Never Her

Sixteen

Elliot swung the door open to see two uniformed officers standing on the other side of it, "NYPD" the first man says as the door opens.

He feels a sinking feeling in his stomach as the two men stand there staring at him. "Yes?" Elliot asks leaning against the frame of the door.

"We got a call from a worried tenant in this building because they heard screaming and some banging coming from your apartment." The second officer informs Elliot slightly leaning over to look past Elliot into the apartment.

Olivia slowly opened the bedroom door and snuck down the hallway quietly to see what was happening. When she got to the end of the hall, she saw Elliot leaning in the doorway and the heads of two officers standing there. Her body felt tense as she waited to see what was going to happen.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that." Elliot laughs quietly and shakes his head. "My wife, uh, she is kind of going through some mental stability issues right now." He shrugs, holding onto the door. "We are both officers of the NYPD too. She had a hard case and we, sort of, got into an argument but she lost it. Ya know how women get?" He asks laughing again trying to play off the situation but the officers were looking at him with apprehensive stares.

"But, everything is okay now." Elliot says and catches movement in his side view. He turns his head to see Olivia peaking around the corner of the hallway. He turns his body and gives her an evil smile.

Elliot opens the door wider and calls her name. "Olivia, come here." She slowly made her way from the hallway towards the door and plastered a fake smile across her face.

Olivia stood right behind Elliot and peered at the officers over his arm with a small smile. "Hi, officers. I'm so sorry you got called here for nothing," She lied right between teeth. "Everything is fine."

Elliot smirked and put his arm around Olivia and pulled her close to his side. The officers looked back and forth between the couple and then at each other.

"I'm sorry we interrupted your evening. I understand sometimes fights get out of control. Have a good night folks," the first officer says. He turns around and starts heading down the hallway. The second officer hesitated for a second. He didn't seem like their story convinced him in the slightest and wasn't ready to let it go. Finally, the first officer called for him to follow and the two left the building.

The second officer looked over at the other as they got into the squad car, "Are you sure they were okay?" He asked. The first officer was his surperior officer and didn't usually question his judgement but this call worried him.

"Did you not recognize them? Those two are the best partnership in the NYPD. They practically run the sex crimes unit. It is fine. Don't worry about it." The older officer says as he starts the squad car.

Back up in the apartment, Elliot had shut and locked the door to the apartment. Olivia slowly backed away until she was leaning against the back of the couch. She kept her eyes trained on his every movement as he strode her towards her.

"Do you realize that was your fault?" He asks angrily. Her wide eyes stayed with his as he stopped right in front of her. She nodded her head and sucked her lip into her mouth. She was just praying things would calm down from here.

"You speak when spoken to, Olivia." He says reaching out and slapping her across the face again. She winces at the impact and put her head down.

"Yes, it is my fault." She whispers hiccuping as she tried to hold back her tears. She wanted nothing more than to stop crying and stop feeling like she was so weak.

Elliot grinned satisifed that she looked so broken in front of him and was at his mercy. He reached out and gave her a good shove before turning on his heel and walking to their bedroom. Olivia stumbled to the side but caught herself on the couch. She heard the bathroom door close and she frantically looked around her phone but she couldn't find it.

Olivia grabbed the coat nearest to her and stuffed shoes on her feet before shoving her keys into her pocket. She didn't wait to listen for Elliot before she walked out of the apartment and ran down the stairs.

Elliot came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. He walked into the living room and he didn't see her standing where he left her. He expected her to still be standing there because he was not done. He looked around in the kitchen and she wasn't there either. He jogged to check the office, the kids room, and their bedroom but she was no where to be found.

He entered the living room again and caught a glimpse of her phone laying on the ground. He snatched it up off the carpet and dropped to the couch. Olivia never left without her phone.

A feeling of dread started to seep into Elliot's bones. He had gone too far. He hurt her too much. She had left him. He never thought she would actually leave. She had no where to go and he knew that she would do anything for him. Elliot said jump and Olivia asked how high. How could she leave him?

Elliot started to panic and got up to start pacing the room. He needed to find out where she went. Who could she have gone to?

He pulled out his phone and dialed the first person he could think of: Cragen. The older man answered after a few rings. Elliot doesn't give him a chance to say anything before he asked if he had heard from Olivia or if she was there.

"No, Elliot. I'm sorry. I haven't heard from her." The Captain informs him regretfully.

Elliot lets out a frustrated sigh. He was sure she would have gone to Cragen. "Olivia lost it tonight. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, she was gone. I am worried for her safety." Elliot lies to Cragen. The Captain lets Elliot know that if he hears from Olivia, he will call Elliot right away. Next, he called Fin and repeated the same conversation.

Elliot debated for a few minutes before he clicked Kathy's name and heard the phone dialing her number. Kathy answered the phone and Elliot hesitated. "Elliot?" She questioned.

"Hey Kath, have you heard from Olivia? She lost her mind tonight and now she is gone. I am worried about her." Elliot explains simply hoping that Kathy knew something.

"Elliot, what the hell is going on?" Kathy asks exasperated. She knew something bad was happening but she didn't know how to help them.

Elliot paused before steeling his emotions. "Olivia is going through a breakdown right now, Kathy. I am worried about her. Please just tell me if you know something." He says annoyed that Kathy wasn't giving him straight answers.

"No, Elliot. I know there is more than that. The kids told me everything. They heard it all." She says to him getting increasingly more frustrated.

Elliot just pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up. Either Olivia was going somewhere he didn't know or somebody was lying to him. She may really be gone.

When Olivia left the apartment, she didn't have a destination in mind. She couldn't go far. She left her wallet and phone. She pulled her coat tightly around her body and just started walking.

She zoned out and replayed the days events in her head. A part of her kicked herself for lying to the officers that showed up but she couldn't risk Elliot getting in trouble and she didn't need other officers in the force thinking she was weak.

If Elliot went to jail, she had no idea what she would do. She felt as if she would be lost without him. She wondered if Kathy would be mad. She would never let her see the kids again and that would kill Olivia. She would do anything for those kids.

Olivia continued walking and found herself near Central Park. She looked down the road before jogging across and entering the park. She just needed some time to think of what she should do.

She shook her head as she walked. She couldn't do anything. There was literally nothing Olivia could do. At some point, she was going to have to go back home and she had no idea what was waiting for her when she got back home.