Every single time that Elliot Stabler responded to a call on the radio system, he learned at the police academy, that you could not be scared every time.

They emphasized that every response could lead to the scene of where your life could end. You could never have a faltering strength when on the field, and always be prepared to take any action to ensure that you, and your partner, would come out of the situation alive.

However, this time, was very different.

He knew that the perps of the horrific crimes were no longer on the scene, but he could not help but feel uneasy about arriving on the scene. The captain was scared, and saying Olivia was scared would be the understatement of the year. She had made the feeling in his stomach worse, since Olivia was usually right about these kinds of situations.

As he followed the Captain, Munch, and Fin into the driveway of the abandoned warehouse, he looked over to glance at Olivia. He noticed that there were tearstains on her cheeks. She had her chin in her palm, with her elbow on the armrest, looking out the window. The look in her eyes seem dazed, making him believe that Olivia was not completely with him now. When he stopped the car, she seemed to have woken from a trance.

"Oh, I'm sorry Elliot. I must have been thinking harder than I thought."

"It's fine. I can understand why you were thinking so hard. After what captain said, I think everyone is pretty much scared to discover what is going on, and deciding whether or not they should not hand in their resignation before they find out."

"Would you really resign over a case? A case that you're not even sure what is about?"

"No. Then again, that is just me. If anything, it makes me want to work even harder to catch the people who did this."

"I agree. We should at least make an effort. You'll always miss every shot you don't take."

They climbed out of the car and hurried over to join the others, circled around Dr. Huang's car. Captain Cragen was with the other captains of the SVU bureaus in the city. Seeing them conversing what was surely about the case, made the others uneasy, as they still did not exactly know what was going on. The only one who did was M.E. Warner, and that was only because she was about to go inside the warehouse to examine the bodies.

"How many bodies are in there?" asked Olivia at the sight of more than a few medical examiners walking in.

"Lord knows," replied Elliot.

"We need to figure out what the hell is going on. This has gone on long enough." exclaimed Munch.

Just when he turned to walk to Cragen, M.E. Warner walked out of the warehouse.

"Oh my god." said Olivia.

Melinda Warner had tears running down her face. She was walking as if in a trance, not being able to comprehend her surroundings. She walked over to the group, taking her time. The team didn't rush her. As she was walking, Casey noticed another medical examiner running out, screaming and crying, into the arms of a man. She turned back to see Melinda, who had finally arrived.

"Melinda?" asked Fin. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

She stayed quiet for a minute, before looking like she was ready to respond. She must have changed her mind since her mouth closed again. Tears started pouring down faster, before she took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure...you all...should go in there. Never, in all my years, have I seen anything...like this. This...could not...been a crime of a human. If it was, that human has no soul at all. He, or maybe even she, has no sympathy or remorse for any of these children."

"Children?! How many?" said Elliot.

"I lost count after 50. This person hates children. And even that is an understatement."

"But what did he do to them?" asked Olivia.

"It's nothing that can't be explained. Unfortunately, something you need to see to understand. I just hope that you all won't get too many nightmares for this. I know I am. You all know me; I don't get frightened easily. There is one thing I can say about what he did: There was a good reason the sex crimes unit was called. And I don't mean because you all handle cases dealing with children."

The group stayed silent, even after Warner left to talk with Cragen. There seemed to be nothing that they could think of to say. Fear was felt among them, not being able to cope with the trauma of an experience that had yet to happen.

"Ok. This has gone on long enough. We are going in there to find out what this case is about."

Everyone looked up at Olivia's words to see each other. Elliot looked at Olivia most of all, and noticed that she looked a little pale. He knew that it must have taken a lot of strength for her to say what everyone was avoiding.

"Agreed. Why don't we go in pairs so we, uh, don't have to be alone?" asked Elliot in a hopeful voice.

Everyone readily agreed. So off they went in pairs, with Elliot and Olivia in the lead, followed by Fin and Munch, with Casey and Huang bringing up the rear.

They all had different thoughts:

'I bet everyone can my heart beating so fast. I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest!'

'I have to try to keep my early lunch down. I knew I shouldn't have eaten that steak!'

'I almost don't want to know what happened with the children, but I have to in order to catch the bastards!'

'What kind of sick person is capable of hurting so many children?!'

'I just hope there aren't two many children that are very young inside.'

'I hope that the son of a bitches didn't hurt them too bad, but in the end it won't matter, they are still dead and I am going to want to kill them when I catch the bastards!'

They silently walked inside, with the sound of Warner losing her breakfast haunting them, and following them inside.