The belt came down hard on Olivia's side causing her to scream in agony. It confused Lewis to no end on why the sleeping pill hadn't yet taken effect. He didn't realize she had never swallowed it. She managed to keep it in her mouth spitting it out to nudge under the couch when his back was turned. Picking her up, slinging her over his shoulder he carried her down the hall to the other room which was connected by a door to the one Amanda was in. He had it fixed to where Olivia could see into Amanda's room while being tied to the other bed, "See, the blonde bitch is fine." He muttered while tightening the knot on the ropes. She looked over to her passed out girlfriend and the sheets which were now stained red. Olivia couldn't help but wonder if Amanda hadn't lost so much blood she was no longer alive. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she tried to focus on Lewis and whatever it was he was planning for her. Lewis came back towards the rooms, but instead of heading for her, he was standing over Amanda. Landing a hard blow to her rib cage he hoped she'd come to. Amanda jolted awake with the sharp pain then proceeded to glare at him. He noticed her ice blue eyes showed rage, but smiled knowing there was nothing she could do about it.
"What the hell?!" She growled. "If you're going to kill me, just do it already."
"Not yet. I want you to watch what I do to your little friend. Then I will kill one or both of you." He said laughing as he walked through the door towards the bags in the kitchen.
Olivia caught Amanda's blue eyes noticing the anger and pain showing in them. She wished that her girlfriend was never brought into this, but there was no changing that now. Amanda watched the emotions play across Olivia's eyes. The more prominent one was fear. Noticing the ropes which kept her lover tied made her realize she had a better chance to get free. Once she got Olivia's attention again she tried to make Olivia understand what she wanted her to do by pulling on the cuffs keeping her in place. Watching Amanda, she tried to figure out why she'd be fighting her restraints before it finally kicked in. Amanda was trying to tell her to wiggle her wrists in hopes of loosening the ropes to escape. As Olivia started trying to squirm out of the ropes, she heard her girlfriend taunting Lewis.
"You better get on with whatever you're going to do or did you chicken out already? You're not such a tough guy after all are you?" Amanda questioned while staring him down.
"What did you just ask? If you paid attention, you'd know I always follow through with what I say." He grumbled while making his way back to her.
Amanda was not about to show fear even though she was a bit afraid of her punishment for talking to him like she did. Glancing over to Olivia, she saw that her arms were starting to get more movement in them. She hoped that it'd work its way out before he figured out what they were doing. Lewis had his knife in hand when he stopped at the edge of the bed. Bringing it down across her face she felt the burn of the iron hot blade as it sliced through skin like butter.
"Leave her alone! I thought I was the one you wanted!" Olivia shouted but it fell on deaf ears. He chose to ignore her.
"I'm sorry." Amanda whimpered as she felt the warm liquid start trickling down her face.
"Be quiet!" He snapped walking back out to grab the bag.
Catching Olivia's stare she saw the small shake of her head letting her know she couldn't get loose. There was nothing either one of them could do anymore but wait.
"How long before we get there?" Nick impatiently questioned Fin.
"It's another 2-3 miles out." Fin snapped. He'd given up keeping his anger in check.
They saw a black sedan sitting on the edge of the road. Slamming on his breaks, Fin was able to stop the car before hitting their Captain's. They watched as Frannie whined and pounced on the vehicle in front of them. It was obvious that Amanda had once been in the vehicle. With all the woods, cabins and camp grounds stretched throughout them, it went from feeling good about finding them to the same odds as finding a needle in a haystack. Their current plan went out the window as they could be in the cabin down the way or somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. As soon as the door was open, Frannie jumped in sniffing over everything before whining and lying down over her owner's jacket. Cragen had put a call in to all available units in the area to come aid in the search of two missing detectives now that things had changed.
"What do we do Cap?" Fin practically whispered trying to fight his own tears back.
"When someone gets here we will start a grid search. They can search the woods while we continue onto that cabin. If we strike out, we'll come back here and aid them." He responded in the calmest tone he could which didn't even keep the fear out of his voice.
Once a few officers arrived, the Captain let them know what to do as he headed back to his vehicle. Nick ended up having to carry the dog out of the sedan to put her in with Cragen as she wouldn't move otherwise. It was coming up on 24 hours since they had been taken which had the rest of the team thinking the worst. It took all Fin had to focus his thoughts on helping his fellow detectives instead of ways to torture and kill Lewis.
"It's all going to be okay." Nick kept whispering to himself as they continued down the road.
Pulling up to the long driveway, they chose to leave the vehicles and walk the quarter mile down the road. Fin notices Frannie's ears perk up as they are walking. He smiles softly with a newfound hope of finding his partner and Olivia. He just hopes they are alive. He knows they are all thinking the same thing though. What will they find when they locate the two women? Cragen had EMTs already in route set to meet up with the officers down the road knowing they would probably need them.
Amanda thought she was dreaming for a second when she heard a dog bark that sounded like hers. 'I must be delusional if I think I hear my own dog.' She thought as she looks back to Olivia's room watching as Lewis starts to cut her clothes up. Then it dawned on her she might not be crazy as she watches the expression change on his face after the second bark. Easing off the bed Lewis looks out the window. Seeing nothing he begins to think he is imagining it. He walks to the front of the house to check it out to be sure. Olivia looks to Amanda with a questioning look. Amanda fights to stay conscious as she tries to tell Olivia they might be rescued.
"I think Frannie's out there." She mumbles before she passes out once again.
Olivia barely made out the words from reading her lips before Amanda was once again unconscious. Olivia made one last attempt to fight with the ropes hoping to break free to care for Amanda, but it was useless. She only hoped the blonde was right and maybe they could get out of there alive. Wincing from her own pain she knew she had at least one broken rib along with the burns, bruises and minor cuts. All she could do was pray that help would arrive before either of them was gone forever.
Seeing nothing from where he was, Lewis heads back to the brunette intent on finishing what he had started. Taking the same knife he used earlier he continued slicing through Olivia's shirt. He smiled when he saw the bruise and welt from the belt he had used earlier. After finishing removing the shirt he started working on cutting the jeans off. He stopped mid way when he glanced up seeing a dog outside the window. Listening carefully he heard the rustling of the bushes knowing there was someone else out there. Lewis landed a hard blow to Olivia's head knocking her out before getting up to grab the rifle he had found in one of the closets. Thinking it may just be a hunter he could easily scare him off. The dog looked somewhat familiar to him but he shrugged it off blaming it on being a little paranoid.
Fin had gone around back of the building with Frannie looking for a side entrance or back door to breech the cabin. He saw the movement inside so he carefully snuck up to the window. Looking inside he saw his sergeant tied up unconscious on the bed. What he didn't see was his partner causing him to fear she was already dead. Hearing the lock on the front door click, Nick dove into the bushes next to the porch leaving his Captain in full view to whoever came out that door. Thinking quickly Cragen thought up a plan hoping it'd work when he saw Fin coming around the other side. He motioned for him to stay hidden.
"What are you doing on my property?" Lewis half yelled pointing the gun through the cracked door.
"I'm looking for my dog. We were camping and she wandered off. I didn't mean to trespass." Cragen responded as calmly as he could.
"I haven't seen no dog. Now leave!" He shouted unable to see the two detectives inching their way to the door.
Cragen nodded making his way back up the drive. Before Lewis could pull the rifle back into the house, Fin kicked it out of his hand. Lewis attempted to slam the door but Nick was faster using his foot as a door stop. Running through the house, he grabbed the gun off the counter he took from Olivia and took up residence in the bathroom hoping to get out of the window before they could get him. Frannie pushed past both detectives bolting into the house right on his heels. She bit into his ankle just as he got to the bathroom. Unfortunately for her he was able to shake her off shutting the door on her.
"He's holed up in the bathroom!" Fin shouted coming to a stop by Frannie who was growling loudly at the door.
"We got bigger problems. We need a bus now!" Nick responded as he stood over Amanda's lifeless bloody body trying to unlock the cuffs.
Cragen stood in the doorway looking back and forth at his two detectives silently praying both would be fine. He'd already called for backup and untied Olivia. He could do nothing but watch as Nick tried his best to wake Amanda. Shattering glass told them things had gotten worse. Both detectives were ordered to go try and catch him as there was nothing more they could do until EMTs arrived. Looking back over his shoulder, Cragen saw Olivia starting to stir. He told her to stay still, that help was on the way. Instead she fought him tooth and nail wanting to get to her girlfriend even though she was pretty out of it herself. Sighing he finally agreed helping her over to Amanda.
"Oh Manda, I'm so sorry. This is my fault." She whispered stroking her blonde hair while fighting back tears.
Olivia felt herself starting to get dizzy so she carefully lay down next to her girlfriend holding her hand. She didn't care she was on sheets soaked with blood, she just wanted Amanda to be okay. Frannie had taken up residence on the other side as close to Amanda as she could get. Cragen stayed against the wall as his own tears started to fall. Hearing the gun shots firing outside, he silently hoped one of them killed Lewis for everything he had done, especially to two of his own. He was brought back to reality when EMTs burst through the door rushing to the two lifeless women. One of the paramedics glanced over to the Captain hoping for answers as to what happened, feeling his heart sink in his chest with the unspoken answer given. Everything was just a blur for him after that only hearing bits and pieces of what the medics were saying.
"Sir, we can't take the dog with us, but she's not budging. It's important to leave immediately as she's lost so much blood." One of them said still standing in the doorway looking at the blonde.
"I got her." Cragen responded lifting the dog off Amanda's stretcher with her fighting all the way.
After they exited the door, he walked out with Frannie standing on the porch looking over the driveway now covered with police cars.
"We lost him Cap. Uni's are still searching." Fin said disappointed as he came around the building with a limping Amaro.
"What's wrong with you?" Cragen questioned Nick.
"I busted my ankle. It's nothing serious though I'm sure." Nick answered still mad he caused them to lose their fugitive.
"Let's get that checked and while we're there we'll get an update on Rollins and Benson." He muttered shaking his head.
Walking into the emergency room entrance they were stopped immediately by a nurse saying the dog was not allowed in the hospital. Cragen lied saying she was his service dog but he'd forgotten the paper work as he was in a rush to see his girls. She glanced at the tired looking man with a sympathetic smile choosing to allow the dog to stay. Writing down the names of the two women she headed back to see if she could get an update. Amaro sat down next to the Captain with the ice pack he was given while Fin just continued to walk the floor. The minutes just slowly ticked by making two hours seem like ten.
"Is anyone here for Olivia Benson?" A different nurse asked walking towards the waiting room. They all stood up making their way over with Frannie in tow.
"How is she?" Nick questioned quietly.
"She had it rough wherever she was. There are two broken ribs, one which came close to puncturing her lung. Also, she has a serious concussion which may cause her to suffer some memory loss. One of the lacerations did need stitches. Other than that it's just bad bruises and some cuts." The nurse explained.
"What about Amanda? Is she okay?" Fin panicked looking at the nurse with a worried stare.
"She's still being worked on. I'll let you know when I get more information. In the meantime you may go back and see Olivia." She responded ushering them back to see her.
Olivia was still out when they walked in which was something Fin was grateful for. He wasn't sure if he could look her in the eyes just yet. They all sat in silence watching the brunette just happy she was alive even though she had a long road ahead of her.
Olivia slowly opened her eyes feeling a warm body beside her. For a minute she thought it was Amanda before frowning as she remembered the blonde with so much blood around her. Reaching down she patted the dog on the head before looking up to see her team sitting around her bed. Attempting to sit up, she let out a small gasp at the pain shooting through her rib cage. Everyone's eyes turned to her as Nick jumped up to help adjust the bed to give her more comfort. Seeing how everyone was avoiding the silent question, Olivia decided she would ask it. Silently she cursed herself for asking after looking at all the sad faces in the room at the mention of the blonde's name.
"They don't know anything yet. We'll be the first to know when they have information." Fin responded in a defeated voice. He hated he couldn't protect the best partner he ever had.
"How are you?" Nick asked concerned.
"I'd be a lot better if I knew Amanda was going to be okay." She snapped which gave her a raging headache from the noise.
She wrapped her arms around Frannie, holding on to the one thing she had of her girlfriend. He grip loosened when she finally gave in to her body telling her to rest. Olivia fell back into a deep sleep. Cragen sent the two men out before pushing the dog off the bed following them. They once again took up residence in the waiting room hoping for answers on Amanda's condition.
Nick got up and wandered back towards his partner's room. Watching her through the window he couldn't help but think things could have been different if he paid a little more attention to details. His thoughts were interrupted when two nurses rushed past him into her room. It was then he heard one of the machines beeping loudly. A doctor was paged and Olivia was taken into surgery. Fear settled deep in his chest as his mind raced on what could have happened. Sprinting back to his Captain and Fin he slid to a stop as he noticed the tear stains on the other detectives face. Not knowing what was going on with Amanda he wondered if they were going to lose both women because of that beast.
"We just got news on Rollins. She lost so much blood some of her organs started shutting down. It's touch and go as of this moment. Right now she's alive, but the next 24 hours will be critical. If she makes it through, she'll hopefully recover." Cragen told him.
"Why were you running to get to us? Does Liv want us back?" Fin asked trying to hide his own sadness and fear.
"No, I went to her room. They took her back for surgery. I'm not sure why though." Nick answered quietly.
"I want this son of a bitch caught yesterday." Cragen growled at his two detectives. "Can you guys keep a solid head on your shoulders and help find him?
Both nodded as they ran out the door to aid the search in finding Lewis. Unsure of what to do, he looked at the dog deciding it'd be best to head back to the office to be of some help. He left his number with the nurse at the desk telling her to call with any new information on either woman before leaving the hospital himself.
"Don't worry Frannie. I'm sure your moms will be okay." He whispered with a forced smile. He just prayed he was right.
