Thank you so much for continuing to read and leave reviews! I'm sorry updates have been so slow. College just started and everything's been a blur.

Grateful to all those who have reviewed, including: pinkydog123, loggie831, ElliotOlivias, MarshMyMellow!!

This is a little shorter, but I'll try and work on a longer update.

Chapter 14: Surprises

Olivia rubbed her eyes as she stepped back into Gardner's apartment building.

"Hey, Liv -- I think you should come see this!"

She looked up to see Munch leaning over the railing of the stairs.

"Okay," she sighed, following him up to the apartment.

He glanced back at her. "Nice outfit. Very, uh, standard issue."

Liv shook her head and failed to hide her smile as she looked down at the NYPD jumpsuit she was currently wearing. She had previously surrendered her clothes to CSU.

"What'd you find?" she asked as they stepped into the apartment.

Fin stood at the computer desk, and pulled out the keyboard tray. A file folder lay spread open on top of the keys.

Benson stepped over towards the desk.

"It's one of yours," Munch explained.

She glanced back at him and then leaned in to get a better look at the papers. She recognized her own handwriting.

"What is this?" she spoke aloud, picking up the folder.

Fin cleared his throat. "It's a copy of your case file -- Gitano."

Munch reached in and flipped over a few pages. "He highlighted his favorite part apparently."

Olivia's eyes met his and then quickly shot back to the folder. The yellow highlighted portion jumped out at her, and she began to read her own account of what had happened in the warehouse.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "How did he get this?"

Munch shrugged, figuring the question needed no response.

"Okay," she muttered and gestured to Fin. "You stay here, make sure these guys scour every surface. And you -- " she said, fingering his partner, " -- go take over for Elliot across the street."

The two detectives nodded and set off on their tasks, while Olivia sighed and flipped out her cell phone. While the rings sounded in her ears, she debated whether or not they were truly ready to go back.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Stabler had just pulled their vehicle to a stop when the Emergency Response Team exited the structure.

"The building's clear!" The leader shouted in response to Olivia's question. She took a deep breath and continued on towards the open entrance. She could feel Elliot tense up beside her without even so much as a glance in his direction. She also knew he could feel her do the exact same.

Though it was still light outside, the warehouse was dark. It was just as dark as she remembered it.

Olivia took a deep breath as she glanced about the building. It seemed almost empty. Most of the crates and other items that had been piled up before had since been removed.

She closed her eyes and could see in her mind exactly where everything had been. That day had played back so many times in her mind that she had memorized the location of every object. She remembered every move she had taken.

"I'm, uh, gonna go start over there," Elliot muttered, pointing to a pair of CSUs huddled in a corner.

Benson hardly heard him, though. She had already started moving in the opposite direction. Years had passed,yet Olivia found herself following the same path through the warehouse. She paused when she came to a dead end. A new stack of crates stood in her way. Stepping around the pile, she stopped again. She sucked in a breath as she realized this was the spot.

Liv could still see Elliot crouched on the ground, the gun to his head. She could feel her hands shaking.

"No," she whispered and shook her head. He's not taking me there.

Olivia shook off the feelings that had crept in, and began treating the site with new objectivity. She wandered around the scene, waiting for some detail to jump out at her.

Stabler had returned to her side. "Lab guys don't have anything yet."

She grunted softly in response.

"You okay?" he asked.

Liv glanced up at him. "Yeah."

He could tell she was focused on something, and he waited patiently.

She exhaled loudly. "I'm just trying to figure out what he expects us to find. Or even, for that matter, if we are supposed to find anything. Maybe he's just toying with me, in which case --"

"Ssshhh..." Elliot held up a hand and twisted his head in the opposite direction.

Benson narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Sshh.." he whispered again. A few seconds later he shook his head. "I thought I heard something, but it could have just been CSU."

Olivia sighed and began moving again. She stopped, though, when she heard a soft scraping noise. Glancing about, she could see no crime scene technicians in the immediate vicinity.

The noise sounded again.

Liv glanced down to her right side. There was an old, wooden trunk that came up to her knee. The lock had been broken.

"Elliot," she called, gesturing to the trunk.

Stabler moved to join her in silence. She had slipped her weapon loose from her belt. He copied her motion, but then extended his right hand towards the trunk. She nodded as she aimed her weapon and he threw back the lid.

"Holy --" the breath loudly escaped from Olivia's lips as she jumped back. She dropped her aim to the floor.

Elliot's eyes widened as he took a large step back. His gun remained steady as it pointed at the open chest.

"Somebody get Animal Control!" he shouted, one hand hovering protectively in front of his partner.

Olivia, however, just stared silently as she watched the large snake slither over the edge of the wooden box.