Thank you to everyone who is reviewing, following and messaging. I'm enjoying writing this story and it means a lot to me that I can share it with other fans. :-)

Just two episodes left of season 16 to air now - is everyone as excited as me about the finale? That episode title has me worried! I am aiming to be 100% spoiler free so laying low on social media until I see it to avoid being spoiled!

CHAPTER 6

Elliot roused slowly, the continual ringing sound of his cell phone gradually

awakened him. He opened his eyes, blinking to try to clear his blurred vision, turning his head toward the door as a thumping noise caught his attention. He tried to move and managed to shift position slightly and focus a little.

"OLIVIA! ELLIOT! OPEN UP!" the muffled voice from behind the door yelled.

Elliot placed his hands on the floor and pressed, trying to gain some balance to ease himself up, but felt as though his body was far heavier than it should have been to move.

He began to gain more coherence as he was aware of the sound of a door being kicked in, and after two loud bangs, the voices became clearer, as did his focus.

Elliot looked up to see Fin and Munch enter the apartment….Olivia's apartment. On seeing them, his head suddenly cleared, and he tried to stand, grabbing the counter top and hoisting himself up. He stood still, leaning heavily against the counter as Fin and Munch approached him.

"Elliot what the hell's going on? Where's Liv?" Fin demanded.

"Liv…" Elliot responded, confused, as he rubbed his hand across his face and took a long, hard look at the couch.

"We were on the couch - she was tired….shit...she passed out...where is she?" he said, confused.

"She's not here," said Munch, concerned as he returned from checking the other rooms.

"Stabler, pull it together and think, what happened? What happened to Liv?" Fin said in frustration, as he took a firm hold of Elliot's shoulders and gave a sudden shake.

Elliot let go of the counter and pulled himself out of Fin's grasp, his senses and memories awakening and filling him with dread.

"We were drinking coffee...the coffee...we were drugged. Liv collapsed. I tried to get my phone, but I couldn't make it. She was on the couch," Elliot said, his face turning pale as the reality of what had happened hit him.

"Over here…" Munch began, as he looked at them from the centre of the room, next to the couch.

"What is it?" Elliot asked as he walked over to Munch, a little more steadily.

"You're not going to want to see this Elliot," he said gravely.

Elliot felt suddenly cold as he approached Munch, and followed his line of sight to the couch, where he had last seen Olivia. On the couch were photographs, spread out along the seat.

Almost afraid to look, but unable to stop himself, Elliot reached down and swept up some of the photos, and wasted no time in looking. He felt a cold shiver run through him, as he stared hard at the photos. The sickening realisation that these were photos of Olivia, taken while they were both unconscious was sickening and all at once, overwhelmed him.

Elliot let the photos fall from his grasp and dropped down to the floor, sitting with his back against the couch, resting his head in his hands.

"I was right here and he still got to her!"

Fin called through to Cragen and updated him while Munch took a closer look at the photographs. It pained him to have to see this reminder that Olivia had been abducted, but he also knew that one of them would have to examine these pictures, and Elliot was in no condition to cope with that task.

After a few moments, he spoke.

"What time did you drink the coffee, Elliot?"

Elliot remained silent, not moving from his position sitting on the floor against the couch.

"STABLER!" Munch shouted, getting Elliot's attention.

"Come on, you have to focus, what time did you have the coffee - we need to establish how long ago she was taken," he continued, while maintaining eye contact with Elliot, who had finally looked up at the unusual sound of Munch shouting.

"Erm...must have been - seven - seven thirty," he said quietly.

"OK, that's two and a half hours ago. It doesn't look like he hung around here for long - there doesn't appear to be any obvious serious injuries to her in these photos - that's what we have to hold on to," Munch said.

"He was undressing her," Elliot said, raising his head but not making eye contact, with an unsettling quietness to his voice that concerned Munch.

"How bad is it?" Fin asked as he joined them.

Munch stepped back, giving a sideways glance to Elliot, as he updated Fin.

"He undressed her while she was unconscious, but he only took her shirt and pants off - she's cuffed in the last photo, but no obvious injuries or signs of assault. He hadn't hurt her beyond drugging her at the time these photos were taken - we have to hold onto that."

Fin and Munch glanced towards Olivia's door as the EMT's entered to check over Elliot. Fin went over to update them, as Elliot stood, and turned around to stare at the photos in Munch's hands. He tensed, as his anger rose up, but he only needed to look at Elliot to see that he and Fin needed to take control of the crime scene - Olivia's apartment - the crime scene.

He turned away from Elliot as he looked at the photos, one by one, hoping that an obvious clue to her whereabouts would have been left within the pictures. Sighing, he let his eyes focus on her face in the photo in his hand - clearly unconscious but not bruised or bleeding. It was little comfort in reality, but Munch couldn't allow himself to fail Olivia - so for her, he would keep it together.

He drew his eyes away from the photos, as Elliot suddenly stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter, picking up the jar of coffee.

"That'll need to be checked, so we can see what the son of a bitch drugged us with," Elliot said calmly.

Munch looked at him cautiously, noting how unnervingly calm Elliot seemed and took the jar, as the EMT's approached them.

Elliot allowed the EMT's to check him over but declined to go to the hospital, saying that Melinda could do any blood analysis, and the results would be on site quicker too. Fin watched him from across the room while he sat down and cooperated with the medical checks. He also answered Munch's questions - with obvious frustration, but his manner and words, sent a warning to Fin that Elliot was reacting in an unexpected way. He let out an annoyed sigh - Stabler's unusual response to this horrible turn of events was something they did not have time to worry about. Everyone's attention and time needed to be focused solely on finding Olivia.

When the EMT's were finished, and heading out of the door, Fin approached Elliot.

"Let's go and leave CSU to process Liv's apartment, Cragen wants us all back at the precinct."

"What about the uniforms who were watching the apartment outside? They were supposed to be there round the clock," Elliot asked.

"They're both dead," Munch replied somberly.

PRECINCT

"Right this way please," Munch said to the man accompanying him into the squad room.

"Liv's neighbour," Fin said, before Elliot had a chance to ask.

"Elliot" Cragen said, as he stood by his door, waiting for Elliot to make a move.

Elliot looked back at Fin - he wanted to ask more - find out why Olivia's neighbour had been brought in and if he could be the lead to her whereabouts. He needed to know every aspect of the investigation and couldn't leave a potential witness to anyone else.

"Let Munch handle it. We're following any leads we get, even if they turn out to go nowhere," Fin said.

Elliot tensed, but then looked at Cragen, who was standing at his office door, and not giving Elliot the option to do anything else but enter. He nodded, and walked into Cragen's office, shutting the door.

"Melinda's tox report says you were drugged with a large dose of Zaleplon. It can leave you confused and drowsy for a few hours. You need to stay on desk - I'd tell you to rest till this drug is out of your system but I know it won't do any good. You need to be working this right now, so just keep a clear head. You don't look good Elliot, an hour in the crib would help you recover from the effects of the drug."

"I need to keep going for Olivia," Elliot said calmly.

Calmly.

Cragen grew more concerned at the realisation that Elliot was responding to this situation with an uncharacteristic display of calm and composure. He decided to contact Huang and make sure Elliot spoke to him as soon as possible. He knew the drugs were probably having a fairly sedative effect but they had worn off considerably, and he also realised that Elliot was probably suffering some degree of shock. He decided that keeping him busy would be the most useful course of action. He feared how Elliot might react once he allowed himself to process the gravity of the situation.

"Help Fin, if we can discover who Matthew Hutson associated with back in '95 we can get a lead on who we are really dealing with here. Elliot - Huang thinks he will contact us soon - it's a game for this son of a bitch, and he can't help himself," Cragen said.

Elliot gave a slight nod as he turned and left the office, and made his way to the interview room.

Standing outside the interview room, he observed the conversation that Olivia's neighbour - a man in his mid forties, was having with Munch.

"OK," Munch said, sound exasperated.

"Tell me again, what did you hear and what time was it?"

"Well... I'm sure it was around eight...well, maybe nine...I had already had dinner, so it was late….it's hard to remember, I'd had a couple of drinks before I got home, so I wasn't really watching the clock. I heard a man swearing by the elevator - you know, it might have been more like ten O'clock….I know he came out of one of the apartments on my floor - Olivia's or that nice old lady down the hall... I'm not sure which one, though."

Munch sat back in his chair and sighed.

"Thank you for your time, if you remember anything else, let me know."

He left the room and noticed Elliot straight away.

"He was drunk and vaguely heard a sound, nothing we can use there. He has changed the time and the noise he heard three times now," Munch said, as he walked back towards his desk.

Elliot remained outside the window, watching as the man finished his coffee. Just as he stood up, and went to pick up his coat, something inside of Elliot, that had been teetering on the edge since he woke up on Olivia's kitchen floor, just simply snapped.

He stormed into the room and grabbed the man by his shoulders, shoving him up against the wall. He ignored the look of shock and fear in the man's eyes when he connected with Elliot's and saw nothing but rage.

"What. Time. Was. It?" Elliot asked, punctuating each word with a shove against his shoulders.

"I….don't remember….I'm sorry...I just don't."

"You are in here WASTING OUR TIME, when Olivia is out there with some psycho," Elliot shouted, as his grip on the man's shoulders tightened further and he slammed him repeatedly against the wall.

Elliot didn't see the fear, or the panic in the man's eyes. He couldn't comprehend that this man actually knew very little, and was trying to help, even if it was nothing they could really use. All he could see was Olivia - lying unconscious on her couch, helpless, as he drifted into unconsciousness. The man who visited them, playing games, and threatening her. His hand in hers. His arm around her as she leaned into him. Holding Sarah while she sobbed. The way she smiled.

Images flooded his mind as a white hot rage took hold of him. He wasn't even aware that he had let go of his shoulders, and his hands had found their way to the man's throat.

He wasn't even aware of how he got onto the floor, Olivia's neighbour lying on his back, while he straddled him, his hands squeezing harder and harder around his throat.

He was aware of nothing until distant voices were fading in to his conscious mind, and hands were on him, grabbing, pulling, trying to break his vice like grip.

"ELLIOT, STOP!" Cragen yelled, as Fin finally managed to break Elliot's hold, pushing him backwards onto the floor.

"WE NEED A BUS!" Cragen yelled, as he moved over to Olivia's neighbour who was lying alarmingly still.

Elliot regained his focus and suddenly became all too aware of the chaos that he had caused. Cragen was checking the man's vitals, and Fin was watching him warily, for any sign that he hadn't got himself under control.

"Shit Stabler! What the hell did you do?" Fin said, as he released his grip on Elliot.

Two hours later, and the realisation of what he had done had sunk in, as Elliot paced back and forth in his apartment, waiting for a call. His phone had rung countess times but he had ignored the call from Fin, the two from Huang, and the four calls from Cragen - he didn't want to speak to a shrink, and what more was there to say to Cragen. He knew he had messed up on a grand scale, but he couldn't change that now. All he could think of was Olivia. Finding her was the only thing that mattered to him now.

Elliot had dealt with some horrible things, but never had someone so close to him been at risk. He couldn't even describe how he felt - his mind conjured up a bombardment of tortuous images. He couldn't stop - imagining what was happening - every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the crime scenes they had investigated. The sheer brutality behind the attacks and the sickening thought that this bastard now had Olivia, despite the fact that he had been right there with her.

He felt that he would quite simply lose his mind if he didn't have something to act upon.

Finally the call he had been waiting for came and he picked up in a split second.

"Munch, what do you have?"

"Apart from a whole world of trouble that you left us in your wake? You did not pick a good time to get suspended," Munch replied.

"I don't have time for this Munch, just tell me if you have anything I can use. I can't even come into the building - you have to tell me everything you have."

"I will Stabler, I'm not going to leave you in the dark. We have a list of people Matthew Hutson associated with back in '95 or thereabouts. Two have records, but one, the most promising, has a colourful record beginning in his youth, it stops dead in 2005, but he doesn't. No death records. We think this could be him - he got smart, more devious, and began using fake ID's."

"Give me everything you have on him."

"Stabler - don't go this alone. If he's not our guy and you repeat today's antics, IAB'll have my ass too. If he is our guy, you could put Liv at risk by going in without backup. Cragen took your gun when he sent you home?"

"Yeah, I don't need to shoot the bastard though, that's far too easy. A bullet is too quick, he doesn't get off that lightly."

"Cragen's been calling you.." Munch began.

"Yeah I know, I'm not answering," Elliot replied, before pausing, "Munch?" he said, hesitantly.

"How bad did I hurt him?"

"You're lucky Fin managed to get you off him fairly quickly. He's in Bellevue - he's conscious now, but needs to stay in for 36 hours for observation. The doctor said it's looking positive - bruising will subside, but Stabler - you visit him, apologise, try and sort this mess out. Liv doesn't want you losing your badge. I don't need to tell you that she needs you working this."

"Don't go off on your own Elliot, call Cragen back and work out how you can be involved till this mess of yours gets sorted out."

Elliot sighed.

They both remained quiet, before Elliot spoke again - a desperate edge this time to his voice.

"If he so much as touches her Munch - believe me - I'll kill the bastard slowly. He'll know what it's like to really suffer."

UNKNOWN LOCATION

Olivia struggled to open her eyes, a heavy weight felt as though it were pressing on her, and she at first thought that was blindfolded. As she fought to stop her eyes from drifting closed, she made out a shape, the glint of something metallic, and she attempted to move to reach it. Only then did the fog filling her mind and her vision began to lift, as she came to a frightening realisation that she was unable to move.

Her eyes began to adjust to the darkened room, and she was all too soon aware that she was sitting in a chair, the metallic glint coming from cuffs securing her arms to the armrests. Attempting to move her legs, she found that they were also restrained to the chair, although those restraints felt somewhat softer than the hard metal cuffs. She felt a slight relief that she was fully clothed, but she was well aware that she was unarmed - her mind somewhat foggy and confused. She battled to remember how she had got here - she could not see very clearly, as the room appeared to be lit only by a small lamp which gave off a dim glow. Not willing to alert her captor that she awake, she remained silent, as she found her eyes increasingly adjusting to the dimmed lighting.

She attempted to take in her surroundings.

The room appeared most likely to be a basement. She could just about make out steps and a table - a small grille on the wall opposite her which let in dim bands of light, and very little else.

She remained silent as she took the time to evaluate her situation - reminding herself of everything she knew about her captor, and what his triggers might be. She did her best to ignore the wave of panic which threatened to creep up and take her over, as she thought about how she would handle this.

The only thing that she knew, was that whatever this psycho had planned, she had to survive.

I wanted to explore how Elliot would react in this situation and also move the story in a direction which had the squad taking one angle, and Elliot another. Liv's not a damsel in distress though, so the next chapter will show us how she is dealing with the kidnapper.