The light continued toward her as she froze. It reflected the shadow of Lewis' scar from his face, sending another round of terror's spikes down her spine. No matter how strong she wished she could be, the fact that she was facing the man who had nearly killed her couldn't leave her mind. The scenes that came back to her when she smelled the burning of the torch scared her more than the intense darkness did. Then the light moved faster than she could follow. It didn't take her long to figure out where it had gone when a searing pain tore her upper leg apart.
The lip she bit drew blood as the burning singed her nerves. Lewis held it for a long time. Too long. The moment he let it turn off and pulled it away, he replaced it with his finger, pressing it hard. The scream that ripped from her throat was enough to have broken glass, if there was any, in the panes behind her.
Lewis turned the torch in again, bringing the strip of duct tape up to her eye level. "Almost forgot. As much as I love it - we have to keep you quiet. For now, at least."
He slapped the adhesive onto her mouth, almost panicking her. "Hold still."
He put a hand on her arm in the pitch blackness before the light and whirring of the torch came on again. This time, the heat cut into her upper arm. The strangled sound that came from behind the duct tape pleased Lewis almost more than the scream had.
Donald Cragen got out of bed when the clock read 2:25 A.M. There was no point in trying to sleep, so he walked out onto the deck of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. The sea breeze brushed his cheeks comfortingly as he leaned against the railing. The moonlight reflected off the roughed surface of the ocean. Even in the darkness, the beauty was unparalleled.
None of it meant anything to him, though. The concern he held for his people in New York kept him from enjoying what he should. Without even checking the time again, Cragen brought up his cell phone and dialed Olivia. He had to hear her voice to know she was ok, no matter what hour. He knew, even in different time-zones, that she wasn't sleeping either. The phone rang, and rang again and again. Her voicemail picked up the fifth ring that he heard.
"It's Liv. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
The tone sounded, and Cragen could do nothing but stand still with the receiver to his ear. He had heard her voice. Obviously she was busy. Of course she was; she was Olivia Benson. She was always busy.
The uneasiness in his stomach continued.
He jumped when the door behind him slid open. Eileen joined him in the beauty of the night. She put her arm in his as she leaned against him.
"You're thinking about it again." Her voice was soft, knowing.
Cragen shook his head a little, correcting her. "Still."
Nick, unable to sleep, went over everything that Carlos had said in the cell he'd been in when they'd interviewed him days earlier. The escape from prison, the disappearance of Lewis was not a one man job. They'd all known it from the start.
And when Olivia had called Barba into the precinct, he'd let them know that she'd been threatened by Carlos, a member of BX9. Nick still pictured the grin on Carlos' face.
:::
"If you haven't found him by now, you never will. The guy's smart." Carlos leaned back calmly in his chair.
Barba was as aggravated by the statement as Nick was.
"We will charge you with an accessory to any crime he commits out there. You'll be in here with no chance of parole." Barba leaned forward, speaking as fast as he ever had.
All they received was a laugh. "I had nothing to do with that guy's escape. I told you he's smart. Did it all by himself." He got them nowhere. He would deny the truth until the end of his days.
:::
The way Carlos had reacted to their questions only made it more clear that BX9 had been helping Lewis plan for months.
Nick sighed as he walked down the quiet hallway in his home. He knew as well as everyone else that the gang would ask for something in return if Lewis ever got Olivia. But they hadn't gotten their favor. Olivia was still safe.
The blowtorch scorched Olivia twelve different times. Each knife of excruciating pain caused her forehead to break out into a sweat, her eyes wet as well. In fact, her eyes nearly closed in unconsciousness.
Lewis noticed every time, and removed the flame just in time for her to remain conscious. She felt every fiber of her skin scorched as the torch burned her arms and her legs. Then he stopped, leaving her gasping for air and collapsing back against the concrete wall. He didn't have to see the agony on her face. He could hear it.
Olivia reeled as she tried to remain upright, but every movement she made to support her weight only further intensified the pain in her limbs. She managed an angry gaze while struggling to breathe. Only the silhouette of Lewis was visible.
He watched her in her battle. He watched for a while. Then, satisfied, he moved toward her and uncuffed her from the window.
"You choose what comes next." He whispered harshly in her ear. She was going to break. He would make her break.
Olivia let him lead her back to the room where Emily was. The lantern-styled flashlight on the ground beamed light on the little girl's face. She had her knees tucked to her chin, her hands covering her ears, even with the cuffs around them. She leaned into the pole, the only way she could plug her ears, and she cried with her eyes closed. The long dark hair she had fell unevenly around her face.
"I've got a knife - and this." He held up the can-opener. "We could get this part over with."
She almost vomited when she remembered his words from almost a year before.
"You want me to burn your clothes off or cut them off?"
"Oh - and I saw a pile of rusty equipment downstairs. We could always find something to use them for."
The opportunity arose for a possible moment alone with the little girl. Olivia nodded, unable to speak with the tape across her mouth.
"Getting adventurous, are we?" Lewis enjoyed her answer.
He knew why she chose that. But there was no danger of the two hostages escaping, so he didn't care. Still smiling, he tugged Olivia toward the same type of skeletal window very near Emily, still covering her ears. When she was secured to the wall, Lewis ran a hand down her jawline. He then leaned in and kissed her hard.
Olivia, suddenly thankful that the duct tape was on her mouth, tried to move her head away.
"You two wait up here." Leaving her with one hand free only made his adrenaline pump harder. She still wouldn't go anywhere. And if she screamed? There was hardly a chance of a soul hearing her. He brushed the gun along where his hand had just been before grabbing the flashlight from the floor and disappearing into the blackness.
Olivia used her free hand, nearest Emily, to tear the duct tape off her mouth.
"Emily." She probed the darkness to find the girls' hands. When she did, she brought them gently away from the little ears they covered.
"Emily." She whispered.
"I'm scared" was the only thing that left Emily's mouth.
Olivia's throat closed at the shaking of the child's voice. "I know. But you're going to get out of here soon." Her hand moved comfortingly on Emily's back whose entire body trembled.
"He's going to hurt me." Emily began to cry only a bit louder.
Olivia shook her head. "He won't. I promise I won't let that happen." She leaned in closer. "But I need you to listen to me very closely, ok?"
Emily nodded against Olivia.
"If I tell you to run, you are going to run down the stairs and through the building until you get to the back. Find a door, anything to get out." She stopped to make sure the little girl understood.
"And then run straight until you see a junkyard. There's a car there - my car. I want you to get in it and close the door and stay quiet until somebody comes to get you." When she heard nothing in reply, Olivia put an arm around Emily and hugged her close to her pained frame.
"I'm a police officer." She whispered, removing her badge from her belt with a grimace.
Emily felt the cool metal object enter her grip.
"We're going to be brave tonight, right?" Olivia kept her voice low.
Emily let her body collapse into the only solace she'd had all day. The nod Olivia felt against her was all she needed. "If you take this with you, it'll help you be brave."
She let go of the badge and let Emily have it. She wouldn't be needing it where she was going.
"So - what are you going to do if I tell you to run?" Olivia whispered.
"Run downstairs and outside, and wait in the car until you come to get me."
Again, Olivia's heart broke. She wished she could be the one to rescue the little girl, but if Emily had a chance to run, Olivia would have to use the last of her life to fend off Lewis.
Olivia put her arm around Emily. She needed her to know that everything would be ok.
"You're a cop?" Emily's shaky voice came drifting up to olivia's ears.
She nodded when she heard the hope in her voice. "I am. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you get out of here." Olivia replied in a whisper.
Emily sought comfort in the woman she'd met only an hour before. She leaned in to let her head rest on Olivia's chest. Olivia grimaced at the contact when the girl let her head rest on her arm burned.
"My cat's name is Olivia." Emily's soft reminiscence made Olivia very aware of the shock she was in.
"I bet she misses you." Olivia replied with the slightest smile on her lips. Everything was crashing down around her, but she had to hold this little girl up. The nod against her caused her even further discomfort.
"I miss her." Emily's trembling body lurched again as she began to cry.
Olivia wished she had her other hand free to do nothing but hold Emily in her arms. "You'll see her again soon."
The fear of Lewis' impending return disappeared from Olivia's mind. Emily's gasps in sobs caused Olivia more agony than she was already in.
"Is he going to hurt you again?" The innocence of the question threw another solid lump into Olivia's throat, her eyes tearing up again.
She couldn't lie, not when Emily could hear it, or possibly be forced to watch it.
"Yes." Liv replied shakily.
The tremor in her voice obviously discouraged Emily. "But if he takes me out of this room again, I want you to cover your eyes and plug your ears. You won't be able to hear it."
Olivia couldn't stop the trembling in her own voice. There was nothing she could do to prepare more for the torture that awaited her.
"You think about your beautiful cat – how you're going to see her again soon." A tear dropped from Olivia's eye down onto her sweater. It was hard to believe how fast things had changed.
"Maybe you should have your badge – to be brave." Emily's hand pressing Olivia's badge back into her hands made it even harder to keep the sobs from escaping Olivia's throat.
What good the world had to offer. She witnessed it right then, in the worst night of her life. In the midst of the bad, there would always be good, like Emily.
"I carry it every day. You get to hold on to it for me, now." She let the badge stay in Emily's small hand. The five-year-old accepted it back gratefully. She ran her fingers around the edges of the badge.
"Why did you come here?" Emily was calming down, a relief.
Olivia sighed deeply, unable to stop the sound from echoing in the room. "I know him." She replied simply.
It would be better just to leave it at that. "He said if I didn't come here, he'd hurt you." She finished quietly.
Emily thought for a little bit, sucking air into her nose loudly, the tears having ceased falling.
The footsteps on the wooden stairs across the way alerted them both to the reentrance of the awful man. Emily's body shook again. Olivia whispered to her as she moved her arm.
"Hide the badge, Emily. Remember what I said." She began to feel the pain already, before Lewis even entered with his light.
His silhouette appeared in the dark doorway. "Good news. Found some stuff we can use."
Olivia moved away from Emily and flinched noticeably at the sound a metal object made when Lewis dropped it on the concrete floor. She said nothing to him. She had to be brave for Emily sitting next to her.
"We've got a hammer, a couple crowbars, a mattock, and a wire-cutter." He lowered his voice, making Olivia's skin crawl again.
"You choose."