A/N… Thanks for the reviews and follows! I am always grateful to see those! This isn't a long chapter but the next one is already getting really close.

To Sell, JL and others wondering… It's hard to say much without giving things away. I wish I could give you all the chapters at once. There is suspense and angst, yes, but there's still so much that has to unfold. If you made it through Turbulence and Storm Front, I think you'll survive this one.

Reminder that Alex's part is still in the past (after she's abducted) and Bobby and SVU are almost two weeks ahead. We'll catch up to the present in the next couple of chapters.

This chapter begins with a flashback to Alex and Bobby's dinner just before the abduction (i.e., chapter 1).

x x x

~PAST~

Lower Manhattan…

"Would you two care for some dessert?" the waiter asks, glancing between the couple.

The petite blonde woman's eyes drift over the menu, while the tall man sitting beside her sets his down and watches her for a reply.

"How about the key lime, Bobby?" she suggests.

The man named 'Bobby' is either her date or her husband. He doesn't wear a wedding ring, but then again, there are married men who don't.

"Yeah, I saw that," Bobby answers her. "I was looking at the chocolate cake."

Her eyes drift over the menu. Seeing no sign of chocolate cake, she lifts her head. "Where?"

"Back page."

She flips it over and her eyes fall to the image. "Oh, that does look good."

"It's moist, rich, very decadent," the waiter chimes in. "One of our most popular."

She sighs, preparing to hand the menu back to the waiter. "Sounds like extra calories."

"Like you would have to worry," Bobby tells her affectionately.

Her cheeks flush and she tries to suppress a grin. The complement is well received.

"I once heard a customer say a slice of that was better than sex," the waiter remarks to her with a grin. "So how about one slice of cake and two forks? You and your husband can share."

"Oh… H-he's not—" The blonde woman's face turns a deeper shade of red as she tries to correct the waiter.

"We're coworkers," Bobby interjects nervously; his face is almost as red as hers is. "Or we—"

"We're friends," she explains.

The waiter shrugs. Not that it matters to him personally.

"Do you want to share a piece of cake, Eames?"

"Uh….sure, why not."

"Coming right up," he tells them. He collects their menus and leaves the table.

"I think I'm going to head to Inwood tonight," she tells Bobby. "It's better if I tell my dad the news of me leaving before he hears it from someone else."

Bobby nods and frowns. "I still wish you didn't have to go through this."

She shakes her head. "I stand behind my choice."

"Thanks," he smiles appreciatively. "Are you going to spend some time with your dad while you're there?"

"I'm not sure. It's been already been a long day."

A minute later, the waiter returns to the table and sets a slice of cake in front of them with two forks. "Here you go. Enjoy."

Their eyes drift down to the plate. Each one takes a fork and starts in on the cake.

After the first bite, they moan almost in unison.

"The waiter was right… I don't even smoke and I may need a cigarette after this," Alex teases, prompting a smirk from Bobby.

They quietly enjoy their dessert for a couple minutes. She offers the last bite to him, but he splits it in half for both of them.

That sinking feeling in her stomach is starting to return. They've had drinks, they've finished their meal and now they've had dessert. There's nothing left to stall this goodbye.

While she knows they'll bump into each other periodically, the finality of this moment is hitting her hard.

Because it won't be the same after today.

"Hey Bobby…?"

"Yeah?"

"You know if you ever need anything…"

"You too, Eames."

x x x

She wakes from her dream, still thinking of Bobby.

What would he say if he knew what happened after she left the restaurant last night?

She still remembers seeing this disheveled, visibly worn-out partner of hers enter the hospital room after the Jo Gage incident.

"You look like hell," she teases him.

He takes a seat beside her bed.

When she wakes up hours later, he's still there.

She knows she can't wait around for Cole to come up with an escape plan. She'll send someone for him and his daughter.

Alex sits up on the mattress and resumes trying to get the knots in the cord untied. She gets one, but she's not free yet. Perp tied a ridiculous number of knots. Rat bastard.

She spends the next thirty minutes trying to get her hands free and finally, there's success.

The cord falls from her wrists and brushes the edge of the mattress as it drops to the floor. It's so quiet in there she hears it. It's a small, but satisfying 'screw you' to her abductors.

She remembers what Cole said about the cameras, so she listens for any hallway sounds or signs that someone is coming. There are none, so she assumes she's still safe.

Alex tugs the blindfold off and looks at her surroundings for the first time.

It's just as she expected. A large, open room on a lower-level floor or basement.

The bed is the only piece of furniture in that room and it's a twin bed. Metal frame with a mattress on top. The mattress has seen better days. There are metal bed posts at both ends.

There's thin gray carpeting on the floor and cream-colored paint on the walls. There are eight florescent light fixtures on the ceiling, three of them aren't working.

Her best guess is that this was a laundry room at some point. There are discolored spots in the carpet where there may have been machines or folding tables, and a couple of patched holes in the wall where some dryer hoses were connected.

On the opposite wall, she spots two rectangular-shaped openings close to the ceiling that look like windows. They're about one foot high by two feet wide. A thin panel covers them, but still allows light through.

After removing the cord from her ankles, she shoves it into her pocket in case she needs it later.

The door is obviously locked. It's sturdy and there doesn't appear to be a way to break out. There's nothing around she can use as a tool.

She has two options.

She could move the bed over to the back wall and climb up on it to get to the windows. The ceiling is about ten feet high and the bottom ledge of the window is probably eight feet high. Just remove the cover and she's out.

The other option is taking the cord and surprising the perp when he shows up.

Truthfully, she's tired of waiting. She wishes she had a way to barricade the door. She sees nothing except the bed frame and she'll need that to get up to the window.

Alex grabs one end of the bed and drags it across the floor. A couple of snags in the rug slow her down at times.

Her energy is lagging. It's definitely from a lack of food, but it's also from lying in one spot for so long.

She turns the bed over on its side, pushes it against the wall and then climbs up onto the metal frame.

It gives her a couple feet of height, but she still has to extend her arms to reach the window covering.

The material is some sort of industrial-strength plastic about a quarter-inch thick that someone attached to the wallboard with heavy-duty staples.

Goren would know what the hell this thing is, she thinks to herself. The passing thought of her partner makes her smile.

She tries to pry it off with her hands, but after picking at the knots in the cord for so long, her fingers are tender and sore, and her patience is waning.

She needs a screwdriver or maybe the back end of a hammer.

The longer she works at it, the more frustrated she becomes. Not to mention, she has to balance on a three-inch wide metal bed frame with no shoes on.

She mumbles the word sonofabitch so many times that it loses its punch.

Fortunately, persistence pays off. She gets a large enough gap between the material and the wallboard to slip her fingers underneath a corner. She pries the corner upward and the staple comes out.

Taking ahold of the corner, she rips most of the cover from the wall. She's disappointed to discover that the window is just an open space between rooms. Air vent covers were taken off and this plastic was put in its place. She hoists herself up a little higher so she can see into the adjacent room. It's about the same size as the one she's in. Same dingy carpet and walls.

White florescent light panels illuminate the space. Well, she thought she saw daylight…

Maybe it was wishful thinking.

She doesn't see any other windows in the adjacent room, but there's a door in the far right corner.

A sliver of sunlight peeks under the door… Hopefully.

There's a bed in the adjacent room and it's close enough for her to reach.

She glances around the room a little more.

A towel lies in a heap on the floor next to the bed. It might have something inside of it, she can't decide from this angle. Beside the towel is a brown paper grocery bag with the top folded over.

She takes another look at the plastic cover in front of her. The last corner remains stuck to the wall, but she's got room to get through. Then it's about a six foot drop to the mattress.

When the top of her shoulders are passed the ledge, she hears a door opening behind her…

Fuck.

What are her chances that it's Cole coming to help her escape?

Right… And he brought the local cops and CSU, picked up lunch from her favorite deli and even stopped for coffee.

She's still climbing through when the person grabs her by the ankles and tries to pull her back.

She hopes that Cole would identify himself.

If he planned to hurt her, he could have done so already.

So this has to be the one Cole warned her about.

She can't see into the room behind her, so she's kicking blindly. She nails him in the chest once or twice and he releases her. She continues her plan to escape, until he grabs ahold of her right leg. He twists her leg until she feels a pop in her knee.

Damn you, sonofabitch! Alex groans. The pain is fierce for a couple seconds, then subsides. He tries once more to pull her back into the room, but she fights her way out of his grasp by swinging her feet. This time she kicks him in the jaw.

He releases her and stumbles backward, muttering a lot of colorful words.

There isn't time to contemplate a landing. She clings to the wall ledge, brings her hips, legs and feet through and drops to the mattress in the adjacent room. The mattress breaks her fall, but it's not the most delicate landing.

She gets up from the mattress, hobbling a little on her right leg as she heads for the door.

Of course, it's locked.

She takes a quick glance around the room, hoping to find something she can use as a weapon or tool.

Curious about the towel and brown paper bag she saw earlier, she wanders closer.

She tears off a piece of the brown paper bag and uses it to lift a corner of the towel. The towel is empty, but she drops it almost immediately…

Dried blood.

Judging from the amount on the towel, it was probably used to wipe something off.

She opens the bag and peers inside. Using the same small piece of the brown paper bag, she sifts through it. Women's clothes; a couple shirts, blouses and pants. All different sizes; small, medium, petite. They don't appear to be new clothes.

Her attention returns to the bed. It's exactly like the one in the other room. She wonders if she could remove any of the bed slats.

She pulls the bed away from the wall and turns it over on its side. The mattress slides completely off the frame and onto the floor.

There are a couple of dark spots on the mattress and on the underside of the frame which could be dried blood.

She hears the door opening and readies herself.

A man enters the room wearing a dark jacket and shirt, black pants, a black nylon mask and leather gloves.

So this must be Malik.

He's about six foot tall, give or take an inch. Medium frame, maybe 200 pounds. She's taken on bigger guys than this without a problem.

The nylon mask covers his entire head and neck, with eye and mouth holes so he can see and breathe.

Dark eyes peer back at her spitefully.

At a glance, she sees nothing in his hand that might be a weapon, but his fist is clenched at his side.

"You little…fucking…WITCH!" he hisses through clenched teeth. She swears she sees fire coming through the slits in the mask where his eyes would be.

"Go to hell," she tosses back coolly.

The bed frame and mattress lie between her and the perp. She takes a couple steps to the side, so there is no chance of him trapping her while her back is toward the wall.

Fortunately, the masked moron left the door open.

He charges toward her, she lifts a side of the bed frame and throws it toward him. The edge of the metal frame hits his thigh before it topples over awkwardly.

While he's distracted, she exits.

There's nothing to her left except a wall. To her right, is a long hallway. Directly in front of her about ten paces is a steel door with a glass window panel.

Glancing out the window, she sees a chain-link fence, the side of a brown brick building and a cloudless blue sky.

She tries the door handle, but it won't open. Her eyes drift upward until she finds a latch near the top.

As she reaches up to release the latch, Malik grabs her from behind.

She swings her elbow backward, nailing him in the rib.

His loud painful groan is encouraging, but the sound of a cracked rib would have made her day.

She turns around, intending to finish him off with a knee to the groin, but he quickly takes a step back to avoid her.

He lunges for her again and grabs her around the waist, then retrieves the small needle and syringe he's been toting with him. It's injected into her arm and back out again, before she can react.

Given the bag of clothes and bloody towel, she knows this perp is capable of anything.

But he's had ample chances to kill her since she got here.

Based on what she's witnessed here, what she's heard from Cole, and everything she's learned about criminal behavior through the years, this guy wants her alive.

Why and for how long? She has no idea.

It's probably just a sedative. If she can hold him off for another minute, she'll be able to get help.

Keeping her aim low, she gives him a sharp kick in the shin. He releases her and she throws another punch to his jaw. He stumbles forward, smacking into the door.

It buys her enough time to leave.

Her exit is blocked, so she quickly takes off down the longer hallway in search of another way out or some help.

It appears to be a rather large floor. She passes a couple of closed doors and utility closets.

By the time she reaches an intersecting hallway, she's starting to get lightheaded.

A few more steps, and she has to brace herself against the wall to remain standing. Her breathing becomes shallow. Her vision is getting blurry. She's sweating.

She hears him coming up the hallway toward her.

She knows she has to keep going, but she can't even lift her feet.

And then she collapses.

x x x

~PRESENT~

Eames's residence

Bobby settles back on her sofa. It's late afternoon now. He can hear the start of rush hour traffic at a distance, but it's quiet in her place.

A sitter was caring for Eames's pet bird when she saw that Alex hadn't been home. Her family stepped in to take over its care.

SVU, CSU and the Eames clan have already been through this place.

There are no messages, no ransom notes; no indication that whoever has her will negotiate for her return.

The sharks over at The Ledger have already done their usual damage. By tomorrow, the news of a missing cop will have reached the entire city.

He hopes someone comes forward with information, but it's doubtful.

He still has the DVDs to go through. While he knows there could be some valuable evidence there, he's not sure how long he'll be able to watch.

Right now, he's just letting all of the information soak in.

His eyes pan around the room carefully.

He's been in her place a few times before. She's neat and organized, but not obsessive. She doesn't let junk mail or clutter pile up and she only keeps the things around her that matter.

He stands up, crosses the room and begins to pace slowly.

In one pass, he reaches for the picture of her and her nephew.

Wherever Eames is, she's putting up a damned good fight, he reminds himself.

A knock at the door stirs him out of his thoughts. He sets the picture down and heads for the door to answer it.

He hopes it's not the press. He's not in the mood.

Fortunately, it's just SVU. He opens the door and holds it for the two detectives.

"We knew you'd be here," Elliot explains, as he and Olivia enter Alex's apartment.

"What's up?"

"The nineteen just called… A woman's body was found by Riverside. Sounds like our guy. No ID of the victim yet. Perp messed her up pretty bad. We thought you might want to come with us to check it out," Elliot replies.

"It's not Eames. It hasn't been two weeks since he sent the DVD."

"Two weeks is approximate," Olivia answers.

Bobby nods and checks to make sure he has the key to her place in his pocket. "Got a physical description?"

"Petite, late-thirties, good physical shape..." Elliot answers, frowning.

"Still might be someone else."

"She's the only one missing who matches that description."

x x x

TBC…

Next, Chapter 4 - Fears