Previously, Elliot and Olivia discovered and explored a new side to their relationship. While the team at SVU continues to investigate, more light is thrown on the events of the day before. As Olivia struggles with the prospect of what Elliot has done, she somehow can't help but involve herself more. With pressure coming from above to do her job, where will her loyalties lie? How far will she be willing to go to protect the man she loves?

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Olivia sat awake all night. While the moment they had shared was everything that she wanted, it was clouded by her concern at what Elliot had been up to in the hours leading up to her finding him at their diner. Her mind constantly switched between flashbacks of their steamy encounter and thoughts of the evidence that she was now hiding in her bathroom.

Elliot's body had been restless throughout the night. Tossing. Turning. It was just more evidence of how troubled his mind had become. Sometime between 4 and 5 am, her concentration was broken by Elliot's soft voice. 'Are you awake?'

She contemplated not answering him. She was afraid of where this conversation could lead. 'I've been awake all night,' she cautiously replied. Elliot sat up beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest. She had comforted him all night, but it was clear that she was the one that needed comfort now. 'You know I would do anything for you… But this is my home, where my son lives…' She paused before looking up at him, 'I need to know what I'm dealing with here.'

'You have nothing to worry about Liv,' he said before softly kissing her. 'I would never put you or your son at risk.'

She wanted so desperately to believe him, but she wasn't even sure if Elliot was aware of the extent of the situation. She had spent most of the previous day looking into the Delfino's, and they were not the type of family you wanted to make an enemy of. If Elliot had brought any harm to Tommy, there were sure to be serious repercussions.

Olivia decided to dig deeper. Elliot's vague, sweeping comments weren't enough for her. She needed to know the details of it all. 'What did you do to him, Elliot?' Direct. To the point. She was done dancing around the issue.

He looked at her with a blank expression, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. Maybe his efforts at playing dumb had worked on others, but she knew him better than anyone. He would need to try harder to deceive Olivia.

'Please don't treat me like a fool. Tommy Delfino, what did you do to him?' Her tone had changed significantly. He had come to her for help, but if she was going to provide it she needed to know everything. 'We went to his brother's house, but someone had already been there… I know it was you Elliot'

'I told you, you have nothing to worry about. Everything is taken care of.' What did he mean by that?

'Ell…' She stopped speaking as he stood from the bed.

'I should head back to the hospital,' he said walking over to the pile of clothes Liv had found him earlier. 'Well, maybe I'll go home first,' he said smiling as he picked up the random ensemble of clothes - a grey pair of sweats, a faded white t-shirt and a dark green hoodie. 'Do I even want to know who these belong to?' He asked, joking as continued to ignore Olivia's continued concern.

'Elliot,' she said. His efforts to avoid her were so frustrating.

'We'll talk later. I promise.' responded Elliot, realising there was no other way to appease her. He walked back over to the bed before leaning across his side and planting a goodbye peck on Olivia's lips. Before whispering the words, 'I gotta go.' As he went to stand up straight, Olivia pulled his head back down to meet hers for another kiss. Unlike the peck he had gone for, Olivia chose to go with a deep, heated and passionate lock of the lips. She wanted to remember what he tasted like, and she wanted him to remember what he risked losing if his behaviour became any more reckless.

'Be safe,' she said as he walked away from her. Before exiting through her bedroom door he looked back and nodded, confirming that he would try his best, but she knew Elliot had never been good at safe.


Her alarm sounded. After about an hours sleep, Olivia went through her morning routine, preparing Noah for school while she got herself ready for work. As she brushed her teeth she was reminded of Elliot's bloody clothes had been disregarded in the tub the night before. Without thinking twice she put them in the washing machine and started it. She knew she was almost definitely tampering with evidence, but she had been void of any rational thought since Elliot re-entered her life.

She wasn't sure whether it was the lack of sleep from the night before or the emotional rollercoaster she had been on, but she felt completely drained. No amount of coffee was going to conquer the exhaustion. She drifted through all the necessary motions and before she knew it she was at work. As she made her way through the station to the squad room she was greeted by a barrage of 'good mornings' - while some were returned with a silent smile, most went unacknowledged. Olivia was not ready to face the world yet.

'Where are we at on the Stabler case?' she asked her team as she entered the quad room.

'Well, we talked to the brother, Charlie, yesterday. He might not be in the game, but he knows when to keep his mouth shut - he didn't give us anything. He said he was must've been the victim of a random break-in, and he ensures us hasn't heard from his brother in weeks,' explained Carisi.

'Do we think he's telling the truth?' Asked a sceptical Benson.

'Not a chance,' continued Carisi.

'There's a reason that kid ain't in the family business. He was already starting to sweat from our friendly conversation. If we turn up the heat he'll definitely crack,' added Finn.

'Okay well, let's not waste any time - get him in here.' Olivia was desperately impatient. She needed to know the whereabouts of Tommy Delfino. If she was going to protect Elliot she needed to be one step ahead of everyone else.

'Already on it, Lieu,' confirmed Carisi.


Olivia made her way to her office to gather her thoughts. She needed some time alone, but as she walked she heard footsteps following her.

'You okay, Liv?' Asked Finn.

'Hm?' she looked at him confused. Clearly, she wasn't hiding her distress as well as she thought.

'I know you should never say this to a lady, but... You look like hell.' He knew something was wrong. Olivia couldn't help but smile at his honesty.

'I didn't get much sleep last night.'

'I figured.' While she could hide her true emotions from a lot of people, Finn knew her better than most. 'If you need to talk...'

'Yeah. Thanks,' she said, cutting him off. She appreciated the sentiment, but she definitely didn't want a shoulder to cry on. She was their lieutenant, she was strong, she was independent, and for all they knew, she was absolutely fine. She couldn't bear to be seen as anything less than fine.


'I already told you people everything I know.' Protested Charlie.

'Yeah. Here's the thing Charlie, we don't believe you.' Carisi leant in, infringing so much on the young man's personal space that he could feel the detective's words echo in his ear. He and Detective Rollins leant on the table at either side Charlie, surrounding him.

'You're not very good at this are you?' Began Rollins. 'My bet is your brothers did all the talking for you growing up?' She knew as the youngest brother he would have some sort of inferiority complex. He was the only one to choose a legitimate path. He was an outsider to the Delfino's in all but name. She was desperate to exploit that.

'We get it, he's your brother and you want to protect him - but you're not like him, Charlie. You're not like any of them, are you?' Carisi continued down the same line of questioning.

'I know what you're doing. Trying to turn me against my family? It won't work.' Despite his protests, it was clear that Charlie was becoming uncomfortable.

'Maybe not, but something tells me you've got a conscience.' Carisi began to play the good cop. He wanted to be relatable, he wanted to speak to Charlie on a level he would engage with.

'Judging by the state of his girlfriend, we're guessing your brother probably doesn't.' Rollins said as she began placing photos of a bettered Kathleen and the bloody crime scene out on the table. Charlie turned away, as a med student he was used to the blood, but knowing that his brother was responsible for such an act was difficult to stomach.

'Hard to look at, huh?' Carisi continued to empathise.

'A med Student at NYU... I'm sure you've worked very hard to get where you are. It'd be a real shame to lose it all.' Rollins was good at the bad cop routine, something about being threatened by a woman provoked a unique reaction in most men. 'Hey Carisi, did you know that, in the state of New York, you could go to prison for five years for harbouring a fugitive?'

'Five years? Wow, that sure is a long time.' Charlie rolled his eyes as the detectives attempted to scare him.

'Look, I said I didn't know anything and I don't.' While he desperately wanted to be accepted as an equal in the family, he wasn't prepared to jeopardize his entire future to protect his brother. Why should he be punished for his brother's mistakes? He sighed, 'Tommy called me yesterday. He said he was in trouble and needed somewhere to lie low. I told him he could stay at mine, but I had no idea about the girl, I swear. By the time I got home, my place was trashed and he was already gone.'

'So where is he now?' Pushed Rollins.

'I don't know, I swear.' He looked at the detectives, 'Tommy's always in some kind of trouble and it usually catches up with him. He'll show up when the heat dies down. That's how it usually goes.'

Rollins and Carisi left Charlie to stew in the interrogation room. They were almost certain he'd disclosed all the information he knew, but leaving him to sweat couldn't hurt. It was amazing what a little thinking time could do to a person's attitude.


'We just got confirmation - the blood we found at Charlie's apartment belongs to Tommy Delfino.' Carisi's announcement confirmed what Olivia already suspected.

'Well, we shouldn't have to look far for this guy. The amount of blood I saw at the scene - there's no way he's going anywhere fast.'

Or going anywhere at all, Olivia thought to herself. She knew what Elliot was capable of. There had been multiple occasions where she had reeling him in from the edge in the past, but she wasn't with him this time. If anything was going to push him over the edge, it would be protecting his family. She thought back to what Elliot said to her that morning, 'everything is taken care of.'

Were they still looking for a suspect, or were they looking for a corpse?

Olivia could feel herself slipping into a daydream, she couldn't help her mind wandering. She thought of all the things Elliot could have done to Tommy. What scared her most was that even when considering the worst, she knew she would still do anything to cover for him.

'Chief!' Carisi's surprised voice snapped Olivia back into reality. William Dodds had just walked into the squad room. His unscheduled visit concerned Olivia. Why was he here?

'I heard about Stabler's daughter. I just thought I'd check in, see how the case was going. I know some of you know the victim personally...' He looked directly at Olivia as he said it. The squad were surprised by his compassion. Their reaction prompted him to justify himself. 'Elliot Stabler is a friend of the NYPD, and we look after our own.'

Olivia was sceptical at his remark. The NYPD had basically forced her old partner into retirement. The idea of brotherhood in the police force was a nice sentiment, but she was only too aware of the fact that at the end of the day, the NYPD looked out for no one.

'Lieutenant Benson, can I have a word? In private.' Dodds began walking to her office before she could even respond. Olivia followed him to her office before closing the door behind her.


As Benson made her way to the other side of her desk, Dodds shuffled awkwardly, the way that he did. As he paced, he brought his hand up to his mouth. Clearly, he had a number of things he wanted to voice. It was as though he was trying to word what he was going to say before he said it. 'Your old partner, how's he doing?' Olivia looked at Dodds, stunned by his concern. 'Don't look at me like that, I have a heart… I know how he must be feeling. It wasn't too long ago that it was one of my kids in that hospital bed.'

'He's not great, but he's staying strong for the sake of his family.'

'And you Lieutenant Benson, how are you doing?' Olivia looked at him to suggest his concern was unnecessary. 'I've heard the stories, I know how close you two were. This can't be an easy case for you.' Was he insinuating what she thought he was?

'I'm fine, Chief.' She assured him.

'I heard that your prime suspect seems to have vanished without a trace, and all that remains of him is a pool of blood found in a trashed apartment.' Olivia remained silent, she wanted to know what Dodds was digging for before she gave him anything. 'He has quite a temper, doesn't he? Your old partner, that is.' There it was, the real reason for Dodds' visit. Olivia remained silent, she wasn't going to warrant his fishing expedition with a response.

'I know I don't need to remind you of your duties as an officer of the law, Lieutenant Benson.' Dodds' warning was less than subtle. So much for, 'we look after our own.' He wasn't concerned about Elliot, or about the case, he was concerned that his Lieutenant was seen to be doing her job.

'I can assure you every lead will be fully investigated, Chief.' She hoped the deceit in her voice would go unnoticed.

'He's not your partner anymore Lieutenant. Your loyalties are to this department, not to him.' Dodds' parting words were like a kick in the teeth. He didn't understand, Elliot was and always would be her partner. She had and always would love him, often more than she loved herself. He was like a drug, she knew of the risks she was taking but somehow she couldn't stop herself. Just like any addict, as time passed, she found herself growing restless.

She needed to see him.


This chapter was more for story development than anything else. If you keep reading I promise there are exciting things to come.

Feedback and reviews are appreciated as always.