„Yeah, Fin what's up?" Olivia's eyes scrunched up as she was trying to focus on Fin's words coming through the line. Raising a finger she looked at Voight and excused herself with a whisper. „One sec," she mouthed and headed to the holding cells that were empty.

„Odette Heraldo, our first vic? Said she might remember somethin'," Fin said.

„Might?" Olivia deadpanned with frustration. Might. What was that supposed to mean.

„She isn't entirely sure if she saw it or if it's a figment of her dreams or imagination," Fin clarified. „But said she might have gotten a short glimpse of a tattoo on the back of the guy's thigh."

That caught Olivia's attention and she stepped further towards the holding cell. „A tattoo? What kind of tattoo?"

„She isn't sure but thinks it could've been a scare crow," he pointed out.

„This is the first we ever heard of this, she never mentioned it the times we've taken her statement." There was a chance Rostock didn't have a tattoo but for now it was a straw they could grasp.

„I know. But she was also very confused after the attack, her memory was all over the place then, Liv."

„Alright. So, if we're lucky she repressed the memory of a tattoo and if we're not…"

„There's no tattoo," Fin deadpanned for her.

„Okay, it's something and at this point I'll take it. Anything else?"

„Nothing. Carisi is trying to track down former employee's of that bar but the place has gone out of business about a year ago."

„Well, shit," Olivia sighed. „I think we only talked to Rostock and whoever worked that shift with him."

„Correct, Nadia Petrovska. Already talked to her, she doesn't remember anything more than what she had told us at the time and even the events of that night have faded over time. We're on it, Liv. If there's anything you'll be the first to know."

„Thanks. We could really use whatever you can dig up because right now we're not getting anywhere."

„We doing what we can, Liv."

„I know. Talk to you soon," Olivia said and hung up, pondering the new information. A possible tattoo might not be enough for a judge to compel Rostock to drop his pants. And if they would find he had none on his thigh this case was lost once and for all. They'd never take Rostock to trial. There was only one way to play this - talk to the guy again and wait for a reaction when they mentioned a tattoo on his thigh. Olivia tapped the phone against her thigh for a moment, then made her way back to Voight. From his desk he glanced at her as she closed the door so they'd have some privacy as she shared the news.

„First victim said he might have had a tattoo, maybe a scare crow on his thigh. Thing is she doesn't seem very sure. There's a chance she… remembers things that weren't there. She was all over the place when she gave her statement but… you know the details. He did a number on her."

„No judge is going to sign off on a maybe."

„I know. We'll talk to him again."

„And you want to persuade him to agree to another questioning how?"

„I don't know yet. What I do know is that he's a dangerous serial rapist and I want to know if he's got a goddamned tattoo on his thigh. Rostock is arrogant. As long as he's confident we have nothing on him…"

„You really think it's going to be that easy?"

„I think that he likes talking to me, he likes the attention and he'd love to get under my skin, rile me up." She saw Voight's lips twitch and eyes cloud.

„And you think that's a good thing? Can we be sure what we're up against with him?" For a moment she saw something in Hank's face that she hadn't often noticed, even throughout their worst investigations with Yates.

„I think he's a cocky bastard who wants the attention. I also think he feels like he's got nothing to worry about."

„That doesn't answer my question, Liv."

„Don't undermine me, Hank. I know what I'm doing," came her sharp reply.

He hated her fierceness, her fearlessness. Also he respected and admired her for it. When he had found out more and more about Olivia, back when she was still Sergeant, he had been amazed that she was still in the game, had not been broken. „Fine. So what's your plan?"

….

Don't go in alone, Voight had said. Take backup.

Olivia had heard the warning in his words, in the way his voice had dropped even lower than it was naturally - which seemed impossible. But Olivia had always been thickheaded.

Rostock might get suspicious if she came with backup, she had thought but not said to him. She would just try to work her magic, persuade him to come back to the station with her for another round of questioning. Go in, make the fish bite, get back out, possibly with Victor Rostock in tow. Halstead would be waiting in the car. It was safe. Safe enough anyway.

Nobody had said anything about it going all wrong.

…

Throb. Throb. Throb.

Olivia came to with a splitting headache, disoriented and her vision blurry for a few seconds. She raised her head and shifted, flexed her biceps muscles to lift her arms to no avail. Her arms felt like deadweight. Nothing moved.

Nothing made sense.

„There she is." The voice crawled through the haze of pain and confusion and Olivia blinked before her eyes fluttered open. Victor Rostock's face was inches from hers. She could feel his cigarette breath hitting her skin as he grinned grotesquely. Her stomach turned with a surge of nausea. Again she tried to move her arms, pulled, then almost yanked until she pieced the jigsaw puzzle together. She fought against restraints, wrists tied together behind the back of a chair.

„Uhn." She wanted to say something but the splitting ache in her head didn't let Olivia focus on forming the words.

„Yeah, sorry ´bout that, Lieutenant," Rostock said casually. „Didn't mean to knock you out. Or did I?"

Like a jet of flame rage burst through Olivia. It was sobering. She inhaled shakily, then raised her head and willed herself to look at Victor Rostock, trying to gauge the situation she was in. He had stripped her of her gun, which wasn't surprising. It also meant, that besides being pinioned, she had no means to defend herself.

She tried out her voice, looked Rostock in the eye. „This isn't a good idea, Victor." His face mirrored amusement and it was unsettling. For a second it felt like deja-vu. For longer than that, Olivia felt sickening fear curse through her body, paralyzing her mind.

There was no plan of action. She hadn't prepared for this; this wasn't supposed to happen.

„It wasn't a good idea for you to come here. You know, they say third time's the charm but between you and I? It either means you were going to keep on waisting my time poking around in the dark, or you know a little too much. Which is it, Lieutenant Benson?" Rostock's eyes sparkled in a bright blue as he cocked his head.

„There's backup outside, Victor. Detective Halstead is going to get impatient very soon."

„Like I haven't figured that out." He made a tut-tut sound with his tongue against his gums before he smiled with boyish imatience.

„What's your plan, Victor? Do you really think they are letting you walk out of here now that you have a cop in your pocket? You could untie me, I'm going to walk out of here, no harm done," Olivia said, trying to keep her voice even.

„Yeah, about that - I think we both know you're full of shit. You and me? We're not going to go anywhere," Rostock shrugged and pulled a chair, sitting down in front of Olivia. „You know a hell of a lot about me, Olivia." Rostock's upper lip twitched with anticipation and satisfaction all at once. „It's time I get to know you a little better, because we're going to spend some time together."

„Victor, within the next few minutes my colleagues are going to show up here, SWAT Team and all. Trust me, you don't want that. We can end this now, I'm just going to walk out of here-…"

„No, you're not," he smiled. „And I don't really care if Crisis Negotiators and SWAT are going to camp out outside this building."

„They are going to burst in here, Victor. And they are not going to play any games. Believe me, you have no chance to make it out of here once this gets real. You don't want my partner out there to get impatient and make that call-," she said shakily. Rostock's calm demeanor was unsettling Olivia. He didn't even seem to contemplate her words, he didn't seem worried or nervous. None of all the things he should feel.

„Oh please, Olivia. I can call you Olivia, right? Nobody is going to burst in here while I have a Lieutenant with the NYPD as a hostage. That'd be crazy, wouldn't it? If they risked your life so easily."

„They will wonder what is taking me so long, Victor. My phone is going to start ringing any second." At least Olivia hoped so. She couldn't have been out for long, she thought. Maybe a few minutes, nothing that would make Halstead suspicious.

„Good point," Rostock smiled and slid his hand in the pocket of his twill pants, producing Olivia's phone from it. He pushed his thumb onto the home button and slowly wiggled it in his hand, showing her the screen. Five missed calls. Three from Halstead, two from Voight.

„I put it on silent. All these calls can be such a distraction." Her heart sank instantly. Backup being on the way wasn't any consolation right now. Rostock wasn't worried or nervous which made her cringe visibly.

„What do you want, Victor? Do you think you'll walk out of here with me? Because with every passing minute the chances of that happening are getting slimmer. I wouldn't lie to you. I've been in this type of situation before, it doesn't look good if you-,"

„Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell are you talking about?" He hollered suddenly, eyes wild. He shook his head and took a breath as his body shook. Within a second, Rostock seemed to have regained control of his emotions. „Only one of us is going to walk out of here. And won't it be fun to see who that'll be?"

….

„What the fuck were you thinking?" Voight shouted at Halstead as he walked towards his detective as squad cars started to block the street, blue light flashing from every direction.

„I'm sorry Sergeant. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea and that you wouldn't be on board but she… she pulled rank and-," Voight interrupted Halstead, eyes wide.

„You let her step into the lion's den because she told you she's higher in the food chain? What the hell did you think would happen? This guy is a serial rapist who'd taken a liking to Benson from the start, goddamnit! How long has it been?"

„Forty minutes, give or take. Still doesn't answer her phone, no activity at all."

„If he's holding her hostage, he'll have to get in touch sooner or later."

„Right now neither Olivia nor Rostock are giving us anything."

„You better pray she's still in there and well because otherwise I will have your badge and your sorry ass," Voight got in Halstead face, trying hard to get himself in check. Before he took a step back, he shoved the detective and walked away, waiting for Crisis Management to arrive.

He'd kill Halstead, if anything should happen to Olivia. Hell, he'd kill Rostock with his bare hands if he'd lay a finger on her. He should have known better than let Benson have her way. It had sounded too damned simple. And most of all he should have known why she hadn't wanted him there and suggested taking Jay. She had wanted to get Rostock alone, had never planned to confront him with Jay. It wasn't the first time Olivia Benson had gone on a mission, shutting everyone else out. She had played the distrust card, for fuck's sake, and he should have called her out on it, because from the very first second he had known.

„You don't trust me."

„Of course I trust you, Liv. But I don't have a good feeling about this."

„He will talk to me, Hank. But if you show up there with me, he's going to decline any battle. He wants my attention."

„And how is that a good thing?"

„All I need is a little more time with him. I can get a read on him, I'll know if we're on to something and you know it. Jay can go with, if you can't trust me to do my job, trust him."

She had been bullshitting him, had made him a tool, and he had let her because deep within he wanted to prove to her he did trust what she was doing, trusted her judgement. Voight had wanted to believe, she was going to stay true to her word and do her job and not go out on a limb in the name of justice.

And where had it gotten him? They hadn't heard from Olivia for forty minutes. Was she injured? Still alive? Was she even still in the building?

Voight pulled out his phone again and gave Olivia another ring. Five rings, then it went to voicemail. With every passing second Hank Voight's confidence waned.

…

She had first heard the sirens from afar a couple of minutes ago but by now it had gotten silent and knew that they were setting up camp in front of the building. The street was flooded by police and likely snipers that wouldn't be able to see into the apartment and find their target. The dark curtains were drawn and both Olivia and Rostock were seated close to one corner of the room that didn't allow anyone from the outside to see them from any angle. She had seen her phone light up on Rostock's thigh two more times, the name ‚Hank Voight' popping up on the screen.

„You should probably take that," Olivia advised.

„You should probably stop telling me what to do, Lieutenant. I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone else but you. Let's forget about what's going on out there and enjoy our time together. I don't think it's going to end anytime soon but eventually…," he bopped his head from side to side.

„Maybe we could… turn on the lights. It'll be easier to talk when we see each other better." Obviously Victor would keep on refusing to pick up the phone. She had to find some kind of way to communicate with the outside world. But Rostock merely looked at her, brows scrunched together.

„I love the way you think," he decided after a while and pushed himself up. But instead of moving towards the light switch, Victor slowly rummaged through a drawer, like he had all the time in the world. He returned with tea lights and retrieved a lighter from his pocket. „Almost romantic, isn't it?"

He was thinking a step ahead of her, Olivia realized. Her tied hands, her Glock on the coffee table a few feet away, Rostock refusing to pick up the phone or let her answer the calls - it was unsettling. But the realization that she couldn't get him to do any of the things she suggested, things she needed him to do to send Voight and his people some kind of signal was something that truly scared Olivia. It didn't seem likely that Rostock would start to negotiate. Whatever agenda he had, Olivia couldn't see through it.

„Why so sad, Olivia? You asked for light, you got light," Victor said, upbeat.

„What do you want from me?"

„But I already told you. I want to talk. Get to know you better. You are something else, Olivia. I knew that from the start. So fierce. Ah, it was so refreshing to see how you pulled your little friend Voight off of me and blew up in his face," he inhaled deeply, like he sucked the essence of a beautiful, warm day into his lungs. „Oh, you really got him by the balls, don't you? Do you emasculate all men like that? With your tough as nails demeanor?" Rostock didn't expect an answer but watched Olivia closely.

„I would have thought you'd be more grateful for me stopping Sergeant Voight from punching a confession out of you."

„Ah, you and your confessions. Would that make you feel better? If I said it?"

„I don't need to hear it from you. I know you did it. Unfortunately no jury would care about what I know is true. But while we're at it - why not say it? Let's say I wanna hear it."

„Does it tear you up that it took eight women until you realized it was me, Olivia? Do you go over it again and again, questioning yourself, your people? You know, I wanted to applaud you when the penny dropped and you stood in front of me again. After all these years. And to think it's here in Chicago." She swallowed and squirmed against the chair. Eight. Eight women, it rattled through her mind. They only knew of five victims so far. But this was not a slip, he had deliberately disclosed this number.

„Eight? So, why don't you tell me about the other three?"

„That would be such a waste of time and we don't have forever sweetheart." Keep him talking, Olivia thought. She couldn't let him drop the subject. Not this time.

„You claim you raped eight women but can't even give me any details?" She mocked, raising a single brow as she scrutinized Rostock. „Sounds like a whole lot of bullshit to me."

„Oh, I could give you all the details. If I wanted to. Unfortunately for you I don't. But let's not talk about me. How old are you, Olivia?" He reached out and dragged a strand of hair between his thumb and index finger as he cocked his head. „Fifty?"

„Forty-eight," she responded stiffly.

„No ring, so not married, I suppose. Tell me Lieutenant, do you ever fuck? Get all that pent up energy out of your system?"

„I don't think that my sex life is any of your business."

„You think wrong," Victor said calmly, leaning back in his chair as the Iphone lit up once again with an incoming call. „If you think you get to choose what questions to answer you are in denial. So, let's try this again. Do you ever fuck?"

„I said it's none of your business," Olivia repeated sternly. To her surprise Rostock laughed, making her wonder if he was trying to cover any insecurities.

„Are you stupid?"

„No, I am not."

„Yes. Yes, you are. Because if you were smart, you'd answer the goddamn question. Do you ever fuck?"

„I'm not going to answer that question, I don't see the point."

„Do you want to make a call? One call of your choice?" She looked at Victor Rostock with suspicion and instantly he knew he had gotten her attention. He picked up her phone and dangled it in front of her although they were both aware she couldn't take it if she tried.

„You're going to let me make a call?"

„You give me something, you get something in return," he said simply.

Olivia considered it, trying to gauge if he was being serious, but the possibility of being able to tell Hank she was okay was too tempting to pass up on. „Alright. I think that's fair."

„I thought so," Rostock smiled. „So Olivia, do you ever fuck?"

She swallowed and to answer such a simple question, however inappropriate, shouldn't feel so humiliating. She was a woman, it shouldn't be hard to imagine that she had a sex life.

„I do." The admission felt strange and demeaning, but she looked Rostock dead in the eye as she said it.

„Boyfriend? One night stands?"

„I think we had an agreement. I get a call," Olivia reminded him.

„Not yet, Lieutenant. So? Is it Sergeant Voight? That why he lets you talk to him like that? So you won't cock-block him?"

„Victor, I want my call."

„I'm sure there are quite a few things you want right now but ain't life a bitch? Voight. Does he fuck you?"

He was making no threats, except for overpowering her earlier he hadn't laid a hand on her. It was all the more unsettling. He was messing with her head. If he didn't want to harm her, then what was his plan? Was she going to get out of here? Could she influence getting out of here alive? Olivia didn't have an ounce of control over the situation. This wasn't her narrative, she was not leading, couldn't even point Rostock in any direction of her choosing. He might not be harming her physically, but it was dawning on her that for her this was a lose-lose kind of situation. Rostock's behavior reminded her of a tactic cops used in interrogations sometimes, although he seemed to apply it subtly, maybe not even consciously. It felt like a double bind. The emotional dilemma and distress were kept within limits but then again she hadn't been in this position for very long and except sending conflicting messages, Rostock gave her nothing while he engrossed and drove the strings of conversation. But not knowing what was happening, not fully understanding it either, was the hardest part.

„I won't say another word until you let me make that call," Olivia said slowly, trying to keep her voice even. And again she saw Victor Rostock grin at her as he fished a cigarette out of a pack of Marlboro.

…