SVU Squad Room – 11:30am

Cragen came out of his office carrying mounds of paperwork to bring to Olivia. He hated to see her do all the work, but she always told him that she didn't mind it even though she was tired. After all, Olivia and Elliot had been working on fixing up the nursery during their free time after work.

"I brought some more paperwork for you and Elliot just called to say that he, Munch, and Fin are on their way back here—" Cragen stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that the man sitting beside Olivia's desk had handcuffed Olivia to her desk with a bomb.

"What is going on here?" he asked solemnly, eyeing his detective.

"Captain, this is Michael Perry," replied Olivia. "His wife, Cassandra was raped last year and –"

Michael cut her off, "I'm here to find out the bastard who did this to Cassandra and nobody here will give it to me."

"Why are you taking drastic measures in this case by taking an officer hostage?" questioned Cragen.

"Because my wife has suffered so much and I just want to know who did this," said Michael, calmly. "I don't want to hurt Detective Benson—I don't want to hurt anyone here."

Olivia sat at her desk listening to the exchanges between Cragen and Michael. She was scared for herself and her baby's safety, but relieved that he didn't want to hurt her.

One Hour Later

"This is Capt. Donald Cragen from the Special Victims Unit. I need Bomb Squad sent over here at the 16th Precinct in Manhattan ASAP!" barked Cragen into the phone. "We have a 33-year-old male who has come in with a bomb and one of the detectives on my squad has been handcuffed to it. I repeat, send Bomb Squad ASAP!"

Meanwhile, Elliot, John, and Fin were about a few blocks from the precinct checking out on a case before heading back.

"It's almost 1:00," said Fin, glancing at his watch. "Do you guys want to grab something to eat?" Elliot and Munch both nodded.

"I'll pick up a salad or something for Liv and take it back to her," said Elliot. "Or either chili since she's been craving that a lot lately."

"Has she tried the pickles and ice cream thing yet?" asked Munch.

"Not yet, but she loves Cool Whip with honey roasted peanuts and beef jerky on the side."

The three men were about to make their way in the Soup and Sandwich Shop when Elliot's cell phone rang.

He pulled it out of his coat pocket, "Stabler."

"Elliot, this is Don," said Cragen, calmly. "Listen, you should bring Munch and Fin back here with you now. There's a standoff here at the precinct and Michael Perry has Olivia handcuffed to a bomb."

"The Michael Perry from the Perry case last year," said Elliot.

"Yes, the one whose wife was raped."

Elliot knew he had to hang up so he could back to the precinct to make sure that Olivia was all right. "We'll be right there."

"What's going on?" Fin asked.

"There's a standoff at the precinct and Olivia has been taken hostage."

"What!" exclaimed Munch. "I know he's only a shrink, but I'm going to call Huang to see if maybe he can help us out in negotiating. This guy may have some serious mental problems if he's taken this drastic matter by handcuffing Olivia to a bomb."

Elliot nodded and Munch took out his cell phone and dialed Huang's number.

16th Precinct Building – 1:30pm

"Hey, I came just as soon as I received John's message," said Dr. George Huang.

"Thanks George," said Elliot.

"Do you think you can negotiate with Michael Perry?" asked Fin, becoming worried as Elliot was.

George nodded, "I can try. What is his background and how he is connected to you?"

Munch filled him in on Michael Perry and his wife's rape case that they had worked last year.

"OK," began Huang. "If we can go in there, I can negotiate, but I may need Elliot's help. He might be able to get the point across in order get this guy's attention to something else so Bomb Squad can do their job in recovering the bomb and checking it out."

Elliot looked at Munch and Fin, who both nodded with encouragement, and turned back to George.

"I will help you, but I won't say anything to set him off, because I don't want him to hurt Olivia."

Two and a half hours had passed by since Olivia had been handcuffed to her desk. Her arms and legs were tired and she just wanted all of this to be over. She looked at the timer ticking on the bomb and at Michael, who started to make some small talk. As he was starting to say something, George quietly walked into the squad room and made his way towards Michael and Olivia.

"Who are you?" Michael asked.

"I'm Dr. George Huang with the FBI and I want to talk to you about the situation with your wife."

"Yes, do you know the man who did this to her."

Huang looked at Olivia, who seemed calm, but he could tell that she was afraid. He turned back at Michael. "No, I don't know him, but you really do not want to do this---"

Michael cut him off, "I already said that I don't want to hurt anyone! I just want justice for my wife and my family."

"I understand," said George, attempting to calm the man down. "You shouldn't take this measure. It's not worth it by taking Detective Benson hostage. She's just an innocent person and didn't have anything to do with what happened to your wife. Bomb Squad are on their way and you need to let them check the bomb, take off the handcuffs, and let her go."

"Michael, please listen to Dr. Huang," started Elliot. "Man, I'm sorry with what happened to your wife, but this is not going to change anything and you should let Detective Benson go. She doesn't need this right now. She's going to have a baby soon and it's her first child and you shouldn't put her through this stress. Just give me the handcuffs and use me."

Michael looked at Olivia and then at Elliot, who decided to make small talk with the man in order to get his attention on something else.

"Do you have any children, Mr. Perry?" asked Elliot.

"My wife and I have a daughter who just turned four. We had planned to have more, but after the rape, she wouldn't let them near her. I love her and I hope that maybe we will have what we used to have back into our marriage."

About that time, Bomb Squad officers came to check out the bomb. Michael had already took the handcuffs off of Olivia and handed them to Elliot. He had finally decided to end the standoff peacefully without anyone getting hurt.

"I'm expecting a little girl next month," said Olivia.

"You take care of your daughter, all right," said Michael. "She will brighten up your life just like my daughter did to my wife when she was born."

Olivia nodded and smiled slightly. She felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes, but was thinking that it was just hormones or what she had went through with the standoff.

Munch and Fin came over to apprehend Michael, who held up his hands for Munch to handcuff him and take him into custody. After they had left, one of the officers from Bomb Squad took a look into the bomb and was surprised at what he had seen and called Elliot, Cragen, and George over.

"There was never any bomb at all," announced the officer. "Maybe he was just doing this as a scare. We'll take it with us and check it out."

"Thank you, officer," said Cragen.

Olivia slowly got up out of her chair and walked towards Elliot. He took her into his arms and embraced her. He stroked her hair andlooked at her, tucking strands of her hair, which she was letting grow out a little, behind her ear.

"Are you OK?" asked Elliot.

Olivia nodded, "I don't know. I'm sort of feeling light headed."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" She gave him an 'I'm really OK' look.

"You probably need to go and get checked out," insisted Huang.

"Let's go," said Cragen.

Elliot helped Olivia put on her jacket and they walked out of the squad room with Cragen and George. Everything was beginning to get back to normal after the standoff and they were all glad that it was over.

TBC...