Okay, um… First of all, this idea came to me in a dream :D I don't know what this is going to be, but this has been running through my mind all day, and I want to try and see what will happen.
I'll warn you in advance: this is going to be dark. And a bit different from my other stories. Perhaps. I don't know.
Also, I have 3 more weeks of vacation left, and I'm bored. So here we go!

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It was a beautiful and fresh autumn morning when Odafin Tutuola arrived at work. He had been slower than usual for some reason, the traffic had been a mess, and when he finally entered the precinct door, he glanced at his watch and realized he was almost half an hour late. The elevator doors opened with a ping, grimacing, he strode to his desk and dropped his jacket on the back of the chair.

"Sorry I'm late," he looked up at his partner, who was sitting across from him, leaning back, holding papers in his hands. "The traffic was hell."

"Apparently," he stated and looked back at his papers. "Benson and Stabler are also late."

Surprised, Fin turned his eyes to his colleagues' desks and realized that his partner was right: everything seemed to be in exactly the same order as the day before, even the half-empty coffee cup Olivia had left on her desk had not changed its place. Fin frowned.

"Do you know where they are?"

Olivia and Elliot weren't usually late, so the idea that they had both coincidentally overslept at the same time seemed odd. Doubt began to gnaw at the back of his head, but Munch just shrugged.

"No, I don't. But if I could guess…" He didn't look up from his papers, but the other corner of his mouth turned into a hint of a grin. "You'll soon owe me 100 bucks."

Munch's comment made Fin snort. The fact that Elliot and Kathy were once again in the middle of divorce was no longer news to anyone. To see what was between Elliot and Olivia, what had already been for 12 years, required nothing more than functional eyes.

Which they themselves clearly did not own.

Fin himself had worked with SVU for a week when he had seen it. He had tiredly stretched his back, looked up from the case files that were flashing in his eyes, and his eyes had automatically turned to his colleagues sitting next to him. They had been talking quietly, completely engrossed in their own conversation, and the situation in itself had not been unusual at all. But the way their faces had lit up, their eyes had sparkled when they had looked at each other had made him swallow in its intensity, and only the notepad that had fallen on his desk had made his look away.

"Yes or no?" Munch had asked with a slight smirk on his face, and Fin had looked at him confused.

"What?"

His partner had leaned closer, a knowing twinkle in his eyes, and he had placed his fingers on the notepad.

"Yes or no?"

Fin had lowered his eyes to the notepad, squinted his eyes to see the small text. "Benson and Stabler will end up together?". Raising one eyebrow, he had looked at his partner, whose grin had widened even more.

"What is this? I thought he was marr-…"

"He is," Munch had interrupted him before he could continue. "You can choose yes or no, the bet increases every year by 10 dollars. Are you in?"

Fin had turned his eyes to the notepad again, and written with a small, delicate handwriting, he had also noticed their captain's name on the list. Shaking his head in disbelief, however, he had grabbed his pen and put his name in the "no" section.

"Really?" Munch's voice had been genuinely surprised as he had taken the notepad back. Fin had shrugged.

"He's married and too good for her anyway."

How naive he had been.

"I don't know, man," he huffed as he looked at the empty desks of his colleagues. "Would they be so obvious that they would be late for work at the same time after spending one night together? I know Stabler is a stupid ass, but Liv…" He scratched his forehead, and out of the corner of his eye he saw his partner shrug.

"Haven't they been obvious for 12 years already?"

Fin pursed his lips, and even though his partner seemed unconcerned, he dialed Olivia's number from his phone and put it to his ear. The phone rang for a long time, but he got no answer, and he tried Elliot's number. Unsuccessful, however, he gave up, sighed and tried to delve into his papers, a vague uneasiness swirling inside him.

But when Cragen arrived to the precinct from a meeting about an hour later, his eyes landed on their empty desks, and as he frowned, Munch straightened his back as well.

"Where are Benson and Stabler?"

"I was hoping you knew," Munch replied, this time the lightness in his voice fading.

"Has anyone tried to call them?"

"I did," Fin picked up the phone from his desk. "But neither of them answered."

"Neither?" Some different, hard-to-recognize tone flashed in the captain's voice as he slightly narrowed his eyes. "I see..."

"I can call again if…" Fin suggested, but Cragen raised his hand.

"Let's give them an hour. If there's no word from them, you two can go straight to their apartments," he waved his hand towards them, then disappeared into his office. Fin turned his gaze to his partner, who had crossed his arms and looked thoughtful.

"Tell me, what should I buy with a hundred bucks?"

"Oh my God," Fin rubbed his face. "If I give you 150, would you shut up?"

But Munch just looked at him with twinkling eyes. "Nah. Your irritability is part of the victory."

"Yeah, okay," Fin huffed and got up, intending to get coffee. "And the good thing is you get to keep Stabler if and when Cragen splits them up. I'm not going to listen to a single day of longing for Liv."

Munch lowered his gaze back to his papers, grinning mischievously.

"Fine. You wouldn't have been able to resist those blue eyes…"

"Ha ha. Maybe he'll take you to the gym and teach you his gym routine," Fin snapped, but Munch didn't seem offended. Instead, he raised an amused eyebrow.

"Why bother? He gets to do the physical work, I'm the intelligence. Our partnership is based on balance."

And Fin couldn't help but shake his head with a grunt.

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When nothing had been heard from Olivia or Elliot for the next hour, Fin and Munch had driven to Olivia's apartment first. They climbed the stairs, and when they reached the right door, Fin pounded on it hard.

"Liv! Are you in there?"

They stopped to listen, but not a sound was heard. They tried again.

"Olivia!"

"Stabler, if you're in there, put your pants on before you open the door!" Munch exclaimed, making Fin grimace.

"Liv! If you don't come open the door, we'll come in! Cragen gave us a key."

But when, despite their calls, they received no answer, they glanced at each other, shrugged, and Munch turned the key in the lock. It was dark in the apartment, the mail was lying on the floor in front of the door, and it seemed that no one had been in the apartment for a while.

"Liv?"

However, they found no one, so Fin dug the phone out of his pocket and dialed Olivia's number. The ringtone echoing in the quiet apartment almost startled them. They followed the sound, and when they found the phone on the couch, Munch picked it up and slowly looked up at him.

"Okay... There's no need to panic yet..."

But his words were in vain as Fin could already feel his heart racing, and with shaking hands he dialed Elliot's number.

"Stabler… Answer me, damn it!"

However, the attempt was futile, and Munch looked at him with his brows furrowed with worry.

If they weren't at Elliot's apartment, then they would have a problem.

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The steady, swinging motion made Olivia's head throb, and she shifted painfully. Her brain felt like it was porridge and wouldn't cooperate with her, her every muscle ached, and for a moment she had no idea where she was or what had happened. But little by little she realized that the swaying movement was due to actual movement.

She was in a car.

Despite the throbbing in her head, she forced herself to open her eyes, but despite the blinking, she could see nothing as it was pitch black around her. Only the steady hum of the tires and the occasional rocking of the floor told her that she really was in a car. On the way somewhere.

And she had no idea where.

She carefully sat up, rubbed her eyes, and tried to distract the panic growing inside her by recalling what had happened before this. She remembered leaving work late, Elliot taking her home, asking her to blink her lights… But then her memories faded.

Did someone attack me outside?

Was someone in my apartment?

But Elliot was waiting outside, he would…

Panic began to make it hard to breathe, and she began pounding the wall behind her back with her fists. Turning around, she realized that her legs were tied together and bound to something so that she couldn't stand.

"HEY! LET ME OUT!"

Tears of distress clouded her eyes, but she forced herself to focus despite the headache. With her hands, she began to fumble her surroundings, the walls, found the door handle, but despite her efforts, the door did not budge. However, fumbling around with her hands, she realized that she was in a van. The car swerved violently, and she clutched her knees to her chest, trying to take deep breaths despite what felt like a huge weight on her chest, her ears were buzzing, and her heart felt like it was going to explode.

But then the car braked, turned, and the road became noticeably worse. And after a moment the car came to a complete stop, Olivia heard heavy footsteps outside, and even though her instincts told her to lie down again and feign unconscious, something made her freeze in place and wait, every cell tensed.

Then the door opened, the bright light forced her to squint, and she heard a low grunt:

"Here's a buddy for you."

Something thumped heavily onto the floor of the van, and just before the man closed the door again, he added:

"And… Sorry about that knife. He was not cooperative."

And then it was dark, the car started moving again, and Olivia could hear the pulse in her ears as she sat motionless. But then her police instincts took over and she slowly, carefully approached the thing the man had just thrown into the van.

"H-hello?"

No answer.

Swallowing, she reached out, fumbled in the dark, and when her hand hit something, she gasped and quickly pulled it back. But when the thing didn't move, she tried again, more sure this time, and she bit her lip as she realized it really was a human.

Her hand slid from the person's back to his arms, which were apparently roped behind his back. And then she felt it. "Sorry about that knife". A knife, between his shoulder blades, a shirt wet with blood around it.

"He was not cooperative."

Who?

And then, a horrible, horrible thought flashed inside her as she moved her hand towards his head.

Elliot was waiting outside.

The shape of his shoulders alone made a squeezing feeling tighten in her throat, and as her hand slid over the back of his head, she felt the short hair between her fingers, and even though she knew, she knew who it was, she leaned closer, her whole body shaking, and took a deep breath.

She would have recognized the scent anywhere.

Elliot.