Apartment of Elliot 'El' Jonah Stabler

Manhattan, NY

Wednesday-August 3, 2011

6:20 P.M.

Elliot 'El' Jonah Stabler's point of view

I walk into my apartment just as my cell phone begins to go off. I immediately recognize the ringtone as that of my former captain and answer it.

"Don? What's up?"

"Elliot, you need to get over to Olivia's apartment immediately."

The way Cragen put emphasis on the word immediately causes an ice-cold chill to quickly travel down my spine.

"Are Olivia and Susan alright, Don?"

"Susan has been abducted, Elliot. She wasn't home when Olivia got home. You and I both know that Susan would never leave that apartment without calling or texting Olivia to let her know. Olivia believes that Scott Nolan might have been the person that has Susan. Just get over to Olivia's apartment immediately, okay? She wants you with her."

"I'm on my way over there right now."

When I arrive at Liv's building, one of the uniform cops standing outside recognizes me and allows me to enter the building. I take the elevator to the fifth floor where Liv's apartment is located, I am stopped in the hallway about 5 feet away from Liv's door by a dark-haired Hispanic-looking guy wearing a bullet-proof vest over his white dress shirt.

"Who are you, sir?"

"I'm Elliot Stabler. I received a call from Captain Cragen asking me to come to see Liv. He said my daughter Susan is missing and that Liv wants me here with her."

"Come with me. By the way, I'm Nick Amaro, Liv's new partner. Susan calls me Uncle Nick.'

Nick leads me into Liv's apartment and the sound of Liv's hysterical sobs reach my ears. I walk into the living room and find an unfamiliar blonde woman trying to comfort my Liv as she sobs in her arms. The blonde woman notices me standing in the doorway of the living room. She mouths the words Are you Elliot? and I immediately nod my head yes in response.

I watch as the woman whispers something in Liv's ear which causes her to look over her shoulder. She sees me and gets up off the couch where she had been sitting and walks over to me, wrapping her arms around my torso and resting her head on my right shoulder.

I wrap my arms around my Liv and just hold her close as I breathe in the intoxicating scent of her vanilla shampoo.

After a few minutes, Liv looks up at me.

"El, I'm so glad you're here. I was honestly afraid that you might not come."

I softly kiss Liv's forehead and smile at her.

"Of course I came, Livia. Anytime you and Susan need me, I will be there. Now please tell me what has happened."

Olicia introduces me to Detective Amanda Rollins, the blonde woman who had been trying to comfort her when I arrived and then tells me about how she'd arrived home around 6:15 that evening and found the apartment pitch-black and empty then shows me the text and photo of Susan that she believes her psychotic and extremely abusive ex-boyfriend, Scott Nolan, sent her after he had abducted our sweet little girl.

"Susan's out there somewhere, El. She's probably scared to death that she'll never see us again."

"Did... uh, did you ever tell Susan that Scott Nolan is her father and not me?"

Liv shakes her head no and refuses to look at me which is a result of the two and a half years Scott severely abused and degraded her. I gently take Liv's left hand in my right hand and brush a soft kiss on the back of it.

She attempts to smile up at me but instead, begins to cry once again. I wrap my arms around her again like I did earlier and hold her close to me, rubbing her back while whispering softly in her ear that the squad will find Susan.

Suddenly, Nick comes into the living room and tells me and Liv that the evening manager of a small grocery store over in Brooklyn called the station because he swears he saw Susan at around 8:15 tonight.

"The guy says that a girl matching the description of Susan shown on the news alert came into his store with an older guy that looked like he could have been her father. His description of the girl was a lot more detailed than that of the man she was with. He said that the one thing about the girl that stood out the most to him was the fact that she was wearing a grey hoodie that looked like it was at least two sizes too big for her and that it had the NYPD emblem on the front of it on the right-hand side. He thought it was odd that the girl was wearing a jacket with the NYPD emblem on it since she looked like she was only around 11 or 12 years old."

"Did the guy pay with cash or with a card?"

Nick looked at his notepad.

"Uh, he paid with cash."

Liv sighs.

"Of course. Scott is smart and knows not to pay with a card that we could track him through."

"Liv, does you know whether or not Scott have any family or friends that he might go to if he needed help?"

"Well, I remember Scott telling me once that his mother died when he was around 8 or 9. His dad remarried when he was around 13 but they hadn't spoken for years by the time he and I met. He has an older brother named Michael who was living with his wife and their 2 kids in Brooklyn the last time I heard. He also has a cousin named Patrick that he was always close with who works at Henshall Langan. Maybe Trevor knows him and can possibly give us his contact info so we can talk with him."

Cragen, who hasn't spoken much since I got here about 10 minutes ago, suddenly speaks up:

"Olivia, you know that you can't help us work this case, right?"

"Y-Yes, sir. I do know that I can't work this case since I'm somewhat involved. I was just trying to help anyway I could without directly trying to work the case."

"It's alright. We need to head out and talk to the people you told us about and see if they've had any contact with Scott lately. Elliot, are you planning on keeping Liv company?"

"Yes, sir. I was planning to ask Liv if she would like to come stay at my place with me since her apartment is technically a crime scene right now."

Liv looks over at me and nods her head yes.

"I appreciate you offering to let me stay with you, El. I just need to pack enough clothes to last me for a while, ok? I'll be packed and ready to head to your place in just a few minutes."

"Ok. I'll wait out here for you."

While Liv goes to her bedroom to pack, I talk quietly with Don, Munch, and Fin about Liv's current state of mind. I assure them that I will do whatever I can to help them as well as look after Liv. The 3 of them leave after we finish talking along with Liv's new partner Nick and the blonde detective, Amanda, who I've learned is now FIn's partner. I walk down the hallway towards Liv's bedroom to check on her but I stop when I see her sitting on the edge of Susan's bed crying as she clutches the stuffed dog I gave to Susan on her 4th birthday against her chest. I enter Susan's room and sit down beside Liv and wrap my arms around her, holding her close as she starts sobbing hysterically.

"It's gonna be ok, Liv. The squad won't stop looking until Susan is back home with you."

Liv wipes her eyes and tries to calm her breathing the best she can. I place her hand on my chest directly over my heart to try to help her out. It takes a few minutes but Liv finally calms down and apologizes for losing control just now. I place a soft kiss against her forehead and assure her that I understand why she's feeling the way she's feeling.

"I just want my daughter back, El. I just want Susan back."

I gently rub Liv's back in an effort to help her remain as calm as possible.

"I know, Liv. Trust me. I'm feeling pretty scared myself right now. I'm just keeping myself in check because I don't you to worry about me right now."

"I don't normally admit this out loud but I'm scared, El. I don't think I've ever felt this much fear before, not even when Scott was- you know what I'm trying to say, don't you?"

"Yeah, Liv. I do understand what you mean because like I told you just a minute ago, I'm feeling pretty scared right now myself. Susan may not be my daughter biologically but I still love her like she's my real daughter."

"As far as I'm concerned, El, you are Susan's real father. You've always been there for her the way a real father should be for his child."

"Listen, why don't you go pack like you were going to and we'll head to my apartment. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good. I'm really glad that you're here right now, El. I don't think I'd be as sane if you weren't here."

"Like I told you when I first got here, Livvy, I'm gonna be here for you whenever you need me."

"Thanks for that, El."

"You're welcome. Now go get packed."

I know that it may seem like Olivia is acting a little odd right at the end of this chapter but I wrote it that way because I wanted her to act slightly out of character right at the end of this chapter. I think we all know that Liv is a mama bear when it comes to her child and would do whatever she had to do to try and find Susan no matter what it may end up costing her. Don't worry though. Olivia will go back to acting like her normal self in the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and will be looking forward to the next one!