A/N: I own nothing.

A/N: Well, this chapter is even longer than last time, so be happy about that, since I'm updating later than I intended to. :)Thank you to my wonderful reviewers, KaydenceRei (Klay lol), jcn2416, onetreefan, melissa, Neela149, chelsea, enamel-mammel, aBbY oLiViA eR sVu, CarbyLivesOn, and alexceasar, who make me smile. Keep reviewing!

A/N: In light of Fault, the most recent SVU episode (ER readers, you can ignore this :)), I am going to add that nothing in this story is going to change. In fact, for the purposes of this story, it never happened. Also, I've recieved some reviews concerning my portrayal of the bipolar character Maggie in the first two chapters of this story. Let me just say that, yes, I could have done some research, but I'm not flying blind and simplybasing Maggie off of stereotypes. I wrote Maggie as I see her being portrayed on ER, nothing more. :)

The gentle knocking at the door broke the monotony of filling his coffee cup. Frowning, Carter set down the pot and walked to the door. He peered through the window, and then opened it in surprise.

"Abby?"

Abby, who had started to walk back down the steps, turned around. She had a sheepish look on her face. "Um…hi Carter."

"Come in," said Carter enthusiastically, gesturing inside.

"Oh – no," said Abby. "I didn't mean to bother you this early -"

"Abby," said Carter. "It's no trouble. Come on inside." Abby considered, and then followed him inside.

The Carter mansion looked the same to the one Abby remembered; the one she has tried to forget after Carter had left for Africa. Now she found it oddly comforting to be back inside of it. The grand staircase remained as forbidding as ever; the highly polished wood looked not a day older.

"Coffee?" asked Carter, as he led her through the spacious hallway to the kitchen.

"Sure," said Abby automatically. Carter poured her a mug and gestured for her to sit down. Abby sank into one of the highly polished chairs at the kitchen table.

"So," said Carter, taking a sip from his mug. "What did you want to talk about?"

Abby chuckled. "How did you know?"

It was Carter's turn to chuckle. "I know you Abby," he said lightly. Abby felt her grin slide a little. Carter noticed, and his tone turned more serious. "You want to get things straight before we go back to work today."

"Well," said Abby slowly, "yes. I mean, yesterday was fun, but…"

"But what?" asked Carter.

"We can't just wave some magic wand and things will change between us."

Carter looked at her. "Abby, I…"

Abby looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Carter."

Carter's brow furrowed. "You're sorry because we can't -"

"No," said Abby quickly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you in the ER yesterday."

"Oh – that," said Carter slowly. Now he was really confused. "No problem." He frowned, perplexed. "Abby, what is this really about?"

Abby bit her lip. "I'm just so worked up about Maggie and Eric and I just really don't know what to do and I -" Abby felt the tears coming again. "I can't do this alone, Carter."

Carter crossed over to her. "You don't have to."

Abby felt his strong arms around her, encouraging her to continue. "I feel so alone."

"Then let me in." Abby looked at him. "Let me help you, Abby."

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"Morning, Liv," said Elliot brightly. He pulled back the curtains of the apartment they were staying at. The Chicago sunlight streamed through the window. Olivia moaned and shielded her eyes from the light. She rolled over and checked the clock. 6:38 A.M.

"Elliot," she grumbled. "I don't start 'til 9:00."

Elliot chuckled. "Good, it gives us more time to discuss the suspects." He tossed a bag of bagels at her. "You can pick first."

Olivia rolled her eyes. Typical Elliot to get up and find the bagels. She selected a blueberry one and tossed the bag back to him. "Thanks." She pulled herself out of bed.

Half an hour later, the two detectives were seated at the kitchen table finishing off the last of the bagels and waking up over strong coffee. Olivia finished chewing, and then pulled a pad of paper toward her. "Okay, what do you think?"

Elliot considered. "Any chance it's one of the doctors?"

Olivia frowned. "Like which one?" She shuffled through some papers and found the file containing the profiles of the doctors. "Greene is dead," she said as she looked the first one. "This one moved to Seattle…Carter's still here," she said, but she sounded unconvinced.

Elliot frowned. "It could be Carter."

"How do you figure that?"

"He seems to know Abby pretty well; they conducted the interview together, had dinner together…"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. What motive could he have against her? This perp has serious issues with Abby's family. He must have known them pretty well, too."

"Did they ever date?" asked Elliot.

"Elliot, please," said Olivia angrily. "Carter acts like a puppy dog around Abby. He would never hurt her like that."

Elliot raised his eyebrows. "He likes her, she doesn't like him back?"

"And he met her family…?"

"Okay," said Elliot. "What if they used to date and then she broke it off with him? He could have met her family, and now he's trying to get revenge?"

Olivia sighed heavily. Elliot's idea still sounded farfetched, although admittedly most of the pieces did fit. "They seem too friendly to have just broken it off. Even if they did date, it may have been awhile ago and why would Carter wait until now to get revenge?"

Elliot considered this. "He's still a possibility, Olivia."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll check and see if he was in New York recently." Elliot smirked. "But you'll find nothing, I'm sure!"

"Who else do you want to look at?" asked Elliot politely. He took the file from her. "An ex-boyfriend is a good angle…I'm sure Carter can't be the only possibility." He began to page through, frowning. Olivia snatched the file back from him.

"Look, any male who works at the ER could be an ex-boyfriend. Why don't we just ask her?"

Elliot smirked. "Yeah, that'd be an interesting conversation. So, Abby, tell me about your ex-boyfriends." He gave a snort of laughter. "I mean, what kind of nosy, random question is that? Who-"

For Olivia was looking at him with her eyebrows raised. She watched his face as he caught on.

"Jennifer Hooper would."

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The doctors' lounge was empty when Abby entered it and began depositing her things into her locked. After her visit with Carter, she had come straight to the ER, despite his requests that she stay longer. She had left him earlier than she needed to, given the time her shift started, but she had needed the time to clear her mind. As she put the things in her locker, she realized how much the ER was her home away from home – literally. Abby was starting to think that between the extra clothes, toothpaste, medical books, and staling goldfish, she had enough supplies to last at least a week. She was just donning her white medical coat when Frank, another desk clerk, poked his head in.

"Oh, Abby, you're here," he said in his gruff voice. "There's someone for you on line two."

"Who is it?" she asked, with her back turned to him.

"Don't know. Said it was important, though. Sounded male…could be your brother, Eric."

Abby slammed her lock door shut. "No, it couldn't." She walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver as Frank slunk from the room. She pressed the button for line two. "This is Abby Lockhart," she said pleasantly.

There was heavy breathing on the end of the line. "Abby," a male voice said. It sounded deep and unfamiliar. "You're not playing by the rules, Abby."

Abby felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart rate shoot up. It's him! "What do you mean?" she asked him. Her voice ran high pitched out of nerves. A murderer is on the other end of this line!

"I saw you last night." He paused, as though waiting for her to respond, but when she didn't, he continued. "I'm watching you. You can't escape my wrath." There was a pause, and then the line went dead.

Abby was so stunned that at first she didn't recognize the dial tone that had reappeared in her ear. Shaking, she replaced the receiver. So this is the guy. The killer has found me. She froze, uncertain of what so to.

What did he mean I wasn't playing by the rules? Abby wondered. What rules?

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Captain Cragen was walking past her desk to his office when the phone rang. Frowning, he looked around for Munch or Fin, but then remembered they had just left for TARU. On the third ring, he answered the phone on Olivia's desk.

"Special Victims, this is Captain Cragen."

A woman was on the other end of the line. "Yes, hi, this is Abby Lockhart from Chicago."

Abby! Cragen frowned. Why is she calling? "Dr. Lockhart," he said briskly. "Is something wrong?"

"Um, yes," said Abby quickly. He could tell her voice sounded panicked. "I just received a threat."

Cragen was now all ears. He sat down stiffly in Olivia's chair and pulled a pad and pen towards him. "What happened?"

There was a pause, in which he could tell she was trying to regain her composure. "I had a call on line two. I took it and there was a deep male voice on the other end. He told me I wasn't 'playing by the rules.'"

Cragen was writing furiously now. "And what did you say?"

"I-I asked him what he meant."

"And how did he respond?"

There was another pause. "He said that he saw me last night. It sounds like he's stalking me, or something." Abby seemed to become angry. "Is there something else I should know?"

Cragen rubbed his eyes. "Where were you last night?"

"Having dinner," Abby answered shortly.

Cragen began taking more notes. "May I ask with whom?"

"A colleague, the desk clerk, and her boyfriend."

A jolt of realization hit Cragen like a lightning bolt. "Could I have their names, please?"

"Dr. Carter, Jennifer Hooper, and her boyfriend's name is Michael…something." There was a pause. "I suppose the names are relevant?"

Cragen could tell Abby was getting frustrated, but the information would be crucial for Huang later.

"Dr. Lockhart," he said calmly. "Did he make any direct threat to you?"

"What do you mean 'direct threat'?"

"Did he mention any revealing details? Like a time or place or anything?"

There was a long pause. "Um, no," she answered. "Should he have?"

Cragen chose not to answer the last part. "Okay, Dr. Lockhart, I will be in touch with you again shortly. For the time being, it may be best if you go home-"

"No," said Abby quickly. "No, I couldn't. I just want to do my job."

Cragen felt the sides of his mouth curl into a grim smile. What was it with people and their jobs? "Well, then I'll reach you again at the hospital." He hung up, waited for the dial tone to reappear, and then dialed the number for Dr. Huang.

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"This guy has some serious issues with Abby Lockhart," said Huang, as he examined Cragen's notes.

"Thank you, Master of the Obvious," said Munch sarcastically, "but how 'bout telling us something we don't know."

Cragen threw Munch a look, but was secretly feeling the same way. Huang continued with his thoughts. "Unless the perp knows Elliot and Olivia are there, how could he tell Abby she's not 'playing by the rules'?"

Cragen frowned. "What does his use of that phrase mean?"

Huang considered. "The most obvious interpretation, given the note, is that he knows she has involved the cops. But how could he have recognized them?" He paused. "Maybe he's not referring to the rules set in the terms of the note. There are other 'rules' he could be talking about. Perhaps a divorce agreement, or some promise to an ex-boyfriend."

"Is that the best case scenario, or the worst?" asked Munch.

"I'm not sure," answered Huang. "It's bad either way. With or without the note, he's still going to hurt her, and I think now we know that he's going to do it soon."

Cragen considered this. "What do you propose we do, Doc?"

Huang picked up the phone in response. "Call Elliot and Olivia."

Cragen paused, and then dialed the number to Olivia's cell phone. It rang three times before she answered it.

"Benson."

"Olivia, it's Cragen. How're things going in Chicago?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. We got the jobs, and we met Abby in person."

Cragen nodded. "Sounds good." He paused. "Have you gotten any closer to finding the perp?"

There was a pause. "Well, we've considered ex-boyfriends. There are several doctors here; Abby's bound to have dated at least one of them. 'Jennifer' is planning on asking her later today about her lovers."

"I see," said Cragen. "Anyone pop out at you?"

"Not particularly…" There was a pause, and then the faint sounds of fake coughing in the background. "Elliot suspects Dr. Carter, but he doesn't seem all that plausible."

"Why not?"

Olivia sighed. "He just doesn't fit the violent profile. There's also no evidence he was recently in New York."

Cragen considered this. "Were any of the doctors at the ER recently in New York?"

"Um," said Olivia and Cragen could tell she was going through notes again. "Only one. Dr. Luka Kovac. He just returned day before yesterday.

"Kovac…" said Cragen. "Sounds East-European. Abby didn't mention the guy having an accent."

"He's Croatian," said Olivia slowly. "Wait, what guy?"

Cragen paused, confused, and then realized he hadn't told Olivia or Elliot about Abby's threatening phone call. He cleared his throat. "Abby received a threat this morning." He relayed the details of the phone call.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Cragen could tell Olivia was delivering the news to her partner. Then, "What do you want us to do?"

"You've got to find out who it is. Talk to Abby about her past love life, and find some answers. This has to be someone she knows, whether she realizes it, or not."

Cragen waited for her response, and then heard Elliot come on the line. "Captain?" he said. "What do you want us to do about the note about 'defying a kiss'?"

The captain was silent, as he pondered the options. "Don't tell her unless you have to," he said finally. "Don't tell her about it. She's got enough on her plate already."

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"Hey, Abby!"

Abby turned around and saw that it had been Jennifer Hooper who had called her name. She doubled back. "Morning, Jennifer," she said pleasantly.

"So," said Jennifer in her breathy voice. "Michael and I were talking about yesterday. I hope you and John had fun?"

"Um, yeah we did," said Abby truthfully. "Thanks again for letting us join you."

"Oh, honey, it was no problem," said Jennifer brightly. "In fact, it was so much fun, we were hoping you'd like to do it again tonight!"

Tonight? Abby furrowed her brow, but quickly recovered. "Um, sure, I guess. We'd love to." It's the least I can do after her help yesterday, she thought. "Do you want me to ask Carter?"

"No, that's okay, I'll do it," said Jennifer happily. "You go on to your patient now. We'll see you at the same place, same time, all right?"

"Sure." Abby nodded and walked off as Carter entered the ER from the ambulance bay.

"Good morning, John," said Jennifer pleasantly as she saw him enter.

Carter nodded towards her and walked up to the desk. "Hey, Jennifer, you seen Abby?"

Jennifer nodded. "Uh huh, she just left." She pointed down the direction Abby had just walked off to. "No, wait a minute," she said as Carter made to start in that direction. He turned back. "We were wondering if you'd like to join us – that is to say, me, Michael, and Abby – again for dinner tonight."

Carter was caught slightly off guard. "What? Oh yeah, sure," he said distractedly.

"Great," said Jennifer as she flashed him a big smile. "Same time, same place, okay?"

"Sure," said Carter as he walked off towards Abby's direction.

Jennifer's eyes narrowed and followed him down the hall. No way is it him.

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Carter entered the restaurant wet, and not in the best of moods. The downpour outside was showing no signs of lightening up and traffic had been a nightmare. He spotted Jennifer and Michael sitting the same table waiting for him. He checked his watch. He was fifteen minutes late. As he approached the table, he frowned.

"Abby's still not here?"

Jennifer checked her watch. "No, I guess she's not. What kept you?"

"Traffic," answered Carter shortly, as he sat down.

"Oh, well she's probably stuck in traffic, too, then," said Michael matter-of-factly. "Don't worry, man, she'll be here."

Half an hour passed, and there was still no sign of Abby. Jennifer and Michael looked as though they were becoming nervous, but Carter knew it couldn't be nearly as nervous as he felt. His insides clenched horribly. Where is she? Carter wondered worriedly. He bit his lip.

Jennifer appeared to have noticed his nervousness. The last thirty minutes of conversation hadn't quite hidden Carter's growing concern for Abby's whereabouts. "Why don't you try calling her?" she asked.

Carter shook his head. "I tried. Her phone is off."

Jennifer frowned. "I'm sure she'll show up soon." Carter looked at her. She didn't look as confident as she sounded. He distinctly saw her exchange a glance with Michael, who was sitting across from her.

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Olivia gave a worried glance at Elliot, hoping to pass it off as a sympathetic look. He seemed to have gotten the message. His blue eyes were clouded in thought, and she knew they were both thinking the same thing.

Where the hell is she?

Olivia was getting worried. Cragen has said Abby received a threat earlier. She and Elliot were supposed to find out who her ex-boyfriends were, and unfortunately, not even Jennifer Hooper could ask such a question of Dr. Carter. She bit her lip in worry.

"Let's give her 'til 8:00, shall we?"

Carter nodded vaguely, but Olivia caught Elliot's eye and she knew he understood 8:00 to mean the time they call Cragen and tell Dr. John Carter here the truth about Jennifer Hooper and Michael Stevens.

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Abby felt the cold rain falling hard upon her face as she stepped out into the ambulance bay of the ER. Pulling her coat up tighter around her shoulders, she started the walk to her car. Her footsteps echoed on the hard concrete, mixed in with the sound of the occasional thunder and pitter-patter of the rain.

As she sped up to get to her dry car quicker, she noticed there seemed to be additional sounds in the rainstorm rhythm. She increased her speed, but heard the additional sounds speed up as well. She whipped around.

There was no one there. Her eyes caught the bottom of the flag poll and traveled up to the top of it, where Old Glory was swaying back and forth with a loud flapping sound. She exhaled the nervous breath she'd been holding and turned back around to continue to her car.

Step, step, step. She heard the sound again. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to rid the sound from her head. All the same, she couldn't help thinking, flags don't walk. Fear gripped her and she whipped around again. The wet sidewalk behind her was empty. Breathing heavily, she turned back around and sped up toward her parked car. As she rounded a corner, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her.

She tried to scream, but her assailant had a heavy hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled, but he was too strong. She felt herself losing strength and then felt the wet cloth pressed to her face. She caught the scent: chloroform. Abby held her breath, willing herself not to breathe in the intoxicating scent, but her lungs screamed for air. She inhaled deeply, then felt herself fade into unconsciousness.

A/N: Right, so there's a bit of a cliffhanger with this one. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon (yes, I know, I say that all the time, but I do mean it)!