Olivia had it all planned out in mind to do one of the tests when she got home, and then she was thoroughly distracted by the reappearance of Alexandra Cabot. So distracted that she threw protocol to the wind and bolted from the vehicle to talk to her.
What Alex was doing was so incredibly noble while being so incredibly illegal. Witsec gone rogue. The problem was that Olivia had a dangerous man in custody on charges that turned out to be absolutely bogus. His wife and daughter were alive, and Alex had them.
"The law is too slow, Olivia. These women fall through the cracks and the cracks keep getting bigger."
"I need to talk to her. We can keep her safe if she'll work with us, I know it."
"It's too risky! Men like that have far-reaching power and they know how to weaponize it. They need to disappear."
"I can't push false charges. We have nothing without them. Without them, he walks. Do you know he has a girlfriend on the side, too? What might happen to her?"
Alex sighed. "Fine, let's talk, but you need to follow my terms."
Alex wasn't the problem. That abusive bastard of a husband, Nick, finding out his wife and daughter were actually alive and then suing Olivia and the entire legal system was the problem.
Olivia had to look him right in the eye and admit under oath and on camera that she knew his wife was alive. That she had met and spoken with her.
Still, she tried to fix it. She convinced Alex to be a lawyer and help free them via divorce. It seemed like it would go their way.
But Olivia had already put them all in harm's way by interfering with Alex's system.
Nick Hunter took his wife back by force. He jabbed a needle into her neck and it was lights out. He did the same to Olivia and Alex.
When Olivia came to, it was dark, she was stiff, and she heard screaming. "Alemmmmph!" she tried to call for Alex, but found her mouth had been taped shut. She yanked her arms and heard the sound of chains.
"Oh, good. You're finally awake. Fucking bitch. You know, since I've already been accused, I've been thinking I may just go ahead and kill Jules. Why waste the blame?"
Olivia wasn't in the greatest position, but she couldn't help but think Nick Hunter was being an absolute moron. He would be the first person they would track down when they realized she was missing. She just needed to remain alive for the next twenty-four hours, and she wasn't sure how long ago she had been taken. In triplicate.
"The funny thing is, if you hadn't reduced the charges, none of us would be where we are right now."
Olivia tried kicking in his direction, but found that chains prohibited that movement as well.
"Oh, sorry. You're not getting very far."
When he sat on her, Olivia realized just how long a time twenty-four hours could be. How the hell was she so overpowered so quickly? She could already scarcely feel her fingers. Oh, God - she could definitely feel something else pressing into her, though. She could even shrink back. She was against some kind of post, like a telephone pole. A hand yanked her head to the side and teeth sank into her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a muffled scream. She realized that perhaps his bragging meant he intended much worse for her than holding her captive.
She was trapped. Utterly, completely trapped. She had no doubt she would be found. She just prayed that she would be found alive.
"Something's wrong. Liv's still not home."
"Well, slow down, lover boy. She's probably still out with Alex."
"I haven't heard anything, though. And she's really good about calling Noah to say goodnight if she knows she won't get to see him."
"Okay, but this is Alex. Alex is legendary. She was the first you - er, the first ADA that Liv worked with. There was this whole dramatic thing where she faked her death and then brought herself back to life for a trial, and then she disappeared again."
"That's all very fascinating, but it still doesn't make sense."
"Look, all I'm saying is it's easy to forget time and responsibilities with certain company. Maybe they stayed out too late drinking and she had to crash somewhere else before she could tell anybody. Shit happens. But, hey, if she's still not back in the morning and we don't see her at work, I'll sound the alarm bells ASAP."
Rafael sighed in frustration. He knew she wouldn't be drinking. But he supposed such a legendary character might keep her distracted. It was a small comfort, but better than any alternative his mind was constantly conjuring. "Alright, Amanda. I'll try Lucy."
"See, that's a possibility. Try to get some sleep tonight, Barba."
"Yeah… Night." Rafael let out a humorless laugh. Fat chance of that. He knew something was wrong. He could feel it.
He tried Lucy. No dice. He tried every contact, all the way down to those who may have ridden in an elevator with her one time five years ago. He would make sure anyone who had ever heard the name Olivia Benson would be aware that she was possibly missing. That was all he could do.
Olivia had thought she had known pain. Thought she had known torture. But Nick Hunter proved that she had no idea what that meant before he got his hands on her.