T Minus 3 Days, cont'd
At seven minutes after six, Fin, who honestly wasn't sure if he was still awake and working or if he was simply having a nightmare over having spent over twelve hours looking at pictures of his coworkers, picked yet another stack of pictures out of the box in front of him. He'd instructed the second shift of officers helping out to hand over any pictures of Olivia in a red sweater, especially if Elliot was wearing a blue shirt.
Just at the point where he'd decided he was going to tell Elliot, provided Elliot didn't blow his head off in the near future, that he needed to buy some other color shirts, one of the other officers approached.
"Red sweater, blue shirt." The guy was young, new to the job, smiling happily for thinking he'd done something deserving of praise. "There's a bunch here."
Fin snatched them out of his hands so fast, the rookie expected he was about to get a reprimand. Instead, he was dumbfounded when Fin, who looked kind of scary, particularly with the way lack of sleep had turned the whites of his eyes to a hideous shade of pink, wrapped his arms around him and laughed.
"Somebody give this guy a gold shield!" As Cragen had mentioned, it didn't even matter what they found proof of, so long as they could finally answer one fucking question.
The rookie smiled uncomfortably and slunk back to his desk, picking up more pictures, unsure if he wanted to find anymore.
Fin burst through the door to Cragen's office, jarring the man who'd fallen asleep for forty winks. "Cap, I got them!"
Cragen only needed a second to remember why he was passed out at his desk. "What happened?" He held out his hand before waiting for an answer.
Fin blinked for a moment. He'd been so damn happy to find the pictures that he hadn't thought to look at them. "Um-" He sorted through the stack in his hand, trying to arrange them in chronological order. Realizing there were far too many, he set them on the captain's desk and started putting them in order. Trying to cover for his exuberance, he quickly pointed at the first few. "These are before the picture you already saw."
Along with countless others, the series of twenty-some shots showed Elliot and Olivia walking down the street, clearly arguing. They both looked angry, gesturing wildly as they glared at each other, weaving their way through uncomfortable pedestrians. When Fin got to the photos time stamped just before the fateful one that might have ruined everything for a lot of people, his heart started to pound. As much as he desperately wanted to jump ahead, to justify his faith in Elliot's character and Olivia's strength, he dreaded finding something else. And he hated himself for doubting, even that little bit.
Cragen didn't understand the hold up, tired and irritated and desperate for something definitive. He grabbed the stack, quickly dealing out the remaining shots, finding most of them in order. When he was done, he stepped back. The two men stood side by side, absorbing the facts before them.
Turning slowly, Cragen cleared his throat. "Bring Elliot and George in here." Fin was too tired to argue, so he found his way to the interrogation room.
During the previous hours, Huang had eventually talked Elliot into giving up his gun. A few moments after that, though, Elliot had grown despondent, thinking that he'd given up his only chance to set things right. He hadn't spoken in over an hour. He wasn't crying anymore. He was just staring at the far wall, blinking occasionally. Huang had run out of things to say or suggest or ask. He'd done his job is getting the gun from Elliot. He'd done his best to calm Elliot as well. But as much as he desperately needed a break and a cup of coffee, Huang wouldn't dare leave Elliot. He suspected being abandoned was a long-standing fear and, having just lost his partner, Huang didn't think Elliot could handle being left alone.
The creak of the door opening caused both of them to jump. Fin nodded toward Cragen's office. "We have the pictures. Cragen wants both of you in his office."
Huang wanted to ask what they'd found, but he bit it back. Elliot pulled himself off the floor slowly, pretending not to consider grabbing his gun back when Huang saw him looking at it.
The three men paraded into Cragen's office, two of them wanting to see something good, scared there was nothing good to see. Fin stayed back, having already seen everything. Huang stayed by Elliot's side, silently trying to support him through the ordeal.
As they stared at the array, Cragen placed the one they'd already seen into the hole in the middle of the line. Then he stood back and let Elliot see it for himself.
Elliot's eyes moved slowly across them, starting at the beginning, only vaguely recollecting any of the scene he'd experienced first hand. There they were, walking along, fighting, yelling, making faces. He hated his own anger, the way he was disrespecting Olivia. He excused hers, understanding she was putting up with his intolerable self. Then they'd stopped walking, unable to continue walking with all their attention directed to the fight.
His eyes locked on that horrible picture, where his hand was squeezing her arm in such an obviously painful way, his hand up in the air. He tried to take a deep breath, but he couldn't get any air. Closing his eyes, he felt his strength failing. He hadn't eaten all day. He hadn't had anything to drink for hours. He was ready to fall down from exhaustion already. There was no question that he wouldn't be able to keep standing if he had to see the scene unfolding where his hand smashed into Olivia's beautiful face.
But Huang was next to him, supporting him in a way that only Olivia had ever tried. Huang was simply there, having long since given up trying to make him talk. "Look at the rest of them, Elliot."
His eyes darted to Huang for a second, wondering how the man knew him so well that he knew Elliot's eyes hadn't dared pass what he had already seen. He swallowed hard, knowing what he was looking at had the power to end his career, ruin his life, destroy his soul. But no matter how hard his eyes searched the next image, he couldn't see what had been so obvious.
His left hand was still gripping her arm, but where his elbow had been straight, it was then bent at ninety-degrees. His right hand, the one that had been poised to deliver a breathtaking blow to his partner's face, was lowered, pressed against the side of her face, his fingers wrapping around the back of her head. He choked for a moment, realizing the photographer had caught the exact moment of the blow, just when his hand connected with her body. He wanted to be sick, but there was nothing in his system. He dared to move on to the next picture, expecting that his violent grip on her arm would be the only thing holding her upright after she absorbed the force of his hit.
And instead, he saw their bodies pressed together, his left hand hidden behind her, probably still clutching her arm, his right hand cupping her face as he held her against his chest. Only her left arm was visible, her hand resting on his waist. He didn't know what he was looking at. He couldn't remember a damn thing about it.
The next photo showed them both looking back, down at the ground, at bricks that had fallen from the scaffolding above them. Bricks that Olivia never would have seen with the way she was looking down a few seconds before. Bricks that had landed exactly where she had been standing. Bricks that would have hurt her far more than Elliot's sudden, unexpected embrace.
He let his eyes close for just a second before he moved across the rest of the line. Showing how they'd both frozen for a moment to collect themselves after the close call. Showing the way their bodies had immediately relaxed into each other. Showing how they'd completely separated a moment later. Showing her flashing him a stunning, appreciative smile in thanks. Showing how their fight was over that quickly as they walked back to their car.
Elliot nearly collapsed under his own weight, folding into the chair behind him. It took a long time before he found his voice, a voice that he wasn't even sure was his. It was soft and trembling, helpless and hopeful. "I didn't hit her?"
Huang and Fin had wide smiles, feeling vindicated in their support of Elliot. Cragen nodded, his usual, almost fatherly pride in his wayward detective returning in spades. "You didn't just not hit her, Elliot. You were protecting her."
Fin patted Elliot's shoulder. "Like you always do."
"Except when she needed me." As relieved as he was to know that he hadn't hit her, she was still missing. And he desperately wished he remembered the two seconds he'd had her in his arms that day three weeks earlier. "We still need to find the bastard who took her. Did anyone find anything in the pictures?"
Cragen started to laugh, amazed at how Elliot's attention immediately shifted from killing himself to killing whoever had kidnapped Olivia. But having seen how dangerously close Elliot, and everyone else too, was to the edge, he knew he had to put his foot down. "Nothing new. But they've been concentrating on this bullshit for the past few hours. I'll have them keep working today and when Lake and Munch come back in, they'll be on it." Walking around his desk, he started herding people out of his office. "The four of us are all going home to get some sleep." Elliot's mouth opened to protest, but Cragen cut him off. "Sleep. You need it more than the rest of us and I'm dead on my feet."
As Cragen shoved him through the door, Elliot nodded at the stairs. "How about the crib? Can I sleep there? Please?"
Cragen squeezed his eyes shut, watching as Fin snickered on his way out. "Elliot, are you actually begging me to let you sleep in the crib?"
Elliot realized how ridiculous it sounded. Normally, it took a direct order from the man to sleep there; the cots were so damn uncomfortable that it was easier just to sit at their desks half asleep. But he didn't want to waste the time it would take to travel back and forth. They'd wasted hours over what turned out to be nothing. Finally he nodded. "What's it going to hurt?"
Cragen relented, feeling bad for the nasty bruise he'd left on Elliot's cheek. "Fine, just for now and only because I don't want you turning me in for decking you." Without another word, Cragen disappeared down the hallway.
Elliot took two steps toward the crib. And then before he could think better of it, he ducked back into Cragen's office. He didn't care how pathetic he looked, he'd pretty much given up any pride all that night anyway. With a smile, he snagged the shot of their impromptu embrace, the one where they were just standing there, eyes closed, sharing a moment together. He tucked it into his pocket and headed up the stairs for a nap.
Munch returned to the office a few minutes before ten, feeling guilty for his behavior without even have been brought up to speed. He saw the pictures, evidence that his former partner had been right, proof that Elliot really was, as always, trying to protect Olivia. Considering the amount of time he'd wasted in the early morning, while he'd been watching the fireworks unfold around him, the guilt grew heavier. Because of that, he buckled down, digging into the stacks of photos, searching for content besides the main characters. He wanted to find something, a suspect he could present to Elliot, someone who would distract Elliot while he begged for mercy for being a jerk.
He had a good stack going by mid-afternoon, a fuzzy figure in the background of several shots of Olivia from the day before and the day of her abduction. Munch couldn't be sure it was anything, not even that it was the same guy, but he found it curious that the person seemed to be around her not only when she was close to her apartment, but also while she was working, at the precinct, and traveling between home and work, appearing in the background even when Elliot was in the picture as well. It seemed like something and he hoped TARU would be able to bring the man's face into focus.
Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he stirred it for a moment to give his eyes a break. That was when he noticed a guy in the hallway, standing off to the side, looking slightly overwhelmed. He was just the sort of guy who had no business in a police precinct. Munch walked over to him, seeing the younger man's eyes meet his, a grateful expression on his face.
"Can I help you?"
Several officers were dragging an uncooperative prisoner through the hall, causing the short man to back into the wall. He appeared to Munch to be the sort of man who drove five miles per hour under the speed limit in the center lane of the highway, the unassuming type who would wait patiently for everyone else to go at a four-way stop. Finally, after the cursing suspect was secured out of sight, the man's eyes returned to Munch. "I'm looking for Detective Stabler or Captain Cragen, please."
Munch found something oddly familiar about the man whose unruly curls left him looking slightly deranged. "The captain isn't here and Elliot isn't available. I'm Detective Munch, is there something I can help you with?"
He shrugged, looking truly deflated at the news he wouldn't be talking to either of the other men. "I'm not sure. It's really – um – well, I'm Olivia Benson's brother."
Munch smiled, finally placing the familiarity he'd found in the man. "So you're Simon. Nice to meet you." He thrust out his hand, not surprised that Simon's hand was cold and his grip weak. "I've worked with Liv for a long time."
"I talked to Captain Cragen a few days ago. I was in the city today and I was hoping you might have some news." Simon's eyes continued to dart around the squad, seeming to be waiting for something scary that would cause him to run in fear.
Munch led him toward Olivia's desk, motioning for him to take a seat. "We're still working. Around the clock, actually, which is why the captain's home asleep and Elliot's upstairs asleep. But seeing as you're here, I'll go wake Elliot."
Simon's eyes widened. "Oh, no, that's ok. I don't mean to bother him. It's ok. He can call me later, I mean, only if he has time or you know-"
Laughing at Simon's blatant fear of upsetting Elliot, Munch shook his head. "He'll want to see you. Just wait here. You can have some coffee if you like." Although he pointed out the machine, Munch was sure Simon wasn't going to indulge. A cup of caffeinated city-bought sludge would likely send the poor guy into a fit of paranoid delusions.
He took a deep breath at the door to the crib, hesitant ever since that fateful day he'd walked in without knocking. Even knowing that Elliot was most likely not hiding Olivia in the crib, he was slow to push the door open. Elliot was sound asleep on the lower bunk by the window. At first, it surprised him, as he'd hardly expected Elliot to sleep at all, let alone pass out for a full eight hours. But then he remembered how terribly hysterical Elliot had been, how he'd accused himself of being an abuser all night, how the poor man had been suicidal over it. Munch could hardly blame him for giving in and sleeping, especially with Cragen's probable order for him to do so.
At least he'd gotten a little rest, so Munch felt better about waking him. "Elliot." He waited a bit watching Elliot stir, but not awake. "Elliot!"
"Liv!" Elliot's eyes snapped open as he jerked up to a sitting position, smacking his forehead into the support bar of the top bunk. He looked around, searching the empty space, appearing crestfallen when Olivia wasn't there.
"Better be careful, Elliot, I'm not sure your face is big enough to hold another bruise." Munch did feel bad for him, considering the swelling from Cragen's knuckles had developed into deep coloration just as the black eye from Avery had turned into a spectacular shade of bright purple. Not to mention that the hours of sleep had been disturbed by nightmares which had resulted in Elliot waking up calling for Olivia.
Rubbing at his forehead, Elliot stood up slowly. "What time is it? Have you found something?"
Munch shook his head, motioning vaguely in the direction of the stairs. "Simon stopped by. He's hoping for information. I figured you'd want to talk to him." Glancing at his watch, he smiled. "And it's a quarter after two, sleepyhead."
Elliot was twisting his neck, trying to get the muscles to relax after so long in the uncomfortable bed, until Munch's words sifted through. "Quarter after two? Are you kidding? You let me sleep all day?"
Munch shrugged, pretending he hadn't done just that. "No one knew you were up here for a long time. Cragen's still not here. Fin only popped up a little while ago and said you were probably up here."
Elliot shot past the older man, racing down to the bullpen as though running those few yards would make up for the time he'd been asleep. It was only as he passed Olivia's desk that he remembered Munch's mention of Simon. Seated in Olivia's chair, the young man looked lost.
"Simon." Elliot sat down across from him, resisting the urge to be angry at Simon's location. Olivia would certainly not object to who she insisted on calling her 'baby brother' sitting as her desk. But Elliot personally believed that only Olivia had a right to sit across from him. Even so, he found himself meeting familiar brown eyes. "We don't really have much news. There was a man we were looking at yesterday, but he seems to have a legitimate reason for being in the area."
Simon's shoulders drooped. "I was hoping she'd be here when I came in." He looked around, like he was still hoping it. "Like maybe everyone had been busy or forgot to call me or something."
Trying to ignore the additional guilt settling on his shoulders, Elliot started picking through the photos on his desk. "Olivia wouldn't forget you." Although Elliot had and probably always would forget that Olivia had anyone besides himself, Olivia clung to the idea that she had any blood relatives like it was her lifeline. "And I'll give you a call if we get anything definite."
Simon nodded. "You know, we were supposed to have lunch a couple weeks ago."
Elliot knew nothing about it, but he lied to make Olivia's half-brother feel better. "Yeah, she mentioned that you were getting together."
Simon's face fell further. "I had to cancel because of work. I told her we could reschedule and I just got busy and I didn't call." Looking up and seeking forgiveness from her partner, Simon issued his plea. "Tell her I didn't mean to blow her off. I just forgot. I swear, it won't happen again. You have to tell her that, she'll listen to you."
The fact was, Olivia hadn't mentioned it, probably because it wasn't that big of a deal. She rarely had time to get away from the office to sleep, let alone have a leisurely lunch. But Elliot nodded, deciding it would win him brownie points with Olivia if he was nice to Simon. "I'll tell her. I'm sure she'll want to reschedule as soon as we find her."
Nodding and climbing to his feet, Simon started toward the door. "Thanks for talking to me. I just – good luck, I guess? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say." He looked up at Elliot with moist eyes. "I didn't realize how much she meant, you know? I mean, we barely know each other, but now that there's a chance-"
Elliot patted him on the shoulder, cutting him off before he could voice something that Elliot couldn't stand to hear. "We'll find her. And one of us will give you a call as soon as we do. She'll be fine, Simon."
"Thanks again."
Elliot glared at Simon's back, resenting him for having doubts, ignoring the fact that he'd had the same fears himself. Then he turned toward Munch and Fin. "Ok, where are we?"
