Cheating

Chapter 6: Searching

A/N: I found this story buried under my other stuff and I realized that I had been quite evil to you people. I hope this makes all of you feel better. In this story, I must assure you, Kathy will not be pregnant.

"Tell, me, where, she, is," Elliot ground out, trying with all his might not to give Cragen a reason to pull him out. If he screwed up, it wouldn't be just him paying the price.

Thatcher just leaned back and looked at him "What's it worth to you?" he asked smugly.

Elliot just stared at him. She's worth everything to me, he thought but he didn't dare say that out loud. He took a deep breath trying to compose himself "I think it might be worth a lot more to you if we find her alive. Twenty five years in prison for rape verses the death penalty for killing a cop."

Thatcher leaned forward "New York doesn't have the death penalty anymore," he reminded Elliot.

Elliot smiled matching Thatcher's smug tone "I know," he told him "I never said that the state of New York would be the one putting you to death."

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"What the hell is he doing?" Cragen asked angrily. He turned to Munch and Fin. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this but Elliot was putting too much on the line in there "You two-" he was cut off by someone rushing into the room.

"Captain Cragen?" the young woman asked "I don't mean to interrupt you sir but this fax just came in…"

"Thank you," Cragen said to the young woman who disappeared as quickly as she had come. He read the fax quickly and turned back to Munch and Fin, feeling better about his decision now. "Go in there and pull him out, tell him I need to speak with him, now."

The two detectives nodded.

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"You get that DA of yours to cut me a deal and I'll tell you where I left her," Thatcher offered.

"No one's gonna offer a monster like you a deal," Elliot responded coldly, having regained some semblance of composure.

"Well isn't that bad for poor Olivia then," Thatcher smirked.

Elliot was about to jump out of the chair and throttle him when Munch followed by Fin entered the room. "Cap wants to speak with you," Fin said in a low voice.

Elliot stood up and left the room, not looking back as Thatcher called after him "Too bad Elliot, I'm gonna miss your scintillating conversation. If you're ever allowed to come back to play, I'll tell you about how exhilarating it was to be able to reduce her to a begging, huddled shell," Elliot would have turned around at that moment if Cragen hadn't grabbed him roughly and pulled him the rest of the way out of the room.

"Captain I-"

"Save it Elliot," Cragen almost growled shoving the fax into his hands "Why don't you try putting that desperation and energy of yours to good use."

Elliot read the fax "They're forming a search party?" he asked, hope flaring in his chest for the first time in a while.

"Yes," Cragen said simply "Now get your ass up there and help them find her."

Elliot didn't need to be told twice "Thank you," he said quietly before bounding down the hallway and out of the precinct.

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It didn't take Elliot more than an hour to get to the store where Thatcher had been taken into custody. The store was serving as an unofficial base of operations in the search for Olivia Benson.

"Are you Stabler?" the sergeant in charge asked when she spotted him "Your captain said you were coming to help out."

"Yeah," Elliot said "Where do I go?"

The sergeant handed him a map of the surrounding area "We found Thatcher's tire tracks here," she pointed to a red X on the map, deep in the wooded area "We found drag marks and signs of a struggle nearby but the trail goes cold after that," she waved over a young woman in uniform "This is Officer Powell. She knows these woods pretty well and will make sure you don't get lost."

"It's good to meet you Officer Powell," Elliot extended his hand to the young woman.

"Call me Sherry," she smiled as she shook his hand "Don't worry, we're gonna find your partner."

Elliot nodded and followed Sherry to her jeep.

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Olivia had somehow managed to get her bonds loose but once she had accomplished that, she found herself with no energy to do so much as move and she collapsed flat on her face in the dirt, breathing in the smells of the forest and the smell of sex that seemed to remain on the place where she lay. She started to cry and her tears mingled with the dirt.

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"This used to be a safe place," Sherry remarked as they crossed paths with another team "I hope the guy who did this goes away for a long time."

"He tried to cut a deal in exchange for her location," Elliot told her.

Sherry gave a short, humorless laugh "I hope you didn't buy that. These woods are so confusing to outsiders, there's no way he could have given you anymore than what we were able to figure out from the tire tracks."

Suddenly Elliot thought he saw something through the trees. He ran towards it. He saw her lying face down, motionless. His heart ceased beating as his legs carried him closer. Behind him, he could hear Sherry on the radio, relaying the coordinates and requesting a Medevac. But he didn't pay any attention to anything other than the form in front of him.

He reached her and grasped her wrist to feel for a pulse. He was met with a much stronger and more heart wrenching affirmation of life as she yanked her wrist away and whimpered. He had never heard her sound like that before. She sounded so lost, so scared. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder "Liv," he whispered as she let out another small noise so unlike her "Shhhh, honey, it's just me. It's just me."

"El?" was all she could choke out as she tried to roll over.

"Shhh," he whispered again, wrapping his arms around her and guiding her so that she was lying on her side. Her face was caked with dirt, blood and tears. "It's me," he said, gently brushing the hair out of her eyes "You're safe now."

"Th...Thatcher?" she asked weakly as they heard the helicopter descending nearby.

"We got him," Elliot managed a small smile as the dams burst and tears poured down his cheeks "We got him."

As the medics loaded her onto the stretcher it finally occurred to her that she wasn't going to die alone in these woods. Elliot was right there beside her and she didn't want to let another second go by without telling him the thing that had been circling around her head since the moment Thatcher had left her. They were in the copter now and as the paramedics rushed around her, putting the IV in and examining her, she gave his hand a squeeze. She prayed that her voice wouldn't fail her, not now when she needed it to say possibly the most important thing she would ever say to the most important person in her life. She coughed once and his hand was on her cheek instantly.

"Shhhhhhh," he soothed "Take it easy, don't try to speak."

"No," she said with a hint of her old defiance "Please, I have to," she coughed again but got her breath back quicker this time "I have to tell you something."

He leaned in closer and smiled encouragingly at her, the tears still falling from his eyes as his hand stroked her hair "Okay," he said "But you've got to promise me you'll take it easy after that and not try to talk too much."

Olivia nodded, reaching up to grab his hand again. She looked into his eyes and her own filled with tears, tears of relief that she had this chance "I, love, you," she whispered each word as if it were the most precious syllable she would ever speak.

Elliot tears came faster as he buried his face in the pillow beside her head. Why had it taken him so long to realize the truth "I love you too," he whispered back as he held tightly to her, never wanting to let go.