And as she squeezed her eyes shut, a tear rolled down her cheek.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia was walking in the woods.

It was dark everywhere, she could barely see in front of her, but still she continued tirelessly, a vague anxiety burning inside her.

She knew she had to find a way out of the forest.

The ground was crunching under her shoes as she walked forward. She tried to look around, but without the light it was impossible to see further.

But then she felt someone grab her arm, and she turned quickly, heart racing. But even though she couldn't see anyone, she could still feel the grip on her skin.

"Who are you?" She asked in a stifled voice, but all she got in response was wheezing that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She tried to yank her hand free, but to no avail; the grip was too strong.

"Let go of me!"

Instead of her command taking effect, she felt someone grab her ankles as well. Strong hands jerked her to the ground, and she fell onto her back, the air escaping from her lungs, but the grip tightened, and panic began to grow inside her.

"Help!"

However, her voice sounded like she was screaming inside a bubble, and she tried to squirm, but fear prevented her muscles from obeying properly.

But then she heard footsteps approaching her, and a momentary relief washed over her until she heard his voice. And it made the blood freeze in her veins.

"Hello, sweetheart. You thought you got away from me?"

No no no no no no…

"Elliot!"

She didn't know what made her call out her partner, and when she saw the killer's face, his mouth was twisted into an ominous grin.

"Ah yes, your boyfriend. Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but he's not coming. This time I took care of it."

A heavy thump next to her made her flinch violently and turn her head, the sight causing the last of her strength to flee her body.

Elliot.

Throat sliced open.

Dead.

"No…"

"Now you're mine," the man growled next to her ear and shoved his hand inside her pants. "And I will make sure that you get the lesson of your life."

The invisible grip on her arms and ankles tightened even more, and it started to hurt. In distress, she turned to look up, and that's when she saw in the dim light who was holding her still.

The dead bodies.

She tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. She tried to move, but her muscles were paralyzed by the force of fear. All she could do was lie still, listen to the man unbuckle his pants, feel him place himself between her legs, listen to the dead bodies scream around her…

"Olivia!"

A voice beside her caused her eyes to snap open. It was still dark everywhere, but the weight on the top of her was gone, and the grip on her hands and ankles was gone. However, the paralyzing fear was still pulsing in her every cell, and when she felt someone lightly touch her arm, something snapped inside her.

She sat up, jerked herself away violently, and bounced off the bed.

"Don't touch me!"

"Liv, it's me!" She heard someone answer, but for some reason the voice sounded strange to her ears, and she backed away from the bed.

"Don't touch me!"

"Calm down, Olivia, it's just me, Tim," he turned on the lights, and Olivia saw a familiar person sitting on the bed, a scared look on his face, but for some reason the fear inside her didn't subside. It was as if all the alarm buzzers were screaming at the same time in her head, preventing her from thinking straight.

"Liv."

She knew she knew the man sitting on the bed, but her brain didn't cooperate with her, panic had clouded her thoughts. And as he slowly got off the bed and began to approach her, the suffocating fear inside her began to grow even more, and she backed away quickly, bumped into the wall behind her, and pressed herself against it.

"No! Don't come any closer!"

"It's me!"

"NO!"

And then her knees buckled, and she slumped against the wall, a sob erupting from within her. Panic was howling in her ears, her body was shaking violently, and she just wanted to get out, get out…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot was lying in his bed lost in thought, sleepless, when his phone started ringing. Frowning, he looked at the clock on the bedside table, 2:20 am, and he reached for the phone. Cragen had promised they wouldn't be called into work tonight, so he knew it couldn't be him.

An unknown number was flashing on the phone's screen, and for a moment he thought of just hanging up, but after hesitating for a while, he changed his mind and raised the phone to his ear.

"Stabler."

"Hi, it's Tim," the caller answered, and Elliot automatically sat up in his bed.

Olivia's boyfriend definitely wouldn't call him for fun in the middle of the night.

"What's wrong? Is Liv okay?" Worry began to grip his chest as he threw his feet off the bed onto the floor and began searching for his clothes in the dark.

"Uh…"

This is not good.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Tim's voice was desperate, scared, and it made the worry inside Elliot tighten even more. "She apparently had a nightmare, and when she woke up, she… I didn't know what to do, I can't communicate with her, and I thought maybe you…"

"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes," he answered while pulling on his shirt. "Whatever you do, don't touch her," he emphasized. "Try to talk to her calmly, but don't approach her if she doesn't respond."

"O-okay."

Elliot pulled on his pants, grabbed the keys from the table, and then he ran.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After Elliot and Kathy had divorced, he had moved to Manhattan for practicality. He was living about 15 minutes away from Olivia, and if you walked really fast, it could take you 12 minutes.

But this time it took him 8 minutes.

Tim opened the door for him immediately as he knocked on it breathlessly, and he entered, glancing around.

"How is she?"

"Still the same. I tried to talk to her, but she won't listen to me," Tim rubbed his face.

"Did something happen?"

"No," he answered. "I mean... We came home in the evening, and everything was fine. It wasn't until bedtime that she started to act a little strange, but when I asked about it, she said she was fine."

Damn it, Liv.

"What do you mean by strange?"

"She..." Tim turned his gaze nervously towards the bedroom. "She started trembling, as if she was very scared. She said it's the adrenaline, but I don't know… The next thing I woke up was when she seemed to be having a nightmare, I woke her up, and then…" His voice trailed off, and Elliot turned his gaze towards the bedroom.

"She's in there?"

Tim nodded, and Elliot walked slowly to the bedroom door. Then he turned his head towards the other man.

"Wait there, I'll try to talk to her."

And then he stepped into the room, looked for his partner with his eyes, and then he noticed a figure pressed against the wall. He closed the door quietly, walked slowly closer to her, stopped a few meters before her, and crouched down.

"Liv? Hey, it's Elliot."

His partner turned to look at him, but something in her gaze told him that the words hadn't quite reached her consciousness. Elliot swallowed.

"Are you…" He held out his hand, but it made her back away further, fear clouding her eyes.

"Don't touch me!"

"Okay, okay, I won't," Elliot raised his hands, and bit his lip. The situation was worse than he had expected.

He watched her partner, who was sitting pressed against the wall, tears streaming down her face, and he thought hard. And then he got an idea.

He sat down on the floor, leaned his back against the wall, and sighed deeply. Then he began to speak.

"Hey Liv, do you remember your first day in SVU? My previous partner had just put his papers in, and I was cranky and insufferable. Munch said that my new partner has unusually bad luck because she is forced to end up with me," he chuckled. "And then you walked in the door, Cragen introduced us, and then you sat down at your desk, spread out your stuff like you had always worked there, and started reading the case file. I sat and looked at you, and I couldn't believe my eyes," he grinned. "I thought you were young and inexperienced, silly because we are almost the same age, but you proved me wrong on the very first day. You let me know my place immediately, and I liked you right away."

He stopped talking for a moment, and turned to look at his partner, who was still shaking against the wall, but her crying had stopped.

Okay, that's a good sign.

"And…" He bit his lip and continued. "You mean the world to me, Liv. You know me better than anyone. You see through me, you soothe me. Not just in those moments when the perps become unbearable, but in general," he swallowed. "I've sometimes tried to think what my job was like before you, and to be honest, it's very hard to remember. I don't know how I ever managed without you."

He sighed deeply, a tight feeling in his throat. "And what happened to you... It wasn't your fault. I'm your partner, and I'm supposed to protect you. You have no idea how scared I was when you were nowhere to be found in the morning, and then some people found bear tracks and…" He closed his eyes. "And I'm sure I have no idea how scared you were in that cabin. I just… I wish I had been there. But I promise you it's over now, you're safe, you're…"

"You were there with me."

A faint, barely audible voice beside him made him flinch, and he opened his eyes. Tears had begun to roll down Olivia's cheeks again, but this time her gaze was not blurry, absent, but attentive and deep.

"I knew that you wouldn't stop until you found me, and that was the only thought that comforted me."

"You're right," Elliot nodded, and slowly turned his body towards his partner. "But I promise you, that man won't find you again. It's over."

"I had a nightmare," Olivia's voice had started to shake again, and Elliot carefully moved closer to her. "He had killed you, the bodies were holding me in place, he was going to r-…" But then her voice turned into a sob, and Elliot bit his lip, but then moved next to her and gently touched her arm.

"Liv…"

And then she was in his arms, clung to him like her life depended on it, and Elliot wrapped his arms around her, held her, and just let her cry.

"It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay."

And she didn't pull away when he pressed a kiss to her forehead.