A/N: Good evening! I had to do a lot of research with this next part. All of the places mentioned are actual places that I picked out of the New York City area map. If you're interested in my writing and want to follow my work more closely, you can check out my tumblog. The link is in my profile. Now, on with the story!


Chapter 2: Personal

Captain Cragen's final words of encouragement before returning to the precinct did little to motivate the detectives. They could do nothing else but watch as he left. The fact of the matter was, this was their case now. It was their job to find out who did this, and make sure they paid for their crimes. But it was far from just another day at the office. This was the family of one of their own. It was anything but routine, but they had to treat it as such.

"Elliot, we should probably take your statement now." Munch said grimly, after a long silence.

Elliot nodded. Munch took out a pad and pencil, and walked towards the living room chairs. Elliot followed, but was stopped when Olivia put a hand on his shoulder as he passed by.

"You sure you're ready for this?" she asked.

"...No." He wasn't ready. But he had no choice. It was an eerie feeling, being at the other end of a conversation he'd had many times before. But he knew that Olivia would be watching the whole time. Munch wouldn't step out of line, not on her watch. It gave him just enough courage to sit down across from Munch. Olivia leaned against the wall behind Munch's chair, staring straight at Elliot with her hands in her pockets.

"You know how this works, El." Munch said as he flipped through his notepad.

"Yeah."

"So, just tell me what happened."

"I had an extra hour for lunch today, so I wanted to come home and surprise Kathy. I came in, the lights were off, but her purse was still here."

"Could you point out her purse?" Munch asked.

Elliot pointed to the black leather bag, still hanging on the coat tree, as if it expected its owner to come and pick it up, like always. Olivia signaled a CSU tech to bag it for evidence as Munch continued the interview.

"What happened next?"

"I thought she might be asleep, so I told her I was home. Kathy is-was a light sleeper, so that usually would've woken her."

"That's when you knew something was wrong?"

"Yeah. She doesn't- didn't usually sleep in the middle of the day."

"So what did you do?"

"I thought that someone might be robbing the place or something, so I got out my gun, and I went to check the bedroom. When I got around the corner, I saw the blood under the door."

"Then what?"

"I tried to open the door, but it was locked. So I kicked it down… and, I found her."

"Doctor Warner said you tampered with the body?"

"I didn't tamper with her. I called dispatch for a bus, then I went to check for a pulse. "

"Elliot, your records show that you lived on… Castleside Street in Queens, until last month. Why did you move?"

"Well, Dickie and Liz are about to start their own lives, so we don't- didn't- need as much space. And since Maureen is engaged, we gave the house to her and her fiancé and moved here. It's closer to work anyway."

"What about Eli, your four-year-old?"

"We thought this place would be fine for just the three of us."

"One more question, Elliot. Do you know who might want to kill Kathy?"

Elliot glanced up at Munch, his blue eyes piercing him like daggers. "No," he half-whispered, his voice so frigid, one could swear the room was suddenly colder.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. I gotta ask. You know that." Munch replied defensively.

Elliot clenched his jaw, then glanced at Olivia, who hadn't taken her eyes off him. A few moments went by before he looked back at Munch.

"We done here?" he snapped.

"Yep. Thanks." Munch said coolly, about to get up. Just then, Fin Tutuola walked in.

"Hold that thought." He said. "Apparently there was a riot at Riker's this mornin'. They just finished a head count, and there's one prisoner unaccounted for."

"Who?"

"Andre Bushido."

At the sound of that name, Elliot thought back to that cold November day, nearly three years ago, when he and Olivia had arrested Bushido. Elliot had infiltrated his animal smuggling ring, under the identity of a customs agent named Mike. There was a moment when Bushido was being forced into one of the squad cars when he had shouted something at Elliot.

"Your family is dead!"

"…your family is dead…" he whispered to himself, staring at the floor. He stood up suddenly. "Bushido did this."

"Elliot, we gotta take you into protective custody." Fin said.

"What? Why?"

Olivia cut in, knowing the answer. "If he knows your address, then he may know where your kids are."

For the second time today, Elliot was terrified. "I'll go pick up Eli."

"We'll take you to him in one of the squad cars." Munch said, looking down at his phone. "We'll get all your kids a police escort, just tell me where they'd be right now."

"Well, Dickie is stationed at Fort Hamilton, and Kathleen and Liz are at Hudson University… Eli is at daycare at St. Patrick's, and Maureen is probably at her office."

"Where's her office?"

"Bayside Pediatrics, it's at Bell and 24th."

"Her fiancé?"

"I think he's on call at Flushing. Dr. James Epson."

"We'll have Queens PD pick them up." Fin said, picking up his phone.

Munch looked back at Elliot. "Okay, so we'll have a squad car take you to St. Patrick's. Liv, you go with him and get Kathleen and Liz on the way. We'll ask Brooklyn PD to make a call to Fort Hamilton."

"And after we have everyone, where are we going?" Elliot asked.

"We'll set you guys up at a safehouse. You'll have officers there round the clock until Bushido is back in his cell." Fin said.

"Then why are we still standing around?" Elliot half-shouted, getting more worried by the minute.

The detectives left the apartment as quick as they could. Most of them were on their cell phones, coordinating efforts to get the kids out of harm's way. Outside, sirens roared and lights flashed as police cars began speeding off.

All the sirens and voices seemed a blur to Elliot right now. He could only think about his family. Somehow, Bushido had found out Elliot's real identity, escaped from prison, and killed Kathy. And his five children were scattered in different parts of the city with an escaped convict gunning for them.

Elliot had already lost his wife today. He couldn't bear to lose one of his children. But it was clear to him now that when Bushido had yelled at him that day, it wasn't an empty threat.

Andre Bushido intended to kill his family.


Hmmm, are the Stablets going to make it? I guess you'll just have to wait and see. ;) But don't worry (too much), you can expect Chapter 3 out on Friday! Please leave me a review (I've gotten so few that I'm really starting to wonder if people are actually interested in this story) and follow my production blog! Have a great week, I'll see you guys on Friday!