Chapter 10 - Prisoner
A/N… Thanks for the reviews and follows! Another chapter is coming soon. In addition, I'm working on another LOCI fic called "Snow Drift" which should be up soon. Only five chapters and mostly romance and fluff. :)
x x x
Sonofabitch.
Malik could torment just like he could punish.
Just thinking about him being back in the same room with her again, makes her want to throw up.
By now, he's probably found a stairwell and is making his way toward an exit. At least one security camera should have caught him.
She's only been hit with pepper spray once in her life and it's hard to forget. It sucks.
Her eyes shut involuntarily and she's coughing and gasping for air. Her face feels like it's on fire.
Her coughing soon catches the attention of the night nurse and a medical assistant who rush to her door.
"Oh hon, what's wrong?" nurse Andrea asks, rushing to her side.
"He was here!"she manages between coughs, hoping that's enough of an explanation.
Andrea nods that she understands. She only needs to look Alex over once more to figure out what just happened. "Pepper spray," she relays to the medical assistant.
"I'll get security," he says, and starts to leave.
"Michael, wait," Andrea halts him and he turns back. "Have someone call Manhattan SVU. Then get ahold of Dr. Ritchie and send whoever is available in here to help me with her."
"Got it."
Michael leaves and Andrea returns her attention to Alex. "It's going to be okay."
x
Forty minutes later, the doctor and medical staff finishes with her. They wash and treat the affected areas and replace the bandages.
Her hospital room fills up quickly with SVU cops, medical staff and hospital security. She knows they have to be here, but she's feeling closed in and would rather be alone.
She overhead that they had to chase the press away. According to some of the medical staff, the press started even before Malik showed up.
Jackasses. That's probably how Malik found out where to look for me.
She gives the police a description of what she saw and it really isn't much. A few of the security officers are checking the cameras and so far, no one's reported seeing him.
Cragen is plenty angry. He may have been the one to kick out the press, which explains why he's already on edge.
And it's the middle of the night.
"I was told someone would be guarding her room!" he fusses at the security supervisor. "What the hell happened?"
"No one should have got in. This is a secure facility and we have procedures," one of the security officers answers.
"Our perp disguised himself as a member of the hospital staff. You call that secure?"
"We're checking the security tapes, Captain. I assure you, we'll find him. But we simply don't have the coverage to put someone outside her door."
The back and forth arguments continue.
Bobby enters the room quietly and steps past the two uniformed SVU cops to be at her left side.
Olivia called him on her way to the hospital and filled him in. Looks like he rushed right over.
Alex continues to watch the discussion. She feels his hand brush against her shoulder.
She lifts her head, meeting his eyes for a few seconds.
You didn't have to pull yourself out of bed for this.
He attempts a smile back to her and turns back to hear the conversations in the room.
She's starting to worry more about Bobby than herself.
When there's a break in the conversation, Bobby speaks up. "Captain, I can stay."
"Thanks Goren. We'll post one of our people here in the morning."
Cragen turns back to the security supervisor. "Get my detectives a list of everyone on staff, on call, on sick leave, suspension, vacation, jury duty or recently let go. He got in here, maybe he knew someone."
"Yes, Captain."
The discussion continues for another ten minutes. In that time, there's a little more news about the security camera clips.
They still don't know when he entered, but there's one clip that might show him leaving. Nothing is confirmed.
The group departs, leaving Bobby alone with Alex.
Bobby takes his jacket off, lays it across the top of the physician's desk. He perches on the side of the bed facing her.
"You didn't have to come."
"Cragen wants someone watching your door," he replies with a shrug.
"Give me a gun, I'll take care of it," she groans.
He grins. "Wish I could."
"I kept you up all last night."
"I'll be fine, Eames."
"Okay. We'll sleep in shifts, then. Same as we did on the job."
He nods. "I'll take the first watch."
"Sit here," she offers, shifting over to give him space to sit beside her. It's not a big bed to begin with. There's maybe just enough room so he doesn't fall off.
"You sure?" he asks. He's not sure why he feels a little hesitant. It's right where he sat the night before. Maybe he just wants to give her the chance to change her mind. The NYPD took the chair from her room where Malik sat, but didn't replace it. "I could sit at the end of the bed?"
"You might get kicked, swatted or punched by accident. Or did you forget last night already?"
"Got it." After he's situated, he looks back at her. "How are you?"
She frowns. "I just want to get the hell out of here."
"Try to get some sleep, okay?"
"Rather see you get sleep, Bobby."
"I will."
"You better… Or I'll make them put you in a room."
x
While replacing the bandages, the doctor gave Alex something to help her sleep. Once the room gets quiet with just the hum of background noises around them, she starts to feel the effects of it.
His side barely touches her, but he blocks the draft from the door. She's warm and starting to relax.
Bobby's lost in thought. They still don't have a formal ID on Malik. Using some of the sketches, a couple of the thugs were ID'ed with priors. Warrants have been issued.
Cragen thinks they can smoke these guys out with the media coverage. He also suggested moving her to a different room, putting an undercover disguised as Alex in this bed and setting a trap for Malik.
Eames could take him out in one shot, Bobby muses to himself. Nothing would make him happier than to see her get justice. Well, that and pounding this guy with his fists a few times before Eames finishes him off. Too bad they'll still need Malik for questioning.
When Bobby stirs out of his thoughts and checks on her, she's asleep. Her head is resting against his arm. He'd like to position it so she's a little more comfortable. He moves his arm very slightly and her eyes open.
"Sorry," he whispers.
Alex notices where she laid her head and starts to move it.
"You don't have to… Here."
He tucks his arm behind her pillow. Too tired to question it, she lies back down and he watches her drift back to sleep.
No, she doesn't need someone looking after her.
But he doesn't mind being here with her.
x
He naps off and on during the night. Fortunately, there are no other interruptions.
The SVU officer arrives early to relieve him. He finds a chair and sets it outside her door.
Bobby tries to get up without disturbing Alex, but she wakes.
"I've got to go," he whispers.
"Thanks for staying," she tells him as she begins to stretch a little. She may have only slept for a few hours, but it helps.
"No problem." He retrieves his jacket and checks to make sure he has everything.
"Hey… You were supposed to wake me so you could sleep."
"Forgot," he lies.
She glares back at him.
"See you later?"
She nods. "Bye."
x x x
The tox screen is finished at 10:00 that morning, but it's another hour before the doctor arrives to check her.
As he finishes, he says he'll send someone with the release paperwork and to go over post-surgery instructions.
Another half hour passes without a sign of anyone. She lays back in the bed and Bobby crosses her mind again.
She has a much easier time sleeping with him here.
Sure, maybe it's similar to being on the job and having to grab 30 minute or one hour naps in that SUV. They got used to being in each other's presence in close quarters.
But these are different circumstances. While she's alone in this hospital bed, there's not much to focus on except what happened as she was held captive.
With Bobby here, she forces some of those thoughts out of her mind temporarily. Maybe it's partly for his sake. She doesn't want to unload her frustrations whenever he comes to visit.
Somehow, he provides just the right distraction. He doesn't even have to try.
What am I going to do when I get to my brother's house and can't sleep? Call Bobby and ask him to come over? Alex smirks at the thought.
They bring her lunch and the noon dose of pain medicine. Still no word on the paperwork.
After lunch, she drifts into a light sleep.
x
About an hour later, she opens her eyes and it's dark in her room.
Strange. During the day, the lights are usually left on. Medical staff come in and out of here.
Right now, she's laying partially on her side with her back toward the door.
She's having some back pain. With that, and positioning the knee with the cast, getting comfortable is tricky. Once she finds a position that doesn't aggravate either place, she almost doesn't want to move.
She lifts her head for a moment, looks over her shoulder. She thinks she sees someone standing between the foot of the bed and the door. The door had been left open. She sits up a little more, then looks in the same spot and they're gone.
The medicine they give her makes things a little hazy, but she thought she saw a person in scrubs in her room.
She didn't see the face. Person is tall and male. Too tall to be Malik, so she lets that concern go.
But that doesn't rule out another member of his rat squad.
There's supposed to be a cop sitting in a chair outside the door. At this angle, she can't see anyone.
While she's still thinking about it, Elliot walks into the room with Agent Dana Lewis.
She met Agent Lewis briefly a few years ago. She doesn't know her very well, but she's heard only good things.
"Hi," she greets them.
Elliot steps back and reaches for the light switch. "Is it okay if I turn this on?"
"Yeah. I don't know why they're out," she replies. "Hey Elliot, did you see someone just leave here a few seconds before you came in?"
"No, why? Did you? Anyone we don't want in here?"
Whomever it was didn't say or do anything to her.
Might just be a new intern who thinks she prefers the lights out.
"Umm… Nevermind," she replies.
"Where's the officer that's supposed to be outside your door?" Agent Lewis asks.
"I don't know. I haven't seen anyone."
Dana and Elliot exchange a look.
"We'll look into it," Elliot responds calmly. Irritation shows in his eyes.
"Do you know Agent Dana Lewis?" Elliot prompts, starting introductions.
"Yes. Good to see you again," Alex greets.
"Good to see you too," Dana replies. "I'm so sorry for what you've been through. I wish you a quick recovery."
"Thanks."
"The reason I'm here is to let you know that I've been assigned to your case. SVU is still handling the rape investigation. Malik may be brought up on federal charges. We won't know until we have him in custody."
Alex nods.
Standing at the foot of the bed, Dana opens the leather case notebook she brought with her. In the process, her pen falls out and drops to the floor. She squats down to retrieve it, lifts her eyes for a second and freezes.
"Oh…damn…" she mutters in a worried tone.
"What Dana?" He squats down beside her and she points to the small device underneath Alex's hospital bed.
Bomb.
"You've gotta be shitting me!" Elliot exclaims.
"There's no time to defuse it! Grab her!" Dana orders. She rushes into the hallway. A quick glance around confirms that no one in the vicinity is close enough to be impacted. She yells out, "Bomb! Get back!" to warn anyone approaching and drops to the floor.
With barely ten seconds on the device, Elliot scoops Alex off the bed taking the blanket with him. They make it as far as the doorway when it detonates.
There's a loud pop, a rumble and then smoke fills the room.
Elliot falls onto his side, shielding them both with the blanket.
Debris rains over the room. Pools of liquid on the floor appear to be from the water in the vases that used to hold her flowers. Up near the headboard are the destroyed remains of flowers, vases and cards from family and friends.
He crawls further out into the hallway, still holding her. Dana gets up and gathers some of her things from the floor. She sees that Alex and Elliot are out and appear to be okay, and goes to call for back-up and the bomb squad.
Olivia Benson and Captain Cragen, who were already on their way to see Alex, rush toward her room.
"Elliot! Alex! You alright? What happened?" Olivia calls out.
"Jackass left another warning," Elliot replies, coughing and gasping as he starts to get up. He lifts her off the floor.
"Let's get you both checked out," Cragen insists.
"I'm fine, Captain." He peers down at her when he realizes she still hasn't spoken. "Alex? You okay?"
She gives a slight nod, but no answer. Elliot sees the pain in her eyes.
"We both hit the floor pretty hard. There was no time to be careful," he frowns.
Two medical assistants bring another hospital bed over to Alex, lay her on it and take her to another room.
Olivia shifts her eyes back toward her partner. "Elliot, your hand!"
He glances down to find it covered in blood. "Shit."
"Looks pretty bad. Come on, let's get it checked."
"I'll be fine, Liv. Probably just caught some of the glass."
"You take care of him, I'll go get hospital security," Cragen tells Olivia.
"Okay, Captain." Olivia gestures for one of the nurses and they bring Elliot into one of the exam rooms.
Moments later, Elliot emerges with his hand bandaged, a couple stitches in his knuckles and a prescription for the pain.
Olivia, who had been waiting outside the room, walks up to meet him. "How is it?"
"It wasn't so bad. Thanks for worrying," he smiles at her.
She grins back. "That's my job."
Dana returns with another agent from her squad. They head up the hallway to meet Elliot and Olivia.
"You jinx! You did it to me again!" Elliot groans, pointing his bandaged hand at Agent Lewis.
"Stop whining, Stabler. I told you before, I'm your good luck charm. Lucky for you, I was here."
He rolls his eyes back at her. "Right."
Two workers from the fire department escort a few more from the bomb squad. They pass them in the hallway and enter the room Alex was in.
"So…what now?" Olivia asks Dana.
"He just tried to kill her. We're going to have to get her somewhere more secure while we look into this."
Elliot turns back around toward the door. "Where the hell was Officer Pace? Wasn't he supposed to be out here?"
Just then, Pace wanders toward them.
Cragen returns and joins the group as well.
"Why weren't you here when we arrived?" Elliot asks Officer Pace.
He nods. "I got a phone call, but the reception was bad. I stepped away, but I saw no one enter her room until you and Agent Lewis arrived."
"You sure you saw no one?"
"Pretty sure," the rookie cop answers. "I started back toward the door just before Agent Lewis yelled that there was a bomb. I kept everyone back at this end of the hallway."
"Shane, you were told not to leave your post!" Cragen huffs. "Hospital security would relieve you for a bathroom break or a phone call."
"I was 15 feet away, tops."
"And you saw no one go in here besides me and Agent Lewis?" Elliot presses.
"Oh…wait. I did see a worker go in there. Big guy wearing scrubs," he suddenly recalls.
"Did you get a good look at him?" Olivia asks.
Pace sighs and shakes his head. "I saw him from the back."
"Three people could have died in there! Maybe others, if they didn't see the bomb in time!" Cragen snaps.
"I'm sorry, Captain."
"You're on suspension pending further investigation. Get your stuff and clear out," Cragen orders.
"Yes sir. Sorry everyone," he says, just before he turns and leaves.
Olivia turns to face them. "It was one of Malik's people. About half of them have been ID'ed and their names released to the press."
"You two go find where they relocated Alex. I'll get someone to cover her, but stay with her for now. I'll keep checking in with hospital security to see if their cameras caught our guy," Cragen tells them.
"I need to talk to you for a minute, Captain," Dana chimes in.
"Okay."
Elliot and Olivia start down the hallway away from the others. Elliot stops her suddenly when a thought crosses his mind. "A few minutes before we got there, Alex said she thought she saw someone in her room. Must have been him."
"Here's another thought. How do we know someone didn't trick Pace into leaving his post? He's usually better than that."
"Good point. We still don't know how Malik got in last night or who he might know on the inside. We'd better ask about the call."
x x x
It's mid-afternoon. Other than some additional discomfort and a sore back, the doctor says she's fine.
A little while ago, the feds made the decision to move her to witness protection. She's still trying to process it all when Bobby arrives.
"Hi," she greets. There's an attempt at a smile because she's glad to see him, but that's about all she can manage.
"I heard what happened. How are you?" Elliot called and filled him in. He came to the hospital as soon as he could.
"Alright, I guess," she answers.
He shifts his weight a little. He keeps his head lowered, but she notices the deep concern in him.
"I'm fine, Bobby. Just sore," she offers. "Nothing a few more drugs can't fix."
"If Stabler and Lewis hadn't shown up…you'd be dead."
She nods grimly.
He releases a heavy sigh, then changes the subject. "Did they get the tox screen done yet?"
"Rohypnol and GHB is probably all there was. Anything else has cleared my system. The doctor's releasing me."
"Some good news…finally."
"Not exactly," Alex frowns.
"What?"
She motions for him to come closer so she can talk to him without the guard outside her door overhearing.
"I'm being moved to witness protection. Chicago," she relays quietly.
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow at 5:00am. They're keeping me here for the night. I can't even go home. The story to the press, my family and the NYPD is that I'm being transferred to a specialist upstate for my knee. The feds assume there's a bigger issue at play, they want to see what he'll do. They think he'd go into hiding if they decided to use the explosion and fake my death. SVU's been told to stand down in their hunt for Malik. They can still charge the others if they're found."
Bobby shakes his head. "They're wrong. You've got a psychopath who has fixated on you, even if his original plan was this weapons shipment. Malik's men are just trying to make the matter go away."
She nods in agreement. "The feds don't even have a profile on Malik yet. He's not stupid enough to fall for a fake story."
Bobby's phone chimes suddenly. He glances down and reads a new text message. "Shit… It's Worman," he sighs.
The text is nothing urgent. Worman could resolve the matter on his own. He's probably tired of catching flak from the other agents and Bobby's the only one in that group who isn't bothered by him. At least not yet.
"Go. I'll be fine, Bobby."
"I'm going to come back tonight."
"Okay."
After one last look at her, he leaves.
x x x
Later that afternoon, Bobby enters his boss's office.
Senior Agent Dempsey glances up from his desk. "Hey Bobby. How's your former partner doing?" he asks. Dempsey knows a little about Alex's situation.
"She's okay. Anxious to get her life back to normal," he answers, choosing to omit the latest news.
"Give her my best."
"I will. Thanks, sir."
Dempsey has a good heart. It's one of the things he likes about this guy. That and the fact that he doesn't see Bobby as a liability, unlike the NYPD. He's been very understanding of Bobby's choice to stay near Alex's case.
"So, what's up?"
"I know you'd rather send Worman to the Chicago field office, but I'm not sure that's the right move."
"Why?"
"You asked me what I thought. I think his partner Agent Ming is the right one to train him. If you relocate him, he'll have to go through more adjustments. I don't think that's what he needs."
"I have to send someone to Chicago. That office needed help yesterday."
"I'll take the assignment," Bobby asserts.
"What?"
"Send me to Chicago."
"But I need you here. You're the best criminal profiler I've seen in years. I realize it's been a little quiet around here and I've only had you assisting. It just worked out that way and you've been on loan to the NYPD. I'm anxious to see you take lead on one of our larger assignments. I figured you and I could partner for a little while."
"You said this Chicago assignment would be temporary, right?"
"That's right."
"So it's no problem."
"Any special reason you want to go to Chicago?" Dempsey asks suspiciously.
"Um… No sir."
"Just taking one for the team?"
"Your other agents can't be pulled from their current assignments."
Dempsey ponders it a little further before he admits to himself that Bobby's right. "Okay, I'll submit the transfer request."
He nods. "Thanks sir. Worman can continue to get his feet wet. I think Agent Ming is good for him."
"You really think so?"
Bobby smiles. "A good partner makes all the difference."
x x x
TBC…
Next, Chapter 11 – Distances
A/N… I'm assuming most of you know the running gag on SVU between Elliot and Dana and explosive situations. It fit with the story, so I couldn't resist adding that in here.
In case you're wondering, I had Dana working for a different supervising agent and region from Bobby. That's why he's not part of that case. Can't say much more than that. ;)