Alert: This will be either the last or second to last chapter. C:

Chapter Eleven: Scheme

"There's no way in hell I'm doing that, Elliot." Olivia said as she parked the car in front of Gabriel's apartment building.

"It's the only thing we can think of and we don't have much time left."

"Think of something else." She said before getting out of the car. "I'll be right back."

Olivia got off the elevator and walked down the hall. On her way down, she heard glass shattering and a scream.

"Go away! I'm staying here!" Shrieked a young girl.

Olivia recognized the voice instantly. She rushed toward the apartment with her hand on her gun. She also pulled out her phone and called Elliot.

"Nikki's in trouble, get up here. Now." She commanded and hung up. She hurried towards the door and knocked on it.

"Nikki?"

"Olivia!"

Olivia put her gun away, stood in front of the door and with one vigorous kick, the door flew open. In the kitchen, a stranger's hand was wrapped around her tiny wrist and Nikki was trying to pull away. A few plates were broken and the shards were scattered across the floor. Olivia stepped into the apartment and held up her badge.

"Ma'am, let go of the girl."

"She is my daughter! Marcos told me to take her to my house today so we can all move in together! We're going to be a family!" She had a heavy Brazilian accent.

"Olivia's my family!" Nikki shrieked.

Internally, Olivia was shattered by this piece of information. It was only a matter of time before Marcos, or Gabriel, dumped her for this stranger. She had to remain professional to get Nikki away. She walked towards the woman to try and get her to let go.

"Let's just calm down and talk about this, okay?"

"No! We're leaving!" The woman declared and pulled Nikki towards the door.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave with a child that doesn't want to go with you."

"Please! She's just throwing a tantrum because I didn't give her cookies to eat before we left!"

"Let go of her and we can wait until Marcos comes back to discuss this."

Nikki was crying and looked at Olivia with terrified eyes.

"What's your name?"

Her look was hostile. She didn't respond and just stared at Olivia. Her grasp on Nikki's wrist was getting tighter which caused Nikki to whimper in pain.

"Please! You're hurting me!" She cried.

"Shut up!" The woman snapped.

Olivia held out her hands to try and calm this woman. It wasn't working, only making her angrier, but Olivia wasn't backing down. For a quick moment, she thought about where Elliot could be.

"Fine." The woman said. Olivia was confused. She didn't know what was going on but she knew that Nikki wasn't free yet.

The woman's free hand stretched out beside her and grasped the handle of a knife, slid it out and came at Olivia. Olivia grabbed her wrist and twisted it. The stranger dropped the knife and Olivia kicked it away. The next thing Olivia felt was a knee to her stomach. Olivia tried her best not to loosen her grip on her wrist. It loosened a little but she quickly regained it. Olivia caught her other wrist and pinned them both behind her back.

"No! You're tearing my family apart!" She screeched.

"There's not going to be a family for you in the near future." Olivia said as she put the handcuffs around her wrists, "What's your name?"

"Bite me, bitch." The woman snapped.

Olivia thought about it, "Has a nice ring to it. You're under arrest for attempted kidnapping and assaulting a police officer. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

She paused when she saw Elliot. He was out of breath and resting against the doorframe when he noticed he missed everything.

"Where the hell have you been?" Olivia asked.

"I had to take the stairs. All the elevators were in use and on the top level. I couldn't wait." He panted.

Olivia smirked and gestured towards Nikki, who was hiding in the corner.

"You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one then one will be appointed to you." Olivia finished as she led the woman out the door.

Elliot looked at Nikki, crouched against the wall. He approached her and took her in his arms.

"It's okay. She's going to jail now." He assured her. Nikki's arms were covered in bruises and fingerprints where the woman's fingers were pressed against her skin.

"Gabriel too?"

"What would he do?"

"He would forget to feed me sometimes. He never took me places. Just the babysitter. He wouldn't even notice me."

Elliot sighed, "He'll be going there too, soon. What do you know about the woman who came into the apartment?"

"She's always here but she never noticed me until today. Before, she would always come to see Gabriel. Today, she just grabbed me and told me to come with her." Nikki told him.

"How'd she get in?" Elliot asked.

"She had a key."

"Do you know her name?"

"Gabriel always called her Claudia." She wrapped her arms around Elliot's neck and rested her head on his shoulder, "Can I go home with you now?"

"I have to get back to work, Nikki, but I'll call my daughter to watch you until Olivia and I are done."

After Elliot dropped off Nikki with Maureen, he joined Olivia back at the precinct.

"If we don't arrest Gabriel tonight, he can find a way to get Claudia out of jail and they'll run away somewhere. They'll probably try and take Nikki too."

Olivia only sighed in response as she looked at her papers.

"Where is he now?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know. He saw me come in and then he left almost instantly. He didn't see Claudia though. Maybe he went to look for her."

Olivia sighed and looked back down at her desk. She tried to focus on the papers on it but it was obvious her mind was elsewhere. Elliot sat on the corner of her desk and looked directly down at her.

"Olivia. You have to get him before he houses more criminals, or he finds another woman's heart to break to save his own ass."

Olivia shook her head, "I can't…I can't look him in the eye and do…that. I can't do it knowing exactly what he's done."

"You've gone undercover many times before-" Elliot began.

Olivia interrupted him, "As someone else with a completely different personality with a suspect I don't now personally. If I go through with this, then I can't change anything about myself."

Silence.

Finally, Olivia looked up at him. He was staring at her dead in the eye.

"Nikki can't go back to him for another night. If you can't do for me, or you, then do it for her and take her home."

Olivia remembered how she found Nikki in the apartment. She was scared, upset, and wanting protection. She was hungry and attention deprived.

"She's been through enough hell when we found her." Elliot stated, "She can't go through it all over again."

Olivia spent a few more seconds and then nodded.

"I'll do it."