"Law and Order: SVU" and "Law and Order: Organized Crime" are the properties of Dick Wolf and NBC Universal.
A/N: I was trying my best to hold off on watching the official return of Stabler until after I had finished writing "Chasm," but the anticipation was killing me and I gave in. So now I'll be writing two stories simultaneously, which I've never done before. This should be fun!
AU rewrite of SVU's "Return of the Prodigal Son" and Organized Crime's "What Happens in Puglia." Some spoilers for each.
Olivia held up her badge as she approached the scene.
"Captain Benson," she identified herself as she stepped through. She looked at the nearest officer. "What happened?"
"Car bomb," the officer replied. "We're taking the victim to Mercy."
EMT's flew by with the stretcher as she spoke and Olivia felt her stomach plummet.
"Kathy?" she asked in disbelief.
The prone woman thrashed at the sound of her voice.
Olivia stepped up onto the rear wheel of the ambulance to get a better view inside.
There was no mistaking it. It was indeed Kathy Stabler looking back at her with frantic, terrified eyes.
"Kathy," she said again, horrified.
"We've got to go!" the medic yelled out.
"Elliot," Kathy choked out.
Hearing his name made Olivia feel weak at the knees.
Forcing herself to focus, she leaned in closer and nodded as reassuringly as she could.
"It's ok," she said. "I'll call him, Kathy. I'll tell him to meet you at the hospital."
Kathy tried to speak and could only moan. An EMT began administering an IV.
"Step away," he said urgently. He moved to push Olivia aside. "We've got to get to the hospital. Right now."
Kathy gasped and lifted her head as best she could.
"Elliot," she choked frantically. She looked directly at Olivia, clearly in pain and trying hard to get the words out. "With me, too. Other side...of the car."
Olivia felt her heart stop when she understood.
She watched the blonde woman grit her teeth and cry out in agony before the doors were pulled shut from inside.
10-13. Someone called for an officer down. Someone called a 10-13.
Her stomach went to her throat.
A civilian wouldn't call that.
Whipping around fast, she ran to the nearest officer and grabbed his arm.
"Where is the officer who's down?" she asked urgently. "Which one of you called for a 10-13 at this location?"
He looked at her like he had no clue what she was talking about.
"Someone called for a 10-13 a few minutes ago," she went on in a rush. "She just said her husband was with her. Her husband was a cop." She curled her fingers with deliberate roughness tighter around his bicep, face blanched in alarm. "Who called? Where is he?"
The officer looked at her in horror when he realized what she was implying.
"It wasn't any of us," he said, looking like a deer in the headlights. "We were called here for a car bombing and only saw her. The blast threw her clear across the street..."
He trailed off nervously. The horror on her face immediately told him what she was thinking.
Olivia turned on her heel and screamed out in the middle of street.
"Everyone stop!" she barked. The officers all looked at her in surprise. "There's a cop unaccounted for and he may have been in the blast. Find him now!"
The scene erupted into chaos as officers began running up the street in the opposite direction and around the demolished car.
She jogged across the street, feeling short of breath and sick.
This couldn't be happening. She was supposed to be at the awards ceremony.
This couldn't be happening.
Halfway up the street, her eye caught sight of a storefront window with blood on it. Next to the window, a corner of an alley had a crumbling dent in the brick that looked smeared with red.
She froze. Shock made her immobile when she saw the figure splayed on the sidewalk, mostly shrouded in the darkness of the alley beside it.
No. No, no, no...
"Here!" she screamed, heart racing with terror. "Get the medics over here!"
Olivia sprinted over to the corner.
"Elliot," she breathed in horror. She immediately recognized him, even as he was covered in dusty ash. "Oh, my God."
She crouched down beside him, her eyes welling up.
"Elliot."
His neck was wrenched into a horrible angle, presumably from making contact with the corner of the building and there was so much blood on his face that she couldn't see any part of his skin.
She reached out with shaking fingers to try and feel for a pulse, tears spilling down her cheeks. She was terrified to touch him. His dress shirt was dark with large patches of blood near his stomach and torn at the left shoulder. Burned flesh was exposed through the hole it made.
He made a weak noise when she made contact with his neck and she jumped in shock.
He was alive.
"Elliot." Olivia's voice trembled. "Hold on. Hold on. Help is coming."
" ...Liv?"
He could hardly croak anything out. But she heard him.
She swallowed hard.
"Yeah," she managed to whisper.
She heard noise behind her. She looked back and saw an ambulance pulling up in front of the sidewalk.
She stood up quickly and moved as the paramedics rushed over. He was put on a stretcher immediately.
One of the EMTs looked at her.
"You know who he is?" he asked her. "That his wife in the other rig?"
Olivia suddenly couldn't speak. She nodded.
"You mind following us to the hospital?" he said. "He's in pretty bad shape. It might help if you could give them information about him."
She nodded again mutely.
The medic ran to the ambulance and jumped inside. It took off with sirens blaring.
Olivia was left standing, ears ringing from the sudden silence. She was still slightly shocked. It was all so surreal that she wondered for a second if she was dreaming.
Then her phone rang and snapped her back into reality.
She grabbed it as she began running back to her car.
"You on your way yet?" Fin asked.
"No," she said. "I need you to meet me at Mercy Hospital."
"Why?" he asked. "What happened?"
"The 10-13 was Elliot, Fin," she said. "Someone set off a bomb in their car."
Her shock was still evident in her voice. Fin was dumbstruck in disbelief on the other end.
"Someone tried to kill them. Someone tried to kill Elliot and Kathy. "