6 hours earlier…
Damn. Why did he even bother sleeping? He knew he couldn't, but he tried anyway. He made it home around 1am, and it was 5:30am. Apparently he wasn't sleeping tonight. He rolled out of bed, and got ready for a run. Maybe burning his lungs would distract him from the nightmarish images that flooded his mind every time he closed his eyes.
He peeked in on his mother who was still sleeping even though she usually was an early riser. Kathleen crashed out in Eli's room, and still looked completely out of it. He shut the door quietly, drank some water, and headed out.
The cool air invigorated his lungs, and helped shake away the cobwebs clouding his mind. He followed a running trail he often frequented. His mind felt too full and groggy to venture anywhere else.
He focused on the sound of his own breathing and tried to keep his thoughts away from attempted rape and Russian roulette. The thought of that monster's hands all over her body made him physically ill. The burns. The scars. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't vacate the graphic images that were now permanently etched into his brain.
Maybe he didn't notice them because thoughts of William Lewis consumed him. Maybe it was because he was so tired. Whatever the reason, he didn't notice them until it was too late.
-000-
Present
Olivia kept her day filled with meetings and paperwork, but she still compulsively checked her phone. She couldn't help thinking about him, and then overthinking everything. She finally decided to text Kathleen. She would keep it casual, not alarming.
O: Is your Dad home with Bernie today or are you on duty?
A few minutes later her phone pinged.
K: I haven't seen him since yesterday. I'm with grandma today. He's at work…I think .
That really didn't make her feel better, but she thanked Katie anyway. She drummed her fingers against her desk. She could call Ayanna, but she still worried she might be overreacting. Her head jerked up when a knock echoed through her office.
She tried not to be disappointed when Fin pushed through the door.
"Good to see you too…" he said with light sarcasm.
"Sorry," she apologized. She needed to control her face better. "What's up?"
"Have you heard from Stabler?" Her stomach flipped. Why would he ask that? He looked genuinely concerned which did little to help her rising anxiety.
She swallowed, "Um, no. Not for a couple days." Ish.
"Are you sure," Fin gave her the, 'Don't lie to me woman' look.
She wanted to be evasive but there was something about the concern on his face that made her come clean. "Sunday morning," she admitted.
That sort admission normally ended with relentless teasing, but he said nothing. Her heart pounded. Something wasn't right.
"What Fin?" Her voice shook a little.
"Uh," he rubbed his hand across the back of his head nervously. "I called over to the OCCB to see if someone could send me the duplicate files from that human trafficking case." He hesitated and she wished he would get to the point. "I asked for Stabler. I planned on givin' him shit for spending the entire weekend at your place." She felt her cheeks flush, but thankfully Fin didn't notice. "Whoever I talked to let it slip that he hadn't showed up yet, and Bell was freakin' out." His eyes lifted to hers. "I hoped you had seen him, or he was at your place or something."
Her stomach dropped. The gut churning feeling that plagued her all morning intensified. She felt dizzy and she realized she was forgetting to breathe. She took in a shaky breath. Something was wrong. This wasn't just in her head. He was gone, and she had to find him.
-000-
Jet's fingers clicked furiously across her keyboard. Ayanna knew Jet felt the same uneasiness over Elliot's absence. It didn't feel right and other than this weekend, disappearing without a trace was very out of character.
Jet sat back and Ayanna viewed the map on the screen. "That's not far from his apartment."
Jet leaned in to view the map dot closer. "Yeah it's like a mile or two away from his place." She zoomed in further. "That's where he likes to run."
Ayanna eyed her skeptically, "How in the world would you know that?"
Jet rolled her eyes. "Remember back when his kid bailed off to Colorado and he got all weird and wanted people to do random shit with him."
Yeah. She totally remembered that. She suffered through a weird game night during that time. "Yeah yeah, I remember."
"He took me running."
Ayanna laughed out loud. The idea of Jet jogging with Elliot made her snort.
"Yeah. That's exactly how great it went. In case you were wondering. But," she pointed at the screen. "I'm sure that's the running trail near his apartment."
Ayanna nodded, "Alright, come on, let's check it out." Jet slid her chair back and grabbed her bag. Ayanna didn't bother giving the other detectives instructions. She was sure they would be back quickly. Elliot probably dropped it while running and couldn't track it down. She motioned for Jet to follow and they hurried to the parking lot.
-000-
Ayanna and Jet parked at the head of the running trail. Ayanna hesitated a moment after putting her suv into park. She let out a slow breath. The nervous feeling morphed into all out anxiety when Elliot's cell showed no movement since they began tracking it.
Jet watched her anxiously, but Ayanna had nothing comforting to say. "Let's go." She reached for the door handle. He better be okay, or she might kill him for scaring the shit out of her.
They wandered purposefully down the trail, Jet focused on one side of the path and Jet focused on the other. In an attempt to diffuse some tension Ayanna asked, "How did the run go?"
Jet's large dark eyes shot to hers in confusion, "What?"
Ayanna lightly chuckled, "That run with Stabler, how did it go?"
Jet returned her attention to the search. "Yeah, uh. He ran six miles. I sat in the car and coded for an hour."
Ayanna laughed out loud. Sounded about right.
Jet turned the tables. "What did Stabler make you do during your forced friend time?"
"Game night," Ayanna answered. "With Fin, you know, Benson's sergeant, and his wife."
"Ew." Jet said disgustedly.
"Yeah. It was awkward," Ayanna admitted.
"Yeah. Sounds horrible."
They continued their search in silence before Jet paused and reached for something on the ground. Ayanna stepped toward her to see what caught her attention. "What you got there?"
Jet lifted a familiar looking earbud. Ayanna took it from her hand to inspect it. It looked like Elliot's, but there was probably thousands of the same type in the city. "Keep looking," Ayanna kept her voice calm. It could be anyone's, she reminded herself.
They walked a little further and her stomach dropped when she heard, "Uh, Sarge?"
She hurried back to Jet's side only to find the toes of Jet's boots centimeters from a small, dry, puddle of blood. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath.
They toed around the bloodstain, and a small accompanying smear only to find a slightly larger pool of blood near a bush. The spot looked damp and the blood looked less dried because it wasn't in direct sunlight.
She kept calm until she saw the glint of something metallic peeking out from beneath the neighboring bush. She reached her gloved hand for the item and turned it over in her hand. Elliot's phone.
Just to be sure, she slid her finger across her screen, and sure enough, a photo of the five Stabler children illuminated the phone. "Damn it," she said again, louder this time.
She nearly dropped the phone when it began to ring. Her hand shook, but then she saw the name on the screen. BENSON.
-000-
Olivia held back a small cry of relief when Elliot finally answered his phone, but the relief was short-lived when the voice of Ayanna Bell floated out of the speaker.
"Liv."
Olivia's chest tightened. Ayanna's tone was not at all comforting. She couldn't help but blurt out, "Where's Elliot?" She tried to hide the obvious panic in her voice, but she knew she wasn't successful.
She listened to Ayanna sigh on the other end, and gather courage before answering, "I don't know. We found his phone on a running trail."
Olivia sucked in a breath, breath but said nothing.
"There's blood on the ground. Not a lot, but still significant."
Olivia's heart continued to pound mercilessly. Her tongue felt think, and she couldn't speak.
"Are you still there Liv?"
She cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded hoarse, "Yeah." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "uh, where are you exactly?" She couldn't keep her voice steady.
"A running trail near his apartment," Ayanna confirmed.
Olivia stood and tossed a couple miscellaneous things from her desk into her purse. She wasn't sure she needed any of it, but she was nervous and not entirely in control of her actions at the moment. "Send me the pin. I'll be there soon," she kept her voice authoritative, but it didn't keep Bell from protesting.
"No Liv, you don't need to come out here we…"
No way in hell she was sitting at her office waiting for news. Ayanna was taking her help whether she wanted it or not. "I'm coming." She accentuated every word. "Send. Me. The. Location."
Bell didn't argue. "Jet will send it right now."
Olivia grabbed her keys, flew out of her office and hung up the call. Fin stood up to stop her but she held her hand up. She didn't have time for lengthy explanations. She just needed to go.
"I'll call you when I'm on my way," she said over her shoulder as she hurried down the stairs, unwilling to wait for the slow speed of the elevator. She felt Fin's concerned eyes fixed on her back, but she couldn't turn around. She couldn't explain. She needed to get out of here.
-000-
Elliot had lost all sense of time. He could have been laying here for days or hours. He literally had no idea. Every now and again he heard the murmur of voices in the distance but his brain couldn't make sense of any spoken words.
When he opened his eyes, everything held a foggy muddled quality, like everything moved in slow motion. He vaguely sensed the widening pool of blood beneath him, but it felt far away and unimportant. Maybe he was dying. He almost laughed at the thought. He must have really pissed off some higher power because he was going to die after finally finding something more with Olivia. He cursed the unfortunate twists of fate that seemed hellbent on keeping them apart. His heart pounded when he realized he might never see her again. He might never see the sun reflect off her hair or hear her perfect lilting laugh. He might never again run his fingers over her beautifully tanned skin.
He slowed his breathing because his pounding heart would certainly make him bleed out faster. He dragged his muddled thoughts back to that first morning together. He focused on the feeling of her body beneath him, and his name on her lips. If he was going to die, he would do it surrounded by the memories of her
