Cragen had tears in his eyes. He was shaking as he placed the phone back on the receiver. He went out into the squad room and asked his detectives to come into the office. Amaro came in, followed by Rollins, Munch, and Fin.
"What is it Cap?" Fin said, confused at the sudden team meeting. When he realized the captain was crying, he was even more concerned.
"You better sit down before I tell you this." The captain said gesturing towards the couches he had in his office.
What could it be that it was this bad? They had never seen the captain cry, not even munch and he had been there the longest.
The captain tried to speak and tears replaced his words. He couldn't form a sentence, he was crying so hard. When Fin realized how hard he was crying he couldn't help but think the worst. He had wondered why she wasn't at work today bit he figured she would just be late. He never thought that this could happen.
"Cap… It's not-"He tried saying but he couldn't come to say it.
When Rollins realized what he was about to say she broke down in tears. She knew it was about Olivia, she just didn't know what had happened that got the captain so broken down. It could only mean one thing.
"Cap, its Liv, isn't it? What happened to her?" Rollins said, trying not to hit a nerve.
"There's no easy way to say this…" He said, tears still running down his face.
They all sat there in shock. He didn't have to say it for everyone to know what he was going to say.
"No, not my baby girl…" Fin said, leaning over to put his face in his hands while he cried. Munch sat there not even trying to hold back the tears. There was no use; he knew he would lose that battle.
Rollins asked the one question she knew no one would ask, "How?"
"She was on her way to work and she was run off the road. They ruled it an accident." Cragen said, not seeming to agree with the verdict.
"I can't believe this is actually happening. She didn't deserve to die like this." Amaro said, mimicking Fin's position.
Munch asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to. "Who's going to tell Elliot?"
Cragen replied, "I was hoping you and Fin could do it because you two worked with him."
"I'm going to go and talk to him now. I think he would want to plan the funeral arrangements and stuff. He was her best friend, even though they didn't stay in touch." Fin said, getting up and leaving the room, Munch following close behind.
Rollins and Amaro stayed in the office for a few minutes, telling stories about Olivia and how great of a person she was. They were laughing a little but immediately went back to crying when they reached the realization that she was dead.
*Elliot's Apartment*
He heard a subtle knock on the door. He wasn't expecting anyone so he was a bit confused. When he opened the door and saw that it was Munch and Fin, a smile crossed his face. When he realized that Olivia wasn't with them, his expression changed to a saddened look.
"What are you guys doing here?" He tried to say, covering up his disappointment.
"We have some really bad news." Fin said, trying to hold himself together.
"What is it? Is it Olivia?" He said suddenly getting really worried. Why would they come to tell him something, in person, that didn't involve Olivia? They knew he loved her so they tried to keep him in the loop, even though she had shut him out completely after he left.
"Elliot, I'm sorry I'm the one that has to tell you this…" Munch said trailing off, trying to hold back the tears. "Olivia was in a car accident this morning. She was on her way to work and she was run off the road." Fin said trying to ease into telling him the she had died.
"What hospital is she at? I want to go visit her." He said, standing up and heading toward the door.
"She's not." Fin said, grabbing Elliot and turning him to face him. "I'm sorry."
"No. No. No. No. No. NO! This can't be happening! She wasn't supposed to die like this!" He said falling to the floor and bringing his knees to meet his chest as the tears fell in a steady stream down his face. "I should've told her how I felt about her. Everyone else knew, but I didn't have the balls to tell her and now she will never know."
Fin sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. After a few minutes Elliot got up and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Munch and Fin said at almost the exact same time.
"I have to tell my kids." He said as he walked out the door and got into his car. Before they knew it, he had driven away.
*Maureen's apartment*
Elliot had called Maureen and told her that he had something he needed to tell her and the rest of the kids. She said they were all at her apartment, so he could tell them while they were all there.
When he reached the apartment he saw Maureen, Kathleen, Dickie, and Lizzie's cars all parked in front of the house. He knew Eli was there because he had been living with Maureen ever since his ex-wife went crazy and left them.
He went up and knocked on the door. Kathleen answered it, "Hey Dad. What's up?"
"Hey guys, I have some really bad news." He said, as he started to fight the tears. All his children noticed that he was upset, so they waited for him to tell them what was going on, without saying anything.
"Today there was a really bad car accident." He said trying to stall as long as he could from telling them what had really happened.
"Oh, yeah! I saw it on the news. They said a detective died and…" Lizzie trailed off as she realized what she had said. "No dad. It wasn't… Olivia, right?" She said, as she watched the tears form in her father's eyes, as the tears formed in her own. When her father started crying they knew.
"No, daddy. No, it can't be her. I talked to her this morning about babysitting Eli tonight." Maureen aid, as she started to cry. Despite the fact she cut him out, she maintained a strong relationship with his children. She was more of a mother to them than Kathy ever was.
"I'm sorry, Mo." He said, as he went up and hugged his daughter. She sobbed into his shoulder. Kathleen held Eli, trying to comfort him as they were both crying. Lizzie and Dickie sat next to each other on the couch. Lizzie was crying into Dickie's shoulder. He was trying to be strong for everyone but he couldn't hold them in anymore. The tears started falling down his face too.
Olivia Benson was actually dead.
** I hope you guys like the first chapter. I have a lot planned out in my head for what's going to happen next. Watch for updates because this story is going to be a good one! **
