A/N: It's Spring Break so I'm back with another fic. It was going to be a one-shot but since this social distance due to a pandemic thing gives me more time to write I decided to make it a multi-chap. I wrote one-shots for 'Her Negotiation', and the trial so I thought I'd write this one for the rescue. Trying to fill in the gaps where Elliot should have been because not having him even contact Olivia when Lewis happened was unrealistic and made no sense. This is similar to Chapter 7 of the EO one-shot series because it's domestic EO, they got together when he retired, he works private security etc. You do not have to have read that one to understand this one.

Warning: This story involves Olivia's kidnapping, assault etc so just a heads up that there may be triggers. Proceed with caution.

As long as he lived he didn't think he'd ever felt panic like he did when he heard his former Captain's voice on the phone.

"Elliot, it's Olivia. She's been kidnapped."

"She what!?" He had only been away for a few days and they had just spoken on the phone the morning before. "Don how...how did this happen?" His panic was quickly mixing with rage.

"Did she tell you about the case she was working?"

"No she uh...she seemed off yesterday when I called her I begged her to talk to me but...oh god I should've known something was wrong. She sounded so defeated."

"We all were." He could tell Cragen was hesitant to tell him more when there was a moment of silence.

"Don...Don tell me...please."

"Son I know you love her deeply but there's nothing you can do now. You're not on the force anymore."

"Like hell am I staying away. She needs me-"

"El-"

"I'm driving home tonight. Try and stop me."

"Drive carefully. She wouldn't want you doing anything drastic." Elliot shrugs off the comment. Nothing was too drastic if it meant saving the woman he loved.

"Don please tell me you have a lead on the bastard who did this."

"We do but-"

"Who!? Who is it!? Who's the sick freak who took my-" girlfriend, baby, partner, love of my life. There were so many things she was to him. "My Liv. Who took my Liv?" He nearly growled.

"Drive to the precinct. We'll fill you in. None of us are going home until she's found." He knew he wasn't going to be able to keep his former detective from being involved in the search and he wasn't gonna try. She needed all of them.

"I'm on my way."

"Elliot?"

"Yeah?" His heart was pounding.

"We'll find her son. We're gonna find her. Alive. We'll bring her home." Elliot wasn't sure he could say much without releasing the sob in his throat.

"Yeah. I know." He choked out. He had to believe it because he couldn't accept anything else. He wouldn't make it without her.

X

The 2 hour drive, even though he was able to go faster with the lights and sirens, felt like a lifetime to him. Fear gripped his heart and as much as he tried he couldn't stop his mind from thinking of all the horrible things that could be happening to her. He wished more than anything that this was a nightmare. That he would wake up and she'd be safe, snuggled in his arms with her head resting on his chest where his heartbeat was. That she'd be alive and free of pain or fear. That she'd wake up and he'd give her a good morning kiss and she'd swat him away playfully saying he had morning breath. God he missed her. Pull yourself together Stabler. She's still alive. She's out there somewhere. You'll find her. You'll hold her again soon. He raced through the doors of the precinct and took the stairs not wanting to waste any time waiting for the elevator. True to his old Captain's word the whole squad plus several other detectives who had been called in were still in the squad room. They hadn't left.

"Tell me you found something!" He runs into the bullpen and stops short. His heart jumps into his throat at the crime scene photos from Olivia's apartment and others from the perp's previous victims to profile his M.O.

"El, you don't need to see this man." Fin tries to direct his attention away from the sickening images on the bulletin board.

"Who the hell is this guy?" The former detective's voice was low and dark and shook with rage and fear. "TELL ME!"

"Son-" Cragen's voice was cut off by a phone ringing.

"Damn it not now. Stabler." When all he hears is muffled noise he's confused momentarily until he hears a voice that makes his heart crack.

"Help me...please."

"Olivia?" He grips his phone tighter.

"Elliot you...you have to find me before he-he-" He can tell she's terrified. Her voice sounds so unlike her and his own fear spikes. He takes the phone away from his ear a moment to address the squad.

"It's her! She's alive! Someone get a trace! HURRY!" Olivia's new partner Nick Amaro is already a step ahead of him. Elliot puts the phone back to his ear. "Baby is he there right now? What's going on?" He prays that her abductor stepped out for a minute, long enough to keep her on the line so the squad could find her.

"H-he locked me in the trunk but I...I managed to get my phone I..I don't think he knows yet but-" Her voice cuts off as she chokes out a sob. "Elliot I'm so scared." He turns to Nick who's still trying to track her location.

"They're in a car. He's got her in a trunk." He can hear someone ask "Where the hell is he taking her?" But his attention is back on the frightened voice of the woman he loves.

"I know you are babe, I know. We're gonna find you. I promise. The whole squad is here Livia. We're not giving up." He's fighting back tears of his own.

"El if...if something happens-"

"Don't talk like that. We'll find you."

"I...I need you to know that I lo-" Suddenly the car noise he heard in the background stops...as does his heart.

"Olivia? Olivia what's happening?" He hears a muffled scream and another voice comes on the phone.

"You must be the old partner. Hope you had a nice chat, but she has to go now." He hears the phone crunch on the ground and then the line goes dead.

"Where is she? Tell me we got her location Nick."

"We almost had it before he-" Elliot explodes.

"DAMN IT!" Papers fly off the desk he's sitting at and he kicks the chair out-of-the-way. "Son of a bitch!" Cragen doesn't bother to reprimand him. He's not a detective anymore. He's in a different role now. The role of a man whose girlfriend is in the clutches of a dangerous criminal and he's distraught and desperate to find her. "I promised her. I promised her we'd find her."

"We will."

"But in what condition? What's he doing to her Fin?"

"Trust me you don't want to think about that. It will destroy you." Cragen's phone rings and he heads back into his office to answer it.

"I should have come straight home when she called yesterday. I could tell a case was getting to her." He punches the desk again. "God why...why couldn't I protect her."

"She wouldn't want you to blame yourself. The only person responsible is Lewis." Amanda replies.

"Lewis...that's this freak's name?" The other detectives look at each other, hesitant to tell him about the case. "Well? I wanna know. I wanna know his name for when I kill him." He growls through gritted teeth.

"And what will happen to Olivia if you go to prison? We all want to kill him but she's gonna need us. You especially." Nick chimes in. Elliot's anger suddenly shifts.

"Where were you? You're her partner you're supposed to have her back! How could you let this happen!?" He snaps.

"El-" He puts his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry that...that was out of line I just-"

"Hey I get it. if something happened to my wife I'd feel the same way." Cragen returns to the bullpen with a grim look.

"A uni stopped a car matching Lewis's description and was shot in the head. He didn't make it."

"Did they say where? What direction they were headed?"

"His last defense attorney's house is on the road the body was found on-" Elliot immediately stands up.

"What's the address?"

"You're a civilian-"

"Captain I promised her-"

"I'll go with him Captain. She's my partner." Elliot casts a thankful look in Nick's direction.

"Baby girl's the heart of this unit. You can count me in too." Cragen felt a sense of pride at the devotion and protectiveness the 3 men had for the woman he thought of as his daughter.

"Don, please." Cragen opens his desk drawer and pulls out the gun and badge he couldn't bring himself to get rid of.

"Officially, you let Fin and Nick take the lead."

"Deal." Elliot's hands are shaking as he holsters the items he had given up 3 years ago.

"Unofficially, welcome back Detective Stabler."

"Captain?" Amanda interrupts. "Dispatch got a call about shots fired at Vanessa Mayer's parents place." A chill filled the room.

"What are you 3 waiting for? Go! Now!" Cragen orders.

"Captain? Should I-"

"Follow them. As much as I think Lewis deserves it if we have a dead suspect we have no case and Olivia loses 3 of the people who mean the most to her." Amanda nods and races out the door, although she's not sure she'd try that hard to stop her colleagues from doing what she wanted to do herself.

X

The scene they before them did nothing to calm their nerves.

"Olivia? Are you here?" Elliot calls out as Amanda's voice is heard from the other room.

"Guys...it wasn't Liv. Lewis still has her. Mr. Mayer's dead, we can't find his wife."

"Dear god…" They hear Fin's voice in another room. "Call a bus." Elliot struggles to get the words out.

"Is,...is it her?" His face was as white as a sheet.

"No...Mrs. Mayer...Lewis tied her up in a closet...she's still alive."

"Did...did she say anything?" Fin swallows hard. They had filled Elliot in on Lewis's M.O. on the drive up so he'd be prepared and told him what Olivia's apartment had looked like. "Was she-?" He nods grimly.

"Elliot, she said Livia's still alive."

"H-how'd she know?" He was afraid to know the answer.

"He made her watch."

"Son of a-" He clenches his fists.

"And-" He hesitates.

"What? Don't keep anything from me Tutuola. Not when it involves Liv."

"She said Lewis...when he was….he had Olivia tied up and when she tried to look away or get him to stop-" Elliot's blood runs cold as he notices the ashtray.

"God that's….that's gonna destroy her. She'll never forgive herself. She'll think she should've done something but she...she would have been-" A pained sob releases from his throat. His phone dings with a message.

He's unconscious...I managed to get free and knock him out...I don't know how and he may still wake up so I don't want to call just in case after what happened last night….Please help me El.

"Guys…" He shows them the message.

"Do you think it's a trap?" But his mind can only focus on the words after what happened last night. They had to find her. Fast.

Do you know where you are?

Beach house….In Jersey. I think he's waking up….As if she can read his fear filled mind: I wasn't raped El. He was going to but that's when I knocked him out. So she was able to fight him off, thank god.

"She said he's got her at a beach house in Jersey!"

"That narrows it down." Nick comments sarcastically. The frustration and fatigue affecting them all.

"It's what we have to go on." Elliot snaps back. "She gave us what she could." His reply is somewhat of an attempt to defend her honor even though he can't protect her physically at the moment.

"Ask her-"

"I can't-" He gulps. "She said Lewis is waking up if I...if I draw attention to the fact that she contacted me he might-I can't put her in danger like that."

"Elliot if he's gonna...hurt her...he'll do it anyway. Her contacting you would just be an excuse. He might have already-"

"No...no she said he didn't. She said she fought him off and I believe her." His voice breaks unconvincingly.

"El what is it?"

"Last night...she said 'after what happened last night' when she called me I can't….he did something to her-"

"Then lets get there before he can do anything else."

He wants to send her one last message, tell her they're on their way, and .that he loves her. But the fear of what could happen to her if he does is consuming him. So he stares out the window and prays they won't be too late.

X

He's pretty sure he's stopped breathing as time seems to stand still. No one says anything as they drive, all consumed with worry for their friend, their colleague, their family member. Fear for the woman who has become the heart and soul of their unit and the hell she is going through right now. When Fin's phone rings Elliot swallows hard, his heart racing, terrified the next thing he's gonna hear is that a body was found.

"Fin?"

"Somebody called in a van that matched the description of the one Lewis drove."

"And?"

"It was parked near a beach house 20 minutes away from here." He feels an ounce of hope for the first time since this started.

"Well what the hell are you 3 waiting for then? Drive!" Amanda replies and Elliot almost breathes a sigh of relief. Almost. Please god let her be alive. We'll deal with the aftermath of her trauma, the physical pain, the fear, nightmares, flashbacks, I'll take care of her in whatever way she needs. I know I let her down by not being there to protect her but don't punish her for that. Please...please let her live. I can't make it without her.