Almost forgot to add: this is Season 12!

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She would have recognized the scent anywhere.

Elliot.

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"El?"

Olivia's voice was a muffled, barely audible whisper as she crawled as close to her partner as her bound legs would allow. Suddenly the rest of the surroundings didn't matter, tears began to roll down her cheeks without noticing, and she slowly moved her violently shaking hand to his neck to check his pulse.

Please please please please…

The road beneath the car was rough and the heavy swaying made it difficult to feel a pulse, but then her fingers registered it, and a sharp gasp escaped her lungs.

He was alive.

"El?" This time her voice was louder as she grabbed her partner's shoulder and began to shake him. She had no idea how long they had been driving, how long she had been unconscious, but when she felt his shirt more closely with her other hand, she noticed that the blood had partially dried. She would have liked to see how severe the bleeding had been, but in the pitch black it was impossible. She didn't dare touch the knife, so she didn't know how deep it was, and she focused her thoughts on waking up her partner.

"He was not cooperative."

Despair began to twist her guts into a knot as the darkness prevented her from seeing any other injuries Elliot might have besides the stab. She didn't know what had happened, but deep down she knew that if her partner had come to help her, he certainly hadn't surrendered easily. Therefore, it was possible that he was badly injured.

"Elliot Stabler, if you don't wake up now, I'm gonna kick your ass and..." Tears were falling on her face, a cry was choking her throat, and just as she was about to remove her hand from his shoulder and press her face into her hands, the unconscious body under her hand moved. And then he grunted and groaned at the same time, and his body tensed.

"Elliot, do you hear me? El?" Olivia leaned closer to his ear, feeling her own furious pulse in her throat. "Don't move, you're hurt."

She didn't get an answer though, only a vague, clearly pained sound escaped his lips. But then his muscles tensed, and Olivia barely managed to grab his shoulder before could he roll onto his back.

"No, don't! You have a knife in your back!"

For a moment, Elliot stopped and stayed so still that her heart skipped a beat because she thought he'd passed out again. But then a voice came out of the darkness, hoarse, muffled, but so familiar that she barely managed to stop the sob that was about to escape her lips.

"Liv?"

"Yeah, it's me," the cry in her throat made her voice sound like a stifled wheeze, so she swallowed hard. "It's me."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where the hell are we?" Elliot's question was mostly a pained groan, and Olivia shook her head, though it couldn't be seen in the darkness.

"I don't know. Do you remember anything? Because the last memory I have is you taking me home from work. Next I woke up here."

Elliot stayed silent for a long time, but then it was as if the memory had startled him, because he flinched, and despite Olivia's protests, sat up uneasily.

"Yeah, I remember. I waited outside for you to blink the lights, but you didn't. I went to check, but someone attacked me in your dark apartment, and I only could see how you were lying on the ground," she felt his fists clench. "I tried to fight, but he was too fast, stabbed me in the back, and next I had a rag on my face, which must have had chloroform in it. I…" His voice trailed off as he moved, and despite the darkness, Olivia knew he'd closed his eyes in pain.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk," she said quietly, trying to sound soft as she grabbed his arm. "It's not..."

"I'm so sorry, Liv," he whispered, and the intensity of pain in his voice made Olivia feel like there was a knife in her back as well. "I should have…"

But she didn't let him continue. "No. It's not your fault."

"But…"

"No," the softness in her voice was gone, and it had been replaced by determination, firmness. "If you want to blame yourself, you have to blame me too. I was attacked and because of me we are here."

Elliot didn't say anything, but Olivia knew her partner well enough to know it wasn't entirely because he was convinced. It was pain, a numbing pain that kept him quiet.

He would have needed a hospital, he would have needed painkillers, he would have needed a soft bed and sleep. But instead, he was sitting next to her, a stifled grunt escaping his lips as the car bounced, and Olivia closed her eyes and swallowed.

"Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," carefully she took his hand in hers in the dark. "How much does it hurt?"

Elliot stayed quiet again for a moment, but the car swung, and either intentionally or unintentionally, his grip on her hand tightened.

"Like hell."

"I'm sorry."

As if to confirm his words, his body trembled, and Olivia had to bite her lip to keep from crying. Instead, she hesitated for a moment, but then raised her hand, and gently, tentatively, pulled him against her. Elliot's head fell on her shoulder and, fighting back tears, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his head.

And as her partner's body shook with pain as the car swayed again, a deep, primal anger began to smolder inside her, burning, numbing, and began to slowly drown her own distress and fear, which the situation itself had caused.

Whoever had hurt her partner…

They had made their first mistake.

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Elliot's apartment had been empty. So had been his former house, where Kathy lived for the time being with their children. Next, Fin and Munch had tried calling Kathy, Elliot's older children, and Olivia's brother Simon, but no one had heard from their colleagues, who had vanished like ashes in the wind.

They had notified Cragen, who had ordered them back to Olivia's apartment. It was likely that since her phone had been on the couch, she had made it home in the evening, and so they were to return to look for something, anything, that would give them a clue as to where they had gone, or what had happened.

And when the captain had arrived, he had stopped his car, tires screeching, and got out, disbelief flashing in his eyes.

"Did you find Elliot's phone?" He asked before he could walk over to his detectives, and they shook their heads.

"No, and we couldn't find his car either."

Cragen pressed his fingers to the corners of his eyes. "He promised me to take Olivia home," he huffed, and Fin and Munch glanced at each other. For some reason, their latest case had affected her more deeply than the others, and last night she had seemed more distant, absent than usual. Last week, the patrol officers had found an unknown woman wandering in the night, wearing only a thin dress, completely upset. The doctor's examinations had revealed that she had been raped, possibly several times, but the woman herself had not agreed to say a word so far. All they knew was that her name was Annabel Simons, she had gone missing a couple of years earlier and the disappearance had never been solved. All their leads so far had been dead ends, and the woman's silence had troubled Olivia and keep her awake ever since Annabel was found.

"But Olivia had a phone at work, so she must have gone home," Fin crossed his arms. "But where did she go then?"

"Maybe Stabler kidnapped her," Munch snorted, and their captain glared at him.

"Very funny, John. Especially since all we know is that Elliot supposedly took Olivia home, and then they both disappeared. They don't answer the phone, Elliot's car is lost, and…"

He turned to look at the arriving police car, and something in his expression made Fin swallow.

"Uh, Cap… You don't really think that Elliot has kidnapped Liv, do you? Because…"

"Of course not," Cragen shook his head without looking at him. "But our first task is to locate his phone. It's on if it rings, and then…" He rubbed his face. "Goddamnit!"

"Cap, Elliot would never…"

"Yes, I know," Cragen snapped. "But you are experienced detectives, and you know how this sounds to an outsider's ears."

And Fin and Munch couldn't help but glance at each other, anxiety and uncertainty swirling inside them, as they started walking after their captain towards the other cops.

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Maybe Kathy's ghost kidnapped them?
Just kidding.
But seriously? When I saw her?
I almost fell out of bed.
I don't have anything against her, but could she just ... Leave? Please :D