"Like that, huh?"

He chuckled to himself, pleased to hear the pain in her muffled cry. He'd been waiting to hear her like that ever since he'd set his eyes on her in the interrogation room.

"We're going to have a lot of fun."

His soft kisses led to another primitive bite. Her mind raced. It hurt - a pain mixed with an awful feeling of shame. She was, however, unwilling to dip into a state of helplessness. Olivia focused, moving her fingers around the bindings that held her wrists tied together, fastened to her headboard. She had no chance of undoing the knot he had conjured up.

Her heart pounded hard when he bit her again. She had to fight back, but he sat in a position that made every offensive move of hers impossible. She couldn't do anything - yet. He shifted his body weight, lifting himself off of her.

"I'll be back."

She was alone in the room again. Olivia moved to the side of the bed, stepping off and turning around so she could see her hands. She made sure her back was not to where The Beast would soon make his reappearance. Her heart beat faster than before. If he came through that door - with God-knows what - she would have spent her last chance to escape. He would kill her if she laid there as his victim. She'd rather be killed in the fight of her life to get away.

Olivia glanced at her wrists, pulling them violently. Her blood froze. This would be it. If he heard her, it was over. The headboard had a row of spindles, one of which she was bound by. Each two or so inches thick, she felt she could break free if she used enough force. Hell, she was Olivia Benson. She had cracked doors she had kicked. Her foot pressed against the wood, ready to kick. She swallowed nervously. If it did work, her plan would leave her free, but with hands still bound. Her brain told her it was to her advantage to fight one-armed than tied to a bed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Was this really happening? Or would she find herself waking up in the very bed to which she was now tied, finding it was all a nightmare. Olivia drew back and kicked with all the strength she had in her. The post cracked. She was free. Now needing time to free her hands, Olivia ran around the bed and locked the bathroom door, staring back at its wood in the bathroom. She flipped the light switch, already hearing The Beast's voice shouting from the kitchen. It choked her as she the smell of a hot stove filled her nostrils. She had almost no time.

As if in slow motion, Liv threw herself in the bathtub, hoping to be protected from the inevitable bullets that would fly through the door in mere seconds. Her hands grabbed for the razor resting on the porcelain. She hissed in pain as she plastic broke apart and the blade sliced her. The handle rattled before the gun went off four or five times. She wasn't sure which. Her concentration was on her wrists.

She sliced at the cloth, blood now spilling from her fingers. It was working, but it hurt so badly Olivia had to bite her lip to keep from yelling. More shots were fired. She hunkered down farther. The shots stopped. He was listening to see if she was down. Six bullet holes left her door splintered - weakened. Olivia, free at last, lifted herself out of the tub silently and reached for her ceramic soap dispenser.

She had only gotten a good grip on it when he slammed himself into the door. It opened, sending him flying into the bathroom. She, at that moment, saw something she never had in his face: surprise. His gun was at his side as he looked at her. Olivia took the only opportunity she saw. The soap dispenser shattered with the incredible force she used to bring it down on his skull and he struggled to regain his balance and stand up straight.

That was it; her weapon was gone. But her assailant was now off-balance. The blow sent him against the cabinets on the right side of her bathroom. Olivia swung again, reaching for the gun as she pressed her whole body on his. Her fingers were inches from the glock when he jerked his hand upward and slammed the metal into her nose. The pain brought immediate tears to her eyes and dizziness to her head. She stumbled backwards out of the bathroom, her nose throbbing as it sent blood down her lips and off her chin.

He rose quicker than she thought he should have after a blow like the one she'd just given him. She stood on the floor staring back at the gun he held again. There was still plenty of fight in her. She wouldn't stop until he put the trigger and put a bullet in her skull.

Olivia thought quickly and brought her leg up, hitting him hard in the groin. The sudden move caused her to lose her balance and topple sideways, out of his gun's range as it went off again. Lewis went down to a hunched position of pain. Olivia forgot about the gun he held and decided to get to her own.

Her legs took her to the kitchen where she'd set her groceries. Groceries. Just twenty minutes before, she had been just about to relax on a normal night. How things changed.

Her hands fumbled around the counter, trying to convince her eyes that they were wrong when she didn't see her gun. She had lost it when Lewis had made her answer Cragen's phone call.

It was gone. He had taken it. Her eyes darted around in the small light her kitchen gave. Her hands fumbled around. She knocked her groceries to the floor, alarmed by the crimson staining the counter everywhere she touched. Then he was there again, running at her full-speed. Her body almost froze. She felt it go rigid as he raised his gun.

She felt along the counter again. Damn faulty contacts. The shot never came, but he did. He slammed his body into hers, backing her painfully into the counter. He put the gun on her throat as she struggled against him. They were dead-locked. The Beast, anger clouding his vision, pressed her into the counter farther. Olivia tried even harder to move as she felt the heat filtering up from the stove-top.


Nick jogged up the four floors of stairs to Olivia's room only thirty minutes after his odd feeling had taken control. The closer he got to her door, the stronger the feeling got. He had his hand on his gun as he approached her door. Her blood-curdling scream ripped through the air just as he was about to make contact with the door.

Nick felt his heart now beating from the back of his throat, his mind going so fast he could feel it shutting down, giving up its task of sorting his thoughts. His gun was out as he took a deep breath.


Olivia had let the scream erupt from deep within her as her back made contact with one of the hot burners on the stove. He smiled at her pain, her hand clawing at his face as he held her on the heat source. She used what she had left to lean up farther away from the heat.

Olivia swung her left hand and clipped his jaw. He used his superior strength to swing her around and throw her out of the small kitchen. She hit the wall of the hallway heavily, soon finding herself pinned by his weaponed hand and his free one.

"You - little - bitch."

She struggled against him, feeling her end nearing.

"I've heard - worse."

Her groin-headed leg was kicked back to the ground as the sound of the door being kicked in echoed in their ears. Neither even took notice.


Nick kicked the door in and threw himself into the dimly lit apartment.

"Liv?"

He found William Lewis pinning her against the wall of her hallway. Her nose was dark, her entire face beneath it covered in dark blood. Her hands lost the same fluid as it leaked from above her head and traveled downward in eerie streaks. He was too scared to move. Olivia stomped hard on his foot and turned to run. She met Nick's eyes for only a moment. He realized he had frozen. His gun shook in his hand as he stared open-mouthed at his partner and that villain. He saw the gun in the other man's hands, and he knew he stood no chance of saving her if he only stood there, waving his.

Olivia had a look of desperation in her face as he stood there, doing nothing to help. Then she was running away from him, her back muscles tense under the pressure she felt. He saw The Beast catch Olivia from behind and put an arm around her throat. He swung her around, taking her off the ground, so she faced Nick again. It was like he was stuck watching a movie, helpless to assist the characters a world away. He could see the muscles tighten in Lewis' arm as he grabbed her around her midsection and neck. The Beast didn't even care that another person stood, a gun pointed at him. He wanted her, and only her. Nick had never felt so helpless.

Her frustration maxed out. Nick was standing, doing absolutely nothing to help her. She had to get a word out before Lewis' arm cut off her air.

"Nick!" Her strangled yell escaped.

She kicked as he lifted her into the air. He threw her to the ground and pointed the gun at her. The air was gone from her lungs and she rolled in agony as she tried to replenish it. She awaited the kill shot.

Nick took him down as The Beast's finger tightened on the trigger. Olivia breathed hard as she got to her feet and grabbed for her phone on the kitchen floor where Lewis had dropped it. She pushed Cragen's speed dial and press it to her ear, shifting her feet nervously.

Nick struggled with Lewis. She heard the coffee table shatter with one of the men's body weight. Her head spun so fast she thought she'd soon find herself on the floor. Her captain answered.

"Liv?"

"I need backup and EMS at my apartment. 10-13. 10-13."

She heard her voice shaking as she yelled. Olivia said no more. The phone dropped to the floor again as she did. Her hands wrenched the cupboard open, looking for the gun safe in her cabinet. Her fingers flew over the combination lock and she found herself standing, armed with a gun. Lewis swung at her partner just alongside the coffee table's shards. She raised her weapon.

"Put your hands up, Lewis, or I swear to God I'll put a bullet in your brain!"

Her yell left her throat at high-speed. She focused her attention on his head. If he held his position for a few seconds, she could pull the trigger. The fight continued as Lewis, twenty-five pounds up on her partner, threw Nick, turning the couch over backward.

She stood no chance as his hand wheeled a lamp, smashing her in the abdomen. The movement had her trigger finger pull as she bent over in horrible pain. The shot splintered into the ceiling. He slammed into her again. Her brain couldn't fathom how he had moved so quickly, or worse yet, how she had moved so slowly. But however he did it, he was back on top of her, holding her bleeding hands above her head, her aching body easily accessible to him.

Nick's rage blinded him as he struggled to his feet on the floor in the living room. The sick man was on top of his partner as she lay vulnerable and helpless. His gun was gone. Nick wished for more light; the darkness had disarmed him. Without a second thought, Nick ran at Lewis like a madman. He threw himself on top of The Beast, suffocating Olivia with over 300 pounds of man. Nick's arms wrapped themselves around his neck as Olivia struggled to breathe.

Lewis had his hands on her own neck as her partner squeezed the man's above her. She felt the air unable to move in her lungs, and welcomed the black spots in her vision. Her life was being extinguished as a candle beneath the pressure of the invisible force of nothingness as its air supply diminished.

The wick was burning short. She closed her eyes, not able to feel her body any longer. The sounds disappeared into a vacuum of sound and the sights into a blur of light. Her head tilted to the side, and she was gone.