Author's Note: Thank you to those who have reviewed so far!

Chapter 2

When Olivia got up the next morning the couch was empty. At some point during the night Serena got up and went to her bedroom. Olivia folded up the blanket and returned it to the back of the couch. She grabbed her keys and headed to work.

She was pleased to see she'd gotten there before Munch. She could make the coffee this morning and avoid drinking his sludge. Olivia smiled as she pushed the buttons on the coffee maker. Maybe today would be a good day.

Cragen was already in his office talking on the phone. Munch came in followed by Fin. Olivia was pouring her coffee by the time Elliot arrived. She filled his mug and went to their desks. Elliot accepted the drink gratefully and she sat down to check her messages. She opened her mouth to ask about the kids, but was interrupted by Cragen.

"Fin, Munch you've got a body in Central Park. Warner will meet you there." He gave them a slip of paper with the details before turning to Elliot and Olivia. "Your victim's alive." He said. "Sierra Randall. Sixteen. Bellevue." He gave them their own slip of paper. "She was found wandering the streets. No crime scene yet." Both detectives nodded and downed their coffee quickly before leaving for the hospital.

They entered the ER and quickly spotted a uniformed officer standing outside an exam room. "Detectives Benson and Stabler." Elliot introduced. "You found her?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Me and my partner. He just went to find some coffee. She was pretty beat up, but freaked when I mentioned waiting for a bus so we brought her in ourselves."

"Is there anyone with her now?" Olivia asked.

He nodded again. "A nurse just went in."

Olivia looked to her partner silently confirming it was time to divide and conquer. She slipped into the exam room while Elliot got more details from the officer.

As soon as the door opened the girl's head swung in that direction, her eyes wide with fear.

Olivia held up her hands and spoke gently. "Hi Sierra. My name's Olivia and I'm a police officer." She pulled her jacket aside to make sure the girl could see her badge. "I'm here to help you, ok?"

The girl nodded and her shoulders slumped as she relaxed knowing Olivia wasn't a threat. The nurse finished entering information into her computer and announced she was ready to look her over. Assuming Sierra had no major injuries the rape kit would be next.

She had already changed into a hospital gown. Olivia eyed the bag of dirty clothes on the counter. They would need those for evidence. When asked if anything hurt Sierra said it hurt to breathe and pointed out a deep gash on her arm that would need stitches. She also said she hit her head a few days ago and had had a headache ever since.

The nurse cataloged every scrape and bruise, making notes when she could of how Sierra was injured and how long ago. The sixteen year old explained she'd gotten the cut on her arm during her escape. She'd been held captive in a basement for days before finally managing to break a window and climb out. She ran as fast and as far as she could afraid her captor might be following.

When Officers Melton and Graham spotted Sierra she was stumbling down the sidewalk exhausted, but refusing to stop. She had to keep moving. She couldn't risk the man catching up to her if he was following. Melton approached cautiously while Graham hung back out of sight ready to give chase if necessary though they knew she'd never get far. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her hair matted with blood. Neither officer knew what happened to her, but both knew it was nothing good.

"Hey." Melton said softly getting her attention.

Sierra looked up and was overjoyed at seeing the badge on his chest. The static coming from his radio was music to her ears. A police officer. Surely she was safe now. She stopped walking and struggled to keep her balance.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

She shook her head and then looked around wildly hoping the man hadn't caught up to her. She needed to get out of here before he found her.

Melton found she was willing to go the hospital, but balked at waiting for an ambulance. He noticed her frantically eyeing her surroundings and he was afraid she would decide to run. Procedure said call for a bus and wait, but he didn't want to traumatize her more than she already was. They ended up getting her in the back of their squad car and driving her themselves.

Elliot told them it sounded like they had done the right thing. He spoke to both men and got as many details as he could. He'd just sent them on their way when Olivia emerged from Sierra's room. She handed him the bag with her clothes.

"This is going to be a while." She told her partner. She explained they wanted to stitch up Sierra's arm before doing the rape kit. Then they wanted to do some x-rays to see if anything was broken and only then would she be allowed to get the girl's statement. "Why don't you go on back?" She asked. "You can get that to the lab and see if you can get in touch with her parents." Elliot nodded and agreed to come back later.

It was a long morning. Olivia distracted Sierra while the doctor stitched up her arm. Then she held her hand through the rape kit. She sat on a lumpy chair in a cold waiting room while they did x-rays. Luckily nothing was broken, just a sprained ankle and some bruised ribs. The hospital wanted to keep her for observation. She was dehydrated and probably had a concussion. Once they got her settled in a room Olivia was finally able to talk to her and get her statement.

Sierra was from a small town in the mid-west. Her parents were loving, but strict and insisted she quit seeing her boyfriend, Justin, who was several years older. Instead she let Justin convince her they should run away together. He promised they would go to New York City and start a new life together. The money she had saved for her first car bought them two bus tickets. At first things were great, but as their money dwindled so did Justin's interest in Sierra. Eventually he left her for someone else. Suddenly she was broke, terrified, and completely alone in the largest city she'd ever seen.

Then she ran into a man handing out fliers on a street corner. He said his name was Tom and the place he worked was a shelter for kids just like Sierra. He wasn't pushy, but wanted her to know there was somewhere she could go if she wanted help. Tom looked to be in his forties and seemed nice enough. He reminded her of her favorite teacher back home. She was hesitant at first, but he handed fliers about the shelter to anyone who passed by. His t-shirt even had the same logo as the fliers. She decided it must be real and agreed to go with him. She was looking forward to a hot shower and a comfortable bed, maybe even a phone to call her parents. She realized now she never should have left with Justin.

Tom led Sierra away from the busy street. She had no idea where she was or how to get to the shelter so he offered to take her. He said there was a shortcut through an alley, but once they were alone and out of sight she felt something hit her in the head, hard. The next thing Sierra saw was the inside of what she assumed to be Tom's basement. She wasn't sure how many tortuous days she spent there, but she thought it might have been a week. She knew she was lucky to have escaped. She was sure there were other girls who never saw anything outside those four walls again.

"What makes you say that?" Olivia asked. She hated making victims relive their trauma to tell their story, but she needed all the details she could get, especially if this guy was a serial predator.

Sierra was quiet for a moment remembering her first day with Tom. She was still getting used to the fact it was over and she was safe now. "He said if I was good he might let me go when he was done with me, but so far no one had been good enough to get that reward." She remembered his words vividly and could hear his voice saying them. It was at that moment she became truly terrified and realized the horrible mistakes she made to get her in this position. She never should have trusted Tom. She never should have trusted Justin. Like that moment in the basement Sierra's eyes filled with tears and she was unable to hold them back.

Olivia closed her notepad and stuck it in her pocket. They were done for now. She was pretty sure they'd gone over everything and they could always talk again if questions came up or Sierra remembered something new. Olivia laid a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're safe now." She reminded her. "And we're going to do everything we can to make sure this guy never hurts anyone again."

Sierra nodded at the detectives words and her tears slowed. "I want to see my parents." She admitted, her watery green eyes looking up at Olivia. "I want to go home." She said then she looked down at the tissue in her hands, wringing it this way and that. "They probably hate me for what I've done." She said softly.

Olivia sat carefully on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders. "I'm sure they don't hate you." She said. Sierra leaned into the embrace and sniffled. They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "That's probably my partner. He was going to try to get a hold of your parents. I'll be right back." Sierra nodded and Olivia joined Elliot in the hallway.

"How's it going?" He asked.

"No broken bones." She replied. "It'll take a while, but she'll be ok. What did you get?"

Elliot held up a small piece of paper with a phone number written on it. "Her parents would like to talk to her." He said. "You think she's up for that? They'll be on the first plane here."

Olivia nodded. "I think that's exactly what she needs."

They entered Sierra's room and Elliot explained the talk he had with her parents. They weren't upset, just happy she had been found and was safe now. They promised to catch the first flight there, but were desperate to talk to their daughter. Elliot told them he would have her call them if she were feeling well enough.

Sierra was excited, but nervous to talk to them. Olivia helped her dial out on the hospital phone. She spoke to her mother first and once they saw a smile on her face the detectives left with a promise to check in later and a reminder that an officer would be stationed outside her door. She was safe now.

They dropped the rape kit at the lab and stopped at a diner for lunch. Olivia filled him in on what she learned from Sierra and who they were looking for. As much as they hated the thought of finding other victims they hoped they might be able to link a cold case to Sierra's evidence and find more ammunition to take Tom down. If that was even his real name. They headed back to the precinct knowing they had a lot of work to do.