A/N… So sorry, readers! I thought I posted this one already, but apparently I didn't. Fortunately, I've been busy with chapter 6 so you'll hardly have to wait for that one. I have a hunch chapter 7 will be pretty quick to write, because I've had that one mapped out for a long time.

I don't love this chapter, but I think it's because I'm anxious to get to the next few. There are important details here. A little more angst. I promise we're almost through it.


x x x

PAST

~Somewhere in Manhattan…~

It's been eight days. Despite having slept through chunks of it, it seems longer.

Jo Gage was nothing compared to this.

This is prison.

For 24 hours a day, she sits or lies on a mattress. She can't leave, untie the restraints or refuse any of his orders, or Malik will 'punish' her.

Cole warns her about the bath, but Malik carries out his threat. He injects her with more sedatives and throws her into a tub of water. After that, he rapes her.

The third attack is probably the worst. She's in no condition to fight him, so he doesn't bother with the sedative.

Apparently, Malik wants her fed, bathed, kept alive and completely submissive.

Cole brings her food and tends to basic needs. It's mostly by direct order, but he's the only one who shows any concern for her.

He's attentive when she's hurt or sick, and will sometimes remain with her hours after an attack.

She appreciates the help and the company, but there are times when she'd rather be left alone.

Cole wants her to play it safe. Just abide by 'the rules' a little longer, until he can make a plan to get them both out of there safely.

But she can't wait around for that to happen.

She won't last.

x

Hours after Malik's last attack, she lies there.

Her wrists are tied to the head posts. She works on one of the knots until she has it untied. If anything, she's getting faster at this.

Running her fingers along the twine strands, she finds more knots and unties them. The tension in the ropes relaxes and her hands are free.

For a minute or two, she relishes the feeling of being able to move her wrists and hands. There are new cuts and abrasions from the last attack. They're bothering her, but she can't deal with them now.

She slips her blindfold off. There's just the rope around her ankles to remove.

The bed sheet that Cole brought her is near the foot of the bed. Using her feet, she lifts the edge of it until it covers her ankles.

She lets a few minutes pass in case Malik is watching the cameras. Then she draws her arms away from the head posts, pulls her feet up and begins untying the ropes around her ankles.

When she's done, she slowly extends her legs back down and slips her feet under the sheet again.

She gathers both sets of ropes in her hands and wraps the ends around her fingers.

The next person through that door is either going to get strangled or tied up.

If it's Malik, she'll go for the throat. If it's Cole, she'll restrain him. It'll probably take a good punch to slow either one down.

She doesn't want to hurt Cole, but if he sees her trying to escape he'll stop her. Maybe he thinks it'll prevent another attack.

She can't stay mad at him for too long. He saved her ass a couple times.

She knows their location now. The building is about half way between the ninth and the seventh precincts, maybe nine or ten blocks from there. With any luck, she won't have to run far before she finds an officer.

They'll call for back-up and get Cole and Amanda out safely.

Hopefully, the cops will arrest Malik and his crew before they try to escape.

x

She hears footsteps approach the door from the hallway, but they continue on. She's already on edge wondering who she'll have to fight, so this doesn't help and neither do the next twenty-five minutes of dead silence while she waits.

She hears footsteps again and this time the door opens. She lies there pretending to sleep.

"Hey, Alex… Just me," Cole greets as he enters. He knows that Malik's been there.

She doesn't know what happens to Cole whenever Malik is in there with her. He's usually escorted out rather hastily by Malik's men, and then kept away for hours.

She senses that they are forcing him to do work. Might be some sort of manual labor. Obviously, it's nothing legal. It's probably in exchange for not getting pummeled by Malik's men. Cole usually clams up about it when she asks.

She's never actually seen Cole, because she's forced to wear the blindfold. It's just her luck that anytime she takes it off, Malik or one of his men will show up.

x

She readies herself. Cole mentioned that he wears glasses so she'll aim low.

When Cole squats down beside the bed to check on her, she swings her fist and strikes his jaw.

He lets out a couple of grunts and tumbles backward. Alex quickly rolls out of bed and onto the floor, taking the bed sheet and ropes with her.

"Wh-what the…?" Cole groans aloud. He really shouldn't be surprised. He's figuring out just how persistent she is.

She tackles him as he's trying to get back up and then rolls him onto his stomach.

He would have to hit her, elbow her or hurt her in some way to stop her and he doesn't want to do that. He tries to roll out from under her instead, but she's already got him pinned.

She takes his wrists and ties them to the bed frame with the ropes.

"I'm sorry, Cole. I'll send someone for you and Amanda. I promise." She has no idea where Amanda is and she's never heard him mention it. He only says that she's alive and somewhere in this building.

"How the hell do you plan to get out of here?" he asks, sounding more worried than upset.

She ignores his question and starts reaching into his front jeans pocket for his knife. "I need your knife…"

"Wait…. Alex, stop! Rodden and Malik are out there!" he warns. Rodden is one of Malik's guards. Definitely not one to mess with.

She has the edge of the pocket knife in her fingertips, but he twists his body out of her reach before she can take it.

"Give me the damn knife!" she orders.

"Come on! You don't want to do this!"

"You won't help me, I have no choice!" she hisses back.

"I never said…" Cole's words are cut off as the door suddenly swings open. Malik and Rodden step inside and silence fills the room.

Rodden is about six foot six, with a large build. She can't guess his weight.

He has dark eyes, an olive complexion and short dark hair which is more like a buzz cut. A couple scars on his face and neck. Knife cuts, she assumes. He's about 35 years old.

She's never seen Malik's face. He wears a nylon hood that covers his whole head and neck, except for a couple slits in the fabric for his mouth, nose and eyes. There's nothing special about the hood. Looks like it's just to hide his identity.

Cole glances over his shoulder at the two visitors nervously, then looks back at Alex. While his back is toward the two men, he allows her to retrieve his pocket knife.

As Rodden takes his first step toward her, Cole quickly tries to get free of the restraints so he can help her.

Alex readies herself with the knife in hand. She dodges Rodden's first attempt to grab her. On the next attempt, he has her by the arms and wrestles her to the floor.

She lands on her side and rolls over onto her back with the knife still in her hand. Rodden restrains the arm with the knife to prevent her from using it. As he tries to pry it away from her, she nails him in the stomach with her knee.

She was aiming for his crotch, but he moved. Judging from his groan, it sounds like it hurt. Good.

Malik remains by the doorway with his arms folded.

The woman has moxie. He's never met anyone like her.

But she WILL learn to respect his rules.

Alex retains the knife in her hand and thrusts it at Rodden. He stops her hand just shy of cutting him. Using his other hand, he slaps her hard.

Her face stings for a couple seconds before the flush of warmth reaches her skin. Her eyes are watering.

His next swing bats the pocket knife from her hand and sends it across the room. He quickly has her pinned.

She tries to get free of him, but can't. A smirk appears on the thug's face.

Malik orders Rodden off her and takes his place. When Alex attempts to fight him off, Malik takes another vial out of his pocket.

Her reflexes are faster this time. She swats it with her arm, sending the vial a few feet out of Malik's reach.

He orders Rodden to retrieve it while he hastily grabs her up by the collar and drags her face up close to his. "I warned you about your behavior!," he hisses back at her. "You DO remember what happened the last time you acted up?"

"Go to hell!" she tosses back.

Her arms are pinned beneath her, but she already knows she can get one of them free. While he's snarling at her, she throws her best punch.

Malik is jarred for an instant, which gives her a chance to move out of his reach until Rodden corners her.

She gets in a couple more jabs with her knees and her feet, until they pin her down. Malik injects the needle.

The injection is some street version of a sedative. Probably mixed with other drugs too and the potency varies. Along with headaches, weakness and nausea, she's felt mild hallucinogenic effects before.

Malik begins trying to remove her panties. She's horrified when hears Malik tell Rodden that he'll 'get a turn.'

Cole gets himself free from the ropes and rushes toward them. He grabs one of Alex's arms, pulls her away from Malik and then retreats to the corner of the room.

"I've got her! I've got her! She won't leave," he tosses back at Malik fearfully, hoping it's enough.

Although a little woozy from the struggle, Alex makes a move for Cole's knife. But he's not letting her go.

Malik glares at her, then reaches up to rub the spot where she punched him.

Cole watches him anxiously. His own jaw still hurts where she punched him and he knows she didn't hold back on Malik.

Malik drags a phone out of his pocket, glances at it, then puts it back.

After Rodden and Malik exchange a few words privately, Malik turns back to Cole. "It's YOUR job to keep control of the woman!" He turns his gaze toward the pocket knife laying open on the floor. He walks over to it and picks it up. "Where did she get this?" he asks Cole accusingly.

"Uh—"

"I stole it from him," Alex interrupts. "Not his fault."

"I decide who's fault it is."

He gives Rodden a nod and Rodden approaches Cole. He hesitates long enough to keep Cole worried about what he'll do, and then delivers a sharp kick to his side. Cole gasps loudly as the pain shoots through him. He slumps over a little, while still holding onto Alex.

"That's just a sample, you pathetic piece of shit, now RESTRAIN HER!" Malik orders Cole.

Malik approaches Alex next. "I won't forget this little display from you either, witch!" At that, he slaps her.

To both of them, he adds, "I don't have time to address this disobedience. You'll both be punished when I return!"

Malik and Rodden leave the room.

Cole sits up slowly, favoring his side. It takes him a minute or two before his breathing is back to normal.

He returns his gaze to his weary companion. For the moment, her breathing is haggard.

He sees that her clothing is barely on her and reaches over to fix them. But Alex hastily pulls away and straightens them herself.

She blinks her eyes a couple times, her vision seems a little fuzzy. Nausea stirs inside her while her stomach announces the need for food. She couldn't eat if she wanted to.

Turning her bleary eyes toward the door way, she thinks she sees a gap. Looks like the door didn't shut completely. She starts scooting toward it sluggishly.

Cole sighs as he watches her. "Alex, wait…"

She ignores him. She can't stand another second in this place.

He catches up with her, grabs her by the arm to slow her down and she shrugs him off. "Leave me alone, Cole!"

"No! Stop!"

"LET GO OF ME!" she argues, when he grabs for her again.

"Not letting you do this."

"I need to get out! PLEASE just get me out!"

He holds her back. "It won't work, Alex! Not yet!"

"Cole, PLEASE!" she cries.

A layer of perspiration covers her face, neck and chest. She's overheated, tired.

He wraps an arm around her to comfort her.

"Shhh... Soon. I promise."

x

Within minutes she's asleep. Cole's eyes drift over her with worry.

What's happening here isn't his fault. But he feels a little responsible for her being stuck in this situation.

He plans to tell her everything. But not until he knows they're somewhere safe.

She'll probably be upset that he lied to her about a few things.

But he hopes she'll understand 'why' he had to do it.

x

He carries her back to the mattress, lays her down on it and covers her with the blanket. Once the sedative takes effect, she'll be asleep for a couple hours.

He gets up and wanders toward the bathroom. While looking in the mirror, he sees some redness where she punched him. His rib is a lot worse where Rodden kicked him.

Most of his bumps and bruises are from Malik's guys. Sure he defends himself. They all outweigh him by 150 pounds or more.

He could take on Malik and maybe one of the others, but not the whole fleet. He gets his exercise from biking and trail hikes. He's never been one for 'bulking up' or whatever some guys do.

He retrieves a packet of pain pills from his pocket, pops them in his mouth and scoops up a handful of water from the faucet to swallow them down.

Then he returns to the bed where Alex lies. Reluctantly, he retrieves the ropes and binds her wrists and ankles with the rope.

The blindfold is rolled up in some part of the bed sheet, so it escapes his mind.

At this point, he'll usually leave.

But he peers at her a moment longer, wondering if that's such a good idea.

x

Alex awakens a few hours later with a headache and some nausea. Her energy is still lagging but it's no worse than usual. She sits up a little more.

The next thing she notices is that she's back on the bed. Her wrists and ankles are restrained and it looks like Cole's efforts. He forgot her blindfold.

Cole's asleep on the floor next to the bed. He's lying on stomach with his head turned toward her. It's the first chance she's had to look at him, so she does.

He's Caucasian. Short, light-brown wavy hair with a little gray stirred in. Dark blue shirt and jeans. He lays his head on his arm as he sleeps, which obscures most of his face from her view.

He's tall and thin with a medium frame. He says he likes biking.

The glasses he wears are silver wire-framed. They're folded and sitting on the floor beside him.

He works for the Port Authority. Network security systems…or something like that. He says he can log in and work from anywhere. Once a month, he goes to their main offices.

Her eyes drift to the door. It's getting harder to remember what she's seen so far.

She found a dark-colored rock on the floor a couple days ago. It must have tracked in on someone's shoe. It's soft enough to leave a mark so she can write with it. She's been making notes on the wall beside the head of the bed.

She thinks about the recent incident and tries to recall what she can. She'll add it to her notes.

First, there's Rodden. She's seen him before, but after this last visit she should have enough for a good sketch.

She remembers his scars, the dark eyes, and his olive complexion. She remembers his clothing and the shark tattoo on his right arm.

Next, there's Malik. She tries to gather a few more details about him on each visit. The drugs he gives her sometimes make her less attentive and forgetful.

So the notes are critical. It'll be enough to jog her memory when she finally speaks to the police.

x

While she's focused on the door, Cole wakes up. He lifts his head and sits up slowly. Sitting up hurts. Stretching is necessary, but just as painful.

He locates his glasses on the floor and puts them back on. Then he peers up at her. "I'm sorry, Alex. Um…"

"It's okay. You tried to warn me," she responds wearily. Another minute is spent gathering her thoughts before she turns her head and peers back at Cole. Their eyes finally meet.

He's mostly what she expects. A youthful face, with the exception of a few extra worry lines. Almost like the last few years have been tough.

He smiles. "Nice to finally see you too."

x x x

PRESENT

~SVU~

"Alright, so he's keeping her alive… Why?"

"Leverage. Or sadistic pleasure.
Torturing her…and you."

It's 11:52pm. He's bleary-eyed, angry, frustrated and out of coffee. He rests both elbows on the table and buries his face in his hands.

His binder sits open on the table. His tie is off and lying beside it.

He snatches the pack of cigarettes from the table and heads upstairs to the roof of SVU.

The outside air is a little cool. It's early fall.

After lighting the cigarette, his gaze drifts toward the horizon while his thoughts return to the case.

He's been through all four videos several times. He sees differences in all of them.

Especially Eames's video.

Is it deliberate…? Maybe. He hasn't decided yet.

He can't judge anything about the perp's height or size. There's a shadow of him leaning over the women he attacks. There's even less of a shadow in Eames's video.

The camera points toward one corner of the room in all of them. He sees most of the victim, the bed and the wall in each video.

He occasionally sees a flicker of something near the bottom of the screen that's probably the perp's hand or his arm changing positions. Looks like the perp wears gloves.

Morales, the computer tech says that the perp speaks with an accent. Each of the victim's vocalizations come through fine, but the perp's sounds are muffled. It's difficult to place the voice with anyone in their database.

Nothing but grunts and groans in the first three videos from the perp. A few times, it sounds like the perp says, 'stop.'

In Eames's video, he hears one-word outbursts from the perp like, 'silence!' or 'enough!'.

The victims are kept restrained with thin ropes. They wear cloth-type blindfolds. Eames is the only one without a gag in her mouth.

This perp changes the camera angle a little in each one. Lighting varies and so do the shadows. The volume in the first two videos is set very loud, the third is set low and Eames's video is set about half way.

All of the women are under the influence of something during the attack. Eames is putting up the biggest fight.

x

Bobby finishes the cigarette, returns to the conference room and glances at his binder.

He made a note to check the rooms a little more closely, so he does that next. Maybe there's something here to help him figure out the location.

He resumes watching the tapes.

Eventually, he finishes viewing the first three videos and he's back to Eames.

He was warned that watching her tape would be the hardest and it is.

This is his partner.

Damn right it's personal.

The perp slaps her, hits her. Actually seems more aggressive toward her than the others.

Why? Because she's fighting back a little? She's drugged and restrained just like the others.

Sonofabitch!

You think that makes you a tough guy?

Hitting and raping innocent women?

Yeah, I'll show you tough…

The tension in him is rising. Bobby clenches his fists, his jaw. He slams his fist down on the table.

The pained cries are getting to him.

Finally, he has to stop the video.

x

He collects himself for a moment and then re-starts it. This time, he mutes the volume and tries to focus on the background images.

At first, he sees nothing out of the ordinary.

He notices a folded blanket underneath her head. It's not likely this perp cares whether her head is elevated.

Strangely, none of the other victims had one.

Where did it come from? Why?

The folded blanket shifts as the mattress moves and something on the wall catches his eye.

He hits the pause button quickly and leans closer to the screen.

What is it? Marks? Scratches? The bed frame hitting the wall?

He advances through a few more frames, the folded blanket shifts and the marks on the wall are no longer visible.

He rewinds it and plays it again. When he sees the marks, he pauses it.

It's not wall scratches. It looks more like… Handwriting…?

The spacing and clustering of characters look like words or short phrases.

Did she leave notes for the police?

He can't make out any of the characters, much less read what is written. He can't even see enough to judge whether it's her handwriting. But he suspects that it is.

That's what his partner would do.

He quickly flips back to the other videos and plays them just to be sure he didn't miss something. It takes him about an hour to go back through each one.

No wall marks or letters appear on any of the earlier videos.

The first hint of a smile appears in his tired eyes.

I'll find you, Eames.

He returns to her tape and restarts it. Forwarding just a little until he sees the text.

He writes down the time stamp on the DVD. He'll have Morales or someone enlarge it so he can see what might be there.

x

After that, he's stuck and it's after three am. He's dead tired, but he knows if he goes home, he'll just lie awake thinking about the case.

He stands and stretches for minute. Pacing occupies that restless feeling he has while he tries to sort out his thoughts.

Four tapes. Apparent differences between each of them. Eames's DVD seems to have the most.

He glances back at his notes, stopping at one of the statements.

Perp might be working in groups of three.

He sees the first three videos having more in common with each other than with Alex's video.

Next note. Perp's motivation is power and greed.

This guy hides in his videos. Dark gloves. No way for the cops to recognize him.

Do the victims get to see him?

Standing at the white board with a marker in hand, he writes down more ideas, even if he has no way to prove them yet.

- A co-conspirator.

- Multiple locations.

- More victims.

Stabler says he saw some similarities to a crime scene from a cold case about a year and a half ago. He set her file aside.

Bobby glances at the notes he copied from Elliot on this victim.

Deidre Penn-Solenski. Upper West Side. Raped and sodomized. Cause of death, asphyxiation.

Some of the evidence at the crime scene was contaminated and had to be thrown out.

Still might be the same guy.

What about other cold cases? Jane Does?

He needs to check the NYPD database.

He grabs his binder and wanders out into the bullpen. Hardly anyone is in there. He finds an empty desktop computer and sits down at the desk.

He's no longer a cop. No badge, no log-in.

According to Cragen, he can only assist in this case as instructed.

So he might get in trouble for this.

Not like that's ever stopped him.

Staring at the log-in prompt, he sighs.

What does he do? Call Stabler? Benson? Munch? Borrow one of their passwords?

He tries his own log-in anyway. He once heard that it takes a while to remove people from the system.

Enter user name, badge:

Goren, Robert, 4376

He's prompted for his employee ID and enters that next.

No access.

Then he tries another idea.

Eames, Alexandra, 5798

They know each other's employee ID for different reasons. He has hers written in his binder, so he enters that next.

He's prompted for her password. He doesn't know it, but he has a couple guesses at what it might be.

He enters Nate's birthday and the year she finished at the academy. No access.

He tries Nate's birthday and her father's NYPD badge number. No access.

He reverses the order, but still no luck. Then a message box pops up on the screen.

Password changed within the last five weeks. Request password hint?

He clicks okay.

Password hint: 'Partners.'

A shy smile crosses his lips. He enters her badge number, then his.

Password accepted.

He searches rape and sodomy cases with the cause of death, asphyxiation or drug overdose. He finds eight that are unsolved. He includes the other boroughs and the number goes up to nineteen cases.

Examining each one, he sees some possible links and some he can quickly rule out.

He narrows the entire group down to seven that he'd like to consider further. Then he begins printing out what he can, including photos, medical examiner notes, CSU evidence and police interviews. When he gets enough information on those seven cases, he shuts down the computer and returns to the conference room.

He makes notes on the white board of everything he gathers about each of the cold cases, along with more questions as they come to him.

By the time he's done, the board is nearly full. He takes a walk around 5:40 am, talks to a deli store owner for a few minutes and gets him to open the place early so he can get some coffee.

With a cup of coffee in hand, he returns to the SVU conference room. Back at the white board, more thoughts enter his mind.

Two victims cannot be linked to this perp, no matter what sort of help he has. Those are dismissed.

Another case raises some doubts and that one is dismissed.

The remaining four are Ilene Kell, Tana Deale, Laurel Fisk and Denise Tanney. The first was handled by Manhattan SVU, the last three by Brooklyn SVU.

He believes that the perp started his attacks about two years ago.

That would include Stabler's cold case file on Penn-Solenski. He adds her file to the group.

He makes a second set of copies of the examiner notes on all the victims and jots most of the police notes into his binder. This way, he can leave a set for the SVU detectives.

At 7:00am, he puts his head down on the conference table and dozes off.

Around 7:30, Benson and Stabler enter the conference room, each carrying a small bag and a cup of coffee. The sound of the door closing stirs Bobby awake.

"Good morning," the detectives greet him.

"G'morning," Bobby answers back in a groggy voice. He slowly lifts his head up from the table to face his team.

"You look like hell," Stabler teases.

He can't argue with that one. He swipes a hand over his face, finding two days worth of scruff that he hasn't bothered to shave. He could also use a toothbrush and a shower.

"Looks like you've been busy." Olivia prompts, eyeing the conference room table and the white board full of notes.

"I think I've got a couple things..." He stands and stretches, and then attempts to neaten his appearance before he addresses them.

Captain Cragen enters the conference room, but he hangs back and listens.

"In Eames's video…on the wall beside the head of the bed…when the mattress shifts, I see something. At a glance, it looks like they're just wall dings, bumps from the bed posts. But it's handwriting. It might be her observations. It's not in the other videos. If we can get Morales or someone to enlarge this, I'd like to see what's there."

He stops for a moment to turn on the DVD player and monitor, then shows them where he had paused the video. Elliot and Olivia walk up for a closer look.

"Good catch," Elliot agrees. He's little bothered by the fact that he missed it.

Cragen nods. "We'll get Morales on it. What else?"

"There are a subtle differences in all of these tapes. Like re-positioning the bed, the lighting or changes in volume. I noticed a few more differences in Eames's video than the others. I'm not sure what these differences are supposed to imply… We know he's meticulous in his crime scenes."

Bobby pauses for a yawn, then continues. "My hunch is that these women can't be his only victims. Umm, Elliot…?" He pauses to turn toward the detective. "…This Deidre Penn-Solenski is one of his. There are three cold cases in Brooklyn around the same time and one more in Manhattan. Lots of similarities at the crime scenes." Bobby directs them to a map he has on the table. He uses post-it notes to show each location and victim. "This guy started two years ago. Earliest victim is Denise Tanney…NYU student. Raped, sodomized and murdered. Police found the body two days after she was reported missing. Since this case, he's lengthening the time he spends with each one."

"Who's this Manhattan victim?" Cragen interjects

"Irene Kell."

Cragen nods and frowns. "Yeah, I remember that one. Munch and Fin had it. No witnesses. The slimy ex-brother-in-law looked good for it, but it wasn't him."

"I think we need to go back and interview the witnesses, the suspects, family, friends of these other victims," Bobby adds. "Somewhere, he's made mistakes. The earlier cases are going to give us what we need to catch this guy."

TBC…


Next, Chapter 6 – Breach

A/N: Next chapter will be up in a day or so. It's just being proofread.