"Hello?"

"Cragen?"

Cragen blinked as he held the phone to his ear. He glanced over to the clock and saw that was 3am. To Cragen, 3am phone calls were always urgent. Cragen sat up in his bed, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Police Commissioner Jensen?"

"Where are Benson and Stabler?" Jensen asked. The police commissioner sounded annoyed and tired. He had spent the entire day attempting to win back New York City residents with press conferences throughout the city. Jensen felt that it was unsuccessful mainly due to protestors outside city hall and the thousands of angry letters he had received within the past week.

"I have them in the room next to mine. I have Detective Finn and Sergeant Munch keeping an eye on them. Why do you ask? Any news on the kidnapper?"

"No, but I'm afraid I do have some bad news. Kathleen Stabler was reported missing last night by her roommate. The roommate stated that Kathleen went out two nights ago and had not been heard from since. The roommate told campus police who told Kathleen's mother and us."

"Any leads?"

"A man called my office about an hour ago. He claimed to have Kathleen and wants Benson and Stabler handed over to him within 5 hours or the girl's dead. I assume that this guy's the kidnapper. He made good on his promise to kill Amelia James. I will not have a death due to this guy. I believe we should give him Benson and Stabler."

"What? No, I'm not handing my detectives over to be killed!"

"This guy has screwed with me enough! The NYPD reputation is going down the drain and I'm being pulled along for the ride. I know you care about them, but I think Stabler would rather have his daughter alive then himself. It also looks better- we don't need people questioning why the NYPD chose two of their own over a young girl. Plus, it looks like two brave detectives gave their lives for this girl."

"You already have newspaper headlines made up? Maybe, this guy was right about NYPD corruption."

"Watch it, Cragen. I'm going to let that comment go by because of what's been going on. "

"Police Commissioner, Stabler and Benson have been through enough already. I'm not going to make them go back to their kidnapper. They have been through too much this week already."

"I know and understand that. But I have made a decision and want both of them in my office within 2 hours. We will make the exchange with this man and get Kathleen Stabler back alive. If you will not bring Benson and Stabler to me, I will find an officer that will. Good bye."

The phone went silent.

Cragen closed his eyes and took a breath to attempt to calm hisself down. He would fight Jensen as harder as he could to protect Olivia and Elliot. The entire team was a like another family for him. He figured that he had to find another way to beat this guy. Like Jensen, he had had enough.

Cragen jumped out of bed and grabbed his keys. He left his hotel room and opened the room next to his. Finn was sitting and reading a magazine with his foot on the table. Munch was staring off into space as he sat next to Finn. Olivia and Elliot were asleep in a queen bed on the other side of the room. As Cragen entered, Munch blinked and turned his attention to Cragen.

"Any news?" he asked.

"Yeah, but what were you staring at?" Cragen asked. Munch was an excellent detective, but always seemed a little weird to Cragen. Finn rolled his eyes and said, "Just ignore him, captain. What happened?"

Cragen lowered his voice and said, "Kathleen is missing."

Finn's eyes widened as he gasped, "You think this is the same guy?"

"Yes, he made a demand. He wants us to give him El and Liv and in return, he would release Kathleen. "

"Captain, we can't do that!"

"I know. The police commissioner wants us to make the exchange. I refused and he threatened to find other officers to take El and Liv if we don't."

"You have got to be kidding me. This is like Sophie's choice- we either kill El and Liv or let Kathleen die," Munch replied.

Cragen sighed and muttered, "What are we going to do?"