answer they were interrupted by a light six tap knock, on the door. Olivia tapped back, altering him that they were still there, and before she could finish the door opened as he pulled them swiftly inside.

"There's a dozen," Murphy began, skipping introductions. "Two in the principal's office holding some hostages," he explained pointing in the corresponding direction with his machine gun. "Two in the auditorium guarding the exit door and there's got to be twenty kids in there." He explained, wiping the sweat on his forehead.

"The other two exits, 1 and 4 each have a gunman at them, but now that you're here I can go take of them. The rest of the kids are in the cafeteria. Two at the exits, and four inside keeping them quiet. If you go this way," he pointed, "it'll take you to the auditorium, and then eventually the cafeteria."

Liv and Carisi listened intently, feeling their heartbeats speed as their adrenaline was in full force. They weren't sure what they were expecting, but hearing that there was a dozen armed sex traffickers holding students hostage, was more than they had initially assumed. The fight was going to be three against twelve, and they didn't have anyone to call for back up.

"Look I know we're out numbered," Murphy began, seeing the trepidation across their faces, "So we work quiet, we work smart, and trust our training and we'll get these kids out of here alive. Hell maybe with some luck we may actually make it out of here too."

Liv offered him a halfhearted nod and they turned in opposite directions to wondering if it would be the last time. Although when she thought of Noah she could feel her heart almost burst. Her sweet boy, alone in this world. Would Amanda take him? She had hoped she would, he always loved Jessie and his Aunt Amanda.

When they rounded the first corner Liv took the lead, trusting Carisi to guard her backside. After three more hallways, he saw her tense and pull back swiftly as she ducked her head around the corner. When she turned back to Carisi she nodded, signaling their first gunman was directly around the corner.

They had finally breached the auditorium. What was it Murphy has said, she thought back making sure she had every piece of information. They were going to have to make the best possible calls with the information they had, which wasn't much.

It finally made sense to her how dangerous it all was. Why there were teams put in place to access such matters. Their lives were always on the line in this job, but never like they were now. If they made one mistake, one slip up, they could die. If they were trapped, there wouldn't be anyone to know to even come looking for them.

Carisi grabbed his baton, and motioned without touching anything, that he wanted to tap on the lockers. Perhaps the noise would trigger one of the gunman to come around the corner, allowing Liv to grab and restrain him. Liv, understanding his thoughts nodded but placed her hand in the air, her finger pointing to give her a minute. He could tell from the slight tremor there that she was scared, and the thought terrified him.

There wasn't any real moments in the past that he could remember his Lieutenant being afraid. But the fact that even though she was afraid and she was here anyway, gave him hope. These kids had a real life superhero coming to fight for them, and he knew because of her, they stood a chance.

She grabbed her gun holster, unclipping her gun but not removing it, and she stepped back, motioning for Carisi to begin tapping. He pulled his gun towards the open corner with open hand, and began a tapping like noise against the metal lockers with his baton, hearing the noise echo the hall, sending a shiver down their spines.

They heard a voice of one of the gunman call in a language that sounded like Russian, once, then twice, waiting for the explanation of the noise from what they assumed would be another one of their members. However, when no response was made, a skimpy strung out looking gunman turned the corner, shocked, and stumbling into Olivia.

He opened his mouth to yell and before he could Olivia pulled her gun, smacking him in the head, rendering him unconscious. She sort of half dropped him, unprepared with how quickly his body slumped against her pushing her into the lockers on his journey to the ground. The sound her body hitting the metal alerted the other gunman and he yelled after his companion, soon following in his footsteps.

Carisi ran up swiftly, as Liv attempted to untangle her feet from the first gunman's limp body and mirrored her actions, knocking him unconscious but not before he yelled out something he didn't understand. Reaching into her pockets she removed the zip ties she had taken from the van, securing their hands and feet, and pushing them against the wall while Carisi held point. They weren't sure how far the cafeteria was from the auditorium and they didn't know if more people would soon be coming.

As soon as Liv was done she drew her gun, and stood back to back with Carisi as they each starred down the hallway waiting. After what felt like an eternity of listening to one another's breathing, they realized thankfully no one had heard them.

"Holy shit," Carisi letting out his breath, and leaning over to grab his knees. Liv wasn't sure if he was going to throw up, and she decided to just stand guard and give him a minute. "This is intense," he added needlessly. Suddenly he was regretting Liv's confidence in his ability to back her up. Why hadn't she taken Fin? He was far calmer under pressure.

"How are you so calm?" he asked her, no longer ashamed at his fear.

"Because Carisi, there's children in there who need us. We don't have time to be afraid. And even if we don't get any farther than this," she said motioning to the two men on the ground, "We helped our fellow officers save these kids. There's two less men that can hurt anyone," she offered, pulling her hair back and securing it. "Now are you ready?" she asked, offering him no more time to collect himself.

"Ready boss," he said feeling some of his confidence return to him. She was right. Even this small act, had accomplished something good. He just had to remind himself of the kids. That's why they were doing this. And Barba's mom; he wondered briefly if Barba had found out yet. But he was sure he had. It was all over the news now, and they could hear the helicopters, he was sure were both ESU and news agencies flying over the building.

They broached the auditorium doors, guns drawn as they swiftly stepped inside. The sight before them almost brought Olivia to tears. There was, as Murphy had guessed about twenty student, hovered in the center of the auditorium holding hands, praying. They looked up when they heard the doors open and Olivia and Carisi in unison motioning their finger to their lips. Pointing to her badge and Carisi pointing to the word Police printed on his bullet proof vest.

There was an audible gasp of relief when they walked up to them, motioning for them to all stand. After a few minutes of gathering information they discovered that there had been two men outside. Who each came in to check on them every few minutes, but they also learned that about every twenty minutes two guards would come down from what they thought was the Cafeteria, to make sure everything was under control. One of the children's mothers was a detective in the Bronx, and Olivia was grateful for the child's foresight to create a timeline.

However, this also meant they had about five minutes left until that check happened again.

"All right, we're going to need you to wait here, and continue praying, can you do that?" Carisi asked, motioning for Liv. After a quick discussion they realized they needed to drag the bodies from the hallway into the auditorium, that way they weren't immediately seen when they came to do their checks. After four brave volunteers came forward they helped Carisi pull the bodies in. "They aren't dead," Olivia said, unsure if she was trying to reassure them or warn them.

Like clockwork they heard boots approaching the hallway, and Olivia motioned for the kids to return to the center of the auditorium. After some calling around in the hallway, they heard guns being cocked as the doors to the auditorium swung open. Carisi on one side, and Olivia on the older huddled against the wall, now shielded by the opened doors. When the gunman, walking side by side, saw the children secure they lowered their weapons and turned to look at one another, just as the detectives jumped into action.

Knocking them unconscious, they secured their hands with the zip ties, their feet as well, placing the four men as far apart in the room as possible. The children, whose eyes were closed as instructed by Olivia, were quietly sobbing unsure of what horrors were happening around them.

"They're going to come looking now that these guys won't be returning," Olivia explained, motioning to the kids. "We've got to move fast, "

In single formation, with Carisi in the lead they made their way out of the auditorium, and back down the multiple hallways, towards the exit they had come in through. When they got to the door Olivia pulled them into a huddle,

"Move quickly, stay together, and keep your hands UP okay, like this," she mirrored, "the snipers don't know who is a shooter, and who is a kid right now so you need to make sure you do this, you understand me?" Olivia asked, seeing the kids nodding. "I need you to find this man," she ordered pulling her silenced phone out and providing a picture. "He's my Sargent. Do not talk to any of the other cops do you understand me?" she pleaded to the young girls whose name she learned was Lexi, "Tell him, Sargent Tutotla, that Liv & Carisi got you out, that there's six down, and six to go, can you remember that?"

The kids nodded, tears following down their cheeks. "Lexi, Tell him to wait for my signal by the cafeteria," she said, grabbing the girl's shoulders. "All right now go, and don't turn back or stop for anything. Keep your hands up until your pass through the police and ESU barriers. They will check all of you out, and probe you for information. But get to Sargent Tutola,"

Olivia and Carisi watched as the twenty kids ran in formation through the court yard towards the streets. They heard the ESU teams shout from above to keep their hands up, and she was glad she had instructed them to do this. After she saw them cross through the line into police protection she heard a megaphone sound on the other side of the building.

"I guess they're finally make their demands now," Olivia said motioning in the air towards the noise. She attempted to catch her breath, when she turned back to Carisi.

"Well, no matter what comes next, you've saved so many," he offered, adjusting his vest. Olivia looked up, shaking her head.

"No. 'WE have,' and I'm not leaving here until we've saved them all and I've found Lucia," she stated, grabbing her gun, and heading back towards the auditorium.

Outside the children ran, palms sweating, legs like Jell-O through the court yard. Lexi, knowing she had an important task to complete immediately pulled away from the EMT's attempting to check her, and started questioning frantically,

"Has anyone seen Sargent Tutoula, I need Sargent Tutola," she begged in a panic. Most people around her were scurrying in all different directions, attempting to get some sort of order to the swarm of freed hostages they weren't expecting. They needed to be checked out, get statements taken, be identified, and see a counselor.

"Sargent Tutola, Please, can anyone help me!" She called motioning left and right, while the sea of uniforms ignored her pleas. The cops knew they didn't have a Sargent Tutotla in Bronx SVU, or in their prescient, so they chalked it up to panic, and being traumatized. There was so many things to focus on in that moment, her cries were white noise to the stark contrast of panic, helicopters, and the megaphone sounding.

Well, white noise to everyone, except, an inquisitive green eyed man, in a pristine looking three piece suit.

"Why do you need Sargent Tutola?" he questioned, approaching the girl cautiously, causing her shouting to cease.

"Please, it's important," Lexi urged knowing that Olivia had told her not to trust anyone but him. "Do you know him?" He furrowed his brow, regarding her for a moment, before grabbing the closest ESU officer,

"US District Attorney, Rafael Barba, Bronx New York," he identified himself, causing the officer to relax slightly at the interruption,"Was Manhattan SVU called into this?" he inquired, unsure why else this girl would know about Fin.

"No Counselor, Bronx SVU and ESU," the officer answered before nodding is assent and turning back to his team. Having risen through the ranks since returning to the Bronx, Barba had managed to earn the respect of the Bronx SVU and many ESU officers. Subsequently leaving his tarnished legacy in Manhattan as an ADA behind.

"The Sargent is this way," an officer Barba didn't recognize whispered, motioning for Lexi to follow him. Barba unsure of who this man was, or his intentions, followed Lexi. Perhaps the ESU agent was mistaken or ill informed? Maybe it was an all hands on deck operation?

"Barba?" Fin questioned, grabbing the man for a handshake hug that was awkward even considering the circumstances. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, and while he knew there was a chance Barba would be here, he didn't think he'd actually stumble upon him.

"Fin, what's going on? Why don't ESU and Bronx SVU know you're here?" Barba questioned as his smiled left him. He looked around, half expecting to see her knowing he wasn't prepared ... But before Fin could answer, Lexi cut him off.

"Sargent Tutola?" she questioned urgently, making sure the image she had only seen once, a few minutes ago, was indeed this man before her.

"That's me," he replied plainly, wondering if he should ask Barba to leave, but before he had a chance she began again.

"Liv said to find you." She began beginning to sob. "She said, there's six down, and six to go,"

"Liv?" Barba whispered, looking between the girl who'd just left the building and Fin, "As in Lieutenant Olivia Benson?" he asked cutting in, wondering what he could've missed.

"But if they don't know you're here-" Barba continued, thinking out loud as he stepped back. Scrubbing his hands across his face as he inhaled a breath, turning white, and now looking almost as distraught as the girl sobbing next to him.

"She found you then? Did she say anything else?" Fin questioned, ignoring Barba but hoping that he would be able to convince him to keep his mouth shut. "Calm down, everything is going to be ok now, but I need you to tell me what she said, exactly," Fin explained.

"She said," Lexi began again, wiping her tears and attempting to control herself. She had just been so happy to actually find Fin, that she couldn't control her emotions anymore, "To tell you that her and Carisi rescued us-"

"Us? How many?" Barba asked pointedly, his fear turning to anger; using his tone generally reserved for a court room.

"Twenty-two including me," she answered, and turned back to Fin, "That there was six down, and six to go, and for you to wait for her signal by the cafeteria,"

Fin motioned to the other two detectives to suit up, as they secured their bullet proof jackets, and started to head off in the opposite direction as the rest of the police. Fin turned back to the girl,

"You did good hun, now go get yourself checked out all right?" he offered, giving her a slight smile before turning to go. He was quickly stopped by Barba, grabbing his arm uncharacteristically, now clearly sick as the facts dawned on him.

"She went in there blind?" Barba shouted, understanding the severity of the situation. When Fin didn't offer him a response, he knew his suspicions had been right.

"But why, how?" Barba asked, feeling faint. He swayed backwards, and Fin steadied him, helping him to the ground.

"Bronx SVU and ESU have rats," Fin explained quickly, looking back to make sure his agents had waited for him. "Who do you think called it in to her?" he encouraged hoping to let the last piece of the puzzle Barba was missing fall into place. Waiting for Barba to get it, Fin motioned towards the scene unfolding around him.,

"Mami?" Barba questioned, shaking his head confused.

"She made contact with Liv a few hours ago, but we lost contact. We were ordered to stand down because it was out of our jurisdiction, and you know other things. Look I gotta go, every minute I spend talking to you in one less minute I'm focused on helping Liv. But for now keep your mouth shut, and when I know something you'll know something," Fin replied, standing up and checking his gun.

"But why would she-" Barba began to question, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. But Fin just shook his head.

"With a school full of innocent kids, and your mother trapped inside," Fin explained with an emphasis on 'your', "Did you really think she'd be anywhere else?"

And without waiting for a response, he took off, heading towards the cafeteria to wait for the signal.