Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. It belongs to a genius named Dick Wolf. No profit is being made from this story.
Cragen let out a shaky breath. This can't be happening, he thought. He ran a nervous hand over his bald head and turned toward his team. They were looking at him with lost expressions. Clearly they were expecting him to do something.
Putting up a confident front that he didn't feel, Don took control. "I'm going to call CSU and wait for them to get out here," he said. "I want all of you back at the precinct. Right now. Don't go anywhere until I get back." The detectives immediately obeyed, running to their vehicles. As they drove out of sight, Cragen looked helplessly back toward the SUV. The fear he wouldn't show in front of the others was clear in his eyes.
How long he sat there alone, Elliot had no idea. He was sick with fear. All he could think about was the images of butchered human remains that the squad had been finding for the past week. He realized with dread that nobody would even know he was gone until he didn't show up for work in the morning. Who knows how many hours that is?
The clanging sound made him jump again. The man entered the room and headed straight for him. He felt himself be lifted up and the man hauled him over his shoulder, walking out of the room. He screamed for help as the man carried him down a flight of stairs. The man suddenly stopped and Elliot felt himself be thrown from the man's grip.
His stomach dropped violently as he felt himself falling fast through pitch blackness. He landed on concrete, hearing a splash. Freezing cold invaded his back. Pain shot through his body as he lay stunned in a puddle of water. He looked around frantically when he heard the sound of running water somewhere close, but had no idea where it was coming from. He jumped about ten feet when he heard a loud clang directly above his head.
Olivia, John, and Fin sat in the captain's office, waiting for him to return. No one had spoken a word upon arriving. Fin was sitting ramrod straight, his hands clenching and unclenching nervously. Munch was leaned forward, his fingers linked together so tightly that they were white. Olivia was beside herself. She kept taking deep, quiet breaths to keep from breaking down into tears. The trio leaped to their feet when the captain entered the office.
Cragen saw their anxious expressions as he stood before them. He became scared when he saw the expectation in their eyes. Of course they were expecting him to know what to do….he was the captain. How could he tell them that he was as much of a wreck as they were?
"You guys…." He began speaking, and trailed off helplessly. I don't have the slightest clue what to do! Don saw their faces flood with horror, and he suddenly realized he had spoken aloud. "I'm-I'm sorry," he stammered, flushing. Dammit! He realized at that moment that he couldn't allow himself to feel, at least not right now. Someone had to suck it up and start thinking or Elliot wouldn't have a chance. By the looks of his team, he realized it had to be him.
The man quickly clicked on his flashlight and descended down the rope ladder, closing the sewer lid. He shone the light around until he hit Elliot, lying rigid and shaking like a leaf. The fear in his eyes made them shine bright, and the man was filled with joy at the sight of them.
The light moved from over him, and Elliot heard the man walking around him. He rolled his eyes upward, trying to follow the flashlight beam to see what he was doing. It made his head ache, and he couldn't keep it up. He heard a light scraping noise and feet coming back toward him. The beam was over him again, and Elliot saw that the man was standing at his feet with a metal bucket in his hand.
The man grinned at him, his twisted face appearing even more deformed. "Let's play a game," he rasped. Elliot flinched at his voice; he sounded like he had lung cancer. "I bet I can guess what you're most afraid of." Elliot blinked rapidly, trying to control his racing heart. Don't buy it, he thought, trying to calm himself. Not even Olivia knows that; there's no way this guy could… The man reached into the bucket, and Elliot suddenly felt the world spinning. He was holding a large brown tarantula out by its middle. Elliot could see the creature's legs moving, and he thought he was going to faint.
The man came closer, and Elliot sucked in a horrified breath when he felt the large spider land on his chest. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood, in a desperate attempt not to freak out. A giggle escaped the man's throat as he reached in the bucket and pulled out another. He tossed it, and the creature landed on his neck. A low squeal rose in Elliot's throat, and he screwed his eyes shut. The prickly legs were scuttling down the side of his neck. Oh, God…it's going to go down my shirt! Elliot ditched the brave act. "Please…." He choked on the words hysterically. "Please, get it off!" The flashlight clicked off and Elliot trembled as he was plunged into darkness again. The man dumped the bucket over. Elliot started screaming wildly when he felt hundreds of hairy legs crawling all over his face. The man clicked on a tape recorder, giggling again.
Captain Cragen had the entire precinct gathered in a conference room within an hour. "Alright, everyone. Quiet," he commanded. The room became silent. "Every person in this room has just been recruited as part of a task force. Elliot Stabler's life is in our hands." The three SVU detectives were standing to his right, facing the other officers. "Benson, Fin, and Munch will each be leading a group. Split up into teams. NOW."
Chairs scraped tile and feet scurried rapidly. "Munch," he continued curtly. "Your team is at the crime scene. Fin's team, contact as many precincts as you can. We need all the help available." They scrambled off as he spoke. "Olivia, start digging through the archived files on this guy "The Butcher". I want all background information, relative's names….write down what kind of toothpaste he uses if you find it; nothing gets left out. Report any and all findings to me. MOVE." The room became a frenzy of frantic activity as 100 officers took off in three different directions.
The teams worked solidly for six hours and ended up with nothing. Cragen finally had to step in at 11 pm and order everyone to go home. His three detectives didn't move; he didn't expect them to listen. "Guys," he said, over the sound of the other officers leaving. "You, too. Get some rest." Olivia looked up with fire in her eyes. "Every minute we spend sleeping is one less minute he has to stay alive," she said defiantly. Cragen looked at her angrily and went up to her desk, standing within inches of her chair. "And every careless mistake that you make at 2 am is one more to keep us from finding him," he growled, his temper flaring. He backed off immediately when he saw the tears in her eyes that she was trying desperately to keep at bay. "Rest for two hours," he said, his voice softer. "Please, you guys….we need to be one hundred percent." The three detectives looked at him angrily, but headed up the stairs.
Olivia didn't know about the others, but for her sleep was not going to come. She crept out of the crib and went to the roof. She stood looking out at the city, her breath condensing in puffs. Her thoughts were whirling through her mind….wondering where Elliot was and what was happening to him. My best friend…my best friend in the entire world… The emotions she had been suppressing all day broke free in the safety of the darkness.
Is he scared right now? The thought made her heart ache. The chances were pretty good that he wasn't just scared…he was most likely terrified. What little she was able to lift from a few files told her more than she wanted to know about the gruesome ways of this guy. She shuddered as she remembered some of the case photos she had seen. Forget what the captain said, she thought suddenly. We need to find him NOW. Turning on her heel, she went back towards the squad room.
The flashlight clicked on again a few hours later, and the man shone it over his captive. Elliot had screamed until his voice had given out, twisting desperately to escape the hundreds of tarantulas crawling all over him. Helpless tears flowed down his face and sobs escaped his lips as he gave up and lay trembling as the spiders continued to scavenge his body.
Despite what he had told his detectives, Don didn't wake them up until the next morning. He hated to do it, but he knew that they wouldn't be able to function efficiently without a decent amount of rest. When he came out of his office, he saw Olivia, asleep face-down on her desk. His heart went out to her. Of all of them, he knew this was hitting her the hardest. He went to her and gently shook her awake. She jumped out of sleep instantly, and he saw that her face was splotchy with dried tears. "What time is it?" she gasped, seeing the sunshine outside. He bit his lip. "It's 6," he answered. She rubbed her eyes and opened up the file lying next to her. Cragen went upstairs to wake the others.
Slowly and methodically, the man reached down and gingerly picked each spider off of Elliot and placed it back in the bucket. He could feel him shaking underneath his touch. Elliot's muscles were like Jell-o, and he had to gasp in each breath. After all of the tarantulas were removed, he turned Elliot over and untied his hands.
He was so limp with fear that he couldn't even fight as the man picked him up and carried him across the dark room. Holding the flashlight between his teeth, the man propped Elliot against the stone wall and placed his hands into two leather straps above his head. He pulled the straps taut, and Elliot could feel his wrists tingling as the circulation to his fingers began to slowly cut off.
A few stray tears were still lingering around his eyes as the man reached down and picked up a dispenser full of packing tape. Elliot realized what he was about to do and, in pure desperation, tried to bite him. With a yell of fury, the man dropped the flashlight and tape to the ground and slapped him hard across the face. "Don't do that again," he hissed, grabbing his mouth and crushing it between his fingers. Elliot winced in pain as the man let go and picked up the tape again.
He peeled it back and began placing it over Elliot's mouth, wrapping it around the back of his head and going back again. He did this three times before ripping off the end. It was so adhesive that Elliot couldn't even move his lips. When he tried, all that came out was an extremely muffled grunt. The man stepped back and admired him with satisfaction.
The three teams were back at work immediately. The process was amazingly tedious, and it seemed like they were accomplishing nothing. Cragen could sense the frustration in the air when he came out of his office to see how things were going. "Munch," he called, over the hubbub of the noisy room. "You get any prints?" He shook his head. "CSU dusted the entire truck," he called back. "Not so much as a hair was on it."
Grimacing, he turned toward Fin. "How many precincts have you been able to reach?" Fin turned around to face him, putting his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone he had to his ear. "The 3-3 and 2-7 are all we could get in Manhattan so far. Brooklyn hasn't returned our calls, and I'm on hold with the captain of the 3-5 in the Bronx," he yelled over to him, before speaking into the receiver again.
Don was scanning the room for Olivia when he saw an unfamiliar man step through the squad room doors. "Can I help you?" an officer named Medley asked, as the man walked over to the closest cluster of people. "Yeah…I have a delivery for a Captain….uh…Cragen?" the man asked, flipping through his clipboard. He had a padded envelope under one arm. "That's me," Cragen said, as he strode up to him. The man looked at him in surprise for a moment, startled. "Sign here," he said, holding the clipboard out.
He hastily scrawled a signature and the man gave him the envelope. "Thank you," the man said, quickly escaping the crowded squad room. Don ripped open the envelope and pulled out a cassette tape. His face paled when he saw a spider drawn on it with red ink. Whirling around, he charged into the middle of the room and bellowed, "Somebody get me a tape player!" The activity in the room stopped abruptly and all eyes zeroed in on him. "I said now!" he yelled, and several officers jumped. One scurried toward the supply room.
"What is it, Captain?" Olivia asked, going over to him. Munch and Fin were on her heels. Before he could answer, the officer was back. "Here!" he said, running to them. Don snatched it and put it down on the nearest desk, slipping the tape into it. The room had become dead silent and every officer stood still, each one shocked at seeing the captain's behavior.
He pressed the play button. His breath was heavy with anticipation as the room listened to the sound of the tape spinning. After a minute, blood-curdling screams erupted through the room. Olivia jumped, her eyes widening as she immediately recognized the sound of Elliot's voice. The screams rose in register after a moment. Munch was breathing rapidly, shocked to the core as he listened to the terrified screams of his friend.
Fin's face was twisted in disbelief and horror. Cragen felt winded as the screams carried on, each one sounding more desperate than the last. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. He quickly cut the tape off. No one moved or even seemed to breathe. It was just pure, dead silence. Olivia clutched her middle and sobbed quietly, softly gasping in breaths. As Cragen looked at her, his own tears spilled out and fell onto the floor.