And they stepped out, Elliot leaning heavily on her, and the man slammed the car doors shut before announcing solemnly:

"Welcome to Paradise."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This can't be real," Fin grunted as he, Munch, and Cragen were standing behind the observa mirror, arms crossed, watching as Tucker talked to Kathy. "We should be doing something concrete, not gawking at them, when that nuisance is interrogating people completely unrelated to the case."

"I understood that you are in the middle of a divorce. How has your situation affected Elliot?"

"Well, the situation is challenging for everyone, but he has seemed quite normal to me."

"Which one of you wanted to file for divorce?"

"I… Uh… He brought it up first, but it didn't come as a surprise. We have both been aware of our situation for a long time."

"Is there any particular reason for your divorce?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, has there been infidelity in your marriage? Cheating?"

"Um… Not as far as I know. Or are you implying something?"

"Just wondering, because to my knowledge, Detective Stabler and Detective Benson are quite close."

Fin had to rub his face with his hands to keep from groaning out loud in frustration.

"This is ridiculous, we don't have time for this!" He grunted. "We should…"

"Tucker is determined to get Elliot's head on a platter, and Kathy is the way for him to do that," Munch shook his head. "You heard what she said earlier. The divorce awakens years of insecurities, and she's happy to feed them to Tucker. She's not used to this, and he knows how to pull just the right strings to get what he wants to hear," he turned to look at his captain standing next to him. "We should stop this."

Cragen pressed the corners of his eyes with his fingers. "I know, but there's nothing we can do. This is a legitimate interrogation, Tucker is justified in the light of this information to suspect Elliot, and oh he is happy to do so. They are not exactly the best of friends."

"Well, yes, they've been partners for 12 years."

"Have you ever felt like you've become the third wheel? That you are just a duty that your husband has to take care of?"

"What's the point of this?" Fin snapped. "Why…"

"He's trying to break her," Cragen muttered. "He knows that there is more under the surface than she reveals."

"Well what do you think? Would you ever feel like a third wheel if your spouse only came home to sleep and went back to his partner as soon as the first rays of the sun hit New York?"

"Of course I would."

"There's your answer."

"You know, sometimes people develop an obsession with things they can't have. The longer they want it, and the longer something prevents them, the greater the need grows. It's like a pressure cooker that will eventually explode, and the consequences can be unpredictable. Have you ever paid attention if Elliot was in this situation? He is a Catholic man who respects his family, and at the same time, his partner has been the forbidden apple that only the ring on his finger has prevented him from tasting. 12 years is a long time…"

"You are crazy."

"Yeah? So you've never thought about how big the temptation must have been? You've never thought about how innocent victims, children, elderly, have lost their lives in front of their eyes, and the only comfort for them has been that they have each other? You've never thought about how after a rough day they just wanted to forget everything even for a moment?"

"Stop it."

"You've never thought that when he came home and fell into your bed next to you, that he would have wanted to be somewhere else, with someone else? Someone who really understands him, someone who has seen his dark side?"

"Stop it!"

"When was the last time you asked yourself, do you really know him? You married a teenage boy, years have passed, and he is no longer a teenager. When was the last time you thought you could see into his soul?"

"I…"

"Does he talk to you about how he feels? Does he open up to you, does he let you see his deep, dark side? Because I can tell you, he has one. He has seen things, he has experienced things, the darkness of the world has gripped his soul over these years. If he showed you fully, truly who he is, would your love for him change?

"I…"

"Do you ever wonder how he feels? Do you ever wonder how lonely he is? He has a home, a wife and kids, but does anyone see him as himself? Everyone only sees a shell, that decent father, husband, because that's what he wants others to see. But deep down, we all want someone who loves us unconditionally. What does it do to us if no one…"

"Olivia does."

"Sorry?"

"He has Olivia. She's seen every side of him for 12 years, and yet she's still here."

"So you think that her love for him is unconditional?"

"I… I think so."

"Interesting."

"How come?"

"You have been his wife for over 20 years, but you say that his partner is the one who has seen him as he is all these years. And yet you're sitting there telling me there's no way his dark side has taken over him, and he hasn't just… Flipped?"

"I…"

"Thank you. That was all I wanted to hear."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome to Paradise."

Olivia had never considered herself particularly religious. However, she knew the most important stories in the Bible, she knew the story of Adam and Eve, and based on that, she had a certain image of what Paradise should look like.

And where they were now didn't match that image.

They were standing on a small, grassy dirt road, in the middle of a dense forest, and staring at the large, robust gate in front of them. Beyond the gate, further up the hillside, was a huge old-fashioned farmhouse surrounded by a few outbuildings. Behind the house, a small, dark forest pond was rippling quietly in the light breeze.

All in all, the place looked like a pretty ordinary old farm, but even so, something about it made the hair stand up on the back of Olivia's neck. Dusk was already falling, an owl was hooting somewhere in the distance, and everywhere was quiet, too quiet. Instinctively, her grip on Elliot began to tighten.

"This doesn't look like Paradise to me," she forced herself to sound confident, even though anxiety began to grow inside her. "Where the hell are we?"

But the man didn't answer, just opened the heavy gate with his keys, and swung his weapon.

"Follow me."

They didn't move though, Elliot's weight started to make her muscles burn, and the man groaned in frustration.

"Do you want to get that knife out or not?"

Every cell in Olivia screamed against the idea of them following the man into the house. She didn't even need her police instincts for that, just common sense and survival instinct told her that it wasn't a good idea on any level. But a small, desperate voice in the back of her head was painfully aware of her partner's pain and condition, reminded her that they had driven a long time, and going into the house might be the only chance to help Elliot. The man had no intention of taking them home or to the hospital, so they had no choice.

She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and turned to look at her partner, who was clearly waiting for her decision, eyes closed in pain.

He needs help.

And then, slowly, fumbling, she started walking after the man, supporting her partner, and the gate behind them slammed shut loudly.

"You'd better stay alive because I'll kill you if you leave me here alone," Olivia mumbled barely audible, and Elliot didn't answer, but his grip on her arm tightened. Slowly they walked to the door of the house, the man behind them closely following, and then he stepped in front of them, opened the door with his keys, and told them to enter. Although it was not yet dark outside, it was almost dark inside the house, but the man seemed to know where to go, because he walked forward down the hall, fitted the key to the lock, and beckoned them further.

Behind the door was a small, modestly furnished room with one bed and a chest of drawers. Only one tiny window gave the room enough light to make out their surroundings.

"What is this? Where is the doctor?" Olivia hated how small and weak her voice sounded, but the panic tightening in her throat and her muscles tired from Elliot's weight kept her from sounding more convincing.

"This is a guest room, and you can wait here."

And before the man's words could properly reach her consciousness, Elliot's weight was lifted from her as the man jerked him away, pulled him out the door and slammed the door shut. In a split second, Olivia grabbed the doorknob, tried to pull the door open, but to no avail, it was locked.

"HEY!"

There was low thumping from outside the door, and even though she hoped her partner wouldn't do it, she knew he was fighting back. She felt her heart stop as she saw on her retinas the knife in his back tearing at him, she saw the man raise the gun to his temple, and tears clouded her eyes as she cried out, in a barely audible, stifled voice:

"ELLIOT! DON'T FIGHT!"

It became silent behind the door, the blood froze in her veins, and for one horrible, horrible moment she thought it had been too late. But then she heard the man's voice:

"Thank you. I promise to bring him back, but it's too risky to take you both to the nurse. Be a good girl and wait in there, and we'll be back soon."

And then she heard footsteps receding, the man's determined and Elliot's heavy, and her knees buckled before a sob broke out from deep within her, and she collapsed against the door.

"No…"

But there was nothing she could do, the man had taken Elliot from her, and at the same time he had taken the only comfort and security she had had.

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