A/N: I guess some dreams just aren't meant to come true...

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I'm going to have to use this excuse one of my best friends told me: For all of you whom I told I'd be updating "soon," I just want you to know that "soon" is a relative term. What's "soon" for me isn't necessarily "soon" enough for you and vise versa...Okay, enough crap. Point is, it took me much too long to update and I'm really sorry. Unfortunately though, you guys better get used to it, because starting with this chapter, I'll be posting once a week, if even that. We'll have to see how busy school gets and stuff, so hopefully I'll be able to maintain that goal...Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it and please review!

This chapter is mostly filler, alhtough I did decide to leave a cliffhanger at the end. It's not too evil though, I don't think. I guess you guys can tell me. LOL! It is mostly ER too, and Carby fans, this first scene is for you.

This chapter is dedicated to anyone whom I made cry in the last chapter, and I know there were quite a few of you. But especially you, mi Estrelita, for always begin there to talk to late at night and for giving me back my inspiration. Te amo con todo mi corazon.

I am so sorry! Reposted because I forgot to thank all my wonderful reviwers from last time! (It's late guys, please forgive me - it's like 2:30 in the morning!) Anyway, thanks to princess-dreamer, OElvrs4life, onetreefan, KaydenceRei, martantos, AliasCSINYFriendsER, Drop Dead Saxy, Neela149, WuHaoNi, obsessedwithstabler, CarbyLivesOn, Agnes, Kelly of the midnight dawn, lawandordergal, and estrelita lovesSVU. Sorry again, guys; your reviews were all wonderful!

"All right, Mrs. Peterson," Carter was saying to the elderly black woman whom he was about to discharge, "Just take one of these pills every day for the next two weeks, and you should be good as new."

"Oh, thank you, Doctor," she said, nodding at him.

"No problem," replied Carter as he gave a small smile at Sam, the nurse, and then left the exam room, pushing back the curtain as he left. Carter checked his watch; it was nearly 6:00. He walked quickly through the slowly emptying hallway to the doctors' lounge.

"Hey, Carter!" Frank called as Carter passed him. "Got a patient here for you-"

"No, thanks, Frank," Carter said to him, "I'm off at 6:00." Carter grinned as he heard Frank sigh and call over Dr. Lewis instead. Carter continued to his destination and pulled open the door.

Abby was standing with her back to him facing her locker. Carter smiled and came up from behind her, wrapping his long arms around her waist.

"Hi," he whispered in her ear as he kissed her neck.

Abby felt herself grin. "I'm surprised you're off so early," she remarked as she turned around in his embrace and kissed him on the lips. "Board not too busy, then?"

Carter shrugged. "Guess not," he replied with a smirk. "How was Wendall?'

It was Abby's turn to shrug. "She says I'm making progress," Abby replied dully.

Carter gave her a sympathetic smile. "You know it's going to get better, right?"

Abby sighed, but she nodded. "That's what everyone keeps saying."

"Yeah?" asked Carter as he kissed her again. "That's because it's true." Abby gave a small chuckle. "So what do you want to do tonight?" Carter asked.

"We're actually going to go and do something?" Abby asked, surprised. "What's gotten into you today?"

Carter smiled. "Nothing…I was just thinking about going dancing?"

"Dancing?" Abby actually laughed out loud. "Carter, can you even – I mean – do you even know how to dance?"

Carter suddenly swept Abby off her feet and dipped her. He pulled himself down to her face and stared into her deep brown eyes. "I'd have to say so," he whispered before kissing her yet again.

"Okay, I believe you, Carter," Abby said as they broke apart. "But I still don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Carter pretended to be genuinely upset.

Abby leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I don't think it would be good for the baby."

Carter almost dropped Abby in shock, but caught her just in time. He pulled her back to her feet, his eyes wide. "Are – are you serious?" Carter stammered. "You're – you're pregnant?"

Abby grinned. "Just found out this morning."

Carter grinned back at his wife and then kissed her again. "Abby, that's wonderful!" he exclaimed excitedly. "How far along are you?"

"Just over two months," she replied happily.

"Wow, must be what, a honeymoon baby or something?" Carter asked jokingly.

Abby nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I think so."

Carter laughed. "Oh, Abby," he sighed happily. "I'm so excited!"

"Me too," said Abby. "Hey, you know? We should make Olivia and Elliot the godparents!"

"Great idea," said Carter, "considering they pretty much set us up in the first place."

Abby chuckled. "That's why I thought of them."

Carter nodded. "We should give them a call." Abby nodded and Carter kissed her on the cheek. "But first…we're going out to celebrate."

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Carter and Abby returned home a few hours later, bringing with them cartons of leftover Chinese food. Abby deposited the cartons on the kitchen counter before going to the answering machine. She frowned when she saw the number on the machine.

"Hey…John?" she called. "We have tons of messages on this thing."

Carter came over and looked at the machine. Seven. Seven new messages. This cannot be good, he thought worriedly. Tentatively, he pressed the playback button. He and Abby listened to the tape rewind itself before stopping at the beginning.

Beep. "Hi, Abby; it's Susan. I was just calling to see if you wanted to have some coffee with me tomorrow before your shift…Call me back." Beep.

Beep. "Hello, John." Carter sighed and rolled his eyes at Abby; it was his mother. "There's an event down at the-" Click. Carter pressed the fast-forward button and the tape began to wind itself.

"No point listening to that," he remarked to Abby, who laughed.

Beep. There was a slight pause after the noise this time. Finally a man's voice came over on the tape. "Hi…Abby, Carter…this is Don Cragen in New York…" Abby looked at Carter, her eyes instantly wide and terrified. A call from Cragen was never good. Carter bit his lip, waiting for the message to continue; Cragen was hesitating. They finally heard him clear his throat and then the message continued. "I'm calling because…there has been a –a shooting." Abby felt all of the air in her throat leave her. She gripped down hard on the table for support. Carter's expression was horrified. Cragen's voice suddenly got a lot softer. "We don't know who the shooter is, but he hit Elliot and Olivia. The doctors haven't told us anything, except that it was…pretty serious." Abby felt tears begin to burn in her eyes; she blinked and they began to fall. Crater wrapped his arms around her as the message ended. "Give me a call when you get this, all right? Take care." Beep.

"Oh god," Abby whispered as the machine went on to the next message. "John, you don't think that…?"

Carter cut her off by pressing a finger to his pale lips. He pointed to the machine to indicate his reason. Beep. "H-hi," a woman's voice came over the tape. Abby vaguely recognized it as Casey Novak, but the voice was hard to make out because it was choked by tears. "I'm…um, well Don wanted me to call you…" Abby could've sworn she was so nervous her heart had stopped beating. Beside her, Carter was listening intently. "We've received news on Elliot," Casey finally said, her voice barely audible. "I'm so sorry…" she said before her words were dissolved in tears. "I'm so sorry…" Beep.

Abby felt herself slide to the floor, her head in her hands. Sobs shook her body, and Carter dropped down and wrapped his arms around her, though he was crying too. Even though Casey hadn't explicitly told them Elliot was dead, the message was still pretty clear.

Beep. "I'm sorry," Casey's voice came again. "I never finished the message…" Her voice trailed off as Abby and Carter continued to wait in dreadful silence, save Abby's occasional sob. Casey cleared her throat. "Elliot…passed away a few minutes ago. The doctors said he was making progress, but he had seizures, and…they couldn't bring him back…" Abby screwed her eyes shut as the full weight of what Casey was saying set in. Elliot was dead. Beep.

Beep. This time, there was a long pause before any words came over the answering machine. Finally, Cragen's voice came over the line. The defeat in his voice was so obvious, his tone so solemn, that it shamed the gravest funeral march. "Olivia died." Beep.

Abby absolutely dissolved in tears after she heard that. Carter couldn't take any more messages, so he pressed the stop button, and the tape stopped playing.

"Why?" Abby screamed. "Why - how could this happen? How could they just die like that?"

Carter shook his head. Never before had he felt so hopeless. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do that would change what had happened. It was hopeless.

"I don't know, Abby," he whispered, in sharp contrast to her shrieks. He stroked her hair as he held her close to him, as though his embrace could protect her from the horrors they were experiencing.

"Who would do this to them?" she cried. "Why did they have to die?"

Carter could see how hard Abby was taking this, especially Olivia's death. He knew how close Abby had grown to the two detectives, how much they meant to her…and to him.

"We should call Captain Cragen," Carter said softly, reaching up and grabbing the phone from the counter. "We should see if we can get any details of what happened."

As Carter had reached for the phone, he had noticed the message that had been left unheard. He knew they should listen to it, but he couldn't bring himself to listen to another message about death; he knew the message was just another call from New York informing them of the deaths…

How very wrong he was.

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It took him awhile to realize that his phone was ringing. He was still in shock over what the doctors had just told him, still numb with the pain that he couldn't bring himself to believe was real. It was on one of the final rings that the shrill melody of the phone finally registered with him.

"Cragen."

"Hi…it's Carter." Carter's voice, broken with disbelief and constricted with grief, came over the line. Cragen swallowed hard.

"Dr. Carter," he said, "I am so sorry…." Cragen's voice cracked.

"What happened?" Carter asked. "Did it happen in the line of duty?"

Cragen shook his head. "No," he said, his voice full of a bitter sadness. "And it would almost have been better if it had." He sighed heavily. "It happened when they were out to dinner, in the back alley outside the restaurant."

"That's horrible," Carter gasped. "Who – who would do such a thing?"

Cragen shook his head helplessly. "The feds suspect this perp Olivia had some trouble with years back. Guy's name is Richard White. He brutally murdered an ADA – we got him for that. The feds say he escaped though…" Cragen's voice suddenly caught in his throat. "He always had this thing for Olivia. It was right after she joined the unit too, but she handled it pretty well." Cragen's voice suddenly broke and he found he couldn't continue; the memory was just too raw and painful.

"I'm very sorry," Carter muttered. Cragen could tell the doctor was hurting just as much as the other detectives in his unit. He could only imagine what Abby was going through.

"The funeral is in a few days," Cragen told the doctor dully, remembering what Casey had said about informing Carter and Abby. "I'm sure it would've…meant a lot to them if you came…"

"We'll be there," Carter said softly.

Cragen nodded absently, forgetting that Carter couldn't see him. "They would have been so happy." Cragen cleared his throat and dug around in his pockets for a tissue to dab at his tearing eyes. "We'll have someone meet you at the airport, if you'd like."

"Sure," said Carter slowly. "That would be fine." Cragen could hear the break in his voice.

"I'm sorry you and Abby have to return under such grim circumstances," Cragen mumbled. "I'm sorry it always has to be like this."

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Carter hung up the phone a few moments later and turned to Abby, who was watching him with wide eyes. He tried to smile reassuringly at her, but his muscles wouldn't allow him to. The only thing he could do was to take her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.

"What happened?" she managed to ask, when she had calmed down a bit.

Carter sighed heavily. "Cragen said it's related to an old case – one of Olivia's first SVU cases. Apparently the guy escaped, wanting revenge and…" Carter's voice trailed off.

"When is the funeral?" Abby whispered.

"A couple of days," answered Carter. "I told Cragen we would be attending."

Abby nodded. "That's good."

"When do you want to leave?" Carter asked gently, stroking her hair.

Abby shrugged. "As soon as possible, I guess."

Carter nodded. "I'll see if there's a flight out tonight."

Half an hour later, after Carter had booked two tickets on the last flight out to New York (leaving just before midnight), and Abby had finished packing the bags, the two of them left their dark house. Abby had left a message with Weaver at work telling her they were going to be gone for a few days and that she would explain everything later. She couldn't bring herself to explain everything now, not when the loss was so fresh in her mind. Abby was completely silent as Carter drove to the airport and led the way through the crowded terminal. Tears glossed over her dull brown eyes, and even Carter's reassuring hand on hers did nothing to ease her sorrow. She faded away from him, allowing herself to grieve silently. She leaned her head back against the cool window of the plane, watching raindrops splash upon it from the outside as they began to take off to New York again.

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Back at the Carter mansion in Chicago, a can of pencils above the answering machine began to shake with a growing thunderstorm outside. The hard tin rattled against the counter as it shook; finally, gravity found its mark and the can toppled over. Pencils littered the floor and the can hit the answering machine with a loud thud. The rain continued to roar outside as though the whole world was crying.

Beep. A deep voice laughed softly. "I'm back…"

Beep.

A/N: -Gasp!- Another cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading and please review. I'd love to know what you think.

For anyone interested, I wrote another oneshot called Crash and Burn. It's kind of like a post-Wrath fic, but no Kathy. Check it out if you get the chance.

Also, I wrote another obsession quiz, this time for ER. The link is on my profile page, for your enjoyment!