Breathing.

Muffled, quiet thumping.

They were not alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was well into the afternoon when Munch and Fin finally got rid of Tucker, who had left to answer the call, and tiredly they trudged into Cragen's office. Tucker had interrogated the Captain last, and they hadn't been allowed to be listening, and judging by his expression, there hadn't been any light banter in the interrogation room. Cragen was sitting in his chair, elbows on the table, face pressed into hands, and Munch and Fin glanced uncertainly at each other.

"How did it go?" Munch asked as he closed the office door, even though they both already knew the answer. However, Cragen did not lift his head from his hands.

"Honestly? We are screwed if we don't find more leads soon," his voice was tired, almost desperate, and Fin crossed his arms.

"That bad?"

Cragen sighed and dropped his hands on the table loudly. "I knew he would put pressure on me, so he couldn't lead me into a trap with his questions. But he wants some documents that don't… Really improve the situation," he grimaced and rubbed his face. Fin didn't understand what their captain was talking about, but Munch frowned instead.

"Hendrix's statement?"

"Precisely."

Cragen and Munch exchanged such frustrated looks that after looking at them for a moment, Fin opened his mouth again.

"Sorry, but what are you guys talking about?"

Cragen stayed silent for a moment, just moving papers around on his desk, but then he answered quietly:

"Do you remember when Olivia found out about her brother Simon, and I ended up having to put her and Elliot through psychological evaluations?"

Fin snorted. How could he forget Olivia's brother, who almost cost her her job in the end? He knew she longed for a family, he knew she felt lonely at times, but he should also have known that of course her partner had joined her mess without a moment's hesitation. He also knew that they had undergone a psychological evaluation due to their escapade, but he did not know the reason, nor had he heard the results of the evaluation.

"Unfortunately. But…"

"I had to get an evaluation of their partnership," Cragen said, before Fin could finish his sentence. "I knew they were close, but Stabler got into that whole mess way too fast," he scratched his forehead.

"You don't say," Fin sighed. "Apparently Tucker wants that statement? What did it say?"

Cragen and Munch quickly glanced at each other, a similar, pained look flashing in their eyes, causing Fin to frown.

"What?"

"'Detectives Benson and Stabler have a degree of mutual reliance and emotional dependence that compromises their effectiveness as police officers.'" Cragen repeated Rebecca's words from memory and closed his eyes. Fin's eyes widened.

"They…"

"She told me they are too close. It was up to me if I wanted to split them up."

Fin suddenly started to feel dizzy when he realized where this conversation was heading. "So, she recommended it? Splitting them up? Why didn't you do it?"

"Because we all knew, Doctor Hendrix included, that it would have been a mistake. Benson and Stabler are some of the best detectives I've ever had, but one of their greatest strengths is that they're together. They have the ability to bring out the best in each other."

"But Tucker doesn't want to hear that," Munch continued, his voice low. "Because it is not included in the statement."

His phone started ringing, and he apologized and answered it, but Fin's eyes didn't move from their captain who looked like he wanted to tear his hair out of his head if he had any.

"But..." Fin had to search for his words for a moment. "How does this relate to Tucker's obsession with Stabler kidnapping Liv? The statement only talks about their partnership, not..."

But Cragen shook his head. "You heard what Kathy said. She told him that "Olivia is the only one who has loved him unconditionally." Tucker sees that as the reason why Elliot would have flipped and kidnapped his partner. And now he gets a document, a piece of paper, where it says in black and white that they should have been separated years ago, because they were already too close back then."

And Fin didn't say anything, he could only grimace as he realized the situation, and then Munch's voice made them turn their heads towards him.

"Guys, Elliot's phone was found."

"Where was it?" Out of the corner of his eye, Fin saw Cragen jump to his feet, but Munch looked like he wanted to throw his phone at the wall.

"In the sewer next to Olivia's apartment."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fear of the dark is something that most people have experienced at some point in their lives. But contrary to popular belief, humans don't learn to fear the dark, it's a programmed, built-in trait in each of us that has kept us alive throughout our relatively short history. A person is defenseless in the dark, vulnerable to attack, and it makes the senses sensitize, the imagination gallop, and the body prepare to fight or flight.

But since the modern world is usually as dangerous a place for people in the dark as it is in the daylight, the fear of the dark is usually learned to be controlled over the course of life. Fear is joined by the voice of reason, which assures that there is no bear in the dark bedroom, and no bogeyman crawling under the bed after the lights are off.

But now, standing in the pitch-dark room, completely unaware of her surroundings, listening to the quiet, heavy breathing and muffled movement before her, fear of the dark hit Olivia like someone had poured cold water on her. It felt burning, numbing in her every cell, preventing her muscles from obeying her commands, and making her feet stick to the ground.

They needed to get out of here.

Even though her body didn't seem to act on command, it still turned on its own, as if guided by some inner force, and she pushed the door behind them hard. It didn't budge, though, so she fumbled with shaking hands for the doorknob, only to realize there wasn't one. She wanted to scream, but she didn't dare, and just as she was about to grab her partner's arm, she realized he wasn't standing next to her anymore.

"El?"

Panic washed over her like a tidal wave, causing tears to cloud her eyes, and she had never in her life wanted so much to own even a tiny bit of light.

"Elliot!" She hissed again, panic choking her throat. "Where are you?!"

"I need to know who is here," his voice was heard a little further in front of her, and she reached out, tried to find him, but her hands only touched the thick, black air.

"No! El, come back!"

"Hello?"

And then, a fear even stronger than the fear of the dark exploded in her veins as she realized that her partner, her drug-addled, injured partner, was walking straight towards an unknown danger that could at worst be his fate. And her legs started to move, breathless she took a few steps forward, hand outstretched, and then she reached him, grabbed the back of his shirt, which was rough with dried blood, and pulled him back. He staggered, and she managed to pull him a few steps towards the door, and then she hissed, fear turning to anger:

"Sit down!"

Elliot obeyed, slowly he lowered himself to the ground, and Olivia swallowed and tried to take a deep breath before sitting down next to him.

"But we need to…"

"No, there's nothing we can do right now," she shook her head and rubbed her face. "We don't know what's there, and even if we did, it wouldn't matter. We can't get out of here," her voice trembled, her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest, and for a moment Elliot just stayed silent. But then she felt his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him, and a silent sob escaped her lips as everything inside her seemed to erupt at once.

Because even though Elliot might still be more or less affected by painkillers or whatever they had given to him, she knew, she knew with all her heart, that he would protect her to the last.

Because she would do the same to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next time Olivia opened her eyes, she had to blink because she had no memory of where she was. She didn't recognize the room in front of her, the air was heavy to breathe, and when she turned her head, she realized Elliot was sleeping against her, his head on her shoulder, leaning against the wall.

What the -…

She moved slightly, rubbed her eyes, but suddenly she felt as if someone was watching her, and quickly turned her head in the other direction.

And she got scared so hard that a scream almost escaped her lips, and a violent flinch of her body made Elliot wake up and raise his head from her shoulder.

Because a group of people, dirty, pale people, was sitting next to them and staring at them.