Author note - Disclaimer - I still don't own these characters, and honestly, just like Elliot - I don't know a single thing about cryogenics.
This chapter is for NickandLiv.
LATER THAT NIGHT.
TOP SECRET LOCATION.
SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK.
Elliot ran through the empty halls, confusion and panic setting in as his mind raced hard to process so much so fast. He was shaking, freezing cold and he had no idea where he was going, or what he was running from. He only knew that for some reason Munch was rushing him toward a top secret room.
"IN HERE!" Munch yelled.
Elliot stopped running and placed his hand on the wall, leaning heavily, a cold chill causing an involuntary tremble. He tried to shake the fog of confusion from his mind as he listened to Munch - nothing made sense, nothing at all. All he could do was to blindly follow, trusting that he knew what he was doing and where he was taking him.
"Stabler! Now! We don't want to stay out here for too long, this place has cameras covering every inch - my friends can't keep them all offline for long. Quick! - I didn't come this far to leave without her.."
"Leave without her?" Elliot asked confused.
Munch punched a code into a door - a solid steel door with a large hazard warning symbol emblazoned on it, and a big flashing red light, to indicate just how top secret and dangerous the room actually was, before shoving it open and bolting inside. Elliot took a deep breath and followed.
As soon as he was inside, Munch closed the door behind him and flicked a switch, flooding the room with light.
Elliot recoiled in horror as his eyes took in the sight before him - people - lots of people, standing upright, their eyes closed, inside glass cabinets.
He turned and stared at Munch in shock, "what the hell is this?"
Munch just glanced at Elliot exasperated, "I don't have time to explain, so I'll give you the summary - pay attention…"
Elliot shivered again, and followed as Munch walked quickly through the rows of cabinets, his explanation rushed as his words echoed in a mysterious way, throughout the cold room.
"This is a top secret base - it has taken me over four years to locate it...and you," he paused, glancing at Elliot before turning his attention back to the cabinets, looking into each one as he passed.
Elliot stared at Munch incredulously as he followed him, feeling sluggish and chilled to the bone and struggling to keep up with his words yet alone his pace.
He simply could not believe what was happening to him; he was desperate to listen to what Munch had to say! What the hell was going on?
"People have been abducted, brought here and left in a cryogenic stasis - exact duplicates have been made and put in their place - well physically anyway - they can't recreate detailed memories, only teach the clones the basic facts. Olivia was replaced with a clone, but you though, were not replaced, you went wrong, you just couldn't be moulded exactly how they wanted you to be, much to the anger of the perp who did all this, so you were left here while the perp tried to destroy our very memories of you through Clone Olivia's words."
Elliot grabbed his arm and spun him around, forcing him to stand still and look at him.
"Munch, what the fuck?" said Elliot in utter confusion.
"Stabler," he sighed, "I forgot, your brain is still defrosting - you were abducted by a heinous criminal, the worst SVU has ever dealt with, back in May 2011, four years ago. You were frozen and your entire family were victims of mind control, all forgetting who you were, but the kids are all ok, and we won't need to check in on them. Good news though - turns out you're divorced, so that wraps them all up nicely. Now, back to finding the real Olivia Benson."
Elliot dropped his hand from Munch's arm in disbelief and Munch turned, continuing his search of the aisles.
"I've been in a freezer for four years?" Elliot said, shocked.
Suddenly Munch stopped in front of one of the cabinets and went straight to the control panel alongside it, glancing briefly at the numbers written in pen on his hand, before typing in a code and standing back.
"Found her," Munch said with a smile.
Elliot stepped closer and followed Munch's line of sight, gasping in shock as his gaze fell on Olivia Benson, standing upright in the cabinet, her eyes closed and her hair cascading to her shoulders. Elliot couldn't help but take a moment to gaze at her, she looked stunning, even in a cryogenic stasis.
"The door will open as soon as the cabinet reaches a minimum temperature - she will be very confused and disorientated," Munch said, ignoring Elliot's lingering gaze.
"And pretty damn cold."
Elliot turned his head at the sound of another voice, and looked at Fin in confusion.
"The doors are all unlocked and open, we gotta move now - before they lock this place down again," Fin said.
"It's a rapid heat acceleration chamber, it's nearly there - two more minutes Fin," Munch said.
Fin glanced at Elliot, feeling slightly awkward, "Look man, i'm sorry I didn't realise you'd disappeared, or figure out that Olivia was a clone - gotta admit, I feel bad about that."
"We can discuss how inherently gullible we both were later; we got Stabler, let's get Benson and run," Munch said.
It was two excruciatingly long minutes, where Munch Fin focused on the numbers on the display, counting down to Olivia's release.
They avoided glancing at Elliot, both feeling considerably relieved to have located him, but guilty for failing to realise that he had been essentially in cryogenic captivity for years.
The door to the cabinet finally released, and Munch swung it open, a rush of cold air hitting them both.
They all stared at Olivia who remained unresponsive in the cabinet.
"So how'd you wake Stabler?" Fin asked.
"I've been here all night, the cover as a cleaner worked great - I just didn't leave the building last night and defrosted Elliot slowly. He pretty much slept while the temperature adjusted gradually. My second ex wife has a website dedicated to rescuing people from cryogenic captivity, and she was very helpful with the practicalities."
Elliot stared at Munch and Fin in disbelief.
"Four years? What kind of detectives are you? I've been missing for four years and so has Liv and you two didn't even realise! I mean Liv had a clone...but I wasn't even there - do you know how pissed I am?" Elliot said.
"Looks like someone's warming up," Munch joked as he glanced at Fin.
"Let's get her and go," Fin said as he stepped forward and put an arm around Olivia's waist, and his other behind her neck, carefully moving her out of the cabinet.
"Take your hands off her Fin, she's my partner, I should be the one to get her out of a cryogenic sleep," Elliot said.
Fin shook his head and exchanged an exasperated glance with Munch as Elliot carefully reached forward before pausing, glancing at Munch.
"Wait, can she bend - I mean, she's been frozen?" Elliot asked.
Munch laughed, "Of course she can bend, do you know nothing about cryogenics Elliot?"
Elliot stared hard at Munch, "Of course I don't know anything about fucking cryogenics Munch!"
Munch sighed and glanced at his watch, reminding Elliot that their mission was actually time sensitive, and waited until Elliot had scooped Olivia up in his arms.
Soon the four SVU detectives were racing through the hallways, the dim light from the emergency lighting, their only guide.
Elliot felt like he was running a marathon yet Fin and Munch were ahead of him and not struggling at all. It didn't help that he couldn't take his eyes off of Olivia of course; she had been frozen for four years yet looked absolutely beautiful and perfect - just as she always did to Elliot.
Pausing he felt a shiver run through him again, but he struggled on for Olivia's sake, because he had to keep going for her. He would never let her down, and he sure as hell would never walk away from her.
Soon they had escaped the facility and were sitting in the warmth of a mysterious looking van. It was well equipped with heating pads, blankets, and water and a row of soft seating lined one wall. Olivia and Elliot sat together, Elliot with his arm around her, holding her close to him, purely to warm up, no other reason whatsoever.
Once Olivia started to come around, Elliot pulled his arm tighter around her shoulders and tried to explain what he knew. Munch simply watched in amusement as Elliot tried to explain the situation, given that he had only been defrosted for a relatively short while and only Munch really knew the facts...and his ex wives, who were all pretty clued up, and had considerable ability to organise and orchestrate a rescue mission on such a complex scale.
"Ok, i'm only going to impart this wisdom once, listen up. You were both abducted, drugged, and once unconscious, transported to a suspension facility. Your bodies were packed in ice and injected with an anticoagulant, vitrificated, and then you were in a sort of suspended animation. Your bodies were cooled with dry ice, inserted into containers, placed into a metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen. At that point you were pretty much frozen. Clones were created, Elliot's went wrong, but Olivia's has been in Manhattan living her life since 2011."
Elliot noticed a violent shiver tear through Olivia and pulled her closer to him as she trembled, clutching the blanket around her tightly.
"Look...I've considered how to explain this, but Liv's not taking in a word I'm saying because she was unconscious in a freezer less than twenty minutes ago, and you've been awake longer, but every time I have tried to explain, you just curse, so I'm gonna make it really simple for you too until you are fully defrosted," Munch said.
"Munch," Olivia said, her words shaking with the chill that wouldn't seem to leave her, "stop...insulting us. We're not idiots..we're just..cold..tell us straight."
"Ok, you remember Invasion of the Body Snatchers?" Munch said, quite seriously. "Well pod people exist."
Elliot and Olivia stared at Munch in disbelief, and Fin found himself joining in, even though he had been totally convinced that Munch was actually right about the whole crazy mess.
"An evil villain has conspired to take you two down. He wanted you both, and he worked hard at his plan, he had you both abducted and frozen, and created clones, programed with your memories...well to a point. He couldn't get Elliot's clone right, no matter what he did, and that made him seriously pissed, so he destroyed the Elliot clone, and in a fit of egotistical rage, tried to wipe Elliot from Clone Olivia's mind. Clone Liv is pretty smart though and she still remembered him, but every week he programs her, he alters her and works at her. He uses her to destroy the memories of Elliot because he can't get at you any other way. In truth he is obsessed with you Elliot."
"Um...Munch," Olivia said, as she snuggled up against Elliot, to keep warm, purely because she was so cold, and sharing body heat is sensible. "Munch, this is insane, this isn't a sci fi movie, there are no clones, I'm cold because it's snowing outside," said Olivia, her voice shaky as she glanced out of the window briefly before turning her head back to Munch.
"May, Liv," Fin said.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"May. You were taken in May, it wasn't snowing then," Fin said. "I hate to say this, but we all have to listen to Munch. This ain't a joke Liv, it's November 2015 and you've been gone for four and a half years."
Olivia rested her head on Elliot's shoulder, closing her eyes, too cold and disorientated to understand.
"You believe Munch, Fin?" she said, "this is insane.."
"Munch," Elliot said, as he gave Olivia's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "Where did everyone think I was? And why was Olivia cloned...I mean what has her clone been doing for four and a half years?"
"Moving rapidly up the ranks of the NYPD. She's a Lieutenant now, and a mom. Clone Olivia is a very good copy of you Liv, so she's smart, and she's more independent than the average clone. She doesn't know what she is though - she's not dangerous, the clones are all essentially harmless."
"Why create them if they're harmless, what the hell is the point in all this?" Elliot said.
"It's like this; imagine if the Wizard, in Oz, was actually a narcissistic sociopath - just a solitary little man, pretending to be something bigger than he is."
"Munch, there wasn't a wizard in Oz…" Olivia said frowning.
Munch laughed and shook his head, "Are you all watching that show?"
"Well I know I am," said Olivia with a smile, suddenly feeling warmer.
"I meant the movie -The Wizard of Oz. Our perp though isn't so harmless, but he doesn't really have a well thought out plan, he just gets off on controlling minds and screwing with people's lives," Munch said.
"He's programmed Liv's clone to say some crazy shit about you Stabler, like he's trying to destroy you." Fin said. "Freak just likes controlling people and he uses mind control on the ones who ain't clones."
"Yes, he is certainly obsessed with you Elliot, be prepared for that when you meet him. Huang has a full psychological profile, read the sections on Limerence, obsession and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. That's some disturbing reading," Munch said.
"So if he's a narcissist - he's pulled us out of our lives, for no reason other than to stroke his own ego by having control over us?" Olivia asked, feeling a little warmer, but deciding it was quite nice to be cuddled up next to Elliot, so she continued to rest her head comfortably on his shoulder.
"This is where we come back to that famous movie - remember the pod people? Well they could only exist for five years - and this is the fifth year that Olivia's clone has been here. Their time is coming to an end, but we aren't gonna just wait it out while you two are robbed of your lives for a few more months. This is where we make a stand and we get your lives back, show the perp that he can't destroy your lives. Put an end to his games."
"Munch, how are we gonna do that, again? Gotta admit I zoned out a bit while you were explaining all this shit earlier," Fin admitted honestly.
"Fin, I have explained this five times to you now - you just stop listening after two minutes, every time," Munch said.
"It's kinda a habit, no offense, I just been doing that for years being your partner; I never listened beyond the first couple sentences. You were always spouting crazy shit Munch." Fin shrugged.
"Well you're all listening to me now, aren't you?" Munch said smugly and triumphantly.
In the next chapter - Olivia and Elliot, once thoroughly defrosted, prepare to take their lives back. Olivia confronts her clone, and our two favourite detectives prepare to tear down the curtain and face the man hiding behind it.