Chapter 12
Olivia walked into the SVU squadroom the next day before she even went to her desk. The squadroom was filled with detectives and everyone looked frantic, even Cragen, who was racing around shouting orders to various people. Olivia found Fin in the crowd and squeezed through to him. "What's going on?" She asked, raising her voice over the noise.
Fin grabbed her arm and managed to drag her to the crib, which was empty and quiet. "Elliot's gone. We got some leads on that serial killer we were looking for before you left, and it's really been eating him. Cragen threw him off the case after he went off and nearly destroyed a computer, and now he's missing. He was supposed to come in today to talk to Cragen, but he didn't. He's not answering his phone and he's not as his apartment."
Olivia was shocked, terrified, worried, sick and a whole host of other emotions. The strength vanished from her legs and she sat down hard on the cot that was conveniently located right behind her. "What was the lead?"
"An address, a warehouse, we're pretty sure that's where he takes them but it's a weak source on a cold case, we can't get a warrant."
"Have you looked for him there?"
"Cragen's just about to send out a squad." Before he could say anymore, Olivia was back in the bullpen and shoving and elbowing her way through the crowd towards Cragen.
"Olivia, I'm sorry, I can't talk to you right now."
"I wanna go to the warehouse, I wanna on that squad."
"I can't authorize that."
"I'll steal a vest and follow you in my car if I have to, but I'm going." Cragen stared hard at her for a long time, then nodded briskly and went back to shouting orders.
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
As Olivia rode with Munch and Fin to the warehouse, the rest of the taskforce in a tight group around them, she felt dread seeping into her. What could he possibly be thinking? What had gone so wrong in his mind to make him disappear like this? And what if it wasn't his fault at all and he was actually dying somewhere while they wasted their time on a hunch? She felt sick and horribly guilty, and it wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried to convince herself it wasn't her fault.
The car had barely stopped when Olivia raced out. Fin managed to catch her and grabbed her before she went too far. "Wait for everyone to get in position," he said. She swallowed hard and nodded, and he let go. Seeing so many officers with guns surrounding the building where Elliot might be terrified her. She wanted more than anything to just race into the building. Instead, she found Cragen.
"Captain, you have to let me go in."
"It's not a good idea, Olivia; we don't know what could be happening in there."
"It's Elliot! We can't just rush in there, guns blazing, what if he gets killed?"
"And what if you get killed?"
"I've gone into situations like this before with Elliot and I'm still breathing."
"Yeah, because you knew he had your back and you had his."
"I still do." Cragen sighed and stared at the building in front of them. He looked around at all the officers waiting for orders, and then called out, "Hold your fire! We're sending an officer in!"
Olivia smiled at him and rushed towards the building. When she was close she slowed down and took out her gun, holding it ready. She pushed the door open slowly and peered inside, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. When they had adjusted, she couldn't see anything, so she moved slowly inside, her eyes continuously scanning for threats or signs of Elliot. She wanted to call out for him, but she had no idea who else might be around, and she couldn't risk giving away her position.
The warehouse was filled with huge crates piled high to create a vast maze, but Olivia kept careful track of where she was going and she was thankful for the cover. As she wound her way through the maze, she heard faint voices in the distance. She couldn't make them out clearly, but one of the men she could hear was begging. She hurried towards the noise, her eyes constantly moving. When she finally reached the voices, she peered around the corner and caught a quick glimpse of Elliot holding a gun to a man lying on the floor, begging for his life.
"Don't do this, don't do this, please. I didn't wanna do it, Craig made me. Come on, man, I need a doctor or something." The man groaned and he sounded close to tears as he spoke.
"Shut up! Shut up, you piece of shit!"
"Elliot!" Olivia stepped out into the open, her gun now in its holster. Elliot rounded on her, his gun held at the ready, pointing straight at Olivia. He fired and Olivia screamed, startled by the shot, which grazed her arm and left a deep gash. Olivia stood staring at him, too stunned to even notice her wound. Elliot stared at her, his eyes wide and horrified. "You son of a bitch, you just shot me," she finally said.
"No, Liv, I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it just went off." The man lying on the floor was slowly inching away from the two detectives, but neither of them took any notice of him.
"Elliot, what the hell are you doing here?"
"This is the guy. The guy who kidnapped you and slaughtered all those kids." He looked back and realized the guy was getting away. "Freeze!" He yelled, pointing the gun at him again. He froze and put his hand up in surrender, his other hand keeping pressure on his bleeding shoulder. Olivia assumed Elliot had shot him before the police arrived.
"Why didn't you call Cragen? Elliot, this place is surrounded, you're not getting out of this easily."
"I'm sick of these bastards getting away! We don't have the evidence, he'll get off scot free! I can't let that happen."
"This isn't the way and you know it. Elliot, what's going on with you? Everyone's been worried about you but you won't talk to anyone. Please, El, tell me what's going on."
"What's going on? You wanna know what's going on?! I lost my family, Olivia. My marriage ended, I hardly ever get to see my kids now, and the woman I love doesn't give a damn about me."
"The..." Olivia swallowed hard. She took a few tentative steps towards Elliot, who was still pointing his gun at his prisoner, his hands shaking slightly. "Give me the gun, Elliot." He rounded on her again, his gun pointing directly at her chest, his eyes filled with fear and anger and hatred and hundreds of other emotions Olivia couldn't list. It was the hatred that hurt her most. "What, you gonna shoot me again? Go ahead, shoot me." Her eyes were filling with tears but she ignored them and kept her voice steady.
Elliot remained frozen, breathing hard. Olivia took a few more steps forward and put her hands gently on the gun. She pried it easily out of Elliot's hands and he collapsed onto his knees, his face buried in his hands. Olivia looked up to see that the man had escaped, but she didn't care because she knew the place was surrounded. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
