Part Thirty

Instinct told her to panic, yet she was perfectly calm. There was still a drive in her that said to raise her hands and show that she wasn't a threat. Except the handcuffs kind of inhibited that anyway. And she was absolutely not afraid of Elliot in any way, shape, or form, something that undoubtedly showed in the boredom on her face.

She looked around to see who was there, witnessing Elliot's spectacularly stupid display. Munch and Fin were nowhere in sight. There were several detectives she knew, and a few uniforms milling about. A group of three was gathered around the coffee pot, where one guy stood refilling his cup, frozen in action except for the stream of coffee that hadn't gotten the memo about freezing in place. Olivia watched with mild curiosity for the moment of realization as the detective noticed he was making a mess. He moved slowly, resetting the pot, trying to pretend that he hadn't moved at all.

Her eyes turned in the other direction, finally spotting Munch and Fin where they were crammed, stock still, midway through the door. They'd been on their way in to update the boss, she imagined, however, their news paled in comparison to their sometimes wayward friends who were entertaining the whole fucking room.

"All right, son, now don't do anything stupid." Cragen's voice was quiet. Steady and strong and familiar. He was the only one who'd moved, having stepped through his office door, his gun gripped in two hands, pointed vaguely at the floor.

Elliot's face betrayed his amusement and he met Olivia's eyes. "Oh, now I'm 'son?' I'd have thought he'd disown me over this one."

Olivia couldn't help it, the laugh spilling out as much from a stress response as from the words from both men. Ignoring Elliot, she looked to the left at Cragen. "Don't bother, Don. I've been telling him that all fucking day."

Elliot's eyes followed hers, glancing at Cragen. "I know this looks bad-"

Cragen shook his head, one hand leaving his gun to motion in the air and making an altogether indistinct gesture. "You weren't the guy stalking her, we know."

Elliot didn't bother to hide his surprise. His shock turned to Cragen, his voice nearly unrecognizable. "You do?"

Olivia shook her head and really wished she had free hands to throw something at him. Something bigger than a pickle. Something that might make a dent in that rock hard head of his that was devoid of anything besides rage and chivalry. "Yeah, I tried that one too." She nodded at Elliot. "Although, admittedly, you're getting a better response."

Cragen shot her a glare, a move that took her by complete surprise. She'd been the victim of both the stalking and an assault. She'd been the victim of a kidnapping too. And yet, she was the one getting the angry glare. Next time she was mad, she decided she'd take Elliot hostage.

Cragen made quite the show of putting his gun back in the holster. "Elliot, you're in some trouble, but it's nothing we can't clear up by tomorrow."

Elliot chewed on his bottom lip, the holes in his plan obvious to everyone. Olivia swore she could feel her heart breaking, terrified that one more stupid decision from her distraught partner would result in someone putting a bullet through his head. He looked at her, as always expecting some sort of guidance from his partner.

She could only look down, all too aware of the careful way half the men in the room had drawn their weapons despite Cragen's lead, afraid she was about to watch him die.

It was obvious the moment he lowered the gun.

The whole room sprang into action, a hoard of people, some she knew, some she didn't, descended on him, wrestling the gun from him, shoving him first into the wall, then to the floor. He wasn't even resisting, not even as Cragen was shouting at them to back off.

If only she'd had use of her hands, she'd have joined in the fray, defending her partner no matter the consequences. Instead she stood helplessly with tears running down her face.

"Stop! Stop it! Leave him alone!" She couldn't stand there silently, not even if she couldn't really help.

But there was something about her shrieks, her desperation, her tears, her terror, her pain, something that made them back off. Their faces were red, from embarrassment or exertion she couldn't tell. She doubted they could either. Elliot lay motionless, face down on the floor, his head turned to the side, showing a line of blood trailing from his cheek.

Unable to wipe at her tears, she decided there was no use in being ashamed of them. She looked accusingly at the men who'd be unable or unwilling to restrain themselves. "Bastards! He didn't fucking hurt me!" She took two steps to his side, her legs folding under her as she tried to assess his injuries. "Somebody call a bus!"

"Somebody uncuff her!" Cragen's barked order seemed to be for anyone who would listen, but it was Fin who crouched behind her

"Glad to see you're all right."

She glared at him. "Like Elliot would ever hurt me." As soon as one hand was free, she carefully prodded Elliot's back, decided nothing was broken and rolled him over. His eyes flashed open as she did so, a brief peek of blue, searching for her. She simply knew he was looking for her, the same as she always looked for him when she was injured. "It's ok, El. I'm here."

Cragen squatted down, stilling Olivia's frantic hands. "He'll be alright, Olivia."

She looked up, all hints of her previous humor gone. Her head started to shake from side to side, despite knowing that wasn't going to clear anything up. "It wasn't him. He didn't hurt me. I know it. It was a mistake. I made a mistake."

Cragen's hands gripped hers, his eyes soft as he nodded. "I know. There've been a couple developments." The boss turned, asking Munch him to ride along with Elliot.

Olivia objected. "No! I want to go with him."

"That's not a good idea. At the moment, there's a warrant out for his arrest and thirty witnesses to him violating an active restraining order."

"But it was a mistake. He didn't-he should-he-"

Fin's hand fell on her back, rubbing her gently. "He'll be fine, Liv. We'll keep him here as late as we can tonight and Greyleck can drop the charges first thing."

Even though she knew the answer, she wasn't a cop as she watched Elliot loaded onto the stretcher and wheeled away. "But why? Why does he have to get locked up at all?"

Fin's hand moved to her shoulder and patted her. "It's just a formality." As soon as Elliot and Munch were out of sight, Fin's voice changed from the soft gentle tone to its regular sound, dropping words that were meant for Cragen. "It's bad, Cap."

Olivia looked up in time to see Cragen wince. "What's bad?"

The two men ignored her while Cragen asked another question. "You got an id?"

Olivia pushed at Fin, whose side she was still cushioned against, squaring off against both men. "Whose id? What's bad, damn it?"

Cragen frowned, stepping toward his office while Fin prodded Olivia to follow. "When you didn't show up for work three days ago, we searched your apartment."

Fin filled in where the boss stopped. "Found a female's body in your bed. Raped, mutilated, hands cut off so we couldn't get prints. He cut and dyed her hair to match yours, dressed her in your clothes before he cut her up. We knew it wasn't you, but we couldn't figure out who she was. Bastard pulled all her teeth out too, just to fucking play with us."

Olivia felt sick, thinking about a woman, some poor substitute for her, dying a terrible, gruesome death in her home, in her bed, in her clothes. She practically collapsed into the chair in front of Cragen's desk. "Oh, god." It had been bad enough when it was her on the block, but she was horrified to think someone else might have died in her place. "Did he go after her because he couldn't get me?"

Cragen sat down beside her, stilling the hands she hadn't noticed were wringing in her lap. "No, Olivia, you were his target."

Fin leaned against Cragen's desk, but didn't touch her. "And now that we know who she was, we know he was going to kill her no matter what you did."

Both faces turned up, but Olivia's voice was too hoarse to ask. Cragen's voice asked the question. "Who was she?"

"Munch brought me up to speed on who she was, but you two'll probably recognize her right off." Fin looked down, as if to verify the piece of paper in his hand. "Name's Kimberly Phillips."