THIS CHAPTER FOUGHT ME LIKE HELL BUT I FINALLY GOT SOMETHING I'M SATISIFIED WITH AN I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE TOO. WE PICK UP RIGHT WHERE THE LAST CHAPTER LEFT OFF. AS WARNED, THERE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE SO TREAD CAREFULLY. NOT MUCH ELSE TO SAY, DICK WOLF OWNS THE SVU FOLKS, ALL OTHERS ARE MY OWN CREATION. ENJOY!

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That evening at the sixteenth…

"How the hell do you parole an inmate and fail to notify the person he tried to murder?" Olivia yelled into the phone.

"Lieutenant, we have tens of thousands of inmates currently in the correctional system, it's possible that inmates might slip through the cracks here and there"

""Might?" He's already killed his ex wife! She should have been at that parole hearing; my Sergeant and I should have been at that parole hearing!'

"And again, I apologize on behalf of the parole board but-"

"Save it!" she barked and slammed the receiver down onto its base and growled in frustration before she got up from her desk and walked out of her office and into the squad room.

"You don't look happy" Amanda said

"What gave it away?" Liv said sarcastically as she approached the conference table where her officers were gathered "Faust was paroled from Elmira a month ago"

"A month?! And they didn't think to notify Jessica…to notify us?" Nick asked.

"Slipped through the cracks" Olivia sneered as she took a seat at the table "but they are sorry" she mocked

"My ass!" Fin angrily exclaimed

"They apparently saw no problem when he failed to check in with his parole officer either! The system has failed this girl miserably!"

"Life failed this girl miserably!" everyone could see how upset Fin was "He abuses her, almost kills her, she loses her son to cancer when he's only seven and now… this is bullshit! Do we got any leads on Faust?"

"Homicide's got a manhunt goin but so far, nothin." Amanda said "it's almost like he's vanished just that fast."

"He got what he wanted" Nick chimed in "He's got no reason to stick around; probably in Canada as we speak."

"Wouldn't that just be the cherry on the fucking sundae?!" Olivia mused as she released a deep breath.

...

He watched her as she got into her car and left the precinct that night…

"Idiots! They're so busy trying to find me and here is am, right under their pig noses!" he laughed to himself.

She looked a lot different from the last time he'd seen her ten years ago – super thin with short-cropped hair. She was beautiful then, but now…wow! Long dark hair, curves for days; when it was her turn, he would enjoy beating and fucking her into submission before he dragged the blade of his knife across her throat and ripped it open but for now, he had to stay out of sight until me made his next move.

"One down, four to go!" he said as he started the car he'd stolen and drove away; he'd lay low for a while, while letting this cunt and her team think they'd have a chance of catching him.

...

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Langan home…

It was just before 10pm when Olivia arrived home with her mind racing from the day's events. After spending a few minutes with Semper and Jax who eagerly greeted her the moment she walked through the door, she headed upstairs, stopping first in Adrienne's room and was not surprised to find Caden curled up beside his sister, face-to-face with his thumb in his mouth just like when they were still in her womb; she and Trevor had given up on trying to make them sleep without each other - it didn't work when they were babies, doesn't work now and so at bedtime when one would crawl in with the other they just let it be, figuring that they'd be sick of each other soon enough so they might as well enjoy the peace while it lasted. She smiled as she leaned over them, adjusting the covers then kissing both their faces, lingering to take in their sweet scents before pulling back and taking Caden's thumb from his mouth.

After picking up the toys that were scattered across the floor and putting them in the toy chest, she kissed the twins again then made her way to Noah's room to see him sleeping peacefully in Trevor's arms who was himself fast asleep in the rocking chair. Noah's teething had been making it difficult for him to soothe himself to sleep lately and he needed the comfort of being held or he'd be up all night and very fussy.

She gently lifted him from Trevor's arms, rubbing soothing circles on his back when he began to stir and when he was sure that he was again sleeping, she gave him soft kisses before putting him down in his crib, staring down at him for a moment before she went back to the chair and leaned in to give her husband a sensual, lingering kiss on the lips. After a few seconds he pulled from his sleep and opened his eyes, smiling at the sight of his wife.

"There are laws against molesting sleeping persons" he said with a quiet grin on his face

"Hi." She smiled

"Hey" he said and pulled her in for another kiss. "how was work?"

"Shit. But I don't wanna talk about work right now"

"No?"

"No. In fact I don't wanna talk at all"

"Sleep?"

"That'll follow" she said and kissed him again before taking his hands and pulling him to his feet, leading him to their bedroom. Once inside, he looked down at her and put his hand to the back of her neck as he hungrily claimed her mouth and pulled off the band that held her hair, sending a cascade of dark waves tumbling around her face and shoulders then began to undo her pants with his free hand, and stripped her of them, her blouse and bra without tearing his mouth from hers.

Their lips parted for the first time, just long enough for her to grab the hem of his t shirt and pull it off over his head while he hovered over her as she lay on their bed in nothing but her panties. After she tossed his shirt, she pulled him back to her lips as she eagerly thrust her hips to meet his. She could feel his hard on and was desperate to have him inside her, needing him to fuck away the stress of everything. He reached between them, rubbing her clit through her panties - they were already soaked in anticipation and she began moaning into his mouth. When he moved his lips from hers and relocated them to her neck then her breast, drawing her nipple into his mouth as he pushed his fingers inside her she threw her head back and bit her lip to stifle the cry of pleasure that wanted to escape.

"Mm! Lock the door" she panted

"Baby, the kids are as-"

"Lock. The door." she repeated urgently, holding his head between her hands as she looked him in the eyes, speaking to him through her own. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop what he was doing but it had been two weeks; she needed this release and if anything were to interrupt them, she was certain that she would lose her mind! As much as she loved the life they'd carved out for themselves, with three kids and two careers, their sex life was suffering horribly, going from at least once a day to lucky-if-we-get-it-once-a-month. It was so infrequent, and so quick when it did happen, they were both amazed that he'd managed to get her pregnant again. He got the message and almost tripped hurrying to get to the door then made his way back to the bed and proceeded to ravage his wife. They frantically made love again and again, and she got the release she sought again and again, both of them trying to squeeze all of their pent up frustration into one night resulting in the most intense sex they'd had in a very, very long time and sending them both into a contented sleep.

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One week later…

An entire week later and there were still had no leads on the whereabouts of Paul Faust. They had gotten calls from all over the tri-state area – same even as far as Virginia, but every tip led to a dead end. Slowly, his trail was growing colder and it was starting to look like he just might get away with Jessica's murder

"How is it a fuckin week later and we got shit?" Fin yelled in frustration as he and the detectives again sat at the table going over what evidence they did have. He'd been here pretty much the entire week since Jessica's murder; eating, sleeping, showering here, having left only the times when he would have to respond to a call. He was determined that they would catch Faust, and with Liv going through another pregnancy and being drained lately, she couldn't put in the time that he could. He would work enough for both of them and he would make sure that the squad worked equally hard; they would not allow Jessica's death to be in vain.

"We got Becky Wallace's statement, Rollins is over at the courthouse getting Judge Michaels to sign the arrest warrant, this case is as good as closed!" Nick said upon entering the squad room.

"Good work Amaro" Fin praised his detective. "now how about we refocus and try to track down Faust?"

"Sergeant" One of the other squad detectives said urgently to Fin "we got a call"

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Langan home…

Olivia heaved violently into the toilet for the fifth time since she'd dropped to her knees just minutes ago. She was awakened by the smell of Tricia baking cinnamon buns down in the kitchen – she loved Tricia's cinnamon buns but this morning smelling them turned her stomach and she quickly threw Trevor's arms off of her and ran for the bathroom. Now she was sobbing as she hovered over the bowl and Trevor walked into the bathroom.

"I can't do this!" she cried, fighting to keep the next gush from erupting "I was n-never this sick with Chloe or the twins!" she quickly found that it was a losing battle and dropped her head as her stomach again convulsed, her throat burning from acid as she vomited again, making her cough. "What am I throwing up, there's nothing left!"

"I'm sorry baby" Trevor apologized as he offered a hand to help her to her feet then flushed the toilet and pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead.

"If you have any hopes of ever touching me again after this baby is born, you're getting a vasectomy" she said as she sniffed back her tears

"Aww sweetie, we don't – wait, what?" he asked realizing what she said as she pulled away and went to the sink to rinse her mouth. "I'm going to assume that this is the vomit talking; I mean it is right? You don't really want me to…"

"I don't know what I want" she said after spitting the water into the sink" All I do know is that I'm sicker than I've ever been during pregnancy, I'm more exhausted than I've ever been- even when I was carrying the twins" she said as more tears slid down her face "I just want this over already!" she cried and walked out of the bathroom and into their bedroom.

"Honey, I thought you were happy about having another baby" he said as he followed her

"I am happy it's just…"

"What? Baby talk to me"

"Work, three kids in three years and now another baby; I just feel completely overwhelmed"

"Baby I get it"

"But you don't. You'll never understand from my point of view." Her nausea still hadn't abated and she was trying hard to keep from throwing up again.

"Then help me"

"We didn't plan for this to happen; getting pregnant again; I don't have enough time with the three we have - I thought that after Noah…"

"We'd be done" she didn't verbally respond, she simply nodded after a brief pause wiping her tears.

"And now here I am again, just when we got some balance back; morning sickness, mood swings… I can barely get out of bed in the morning and when I do, I have to tear myself away from the kids to go to a job that I'm not even sure I want anymore!" she was shocked that she'd actually, finally said it out loud and it caught him completely by surprise. He knew how much her job meant to her and couldn't believe that she was reconsidering it.

"Is that what this is about?"

"I don't know!" she cried "Us, the job, the kid, this goddamn case…and now a pregnancy!" She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath through her nose, exhaling through her mouth while pressing her hand against her stomach.

"Maybe you should lie down"

"I'm fine" he paused and stared at her quizzically for a moment.

"Olivia, do you not want to have this baby?" he asked, it hurt him to even think it and he dreaded her answer even more, his eyes filling with tears as he waited for her reply.

"Trevor-" but before she could get another word out, Noah began to cry over the monitor.

"I'll get him" he said, dragging his hand down his face just as her phone rang.

"Yeah, I should get that, it's probably work" she said then walked across the room to grab her phone. "Yeah Fin?"

"We got a problem!"

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Cassidy home…

"I want to be notified the very second there's a hit on the DNA, I won't be in the office today so you either reach me at home or on my cell." Alex said into the phone as she stood nursing she and Brian's 14 month old son Jacob. "And no one in the ME's office is to talk to the press, we clear? Good. Have Warner give me a call." She hung up just as Brian came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.

"My beautiful wife doesn't sound very happy"

"Good morning babe" she said, turning her head to kiss his lips "I'm not very happy right now"

"He biting you again?" he asked and rubbed his son's thick mane of hair. "Jakey, Bruh!" he said jokingly to his youngest son who, just like his 3 older brothers was the spitting image of himself but unlike them, Jacob had inherited Alex' blue eyes. "Come on, you cannot damage the goods, those are loaners, man!"

"The toddler stopped sucking but didn't detach from his mothers breast as he smiled at his father. Brian gave a quick tickle to Jake's tummy, eliciting a hearty laugh from the boy who playfully swatted his father's hand away"

"No da dee, my ma ma" he smiled and again busied himself with his breakfast and Brian kissed his head.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked Alex as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip

"You're gonna be late"

"I'm the boss, I can do that" he grinned and took a seat at the island counter.

"The case last week, Jessica Morgan?" Alex reminded as she sat down beside him

"The one who's ex husband… "

"Yeah. Well, we got another rape/homicide this morning, same MO"

"And you think it's the same guy?"

"Sure looks like it; just like with Jessica, he left fluids in an on the body, I'm waiting on the DNA to come back." she sighed and ran a hand through her hair "With all the negative press already surrounding what the public perceives as NYPD's inability to do their job, a serial rapist/killer on the loose is the last thing we need!'

"So what happens next?" Brian asked

"If the DNA is Faust's, I have to call a strategy meeting with the commissioner and chief of detectives."

"I can't believe the system just let this guy slip through. This is gonna be a shit storm!"

"That's putting it mildly."

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Saint Vincent's Hospital…

"This baby is kickin ya ass, you look like death!" Fin said to Olivia who had just arrived at the crime scene and walked under the police tape that cordoned the end of the east wing of the fifth floor.

"I feel like death! Is Warner here yet?" she asked as she and Fin walked side by side down the corridor

"Just arrived ten minutes ago. You sure you can do this?"

"Unless there's cinnamon on the body, I'm fine"

"Huh?" Fin asked, confused

"Nothing" she said as they walked into the office suite of Dr. Angela Russo who now lay dead on top of her desk, her blood streaked legs dangling from the edge and the office in disarray.

"What the hell happened here?"

"What happened is it looks like Faust done struck again" Amanda said

"Dr. Angela Russo age 55, same MO" Nick added "Beaten, raped vaginally and anally, stabbed repeatedly and her throat slit" he said angrily as Olivia pulled back the sheet to get a look at the victim

"Right down to the bite marks on her face and breasts" Olivia noticed as her eyes scanned the body that was naked from the waist down. The doctor was still wearing her lab coat and her blouse, both which were soaked in blood. Her blouse was torn open to reveal the stab wounds to her chest along with a large, bloody number 2 that was carved deep into the woman's flesh, right between her breasts.

"The doctor didn't put up much of a fight" Melinda said "My guess is, she tried to cooperate, thinking he'd let her live"

"Fluids?" Olivia asked

"In and on her" Melinda answered "Her secretary says she saw her last at about 8pm last night, body temp confirms death ten to twelve hours ago"

"There's something about her…" Olivia said to herself, her brow furrowed as she tried to recall how she might know this doctor but nothing would come to her and she wondered if it was pregnancy brain making her forget as she turned around to face her detectives. "Nick, get me whatever info you can on Dr. Russo. Rollins, I want you to get the security footage from last night. Fin, what about the cleaning woman who found the body?"

"Already took her statement"

"Melinda, the DNA…"

"After Cabot, you'll be the second person I notify."

"Thanks" she said as she headed out of the office with Fin on her heels. Can you handle things here?" she asked him n a hushed tone as they walked the corridor

"You feelin okay?" he whispered as they again went under the police tape and into the waiting area

"Not so much" she was still battling her nausea and so far, it was winning.

"You need me to get you anything?"

"Thanks but I'll be fine."

"You go back to the office, put you head down; we'll see you in a bit"

"Always the big brother"

"Don't you forget it!" he smiled."By the way, congratulations"

"Thanks." Even though she was still unsure if this even was celebratory as she turned and left.

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Sixteenth…

Back at the precinct in Olivia's office, with the place practically empty and not much work to be done, she sat relaxing on the sofa, slowly sipping ginger ale while absently looking through a file; all the while replaying this morning in her head. She'd given Trevor the impression that she didn't want the baby and part of her wondered if it wasn't true. She was so confused right now but she knew that she couldn't leave the issue in the air; they had to talk about it and tonight, they would she vowed to herself.

There was suddenly a knock at the door.

"Come in" she called. The door opened and Casey walked in.

"How's my favorite sister in law?" she asked as she kissed Olivia on the cheek

"Only sister in law" Olivia smiled as Casey sat in the chair beside the couch. "We haven't seen you and Travis since the twins' party 2 weeks ago"

"We've been a little busy planning our trip. We leave for Paris in three days; I am so enjoying being married to that man!"

"I can tell. I love that you're so happy."

"Love does wonders, even my health is better. Saw my doctor yesterday, my CD4 count is impressively high, viral load is astoundingly low, I'm the healthiest I've been in years!"

"Good because we are not ready to lose you anytime soon." Olivia smiled.

"Any leads in Jessica's case?"

"No unless you call no closer to catching that prick a lead. He disappears into thin air then resurfaces after a week to kill again and he got away; again!"

"This is starting to look like a serial, same MO I hear"

"How did you know about that?"

"Al, we talked this morning"

"Case, I keep feeling like I'm missing something. There is something about that woman that's familiar to me and I don't know what it is."

"That her?" Casey asked, referring to the picture in the file that was open on the table in front of them

"Yeah, Angela Russo" Olivia said as Casey picked up the picture

"Oh my god, it's Dr. Nicholson!"

"No, Russo" Olivia corrected

"No, Liv, this is Doctor Nicholson. She's older, grayer but I'm sure about this. When I prosecuted Faust ten years ago, do you remember he tried to plead insanity? This was the doctor who did his psych eval and determined that he was fit to stand trial."

"…she testified that she believed he was extremely dangerous and that he'd only escalate and needed to be put away…" Olivia said, suddenly remembering "Why would he have reason to come after her?"

"Maybe because her evaluation and testimony nailed his ass; because of her, he didn't skate on a psych plea"

"Revenge" Olivia said

"Looks like it"

"Case, if Faust is killing for revenge… I arrested him, you prosecuted him…"

"And Judge Donnelly locked his ass up" Casey finished "Liv you don't think…"

"I don't know, but we need to get this bastard before he has the chance!"

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There you have it! Love it? Hate it? Either way, review and gimme feedback. Thanks for reading.