I had to find a place to hide. I had to get away from her or she was going to kill me. I could hear her catching up to me. I held Bailey tighter in my arms as I picked up the pace. I slung the diaper bag over my shoulder so I could carry it better. I made sure Bailey's hat was pulled down over her ears and her pacifier was still in her mouth. I didn't want the cold wind to pierce her face like it was piercing mine. I ran inside the all familiar place of the precinct and pressed the buttons on the elevator with my trembling hands. Bailey started to squirm so I started patting her back and telling her everything would be okay. When the elevator doors opened and I saw Elliot I felt as if I would faint.
"Liv?" he asked when he saw me, "What the hell happened?" He walked over to me and took Bailey form my hands as he placed his hand on my back, ushering me to sit down.
"I was running," I said with my voice picking up pitch, "From a killer."
"What do you mean?" Elliot asked with panic in his eyes. He looked down at Bailey who had started fussing because she was hungry.
"Fin," Elliot said taking the diaper bag off my shoulder, "Could you do me a favor and feed Bailey? Olivia was just chased by a killer."
"Yeah, of course," Fin said taking Bailey from Elliot's arms. "Hi Bailey," he said in a kid friendly voice.
"Tell me what happened," Elliot said sitting back down in the chair in front of me.
"I had to go to the grocery store because we were out of formula," I began explaining, "I was just about home when I heard footsteps behind me. I started walking faster and he picked up his pace too. I panicked. I ran and he ran after me. I saw the knife reflecting in his hand."
"You ran all the way here?"
"I didn't know what else to do," I said forcing the tears to stay back, "I told you, I panicked."
Elliot scratched his temple as I sat there trying to catch my breath. I still couldn't wrap my mind around what had happened. How could I have let my guard down? I had my daughter with me and I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.
"Do you remember what the man looked like?" Elliot asked.
"It wasn't a man," I told him. "It was a woman."
I could tell Elliot didn't believe me by the look on his face. His eyebrow was raised and his mouth was in a straight line. "A woman?"
"Yes," I answered crossing my legs, "She yelled at me to stop."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Elliot! Do you believe me or don't you?" I didn't mean to yell at him but, I was still so shaken up.
"I believe you Liv," he said in a sympathetic and caring tone, "I do. Just calm down, okay? We are going to straighten this out."
I sighed and moved the hair out of my face, "I need to see Bailey. I need to make sure she's okay."
"She's fine," Elliot said grabbing my hand, "Fin is feeding her."
"I need to see her," I said again. I stood up and walked upstairs to where Fin was holding Bailey and feeding her a fresh bottle.
"Can I have her?" I asked.
"Of course," he said standing to hand her over, "She was hungry."
I took Bailey from Fin's arms and smiled as I looked down at her innocent little face. Those blue eyes sparkled as her lips contently sucked away at the bottle in her mouth.
"Mommy's little girl was hungry wasn't she?" I cooed.
"Liv," Elliot said rounding into the room, "Cragen wants to talk to you."
I looked down at Bailey one last time, who looked so cozy wrapped up in her warm pink blanket, before I passed her to Elliot. "You had to tell him, didn't you?"
"Liv, you were just chased around the city with a crazy woman holding a knife," Elliot said feeling a little agitated.
"You're right," I sighed, "I just… I'm still a bit shaken up."
"I know," Elliot said pulling me into his arms, "It'll be okay. We are going to find out who it was and everything will be okay." He kissed me on top of my head before letting me go. I gave him a sad smile before I made my way downstairs and into Cragen's office.
"Want to tell me what happened?" he asked as he pointed me to sit in the chair across his desk.
"Somebody was chasing me," I answered. "A women," I continued to say, "She was about the same height as me, maybe a little shorter. She had blondish hair."
"Okay, what else?"
"She yelled…" I started to choke up as I remembered what she had yelled.
"What did she yell?" Cragen asked looking into my eyes.
"You took my child away from me so now I'm taking yours."
Cragen let out a deep sigh and wrote something down on a piece of paper, "Do you have any idea who it could have been?"
"No," I answered honestly, "I wasn't thinking about that. I was just thinking about saving Bailey."
"You going to be okay?"
"I think," I said with the first tear falling, "I really don't want to cry. I'm stronger than this. Nothing actually happened."
"Liv," Cragen said, "You were being chased with a knife. You were worried for your child. It's okay to be shaken up."
I let out a shaky sigh, "You're right."
"Go get you a cup of coffee and take a little break upstairs, alright?"
"Yeah," I said quietly, "Thanks Captain."
Surprisingly, the coffee in the pot was actually tasteful. My guess was somebody besides Munch made it. I made me a cup and then walked over to the couch and laid down while Elliot changed Bailey's diaper.
"This was a stinky one," Elliot laughed as he walked over next to me, "I think she's tired."
"Well it is past her bedtime," I said sitting up. "I got her, you go finish your shift."
"You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah," I said giving a sad smile, "I'll be fine."
When Elliot left I rocked Bailey in my arms and watched as her little eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off to sleep. I stood up slowly being careful not to wake her and placed her in the bassinet that we kept at the precinct for emergencies. I made sure she was warm and then walked back over to the couch and laid down. I couldn't believe how tired I was from running, usually I am used to it but, I haven't been back to work yet since Bailey was born and I guess time has caught up with me. I sighed as I thought about the woman chasing us. Her voice didn't sound familiar, but then again I wasn't really paying attention. I was just trying to make sure I didn't fall. I must have dozed off soon after that because the next thing I remember was Elliot waking me up.
"Liv," he said gently shaking me, "Sweetie, are you ready to go home?"
I forced my tired eyes open and yawned before answering, "Yeah, is Bailey awake?"
"No," he smiled, "She's still sleeping. I already buckled her in the car seat."
I looked down at Elliot's hand where he was holding the car seat with Bailey tucked inside, sound asleep. "She's so beautiful."
"She looks just like you," Elliot smiled.
"Yeah," I said happily, "Let's get home. I'm pretty exhausted and she is going to wake up soon to be fed again."
"Let's go," Elliot said as he wrapped his free arm around my waist.
Let me just say, there is no Kathy, therefore, the woman is not Kathy, and there are no other Stabler children. BUT, it is somebody we all know from the show
