Darkest Nights

It broke Elliot's heart to leave, but once he got to the squad room at the 1-6, he knew he'd made the right choice. One glance at the pictures of George covered in cuts and bruises and burns, looking more dead than alive and a fire ignited inside him. He had to be the one to cuff whoever had done this.

Agent Mike Torres walked up to Elliot.

"Hello. I assume you're the FBI profiler who will be helping us?" Elliot asked.

"Yes I am. So, detective Stabler, what's the case you need me to work with?"

"A couple of sadists are working together and torturing men before killing them. They recently attacked a profiler who works with us, but he survived," Elliot explained.

"I assume you have a profile for them?"

Elliot recited the profile George had formed before he got taken, while Mike analyzed the photos.

"Huang's profile seems spot on. There's just one thing I don't understand. They're incredibly intelligent— they have to be, if they managed this long without being caught. They wouldn't chance a victim living and being able to testify against them. Maybe they were sure they had made him unable to testify anyway. Though I still don't see why they suddenly slipped from their MO of killing their victims before leaving them somewhere and changed it to leaving them for dead."

"Huang was so close to death when we found him. Maybe they thought they didn't need to."

"But they would have wanted it to be at their hands. They would have wanted to watch him suffer. Unless their MO changed. Again, what prompted it? We need that piece of the puzzle."

"Is there any way to catch them?"

"At this point, I'm pretty sure it's only going to happen if they lose interest in what they're doing and get careless."

Elliot felt a wave of anger come over him. "So, what, George is never going to get justice?"

Mike raised his eyebrows. "It may be likely that all six of the victims won't see justice," he said deliberately. Elliot knew exactly what Mike meant. Before he could retort, Mike began trying to analyze him.

"You're awfully emotional about doctor Huang."

"It would be the same if anyone I knew was attacked."

"So anyone you knew being attacked would make you forget that there are other victims?"

"I guess so."

"Then maybe you need to consider a change, detective."

"Fine, I wouldn't be like that for everyone," Elliot snapped.

"What's special about him to you?"

"Torres, you just got here and I'm not talking to you. I only trust two people to be inside my head," Elliot growled.

"Suit yourself. I'm done with my profile for now, so unless you want to ask me anything, I'm heading out." Elliot didn't offer any resistance and Mike left.

Elliot ran the MO through the system again. Nothing. He altered little details, trying an infinite number of combinations. Finally, he got a hit. A similar MO matched Eric Keyes, charged with rape five years ago…. Found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. His sister had testified against him, claiming to have seen him assaulting a woman.

It wasn't much, but he decided to question her.

"Hello, I'm detective Elliot Stabler," Elliot said to Sheryl Keyes. "I would like to ask about your brother."

"What did he do now?" She snorted.

"You're angry with him?"

"That prick ruined some woman's life. He's lucky vigilantism is against the law or I would've hurt him."

"Can I come in and talk?" She nodded and opened the door.

"I suppose but I have to leave soon," she stated.

"That's no problem, I appreciate you talking to me."

"No problem."

"What did Eric do when he assaulted that woman?"

"He stripped her and did all this awful stuff to her. Cutting, burning… and he humiliated her," she said in disgust. "He told a shrink he enjoyed it right after he got committed."

"Did he ever say he'd like to continue torturing people?" She frowned, concentrating.

"He did at first. Then he stopped for a while, when he was being treated at Bellevue. Then recently he started giving hints. Nothing outright, but saying things like 'He deserves pain' about some people."

"Did he ever mention anyone specific he wanted to hurt?" Elliot asked.

"He did say he hated the shrink that talked to him when he was first committed."

"What was the shrink's name?" She closed her eyes, trying to remember.

"Jeff? No… George! And the last name… H... H something… Huang!"

Elliot's blood ran cold.

"Will you be at this address if I need to talk to you again?" Elliot asked quickly.

"Yeah, but what is it? You look terrified," she commented, concerned now.

"George is a friend of mine," he said shortly. "See you, and thanks." He turned and practically sprinted to his car, ignoring the woman calling after him.

"George had better be able to identify him!" he thought to himself as he threw his car door open. He drove as fast as he could to the hospital.