Close Calls

Summary: See ch1

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: Keep up the reviews!

I know that you guys are egar for the EO, but good things come to those who wait, besides, where would the angst be?

The action picks up in this chapter!

Blood

"Morning Liv." Munch smiled when he saw Olivia enter the precinct. "You look like crap. Have a cup of coffee." He added, holding a cup out to her.

"Thanks John." Olivia scoffed, but took the coffee anyway. Last night had been no picnic for her.

"Didn't get much sleep?" Fin asked.

"No, not really." She said making a disgusted face after sipping the coffee. "God John, is this coffee or tar?" She asked, trying to force the taste from her mouth.

"You know, one of these days you're gonna walk in here, and there's not gonna be any coffee." Munch bantered back. It was tough to be an SVU detective, so they needed all the banter they could get to lighten the mood.

"Is that a promise John?" Elliot finally asked, looking up from his desk.

"Mock all you want, but you'll miss it when the day comes that it's not there." Munch answered over his glasses as he too took his seat behind his desk.

"Looks like you had a long night too." Olivia noted more quietly to Elliot after noticing the bags under his eyes. "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Just had a lot on my mind." Elliot answered. "What about you?"

"Same. My brain refused to shut off." She smiled, forcing another sip of the coffee. As gross as it was, she knew her body needed the caffeine desperately.

"Benson, Stabler, we just got a tip on the Keller case. A woman on east 74th street claims that she saw a girl who looks like our Vic being forced into a neighboring abandoned building. Says she thinks she was crying." Cragen said, standing over their desks.

"How does she know what she looks like?" Olivia asked, always skeptical of anonymous phone tips.

"Says she saw her on TV. I want you two to go check it out." Cragen answered.

Elliot and Olivia had heard all they needed to hear. They gathered their coats, and made their way out to the car.

After a short drive, they reached their destination. They cautiously got out of the car and approached the building. It was charred as if it had been burned in a fire. There were big plywood planks blocking the doors, and two-by-fours across all the windows. Weeds had grown over most of the front, making it hard for both Elliot and Olivia to walk stealthily.

As the crept around the building with their guns drawn, Olivia finally found a way in. It was a basement entrance, but it was a way in none the less.

"El." She called in a voice a little louder than a whisper.

He looked up when he heard his name, and she motioned for him to join her with a wave of her hand.

"Think they could have come in here?" She asked.

"It's worth a try." Elliot answered.

Before entering the building Elliot radioed for backup, and to let other officers in the area know that they were entering unknown territory.

Olivia leaned forward, and pulled at one of the rusty doors. It creaked open, but without much difficulty. She took her flashlight out of her belt, and checked the stairs that went into the basement before climbing in.

Elliot climbed in right behind her, keeping his eyes out for anything that could be a possible danger.

After reaching the bottom of the stairs each clung to an opposite wall. They checked around the corner, but saw nothing. As they made they're way into the heart of the basement, they still had seen nothing out of the ordinary.

"You think they're really in here?" Elliot whispered after they had cleared the basement.

"They could still be upstairs." Olivia offered. As soon as the words left her mouth, something clunked over their heads.

"Sounds like that could be a definite possibility." Elliot whispered, looking to noise and then back to his partner.

In an unspoken agreement, the two returned to their defensive positions, with their guns pointed down, but ready to snap them up at the first sign of danger.

They slowly crept to the stairs, and carefully climbed them. Olivia pushed the basement door open only enough so that she could peer through the crack. When she was sure that there was no one in the vicinity, she pushed it open enough for her to walk through it.

Elliot followed suit, and the two again hugged opposite walls. Olivia quickly peeked her head around the corner, and then snapped it back.

"We're clear." She mouthed.

The two turned the corner into a narrow hallway and cautiously made their way to a door at the end. The door stood open, and Elliot quickly peered his head in, and pulled it out quickly after finally spotting their victim.

She was sitting on a dirty mattress in the middle of an empty room. She looked like it'd been days since she'd eaten, and she had clearly spent days crying. It broke Elliot's heart when he saw the hopelessness in her eyes. She had lost all faith of ever being saved.

Sitting on either side of the room were two men. They lounged on folding chairs, and were looking at nothing in particular. They weren't talking to Anne, or even looking at her for that matter; but Elliot could tell Anne was afraid of them for some reason.

"She's in there." He mouthed to Olivia.

"Anyone else?' Olivia asked, also silent.

Elliot simply nodded, and put two fingers in the air to communicate the amount of people guarding Anne.

"Armed?" Olivia mouthed.

Elliot peeked quickly and then nodded his head to indicate that the two men were in fact armed.

Before the two could say another word they heard the front door of the building open, and someone boom in. They readied their weapons, but stayed silent where they stood.

A young man who looked like he was in his late twenties walked in. He looked like a pretty normal guy. He was well groomed and dressed well, but the look in eyes said something else about his personality. Elliot could see the evil hidden in hid eyes. Had he been a betting man, he would have bet that this was the man who was behind this kidnapping.

"Get up!" He barked as he entered the room. The two men and Anne immediately shot up from where they were seated.

He stormed over to one of the men in the room, and stood chest to chest with him.

"I thought I told you to make sure we didn't leave any tracks!" He barked into the man's face.

"I… I did." The man said.

"Then could you enlighten me as to the location of the computer that was in the warehouse?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "And then you can enlighten me as to how the cops found out that that warehouse even existed!" He yelled.

"The cops found it?" The man who had been sitting asked.

"Well, that was what I would assume considering the yellow crime scene tape that is blocking the entrance to the warehouse!" The young man yelled.

"I told you it would be a bad idea to put that video on the net. They can track those things!" The other man in the room said, clearly agitated.

Anne was simply standing on her mattress, not saying a word, with her eyes downcast.

The well groomed man turned on his heels, and stalked over to the second man in the room.

"Are you blaming me for this?" He asked.

"It is your fault!" The man bellowed. "I told you making that video was a bad idea Ben! We had her. We had her and no one knew where she was. Why the hell did you have to post it?"

"Because we had her, and had nothing to show for it. Have you not been watching the news? People were beginning to think that she had run away!" The man whom Elliot and Olivia now knew to be Ben said, pointing to the frail body of Anne. "They need to know that we have her; know that we will not be mocked!" He yelled, his tone getting louder as he continued.

Ben then stalked over to Anne, which made her begin to shake uncontrollably. He stroked the side of her face with his hand.

"Next time, you'll think twice before crossing me; won't you?" He whispered into her ear. She began to cry. Ben just smiled, and slapped her across the face. She was so weak that she was knocked off her feet, and fell back her mattress.

"We need to get in there." Olivia whispered, appalled about what she was witnessing.

"Any word on the backup?" Elliot asked, careful of his volume.

Olivia just shook her head. "When I called for them when we got here they said they'd be here as soon as they could."

"Do not blame me for this!" Ben shouted as he glared at the woman now lying limp on the floor. "She owed me! I told you the stakes! You knew that it was either your brother, or you!" He seethed.

"I… I never… I never wanted this." Anne said in desperation as she held her face. "You… you can't do this."

"Are you back talking me?" Ben seethed. He looked to the other men in the room. "I think she's back talking me boys." He chuckled. "Leave us for a moment."

The two men took their orders and left the room.

When Elliot heard Anne cry out in pain after being kicked in the chest by Ben, he knew that they had no time to wait for the backup. "We have to go in now." He whispered.

Olivia nodded her head in agreement.

Olivia took her position next to Elliot, and the two readied their guns to fire if need be. The stormed the room.

"NYPD, don't move!" They both shouted.

Ben wasted not time pulling his gun out his belt, and Pulling Anne off the floor to point the barrel to her head. He held her tightly.

"Put it down Ben." Olivia warned, her gun pointed at him. "It's all over."

"This is far from over detectives. Do you realize that all I have to do is yell a little, and at least four armed men will swarm into this room, and kill you before you even know what's going on?" He asked cockily.

"You don't need to do this Ben." Elliot tried negotiating. While Olivia kept her eyes trained on Ben, Elliot had his on Anne. He could see she was clearly terrified, but he could also see that she no longer considered death as the worst thing that could happen to her.

"She owed me detectives. It was either her or her brother. She told me to stay away from her brother." Ben said, as if this that was an excuse for what he had done to this girl.

"Listen Ben, you're in a lot of trouble." Olivia attempted. "With the way the media has covered Anne's disappearance, the public will want to see you hang. If you just give her up peacefully, they'll sympathize. You can end this now; without anyone having to get any more hurt than they already are." She said in an even, calm tone.

"Not get hurt? Not get hurt?" Ben demanded. "Do you know how much I lost because of her scum bag brother? I got kicked out of Med School because that little rat squealed on me when he got caught buying term papers. And what did he get? A pardon!"

"So that's what all this is about?" Elliot asked, truly shocked. "This isn't even about Anne. Just let her go."

Before any more negotiating could take place Elliot and Olivia heard yells and gunshots ringing out from outside the room. They knew immediately that their backup had finally arrived.

"You know what that was?" Elliot asked when he noticed Ben had also heard the commotion. "That's the sound of our backup. Now, there are a lot of cops in here with guns. There's only one of you. You can end this before it gets violent." He tried again.

Ben thought about it for a moment. He didn't want the police to have the satisfaction of killing him. He decided that he would take his chances in a court. He decided to concede.

"Alright." He said with disappointment. "You win. She can go."

Ben loosened his grip on Anne, and slowly lowered his gun to the floor.

"Kick it over here." Elliot instructed.

Ben did as he was told. He held his hands up, and slowly stepped away from Anne. Without his body to support her, she collapsed to the ground in heaving sobs. Olivia rushed over to her, and held her as she cried in her arms.

Elliot made his way over to Ben to read him his rights. Unfortunately, Elliot and Olivia had been focusing so hard on Ben and Anne, that they had not even noticed how the door had opened slightly when it had before been closed.

They hadn't noticed the man watching from the safety of the back hall; hadn't noticed the gun he had trained on Elliot and Olivia the entire time; and now, they didn't notice how he tried to aim it at Anne.

When this man, lurking, unnoticed in the shadows realized he wouldn't be able to get a clear shot at Anne, he aimed at Olivia. He decided that he would just have to take the two of them out together.

It was the click of the safety being turned off that first drew Elliot's gaze away from the man he was handcuffing, and towards the door. When he saw the barrel of a hand gun pointed at Olivia, he knew what was about to happen.

There simply wasn't enough time to call to her to warn her. Elliot's heart stopped beating in his chest. He hadn't even had enough time to process what he was doing when he suddenly found himself sprinting across the room, and diving through the air.

He fired one shot, and hit the shooter directly in the chest, causing him to fall in pain.

By the time Elliot felt the stinging in his chest of the bullet ripping through his skin, he was already on the floor with blood seeping from his chest.

TBC... CLIFFHANGER

I promised action, didn't I?

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