CHAPTER 4

BENSON RESIDENCE
SATURDAY, JUNE 15TH
4:00 A.M.

Screaming... blood... fear... Elliot thrashed around on the couch, twisting the sheet around him in an effort to escape. He cried out in his sleep, so thoroughly immersed in the dream that he was unaware of the cool hand softly stroking his feverish brow.

"Elliot? Elliot, wake up. Shh. It's okay, El. I've got you, you're safe. Let it go, Elliot. Come back to me, wake up." Olivia continued soothing her partner, trying to wake him as gently as possible. Elliot had told her about his nightmares, but this weekend was the first time she'd witnessed them firsthand.

After Cragen had ended their Friday early, she drove Elliot to his apartment to pick up some things and then brought him back to her place. She didn't think he should be alone this weekend, especially not in an unsecured apartment. Besides, his place was still officially a crime scene and she knew that he would get no rest for worrying about his girls and the case. Still, it was strangely intimate having him here. They were best friends and partners, but sleepovers were simply not a part of the Elliot/Olivia dynamic, especially not since his separation and pending divorce. True, they'd crashed in the crib at the same time before – that was a part of the job. Hell, in the crib, she'd literally slept with every one of her coworkers at one time or another. This was somehow different. Even with him on the couch.

Her heart ached for her partner, watching his obvious fear and anguish, unable to help in any way other than her soft words. She continued her whisperings and soft touches until the thrashing slowed and his breathing deepened into an even rhythm. The nightmare passed, and Olivia hoped it would not return this evening. "Good night, Elliot. Have pleasant dreams," she breathed, pressing a kiss to his forehead and suddenly pulling back. She quickly returned to her own room, wondering at the instinct that had suddenly possessed her.

CENTRAL PARK, DELACORTE THEATER
SUNDAY, JUNE 16TH
11:30 P.M.

Elliot stood up slowly and stretched, before reaching down to help Olivia to her feet. "Thank you, Liv. I've lived in New York my entire life, less a few years in the Corps, but I've never been to Shakespeare in the Park until now. Shakespeare is not normally my speed, but I had fun."

"Yeah, well, I think we both needed a break from the apartment and our crazy lives. Besides, how often can you see Kevin Kline and Natalie Portman do Hamlet for free?" She bent to pick up their blanket and began folding it. "I love that play. At Siena, my thesis was on its themes of family betrayal and revenge. It's one of my favorites."

"It was good, but I prefer the comedies...if I'm forced to watch Shakespeare, that is." He flashed the patented Stabler grin that was guaranteed to make Liv laugh. As usual, it succeeded. "C'mon, let go." He took the blanket from her and draped it over one arm, extending the other to her in an exaggeratedly gallant fashion. "M'lady?" Still laughing, she linked her arm in his and they started off towards home, neither aware of the person silently stalking them through the shadows, planning his next surprise.

16TH PRECINCT
MONDAY, JUNE 17TH
9:15 A.M.

Cragen stood in the doorway to his office and looked out at his detectives. What a great Monday, he thought sarcastically. Elliot was still in a funk, though much improved since Friday's shock. Olivia was still trying to keep him together, Munch seemed mad at the world and what the hell was wrong with Fin? He was staring at Elliot, expression dancing from disgust to pity to anger to worry. Topping it off, they were going nowhere fast with the Sacred Heart murders and their other cases were piling up.

With a sigh, he stepped out into the bullpen. "Listen up, guys. We are getting swamped here, so we're splitting up a bit today. John and Fin, you two stay on the Sacred Heart case. ME called and said she's got more info for you. Head there first, then see if you can't re-visit Sister Mary Katherine now that she's recovering better. Olivia, we just got a call from the 2-5 about a double homicide in the park. Don't have a lot of details yet, just that it's an SVU-special. There are a lot of uniforms on scene, so you aren't going solo into a hotspot. Get down there and see what we've got, then I want you following up on the Hudson U case. Elliot, we've got a backlog. I need you to run down those leads on the peeper case and get some of these other cases cleared through here. Okay, gang, hit it."

Elliot looked at Liv, then the other two detectives, pausing only slightly at the strange look he was getting from Fin. Shaking his head, he stood and walked over to Cragen. "Captain, if this is about Friday, I want you to know, I'm okay now. I don't need to be on ass duty, I'm fine to do my job."

"I know that, Elliot. That's why you aren't on ass duty. You know I have to pull you from the Hudson case because your break-in is related. I don't need three of you on Sacred Heart at this point – besides, we are legitimately backed up. I pulled you from your peeper to help on Sacred Heart. Now, I'm putting you back. All right?"

Elliot's face tightened, but he nodded his agreement and headed out to catch a Peeping Tom.

CENTRAL PARK
9:45 A.M.

Passing the onlookers and uniforms on the perimeter, Olivia strode up to the chief investigator from the 2-5. "Benson, SVU. What've we got?"

"Two victims, one male, one female, both white. In early puberty, at most 13, 14 years old. After he was finished with them, the perp cut them both up something fierce. Gonna have a hard time IDing them. Could be a date gone horribly wrong, but they seem kind of young to be dating. But, who knows with kids these days? So, what do you think?"

As the man talked, Olivia had pulled latex gloves on and squatted down to look at the vics. The girl was sprawled out on her back; the boy, beside her on his stomach. The perp had arranged them so they appeared to be holding hands. Olivia noticed a corner of wood sticking out from under the boy's ribcage. She reached out and pulled a framed photo from under the boy. Looking down at the familiar faces grinning at her from the shore, she finally answered the cop who was patiently waiting. "Definitely not a date. They're siblings. Probably twins. We've got this case."

She stood, handing the picture to a CSU tech waiting to bag the evidence. Turning her back on the 2-5 cop, she whipped out her cell phone and pressed a key. "It's Olivia. We've got another one."

MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE
10:00 A.M.

The case was getting more and more confusing. John Munch was an intelligent man – some thought too intelligent for police work – but this case was a real stumper. Murdered and raped nuns, DNA evidence that he simply would not believe to be accurate and now she's telling us the DNA also matches the Hudson U killing?

"...didn't even hit a three-point match. I can't explain it," the doctor concluded.

"I'm sorry. What was that last part?" Munch shook himself out of his reverie and focused on the ME.

"I said, after the Hudson fluids matched the DNA from Sacred Heart, I checked all the fingerprints again. I came up with some latents at the Hudson scene that I'm certain are the killer's so I ran them against the prints we have on file. They aren't even a three-point match. It makes no sense, because DNA doesn't lie." Warner shrugged, before turning to answer a technical question for Fin.

As Munch stood, listening to his partner review the bombshell findings with Dr. Warner, his phone rang. "Munch. Uh-huh. Yeah, well we've got some news for you, too. I need to come with you. Uh-huh. Good, I'll meet you out front." He hung up and looked over into the expectant gazes of Fin and Warner. "That was the captain. The Hudson U killer struck again. Double rape/homicide in the park this time. Cragen's picking me up, I'll fill him in and then we're meeting Olivia at the new scene. Fin, you're supposed to finish up here and then go interview Sister Mary Katherine again. You take the sedan."

Munch threw the keys over to Fin and headed out, running the facts of the various crimes over and over in his brain. The case was getting more and more confusing.

A few minutes later, Cragen pulled the police-issue sedan up to the curb, and Munch quickly got in. As the captain began navigating his way back into traffic, he inquired of his detective, "So what's so important that you needed to tag along on Benson's case instead of working your own?"

"Actually, Captain, I am working my case. That's part of the news. Warner says the DNA from Sister Mary Katherine is an exact match for the DNA from the Hudson U case. Same scumbag. But, there are some fingerprints that don't match the perp and..." Munch trailed off, uncomfortably.

"Wait, how do you know the fingerprints don't match? We know who this guy is? Why aren't we picking him up?"

"Well, Captain, that's complicated..." Munch began. He proceeded to fill Cragen in on all of the ME's findings, including the identity of the DNA and the contradictory fingerprints.

While Munch spoke, Cragen's jaw tightened, as did his grip on the steering wheel. Pulling up to the scene at Central Park, he finally spoke, "We have to nail this psycho. You and Fin are on it, full time. And, John? We tell her the cases are related, but not a word of the rest to Olivia."