AN: Only one more after this people. Enjoy!
The man enters quietly, unaware of Olivia's position in the suite. As he moves, he quickly places the clear plastic mask from the bag he's brought over his face. He notices she's not in the living room or kitchen and doesn't hear water running so he surmises she's in the bedroom.
Perfect, he thinks.
He stalks slowly towards the room watching her from the doorway as she slumbers on her stomach with her hands folded beneath her head.
Coming to stand at the side of the bed he leans over to gingerly brush her hair out of her face. She opens her eyes about to say Elliot's name when terror strips the voice from her throat.
She sits up abruptly gathering the covers around her body as the man pulls a .38 snub nosed revolver from the small of his back.
"Hello Elaina," he rasps, taking a step back from the bed.
Olivia doesn't have to feign fear because she's genuinely terrified.
"Who the hell are you?" she asks with more courage than she feels at the moment.
The man sits calmly on the bed as if he belongs there. He runs the gun up the outside of her leg languidly as if it's an extension of his hand.
She abruptly yanks away from him pulling her legs up to her chest as she backs up against the headboard.
"I'm the guy that's gonna' liberate you and your husband from your cash," he responds with a predatory grin. "But first you and I are gonna have a bit of fun," he adds, reaching and yanking the cover down off her body.
Olivia feels vulnerable immediately, only wearing a tank top and her panties. Her mind instantly flashes back to her victimization while undercover at Sealview and her pulse quickens.
Moments later they both hear someone coming into the room. The man puts a gloved index finger against his lips gesturing for her to be quiet.
He gets up from the bed positioning himself to the right of the bedroom door frame so that Elliot can't see him if he enters. His only view will be of Olivia.
Elliot is completely oblivious of the fact that she's no longer alone in the suite. He's returned because he's forgotten his wallet.
He goes about the area looking under sofa cushions, on the kitchen counter next to her cell phone and finally assumes he may have left it in the bathroom at some point.
When he enters the bedroom he sees Olivia huddled against the headboard looking frightened. She yells to warn him about a second too late.
The stranger thumps Elliot on the back of the head with the butt of the gun causing him to fall to his knees on the carpeted floor with a grunt.
"Please stop," Olivia begs.
The man then turns Elliot over punching him in the face and kicking him in the mid section repeatedly as she watches in horror. Then the perp grabs him by the arm dragging him to the chair of a nearby desk.
"Get up," he orders Elliot as he leans over putting the .38 directly to his temple.
The detective's first attempts at becoming vertical again are unsuccessful. On the third try he rolls to his stomach pushing off his hands and knees.
The moment he's on his feet, the stranger pushes Elliot into the chair.
"Get over here!" He barks at Olivia.
She gets off the bed and stands before the man in the bare clothes she's wearing as her partner sits hunched over in the chair.
"Grab that bag," he says, pointing at the black leather satchel he's brought with him. She does as she's told holding it out to him.
"Open it and get out the tape," he orders and watches carefully as she retrieves the roll.
Olivia knows what's coming next and she absolutely does not want to do it. But the man has a loaded weapon trained on her partner and she knows how dangerous he is. He's already beat the crap out of Elliot and he doesn't appear to be worried about the sound his gun will make if he fires it.
"Start with his hands," he begins. "And tape him to the chair."
She can already see the swelling beginning above one of his eyes. His nose and lips are both dripping blood. By the way he's clutching his stomach and struggled to stand when the stranger ordered him to, Olivia also suspects his ribs are broken…again.
She tries to stall for time hoping that she can come up with some type of diversion just as she did when faced with a gun wielding lab tech a few years ago. But Elliot appears to be passed out from his injuries and she can't make eye contact with him.
Olivia wraps his wrists around the chair arms as slowly as she's able to without raising suspicion with the blonde stranger. He's watching her very closely and is nowhere near as naïve or trusting as Stuckey was. She had the advantage of knowing that the lab tech had a crush on her. This man is purely sadistic and very unpredictable.
After she's finished restraining Elliot's legs, the stranger checks her work to make sure her partner can't readily escape.
"Good job," he tells her. "Now get on the bed." She retreats slowly until the back of her legs make contact with the mattress. Once they do, she sits.
He stops in front of Elliot and forcibly yanks his chin up.
"Pay attention you bastard," he tells him as the detective struggles to open his eyes. One is already swollen shut. "I wouldn't want you to miss the show."
At the sound of the man's threat Elliot becomes fully alert and struggles against the duct tape his partner was forced to restrain him with.
"Don't you touch her you son of a bitch!"
The man immediately goes to Olivia backhanding her making her fall backwards onto the bed. He kneels over her placing the .38 against her forehead right between her eyes.
"If you yell like that again I'll put a pillow over this beautiful face and pull the trigger," he warns as Elliot watches seething.
The blonde stranger has Olivia positioned at the foot of the bed in full view of Elliot so he won't miss anything. He takes off one of his gloves and begins taunting Elliot by sliding his hand beneath her tank top making circles around her belly button.
She immediately draws back in disgust but with a gun pointed at her and the stranger's earlier threat, Olivia doesn't jerk away from him.
"Her skin is so warm and soft," he tells Elliot. "Tell me Jason," he begins as he smoothes his hand against the skin of her inner thigh. "Is she just as warm and soft on the inside too?"
Elliot lunges futilely resulting in the man laughing sadistically at him.
"You keep your fuckin' hands off her!"
The stranger just continues rubbing Olivia's thighs before crawling up her body as he points the gun in her side. She can feel the cold metal digging into her ribcage as she lies as still as possible trying not to anger the man.
He places his cold chapped lips against the skin of her neck kissing her as tears threaten to fall. Olivia hates his hands on her but hates it even more that Elliot has to watch knowing he feels powerless to do anything.
"Why are you doing this," she asks, attempting to distract him again.
He pauses in his ministrations sitting up on his knees.
"Now usually I get the business out of the way first before the pleasure," he explains. "It being my last party before I blow this miserable town, I figured what the hell," he says rubbing his hands on her exposed thighs again.
"That's not what I meant," she says, attempting to inch away from him. "I mean why are you doing any of this?"
He laughs menacingly and looks over at Elliot.
"Does she always talk so much?"
The stranger grabs both of her legs, pulling her once again so that she's lying down completely.
"Let's just say I was on my way to the altar when my fiancé decided she loved my money more," he explains. "So by leaving you with nothing I'm insuring she's staying purely for love," he directs at Elliot. "Of course I can't promise what kind of condition she'll be in when I'm done."
"I'm supposed to thank you for beating the shit out of me, taking my money and brutalizing my wife," he asks disbelievingly. "Fuck you," he seethes.
The man climbs off Olivia intending to punch Elliot again when there's a knock on their suite door.
"Who the hell is that?" the stranger asks as the person knocks again.
"I don't know," Olivia answers. "We're not expecting anyone and I didn't order room service."
"Neither did I," comments Elliot.
He aims the gun at Olivia again. "Put some clothes on," he demands.
She quickly scuttles out the bed putting back on her slacks and blouse. The man is on her heels as she walks towards the door, watching her cautiously.
"Who is it?"
"Room service," says the voice she recognizes as Jake the bellhop.
"We didn't order anything," she responds.
"It's complimentary from the hotel for all Intimate Reconnections guests," he explains.
The man jabs the gun into Olivia's side once again and whispers for her to get rid of him.
"No thank you," Olivia tells him. "We're kind of busy right now," she says attempting to keep her voice even.
"Please ma'am," he tells her. "It's lobster and if I return one more complimentary tray they're gonna start to think I'm doing it on purpose. I promise it won't take long."
Olivia turns to face the man.
"He's not just gonna go away," she says. "What if the manager comes up here next?"
The man thinks a moment and decides to let her open the door. He removes his mask, confirming that he's the guy that's been following them. He quickly throws it over the sofa before returning his attention to Olivia.
"Make it quick."
She nods and swiftly opens the door to let Jake in.
He rolls in the cart containing two silver platters with lids, a bottle of champagne in a matching bucket of ice and a small vase of flowers.
The stranger stuffs his gun into the back of his pants and puts a death grip on Olivia's waist pretending to be her husband. He doesn't know Jake had been the one to help them with their bags when they arrived.
"Thanks Mrs. Scaglione," says Jake as he pushes the cart pass them. "Where would you like me to set these up?" he asks eying the blonde man strangely.
"On the kitchen counter is fine," responds Olivia. "I'll help you," she offers pulling away from the man's grasp. She walks towards the kitchen to assist the bell hop.
Jake lifts the lid once Olivia's beside him and instead of a lobster, he pulls a black .45 caliber handgun from the plate.
"NYPD let me see your hands!"
Upon hearinghim yell, Tracy from the front desk charges in along with Munch and Fin with guns drawn.
The blonde stranger drops to his knees putting his hands on top of his head. Fin approaches him cautiously, finds his weapon and confiscates it before patting him down further. He places the handcuffs on him, yanks him to his feet and hands him off to two waiting uniforms.
"John call for a bus, Elliot's hurt," Olivia tells Munch as she rushes off to the bedroom with a kitchen knife to set him free. She figures there'll be time for introductions later.
Elliot looks very relieved to see her once she returns to the bedroom.
"Sounds like the cavalry has arrived," he tells her as she goes to work on the duct tape.
Once she frees him she puts her hands on both sides of his face to look him in the eyes. One has a cut above it and his nose is most likely broken again.
Moments later the paramedics arrive. They clean the blood from his face before putting Elliot onto a gurney, bracing his neck, starting an I.V. and putting an oxygen mask on him before wheeling him out. Olivia puts on her shoes and grabs her purse to go with him.
She resists reaching for his hand as they walk out past a room full of cops and instead opts for holding eye contact with him so he knows she's there.
Hours later after she makes sure Elliot's resting comfortably, she heads back to the station to deal with their unknown subject. By now he should've been fingerprinted and identified.
"How's your partner?" asks Fin as soon as she walks into the bullpen.
She goes to her desk to gather some files from the other victims.
"He'll be fine," she responds. "No concussion this time and he's ribs are just bruised instead of broken."
"Cool. So you ready for this hump?" Fin asks.
"Absolutely," she answers. "Did the prints come back?"
"Yep. His name is Tyler Anthony Jacobson," reveals Fin.
"Guy graduated from M.I.T with a dual degree in information technology and computer programming," chimes in Munch. "He was an independent contractor installing surveillance systems and programming electronic locks for the major hotel chains until he cracked up about a year ago."
"What happened?"
"They found cameras in places they didn't ask him to put 'em," answers Fin. "Like the honeymoon suites."
"This guy has serious issues with happy couples," comments Munch. "After four divorces even I'm not that cynical."
"Being left at the altar will do that for you," Olivia tells them as she walks down the hall to the interrogation room Jacobson is being held in.
He sits hunched over the table that he's handcuffed to, seemingly bored and unaffected by his situation. Upon Olivia's entry he perks right up giving her a sinister grin.
"Well I guess you're name isn't Mrs. Scaglione."
Olivia saunters past him standing near the two-way mirror.
"No. It's Detective Benson."
"Well aren't you quite the little actress," he comments. "You and whatever his real name is should win Emmys for your performances," he continues. "He seemed genuinely pissed back at the hotel."
"I'm not here to talk about us," she says changing the subject. "I'm here to talk about the Robertsons, the Gettys and the Tambors," she tells him punctuating each couple's names by spreading their pictures before him. They gruesomely depict the physical abuse he inflicted upon each husband.
"What I don't get," Olivia begins. "Is why these attacks were so personal on people you don't even know? Why not just rob them and be done with it?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about Detective," he tells her. "I've never seen those people before in my life and I'm sure they'll tell you the same," he adds smirking.
Olivia remembers from the case files the other victims said he'd come in the middle of the night in near darkness, worn a mask and never took his gloves off. He brought condoms and cleaned up after himself.
If she doesn't get him to confess, they'll only have him for the crimes he committed against she and Elliot. Jacobson would skate on the other cases and the murder of Mr. Tambor, the last husband that died as a result of his beating.
"It must've stung seeing them all so successful and happy after your fiancé dumped you and took your money," she says, leaning into his space trying to goad him.
"I'm better off," he tells her. "She was a lying bitch, just like all women."
"Still. That had to have been embarrassing," continues Olivia. "I mean all of your closest friends and family show up and you're just standing there, waiting."
"I handled it," he responds, glaring at her.
She chuckles at him to really get him going.
"Oh yeah you handled it," she tells him. "You missed out on your own happily ever after so you put cameras in the honeymoon suites to spy on other people."
"It was a mistake!" He yells. "I was just testing the cameras. I was going to remove them before anyone checked in!"
"Right," she responds succinctly. "Or, maybe you were looking for pointers."
Olivia moved back as Jacobson futilely lunged for her.
"That's some temper you got there," she tells him grinning as she walks the room. "A real short fuse," she adds, causing him to slam his fists against the table.
"Why don't you check with the wives," he spits. "I don't think they'll have the same opinion."
Olivia raises an eyebrow and cockily sits down in front of him again.
"You know they said that while they're husbands' beatings were brutal prolonged attacks," she taunts. "The sexual assaults went relatively quick."
"They all loved it," he tells her. "And so would you if we weren't so rudely interrupted."
Olivia looks over her shoulder nodding at the captain that's no doubt standing behind the glass watching.
"Well Tyler," she begins. "You won't have to worry about any of your sexual encounters being interrupted in prison. I hear there's always a look-out for that sort of thing."
And with that she leaves Jacobson screaming profanities behind her. When she exits the interrogation room she does in fact see Captain standing on the other side of the glass. He is not alone. With him are "Jake" and "Tracy" from the hotel still wearing their uniforms.
"Good job Liv," says Captain Cragen. "Now we have him for a laundry list of felonies including what he did to you and Elliot today."
"I'm just glad this operation is over," she says exhaling. "It's been a long week."
"I want you to meet two new additions to SVU," says the captain to Olivia's surprise. She assumed they were just on loan from another unit to help with the operation.
"Nick Amaro," says "Jake", holding out his hand. "I've heard good things."
Olivia shakes his hand and turns to the blonde standing next to him.
"Amanda Rollins," says "Tracy" holding out her hand. "I gotta say I'm thoroughly impressed," she adds in a southern drawl.
"I take it you're not from around here," comments Olivia.
"Naw," she responds. "Transferred in from Atlanta PD. I needed a change of scenery."
"What about you?" she asks directing her question at Amaro.
"Fresh from Narcotics," he tells her. "Born and bred in New York, just lookin' for something different."
"You've definitely found that," comments Captain Cragen.
"Well you handled yourselves pretty well," offers Olivia. "I'm looking forward to working with you both," she tells them. "Can I have a moment Cap?"
Captain Cragen nods and she follows him to his office leaving the two new detectives to fend for themselves.
Once they make it to his office he sits behind his desk as she decides to remain standing.
"As much as I appreciated the help today Cap," she begins. "Why do we have two fresh faces in the unit?"
"Munch isn't getting any younger," he starts. "And since he is a sergeant I'm going to delegate more and use him less in the field, give myself a break. Plus he doesn't bounce back so quickly from gunshot wounds."
Olivia's been working for Cragen long enough to know that that isn't the only reason for Amaro and Rollins. She takes the chair in front of his desk and leans forward.
"What are you not telling me?"
He leans forward clasping his hands in front of him eying her intently. After all this time she's been with SVU, he knows her just as well.
"I have a feeling I'm going to receive a transfer request from another detective sometime soon," he explains. "And I don't wanna be short a body."
"Who do you think is gonna leave Captain?"
"You or Elliot…and you already know why," he answers honestly.
Olivia thinks about lying to him, contemplates denying their feelings for one another. It's second nature to her. They've been repeating the "we're just partners" line for over a decade. And for most of that, it's been true.
She leans back in her chair and her fingers suddenly become the most interesting things in the world. Olivia takes a deep breath knowing she doesn't want to have this conversation.
"We've never slept together," she offers.
"Yet," he says surprising her prompting her head to pop up.
"Captain-
"I know you have something other than professional feelings for one another Liv," he interrupts. "I know it's only a matter of time before you act on them and I also know neither of you meant for it to happen," he adds letting her off the hook.
"I tried…very hard…for it not to," she manages.
"I'm guessing that's the reason for all the fighting and tension between you two?"
"Yes. After that situation with Knight-we really couldn't hide it from one other anymore," she says fidgeting and visibly uncomfortable talking with her boss about personal matters.
"It doesn't have to be right away," he begins, trying to hide a knowing smile. "But you know you can't be partners anymore if you're going to pursue a relationship outside of work."
"We know," she says rising up from the chair preparing to leave. "I'm going to see him now so I'll talk to him."
"I'm leaving it up to you and Elliot to make the decision, so keep me posted," he tells her as her hand is on the knob. He already knows who'll be staying.
She simply nods before she leaves his office. Olivia says her goodbyes to Munch, Fin and her new colleagues before heading out.
A difficult conversation is still hard even when it's inevitable.