Disclaimer: Dick Wolf and NBC own SVU and all its characters. I only own this story idea.

Happy Trails…

Chapter 4

Elliot grabbed the backpack swinging it over his shoulder; he stood extending his hand to a crouching Olivia.

Olivia took Elliot's hand finding comfort in the warmth of his fingers linked through hers. She followed him away from the campsite and the water. Elliot pulled them off the trail and through the woods. The socks offered little covering for Olivia's feet as she could feel the cold wetness seeping through from the rain damp ground. Olivia could feel the brush of branches against her as Elliot navigated them through the forest. She had no idea where Elliot was guiding them or why but she trusted him implicitly.

Elliot slid down a small embankment reaching his hands up to lift Olivia down the rocky incline.

It was incredibly dark as she felt Elliot's hand firm and tight on either side of her waist lifting her into the air. She closed her eyes as Elliot pulled her down into more darkness and they walked along a wall of rocks before Elliot abruptly stopped. "Elliot?" Olivia whispered questioningly as she shivered at the sound of the hallowing wind, the only sound besides her voice in the dark night.

"In here," Elliot gestured to an opening between the rocks as he led Olivia inside the small space. Elliot settled down his back pressed firm to the rock.

Olivia stumbled in the dark, cursing. She felt Elliot's hands guiding her down to the ground. Despite the relative thickness of Elliot's sweats, the ground underneath her still felt cold and hard. Olivia brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs as she huddled next to Elliot.

Elliot slipped his arm around Olivia pulling her against him. "You need to get some sleep," Elliot gently encouraged.

"So do you," Olivia replied searching the darkness for his blue eyes.

"I'm fine," Elliot said firmly his gaze fixed on the opening ahead.

Olivia sighed if there was one thing she knew that she was certain about it was Elliot's determination when he made up his mind. There was no wavering. Olivia's eyelids drooped heavily as she fought against sleep. She shivered and her teeth chattered. It amazed her that the night could get so cold. Her head lolled against the rock behind them aimlessly finally dropping onto Elliot's shoulder. Her body instinctively curled into his warmth, her hand fisting in his shirt.

Elliot's hand tightened on her shoulder pulling her body tightly to his. His hand slipped higher onto her hair, his fingers slipping into the silky texture. Elliot leaned forward pressing a soft kiss to her hair. "I've got you, sleep Liv. I won't let anything happen to you." He reassured her as he stroked her hair.

Olivia's eyes closed against her will as sheer exhaustion won out lulling her into a fitful sleep.

Olivia awoke with a start blinking her eyes against the early rays on dawn. Her whole body ached as she lifted her head gingerly from Elliot's chest.

"You okay?" Elliot asked gruffly tucking a stray piece of hair gently back his eyes searching her face.

Olivia nodded. "What are we going to do Elliot? How are we going to find them? The rain probably washed away any tracks."

Elliot nodded. "It might have. We go back to the lake and work it like any crime scene, Liv. We figure out the most plausible exit and go from there. It is all we have got."

"If we are going back then why did we go so far from the camp last night?" Olivia asked.

"I need to find us some place safe. They might have gone back to the campsite to collect the rest of our things or to make sure Chester wasn't lying." Elliot said not adding that he needed to find some place to keep her safe that would have been coming back for her.

"Who do you think they shot?" Olivia said her teeth capturing her upper lip.

"Fin," Elliot whispered. "It makes the most sense. They wouldn't have shot Munch, he isn't a threat. Fin must have moved to help Jeffries and they shot him. I could tell from Lake's voice that he wasn't shot."

"They raped her," Olivia whispered her eyes filled with tears.

Elliot nodded. He had no doubts Jeffries had been raped even if the men hadn't said what they did. Casey would have cried but he knew Jeffries wouldn't cry or scream. He feared that Jeffries had been raped by more than one man from the sound of things. He couldn't, wouldn't say that out loud not to Olivia not in this situation. "You ready?" Elliot asked her.

Olivia nodded crawling out of the rocky enclave. She stood up looking carefully around. Her eyes scouring the woods as her body tensed her detective instincts kicking in.

Elliot stood up beside her. He gently nudged her in the direction from which they had come last night.

Olivia was amazed as they made their way back that Elliot had managed to find his way in the dark without either one of them killing themselves. Olivia stopped as her stomach growled rebelliously.

Elliot smiled as he dropped his pack at their feet. He dug around before finally pulling out a protein bar.

Olivia's eyes widened. "I love you," she professed grinning as she held out her hand.

Elliot smirked. "You are so easy, Benson."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Hand it over, Stabler."

Elliot broke the bar handing her half. He watched in amusement as his partner closed her eyes in what could only be described as a blissful expression as she chewed. "Olivia, listen. We need to talk about a plan, our plan."

Olivia opened her eyes as she swallowed the bar. "Okay, we figure out where those assholes took our friends, get them back, and arrest them. How does that sound?"

Elliot could hear the fierceness in Olivia's voice. "That sounds good but I think we may have to make some adjustments."

Olivia raised her eyebrow.

"I meant what I said last night, you stay with me at all times, Olivia. This is not like us being at home. We have one gun, one set of bullets, and ourselves. There is no backup and we are on their playing field. They are comfortable here, too comfortable. I could tell in talking with them. Which means they have been here a while."

"Which means they are probably doing something illegal," Olivia interjected. "Something that they will want to protect at all costs,"

"Yeah," Elliot said looking around at the forest.

"Let's get going," Olivia swallowed hard. Olivia was surprised when they made it back to the lake in about twenty minutes. Elliot had kept them at the edge of the woods, skirting the trail, staying out of site. They carefully surveyed the shoreline before stepping out of the tree lined woods.

Elliot bent over running his fingers over the grass ground seeing blood stains not completely washed away by the rain.

Olivia picked up the remnants of Jeffries underwear. They were torn and blood stained. Olivia's fingers tightened around them.

Elliot stood up surveying the area, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the possible exits. It wouldn't be an obvious one, Elliot knew that. He walked over to the trees stepping inside looking for anything that would appear to be a makeshift trail one that only those who knew the area would be able to find.

Olivia watched Elliot step into the woods; she dropped Jeffries clothes and jogged over. "El?"

"Liv?" Elliot said stepping back into her sight line. "I think I found something,"

Olivia looked at the ravine Elliot was standing in. He was pointing at what he had uncovered which looked like a dark hole in the ground. Olivia noticed something in his hands, oh my god, it was Munch's glasses. Olivia slid sideways down the ravine to meet Elliot. Olivia looked down at the dark abyss below her and back at Elliot.

"I am guessing it is an underground tunnel probably leads to wherever they took them. It makes sense letting them escape the rain and storm." Elliot said. "Olivia, you could go for back-up,"

Olivia shook her head vehemently. "We stay together,"

Elliot swallowed hard. He lowered himself down into the hole. He felt ladder rings along with side. His feet rested there as his eyes tried to adjust to the dim darkness. There were lights strung along the dirt walls. Yes, this was definitely a man-made tunnel, made for what Elliot had no idea.

A/N: Just what has our dynamic duo stumbled into? How bad are our bad guys? Will they find the others? Will they even be able to get out?