Wow, thank you so much for the response to this story! Evidently I have no self control and I love Bensler as much as anybody. Therefore, I have written another chapter for this! I do have a few other stories on the go at the moment though, so if you would like me to continue this further please do leave a review so I know how popular that would be. On that note, enjoy!

They spend the car ride in the exact same position, Olivia resting against Elliot's shoulder and clutching his right arm, his left gently rubbing her thigh in silent reassurance that he's there. Despite the fact her eyes are closed and she doesn't move an inch, he knows she's not asleep. He knows she trusts him and that she's safe, but he's known her for too many years to be fooled so easily. Somewhere underneath the veneer of ease she's put up, she's still ready to respond to any threat should the need arise. She usually is anyway, and after what has transpired he can't exactly blame her.

The man driving the car doesn't utter a word, and neither does Elliot, both allowing her the privacy of pretending she is dead to the world. It is better that way. They all know that much. Fortunately, the drive from the beach house to the 1-6 is over an hour though Elliot can't help but wish it was longer, for her sake. She must sense it when they're there, he thinks, because she tightens her grip on his bicep almost imperceptibly, and he might think he was imagining it if it weren't for the small moan he hears escape her lips once the car stops. Her eyes remain closed, though, as though she's a small child who believes if she can't see her parents, they cannot see her either. Sadly for Elliot, the burden of rousing her from whatever state she was in falls at his feet.

'Liv,' he whispers, grazing her fingertips with his. 'We gotta go into the precinct, ok? Just to Don's office, and then we'll get out of here.'

He chooses to ignore the fact that nobody knows where he will take her to, with her apartment still being a crime scene. The force might put her up in a hotel, but he's not comfortable with the idea of leaving her alone.

Olivia opens her eyes slowly, resigning herself to what she knows she has to do. Elliot can practically hear her arguing with herself in her head, but eventually the cop part of her wins the argument and she follows him out of the car, still not completely letting go of him. She can't explain this sudden reliance on him, this refusal to let him out of her grasp. Whether it's out of fear that he'll leave her again, or just because of what Lewis did, Elliot doesn't question it. Whatever she needs, he will gladly comply.

Anything for Olivia.

Once again, he practically shields her from any onlookers as they make their way as quickly as Olivia physically can to the Captain's office. Concern is etched in his face as he takes in the sight of his formerly indestructible detective he considers a daughter. Dirt and blood cover her face and while it's not all hers, he knows from the way it is matted in her hairline and has dripped down her face from there that some of it is. He's only seen her in a state even close to this once, and he had prayed since that day that he wouldn't have to again. At once, he is furious and a fatherly instinct rises in him to personally find the son of a bitch who did this to her and put the needle in his arm himself. What he wouldn't give to watch the light slowly drain from William Lewis' eyes. He is highly aware that rage is not what Olivia needs right now and so he has to settle for making sure she is as ok as he can make her.

Fighting the urge to wrap an arm around her, Cragen gestures to his sofa where she and Elliot both sit, Olivia much more carefully as she tries to avoid aggravating her injuries. Once situated, she stares at a spot on the wall just beyond his shoulder.

'You need to get to the hospital after this, Liv. I just need to take your statement.'

She shakes her head.

'She refused medical attention earlier, too,' Elliot informs him.

'Well, I'm not asking, Detective. You're going to the ER after this and they can tell me if you're ok, or not. Now, can you tell me what happened?'

Olivia goes back to staring blankly into space and the unfocused look in her eyes tells both Cragen and Elliot that she's not going to tell them a thing. The one blessing of Elliot leaving is that he no longer has to think like a detective and so he has no qualms about what he says next.

'Let me get her checked out and in a warm bed and we'll come back tomorrow, yeah?'

He's not really asking, which is abundantly clear to Cragen.

'You know it's best to get a vic's statement as soon as possible, Elliot. We have a very limited amount of time to hold Lewis for without it.'

Elliot sighs. 'I know that, but it's Liv. The guy clearly tortured her and god knows what else he did in those FOUR DAYS HE HAD HER FOR, CAP!'

Olivia doesn't blink, but he feels her fingers close around his hand and he silently curses himself. He knows this is the last thing she needs, him losing his infamous temper.

'Please. I'll bring her back first thing, I promise.'

Elliot has never considered himself one to beg, but he figures he can make an exception for Liv. Someone needs to fight for her while she can't for herself.

Cragen forces himself to take in her cuts and bruises, the way she isn't even focusing on this conversation because he knows full well that if she was listening to it, she'd be demanding to know why they were speaking about her like she wasn't even there right in front of her. His heart feels like it might break and he knows he shouldn't, but he eventually concedes and nods briefly.

'Fine. First thing though, ok?'

Returning the gesture, Elliot thanks him and turns back to face Olivia.

'Let's get out of here,' he offers, gently tracing his thumb against her cheek to grab her attention.

Her eyes flicker to his and she complies wordlessly when he stands and gently pulls her up, following him out of the room without hesitation. Cragen watches after them and notes the way she continues to cling onto Elliot, knowing that he at least did the right thing by calling the man. When the time comes he can and will wring him out for abandoning her in the first place, but for now he will leave him to look after her.

…

The nurses at the hospital examine Olivia as quickly as possible, who offers little in the way of communication except to answer their questions with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

'Are you on any medication?'

Just the vodka and pills he forced down my throat, she thinks. But she knows they left her system a long time ago and besides, it's not like she'll be requesting any more drugs from them.

'No.'

'Any chance you could be pregnant?'

Her stomach turns and, if it weren't for the fact that she'd been held hostage without food for four days, she thinks she'd actually throw up. He came so close. So damn close.

'No.'

Despite himself, Elliot sighs in relief and counts his lucky stars. The bastard didn't rape her, at least. As soon as the thought is finished though, he curses himself for letting it have crossed his mind. Whatever did happen was clearly bad enough to reduce the mighty Olivia Benson to such a state that she wouldn't let him out of her grasp, much less her sight, and she would barely utter more than a word to anyone.

'Ok, any pain anywhere else?'

She's about ready to throttle the poor man and, even though she knows he's just doing his job, she just wants him to shut up. They've been through the break in her wrist, the sprain in her ankle, her countless broken and bruised ribs and the various cuts scattered all over her body. She decides herself that the crushing headache is just a combination of the alcohol and dehydration, not to mention stress, and all she wants now is to go home.

It's only then, however, that she realizes she can't go home, because her apartment will surely be a crime scene now. That's a thought for later though, she thinks. One thing at a time.

'No, I'm fine.'

Her voice sounds so small, so weak and fragile, that it makes her wince internally. Lewis has managed to reduce her to a shell of her former self and she can't decide if that alone is worse than the physical torture.

'Ok, well I'll get you some painkillers and we should be able to have you out of here in an hour or so.'

The words don't fully register until the nurse is halfway to the door and Olivia suddenly grabs Elliot's wrist with her uninjured one. Her head whips around to face him and he is taken aback by the tears forming in her eyes.

'No,' she whispers, shaking her head rapidly, 'no drugs. Please. No more.'

He can't understand why she'd be so adamant about it, but Elliot also knows he'll be damned before he forces her to do anything she objects to so strongly. The only reason he is here is to alleviate her pain as best he can, both physical and mental. Besides, if there's one thing he knows about Olivia Benson, it's that she's tough. He turns to look pointedly at the nurse, indicating that they will follow her wishes and so he bows out, promising to return with discharge papers.

As soon as the door closes, he steps behind Olivia and wraps both arms around her small frame, enveloping her in a deep embrace. She relaxes into it instantly and it's only then that he realizes she was shaking.

'Hey, what's up? Why no medication?' he asks. 'It's only me. I won't tell anyone.'

She takes a deep shuddering breath, knowing there are very few things she has ever been able to keep from him and that she is certainly not strong enough to try now.

'It's how he kept me under control,' she whispers, trying to hide the way her voice shakes after every syllable. 'Vodka, whiskey, and pills.'

Though his tight hold on her doesn't waver, Elliot's mind races as he thinks of all the ways he would personally like to inflict even half the amount of pain on William Lewis as he has put Olivia through. It should have occurred to him, he thinks, that the man should not have been able to overpower her like he did. It made sense, though maybe he had just refused to even let the reprehensible thought enter his head. He still can't quite believe this has happened to the woman he has known for over ten years, but then he reasons that if he can't believe it, how is Olivia supposed to come to terms with it? There's no wonder she's still in shock.

Just then, the nurse bursts back into the room and Elliot's heart breaks as he feels Olivia flinch at the sound of the door slamming against the wall, despite her best efforts to suppress it. Elliot glares at him before snatching the discharge papers and scrawling something that vaguely resembles his signature, passing it back and immediately returning his attention to Olivia. They both ignore the nurse's recommendation to come back if anything changes as Elliot gently leads Olivia away.

He's lost count of how many times he's placed an arm around her since they found her, but he doesn't care. If she needs him to hold her forever, he will. It's as simple as that. They step out onto the street and Olivia vaguely notices that the sun is beginning to set. She usually loves the pinks and purples that spread across the sky at this time, but she doesn't care anymore: all she can focus on is that she doesn't know where she's going to go, and her anxiety about that is only surpassed by her fear that Elliot will leave her on her own now.

'Um, where… where am I…' she can't finish the question, can't bring herself to sound so needy and pathetic in front of him after everything she has been through.

Elliot stops and lets go of her arm, turning them both so that they're facing each other and forces her to look at him. He thinks he knows what she's trying to ask, or what she's trying not to ask.

'Hey, we can go wherever you want to go. We can go to my hotel room, we can book another, we can call Alex or Casey or anyone you want to, ok? I'm not leaving you alone though, never again. So it's up to you, but I'm not going anywhere. I promise.'

She needs that reassurance, he thinks, and his thought is confirmed when she nods and bites her lip, a tell-tale sign that she's trying to keep herself from crying in front of him. He pulls her into a hug and tries to pretend he doesn't feel her tears soaking through his shirt.

'Can we just go to yours?' she asks, too tired to traipse across the city in search of another hotel room.

Besides, they've shared before.

Before.

She tries not to think about what's changed since then.

'Of course.'

Elliot lets her withdraw from his embrace and he hails a taxi, sticking with their habit of letting her get in before him. He gives the driver the address and again lets her hold onto him as they drive through rush hour traffic in New York while he tries to offer her as much reassurance as he can.