And all that was left was a terrible loneliness and a suffocating fear for both herself and her partner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kathy walked out of the interrogation room, white as a sheet, and Fin had to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out anything imprudent. Fortunately, however, Munch opened his mouth, arms tightly crossed.

"How do you think it went?"

"I… Don't…" Kathy's hands were shaking, and she was looking at the floor with a blank expression on her face. "I didn't… Mean…"

"It's okay, he cornered you," Cragen sighed heavily, shaking his head. "He is a professional who is used to interrogate cops. Civilians are to him like taking a lollipop from a child."

"But I… I betrayed him!" Kathy yelped, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up and stepped closer to Cragen. "Now that man thinks Elliot has kidnapped Olivia, and I gave him everything he wanted to hear! I…"

"Kathy," Cragen had raised his hand reassuringly, but her eyes flashed and her voice rose.

"He can't interrogate my daughter! I won't let him play with Kathleen's mind so that she thinks she betrayed her father too!"

"Kathy…"

"No!"

And before anyone could react, she turned on her heel and stormed out the door, just as Tucker opened the door to the interrogation room. He raised his eyebrows, Fin grunted in frustration and went after Elliot's ex-wife, and Tucker turned to look at Munch.

"I would have liked to interrogate Detective Tutuola first, but he clearly has better things to do right now," he snorted tiredly. "So, Sergeant Munch, please."

And with a sigh of surrender, he followed Tucker into the interrogation room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia wasn't sure how long she had been sitting against the door, but like surreptitiously, darkness had crept into the room, and the only thing she could make out was the window. It wasn't big enough for her to climb out of, but it caught her attention nonetheless, and slowly, her joints cracking, she stood up and walked over to it.

There was hardly anything to be seen outside. Not even the moon illuminated the surroundings, and all she could see was the black silhouette of trees against the dark sky. Not a single light twinkled in the darkness, there was only black, black everywhere, and it suddenly felt squeezing, oppressive around her.

Instinctively, she began to look for her phone in her pockets, but it was useless. She couldn't remember if she had left it somewhere or if it had disappeared during the day, but she was certain that their kidnapper hadn't locked her in the room with a working phone.

She would have liked to bang on the door, scream for help, but something inside her stopped her. She didn't know if there were others in the house, and the rampaging might only cause trouble. So, she sat down again and rested her head on her knees.

And then her thoughts wandered to Elliot again, and fear, crippling, suffocating fear, gripped her chest. Ever since the man had taken her partner away, more and more horrible images had been popping into her mind, and eventually she had had to force her thoughts elsewhere, because she had felt like she couldn't breathe anymore.

What if he's been killed?

But why would the kidnapper have brought him all the way here?

But what if he has died?

Who is the "nurse" the man was talking about?

What if they can't help him?

What if…

What if…

As before, the further her thoughts wandered and the more they gathered power, the harder fear began to block her breath and burn her body. And the more guilt began to gnaw at her guts.

If you had been more careful when you went home, this wouldn't have happened.

Elliot came to help you, and that's why he's here too.

If he dies, it's your fault.

How are you able to live with yourself if he dies because of you?

And how can you live without him?

The last thought was as if someone had given her an electric shock, and she jumped to her feet, tears burning in her eyes as she grabbed the doorknob and began to yank it. She couldn't do this anymore, she couldn't just wait locked in this pitch-black room, waiting for her own fate, waiting for someone to hurt her partner. But the door was strong and heavy, the yanking wouldn't budge it, and in distress, rage and despair, she slammed her fist on it so hard that the sharp pain made her grimace. Surrendering, she sank back down, holding her hand, and tears started to roll down her cheeks again.

And at the same time, she realized that she was terribly thirsty. Hunger was growling demandingly in her stomach and sitting put a very uncomfortable pressure on her bladder. She swallowed the cry back into her belly, wiped the tears from her face, and suddenly screaming for help didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.

But just as she was about to stand up, footsteps outside the door made her freeze in place. Her pulse quickened, her muscles tensed, and as the key began to jingle in the lock, she hurriedly scrambled to her feet.

Without the darkness, she would have had the advantage of a surprise attack, but since she didn't know who was at the door, she didn't know if they were armed, and she couldn't see anything, she just waited where she was, holding her breath.

And then the door opened, and a dark figure staggered in.

Elliot.

"As I promised, I brought him back, but this time without the knife. Arrangements are still in progress, so you can wait here for a while longer," their kidnapper's voice announced, and then the door slammed shut again. The dark figure in front of her dropped to his knees, in a second she was next to him, grabbing his shoulder and kneeling down.

"Oh my God, Elliot! Are you okay?"

Why does it have to be so dark every time, Goddamnit!

All she got in response was a muffled grunt, panic started to grow exponentially within her, and her grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Please, answer me! What did they do to you?"

"They... They took the knife out."

"They? Who are they?"

"I don't… Know…" Elliot's voice was hazy, suspiciously soft, and she raised a trembling hand to his cheek, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

"El?"

But suddenly he straightened his back, she felt him turn his head, and his body began to jiggle.

And she realized that he had started to laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" The shock almost made Olivia lose her ability to speak, but when her partner started laughing out loud, he didn't sound like himself. Instead, he was giggling.

"It's so dark," he answered, and she frowned.

"What?"

"It's so dark! How can it be so dark?"

Olivia had no idea what he was talking about.

"Stop laughing and tell me, what the hell are you talking about!"

But her order had no effect on her partner, who was still giggling to himself in front of her.

"This is the darkest room I've ever been in, and it's great! Like... So dark. So dark!"

"What is wrong with you?!" She snapped. "You sound like you're high or someth-..."

But then she realized. She should have realized earlier.

Her partner was high. Someone had given him something, either strong painkillers or something else to ease the pain, and there he was sitting, giggling to himself like a lunatic because the room was dark. She groaned, rubbed her face with her hands and stood up with a sigh.

"Okay, I get it. It's dark," she replied, grabbing Elliot's arm. "What if you went to lie down for a while?"

She had half expected him to protest, but he slowly got up anyway, still giggling. She guided him to the side of the bed and slowly pressed him to sit down.

"Go lie down on your stomach, so I can check what they did to you."

"So dark… It's fascinating!"

"Yes, yes," she snorted and gently pushed him to lie down. "Are you in pain?"

"Not really," Elliot's voice was muffled against the bed. "They gave me something."

"Really?" Olivia raised one eyebrow despite the darkness. "You don't say!"

"They did," Elliot nodded against the bed, and Olivia bit her lip as she lifted his shirt a little and slid her hand to where the knife had been. Elliot's skin was warm, and involuntarily small electric shocks ran from her fingertips through her entire body. But then she felt a thick patch on his back, and it wasn't wet with blood, so she sighed in relief.

"Your hand is soft," Elliot's voice almost made her flinch, and she pulled her hand out from under his shirt. However, she chose to ignore his comment.

"I don't know who, but someone clearly sewed you up," she shook her head. "I don't understand what the we are doing here."

And her partner didn't answer, just lay still on the bed, breathing calmly. Olivia sat down on the bed next to him, leaned her head against the wall and sighed deeply. For a moment they stayed silent, only listening to the deep, total silence that filled the entire room and made their ears ring, but then she heard Elliot's quiet, sleepy voice:

"Liv?"

"Mhm?"

"Your eyes are dark."

Olivia sighed again and closed her eyes, but before she could answer, Elliot continued:

"I like them. I like how the light makes them glitter. They're beautiful."

Involuntarily, her eyes snapped open, and even though she couldn't see anything in the darkness, she still turned her head towards her partner's voice.

"Well… Thank you."

"They are beautiful…" His voice began to trail off as he began to drift off to sleep. "They're beautiful..."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, but just when she thought he had fallen asleep, she heard his quiet, soft voice:

"You are beautiful…"

And she wasn't sure if she heard right, but nevertheless it ignited a warm flame inside her, and it seemed to light up the whole dark room for a moment.