A/N: Happy New Years everyone!!! I hope 2005 treats you well and that many great SVU episodes are in store! Congratulations to Mariska Hargitay on her Golden Globe nomination! Also, a sad farewell to Jerry Orbach, we'll miss you!! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter; it took me a really long time to construct it correctly, it was really difficult to write! So sorry it took so long to update! Also, there will be loads of unanswered questions in this one, so be patient, they will be addressed in the next chapter! Please read and review- I live on reviews (plus they make me write faster)!!!!!
Disclaimer: As soon as you see Elliot and Olivia paired up on the show, you will know I have succeeding in gaining ownership of SVU. In the meantime, I don't own them.
Devon wrapped Olivia up tighter in her blanket and picked her up gently. She was sound asleep and didn't wake. He carried her slowly up the steps to a small medical building and opened the door. A nurse immediately looked up from the front desk and scurried over to them. "Hello, Devon! Is this that cop you rescued?" she questioned, staring at Olivia in interest.
"Well, this is Detective Stabler. I would not say I rescued her. She's smart, she would have found a way out on her own. I simply sped up the process." Devon replied with a nonchalant shrug.
The nurse shook her head at him and smiled. "You are something else, Devon Masters. Bring her on back."
Olivia pressed her head harder against the warm body carrying her. She felt feverish and disoriented, her body shaking slightly. Devon noticed this and carefully lay her down on the stretcher the nurse had wheeled up. He stroked her cheek gently, finding it to be quite hot. Olivia wearily opened her eyes and watched as Devon and the nurse covered her up in the sheets. That act alone sapped her strength and she fell into a restless slumber once more.
Devon sat uneasily in the waiting room. Something was wrong with her. She had been alright for the first hour, and then had slowly become lethargic and quiet, falling asleep and not waking up for the rest of the three hour drive. He looked at his watch, finding it to be 6:30. Olivia had been with the doctor almost two hours. He inhaled deeply, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.
"Sorry to have bored you, Devon." Devon glanced up and saw his old friend, Doctor Ryder, standing a few feet away. Devon smiled and stood, shaking Ryder's hand in greeting. Before he could ask the question, Doctor Ryder answered it for him. "She should be fine. I stitched up her leg, checked her abdominal region for damage done to the recent surgery locations, x-rayed her ribs, and did some blood work. There were no fractures, so that was good; the surgical areas are not severely damaged, though I do not like the trauma they were subjected too, and recommend a sharp watch on her in case of internal bleeding. Her leg will be fine, I used dissolvable stitches, they should be gone in two weeks and I put her on some antibiotics for infection. The only thing that worried me was that her blood contained very high levels of a certain sedative which if used over a period of days will cause severe weight loss and damage the heart. It seems to me she has been getting this for at least a week."
Devon gritted his teeth and muttered, "That bastard Hunt. He was always getting her drinks, I imagine he laced them all."
Ryder nodded somberly and said, "That would make sense. I have her on an IV to flush out her system and restore some nutrients to the tissues, so she will need to be on that for another four hours. But fortunately her heart seems to be doing fine, though we will have to keep an eye on that too."
"Alright. Can I go see her?" Devon asked, and Ryder nodded.
Devon walked into the small exam room and found Olivia sitting up, wide awake and surveying her surroundings with renewed interest. "Devon!" she exclaimed, quite relieved to see him again.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Devon questioned, sitting down beside her.
"Not bad, considering." Olivia said with a smile.
"Did the doctor tell you about the sedative Hunt was giving you?"
"Yes. Doesn't surprise me, I felt very tired on this trip, but I assumed it was the altitude and lack of food. That drink he gave me this morning must have had some extra in it, since he was planning on raping me tonight." Olivia answered, running a hand through her blonde hair in frustration.
"You could not have seen it. Plus, even if you had, you could not have refused drinks so publicly, it would have interfered with your 'undercover operation' you thought you were a part of." Devon stated reassuringly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Olivia turned to look at him with deep chocolate eyes. "I like that color better."
"Thanks." Olivia said, smiling sweetly at him.
Devon flushed, wondering how her husband could ever say no that her. A slight smile came to his lips as he considered the fact that he probably didn't. "Doctor Ryder said you could eat, so I brought you some food." He said after a long silence.
"Sounds great! I am starving." Olivia answered, and then she paused. "Devon, I want to call my husband."
Devon nodded and handed her the phone, apologizing profusely for forgetting to let her do so earlier. As she dialed Elliot's cell her stomach knotted up in anxiety, though from what she couldn't tell. His message machine picked up, something rarely ever happened. Olivia hung up in frustration, and then decided to call again, just in case he hadn't been able to reach it in time a second ago. When the phone clicked off the ringer someone answered- and it wasn't Elliot. Olivia almost dropped the phone in shock.
Elliot arrived on the scene and immediately sought out the S.W.A.T. team leader, who was looking extraordinarily flustered, gritting his teeth while tapping his fingers anxiously on his gun. Elliot ignored this however, and launched into questions as to what was going on. Rufus Williams, the leader, seemed to think through his answer carefully before speaking. "We received a tip from an anonymous source saying that your daughter was in this building with two armed men. Because of the nature of the threats the men were issuing to the residents of the building, we were called in immediately. But there was a skirmish. Now we two perps holding upwards of eight people hostage, your daughter included." Elliot stared at Rufus, who looked very apologetic. "Look, Detective. I hate doing this. But they are asking for you. They told our negotiator that if Detective Elliot Stabler goes in they will let everyone go."
"I'll do it." Elliot answered immediately, and Rufus nodded.
"We'll get you ready. We will have snipers on you at all times. As soon as they release the hostages we will get you out of there and if they try to stop you…" Rufus trailed off, waving his hand in the directions of sharpshooters placed on the roofs nearby. "However, you must be in the room. There are plenty of wide windows there, so we can protect you. Do not stay in the hall. If they make a wrong move while you are in the room, we will kill them. I just want to attempt to get them alive, so we can find out the motive behind this."
Elliot nodded as they slipped him into a bullet proof vest. He pulled his jacket on over it and carefully tucked his scarf around his neck so the vest was completely hidden. His heart was hammering heavily against his chest and his hands shook as he slipped his gun out of its holster. So much was at stake here.
Rufus summoned over two uniformed S.W.A.T. members, and then turned back to Elliot. "They will escort you and stay as close as possible, with you in their sights at all times."
As they slowly ascended the steps into the building Rufus watched and mentally cursed himself for getting into this situation. Perhaps if they had done things differently he would not have had to send Detective Stabler in. Rufus felt quite inclined to resign from the leader of the S.W.A.T. team as soon as this was over, thoroughly distraught at this magnificent failure. But he knew how to suck it up and deal with his mistakes, and immediately was one hundred and ten percent on task as soon as Elliot and his armed escort disappeared into the building.
Cragen ran over to Rufus, just having arrived on scene. "What is going on?" he shrieked, yanking Rufus around by the shoulder.
"Elliot's gone in." Rufus answered simply, his eyes never leaving the third floor of the building.
Cragen's eyes widened and he took in several deep breaths to calm down before he managed to say, "You told me you needed him to here to help his daughter, not to send him on a very risky mission thanks to your failure."
"That's what he's doing- Riley is one of the hostages. I don't like doing it, Captain Cragen, but he is our best chance at getting everyone out alive."
"Fine. But I swear to God- if you lose me my Detective…" Cragen hissed angrily, glaring at Rufus.
Rufus didn't answer but the look on his face showed that he understood.
Elliot stepped up the final flight of stairs. His armed escort followed closely as they stepped into the hall. The response was instant. A man stepped out from one of the doors with a gun pressed hard against Riley's temple, holding her with his other hand tight to his waist. Riley seemed extraordinarily calm in the situation at first, and then caught sight of Elliot. "Daddy!" she screamed, immediately starting to kick and flail desperately.
"Riley sweetheart, you need to stay calm, alright?" Elliot said as evenly as he could. Then he raised his voice even louder and continued, "I am here now. So let her go."
The man didn't appear to be very moved and merely growled, "They have to leave." He gestured to the two men escorting Elliot. Elliot turned and nodded at them. They remained quite still. "They leave or I kill her and everyone else!" shrieked the man, jerking Riley up closer to him.
"Alright!" answered Elliot, desperately trying to keep calm. He turned to his escort and gave them a shove. "Go! I will be fine!"
"But Detective…" one began in a whisper, "You must get into the room! You can't stay in the hall!"
"I know that!" snapped Elliot, "And if you don't leave, everyone dies. So get out!"
The escort appeared to be very panicked at leaving their charge but Elliot looked at them steadily. They began to step backwards slowly, and the man holding Riley yelled, "Faster!"
Cragen's jaw dropped as Elliot's escort came out looking very discouraged. "Where is he?" he yelled, knowing he was being very unhelpful and irritating but not caring one bit.
Meanwhile Elliot had advanced very close to the perp, now standing only about ten feet away. The man looked satisfied and then stepped back into the room. Elliot followed, stopping as he got into the doorway. Three adults and four little kids were in the room, all looking terrified out of their wits. A second perp was walking around them. He then paused, looking up at Elliot. A smile came to his lips.
Elliot raised his gun, holding his gaze steadily on the man. "Let them go."
"As you wish Detective." The man replied, and then he began, "You know, I was disappointed to hear that Ethan had to kill her."
"What are you talking about?" Elliot spat, raising his gun.
"Oh sorry, you know Ethan as Nicholas Hunt. He said your wife was quite the little bitch as soon as she found out Riley was still in New York. Had to give her quite a bit of discipline, but he said she was pretty submissive after a while. But when he finished having his way with her, she still hadn't learned, so he took out his gun. Ethan said he hit her far harder than he intended. Poor thing. She didn't have to die."
"She isn't dead!" screamed Elliot, taking a step forward.
"Oh yes she is." The man said with a snicker. He then seized one of the kids and tossed him in the direction of the door. "Alright, everyone get out!"
Rufus' heart caught in his throat as all of the hostages came sprinting out of the building. He owed that Detective a lot. Then he realized it was all the hostages minus one. Riley wasn't among the group.
"You have to let her go!" yelled Elliot, pointing his gun at the man who held Riley.
"One second Detective." The man answered with a laugh, backing out the door once more. Elliot followed after, even though he knew he was not to go into the hall. He kept his gun leveled at the perp who held Riley as they moved farther back into the hall. "Okay. Now we can let her go." The man said calmly, moving to release Riley. He then slowly set down his gun. Riley went sprinting up the length of the hall to her father, then ground to a halt.
"Daddy!" she screamed. A third perp stepped from the shadows and fired. Elliot felt the bullet slam into his shoulder and he collapsed onto his side. Warm blood rushed down his arm and he gripped it tightly with one hand. A second shot hit him square in the chest.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" said the man, sprinting in the other direction. He passed in front of an open door. Another shot rang out. He fell dead with the snipers bullet in him. The other two perps looked at each other in panic, backing up against the wall.
Riley ran to her father, kneeling at side and shaking his shoulder furiously. Her hands came back soaked in blood. "Wake up! Wake up!" she screamed, now sobbing. She took his hand and held it against her cheek. Riley nearly jumped ten feet into the air when he squeezed back reassuringly.
Then Elliot's phone started to ring. Riley seized it with one hand and flipped it open. Her eyes widened and she yelled, "Mother! Mom, dad's not waking up! Please help! Mom!"
The two perps turned to stare at each other as the little girl talked to her mother- who was not supposed to be alive. They instantly sprinted forward. One swung his gun up violently; ready to smash it against the girl's head. Elliot immediately sat up, gun already in hand. But before he could fire two shots came out from behind the two men. They both collapsed.
Elliot lunged forward, grabbing Riley in his arms and covering her eyes with one hand. Riley threw her arms around his neck, crying softly against his chest. In the flurry of motion Riley had dropped Elliot's cell so that it switched off. On the other end of the line was Olivia, and the last thing she had heard were two shots fired.
Elliot looked up as he stroked his daughter's hair, seeing Rufus standing at the very end of the hall, just having come up the stairs. His gun was still raised and he appeared to be in shock.
He had thick dark hair, somewhat sprinkled with gray and a beard to match. His dark eyes held no warmth, and were simply cold and calculating. His little bitch had certainly outwitted him so far. Not only that, but she had joined forces with the former FBI agent, who was still deadly as hell if you got in his way. Apprehending her with him protecting her would be difficult. This highly irritated him. However, he was willing to be patient. As soon as Devon Masters left her side, then he would make his move. Olivia had wriggled her way out of tight spots before, but not this time. At last, she would finally be his. He didn't want her dead, at least not yet; he wanted her alive to see her life in ruins.
He had kept a distant eye on her for a long, long time, never really worried about her. And then she had joined the Special Victims Unit. Something changed in her then. Aside from the occasional extraordinarily tough case, she was content. But just when he thought she had found all the peace and happiness that she could ever have, given her past, Elliot Stabler had stepped into the equation. And for the past few years she had been in a sort of bliss one only finds when they are with the one person who truly loves them. She even had a bitch of a daughter that looked just like her. How someone could love her that deeply was beyond him. Elliot loved Olivia for exactly what she was- mouthy, strong willed, smart, stubborn, and passionate. This confused him too, for those traits weren't exactly appealing to him. Yes, she was drop dead sexy, and he could see why her partner would want to bang her, but certainly not marry her. Olivia Benson was a source of great mystery to him. She had had a far better life than he had, and that infuriated him. When she got knocked up a second time he had felt it was time to unleash some of that fury on her. And now little did she know she was headed straight for his grasp. And he would never let her go.