A/N: An explanation. A realization. A shock.
DISCLAIMER: SVU and related characters/ideas belong to Dick Wolf. Original plot and dialogue belong to TStabler©
It had taken an hour to get everyone to stop crying and calm down, and Olivia did her best to explain why she was gone, why she had to stay away.
Fin couldn't understand, and blamed both Elliot and Olivia for not trusting him, for breaking his heart, twice. He only stayed angry for a moment, though, too relieved to have her back to hate her.
The questions were getting annoying. The questions that she couldn't answer, couldn't even lie about, were starting to break her down. She looked up at Fin, saw the pain, joy, love and concern in his eyes, and held up a hand. "Please," she said, "Just don't ask any more questions. I don't wanna talk about it." She shot out of her seat and started walking up the stairs.
She didn't have to turn around to know whose footsteps were behind her, and she rolled her eyes. "You don't have to…"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, remember," his voice interrupted.
She rolled her eyes, unsure of whether or not this was a good idea. She opened the door to the bunk room, leaving it open for him as she walked in. She plopped on the nearest bed, and looked at him.
He shut the door and sat beside her, wrapped her in his arms, and let out a hard, deep breath. "Shit," he said softly.
Holding him back, she nodded.
"How did he find you? What did he do?" he asked, asking her some of the same questions the others had been firing at her, knowing she would answer them for him.
She took a shaky breath and said, "Dean was watching the house, he saw Cassidy's father down the block heading for the place. He must have known someone was watching because he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looked around, then walked away. An hour later I got a phone call, it was him. He told me about Cragen, told me what he was trying to hide from me, and that he had to get even now. He laughed and then he told me that if I wanted it to be quick and painless I'd lose the protective detail and just let him in."
"You should have called me!" Elliot said with passion in his voice, masking the fear and slight anger. "Not Dean, baby…"
"Dean was outside, El," she said, looking into his eyes. "You know he has the phone tapped, so he heard everything. I didn't call him."
Elliot nodded and pulled her closer. "We're okay. We'll be okay. I promise. We're gonna get this guy, baby."
She scoffed. "Yeah, Porter making you babysit me twenty-four-seven while they follow a paper-trail isn't gonna…"
"We, you and me, Porter's not included," he cut her off and pressed a soft kiss. "No one wants to step up and deal with this because Cragen's involved, they want to handle this according to protocol and regulations like it's just another case. Screw that."
She looked at him again, this time her eyes were cold, with only the barest bit of love in them. "You're right," she said, finding her strength. "This is…this was never going to be someone else's job, was it? From the moment my apartment blew to bits, this was our problem."
Elliot smirked. He ran a hand through her hair, suppressing the urge to grab the ends of her locks and yank. He loved her like this, powerful, strong, a bit violent. He saw it all in her eyes. "Yeah," he said. "It was."
Her eyes flashed, and for a moment she felt a little vengeful. So much had been taken away from her and she sat by and let it all happen instead of taking this stand with Elliot. "What are we waiting for?" she asked, turning to look at him again. The smile on her face was almost evil.
"What's gotten into you?" he asked, his grin matching hers.
"Something that should have gotten into me a long time ago." She kissed him, then rose to her feet. "I'm ready when you are."
"Now?" Elliot asked, furrowing his brow at her.
"The sooner the better," she said. "I'm not gonna sit around here all day, listening to Munch and Fin ask me questions I can't answer and tell me how pissed off and hurt they were. I know I hurt them, I hurt everyone, El. You, the kids…he ripped me away from everything I love, my job, we couldn't plan a wedding, I lost my job, I'm done! I've done letting him win, and I wanna make the fucker responsible pay for it."
Elliot stood quickly and gripped her shoulders, stopping her frantic and harsh movements. "Calm down, baby," he said. "I know, I know, I do, too, but we can't just…"
"Yes, we can," she said, nodding.
He saw the seriousness and desperation in her eyes. He sighed and ran his fingers through her hair again. "It's been a while since I've seen you that riled up."
"It's been a while since I felt like I was allowed to feel like that," she said. "Since I felt like myself."
He kissed her, and he looked into her eyes. "Let's go get our life back."
She pulled away from him and swung open the door. She ran down the steps with him right behind her, and Dean looked at them with a worried expression.
"What happened?" Porter asked. "What…"
"We're going," Elliot said, more to Fin and Munch than anyone. "We might not be back for a while."
Porter stepped in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Well," Elliot said, "First, we're stopping by TARU to get a phone dump on the house line, then we're gonna take a ride up to Hunter in Personnel and see if George Cassidy's home address is still on file."
Porter turned a pretty shade of red. "Like, hell you…"
"We're gonna pay him a little visit," Elliot said, cutting him off. "After we find him, we're gonna look for Cragen. He has a lot of explaining to do." He turned and snarled at Porter. "Basically, we're doing what you should have done a long time ago." His eyes narrowed. "If you would have given this case priority, listened to us when we told you what we suspected and took action, and if you would have been concentrating on getting the people involved before they could make another move, then Liv and I would…"
He had stopped midsentence, his eyes flickering with a gross realization. "You knew that," he said, his voice low. "You knew that if you got this mess cleaned up as soon as possible, we'd be making plans, and sending out invitations, and having a shower and you…you wanted to keep us from doing that as long as possible." He took a step forward as Porter took a step backward. "The longer you kept the case open, the longer you'd have to be in her life, watching her, controlling her."
"Elliot, calm down," Porter said, backing away and holding his hands up.
"I am calm," Elliot spat. "This is as calm as I can be right now, you son of a bitch! Do you have any idea of the hell you've put us through?" He raised his hand to grab Porter's throat.
"Elliot!" Olivia snapped. "He's not worth it."
Elliot closed his hand, balling into a fist. He took a step back and said, "We're going. We're taking care of this."
"I can't let you do that, Elliot. This is not a Special Victims Case," Porter said, his voice loud but shaky. He was always a bit intimidated by Elliot.
Elliot smirked. "That's good," he said. He unclipped his badge and slapped it onto his desk. "Because I'm not a Special Victims Detective." He grunted and turned, pulling Olivia roughly toward the door and out of the room.
Fin and Munch, with wide eyes and dropped jaws, simultaneously turned and glared at Porter. "Hey," Fin hissed. "You have a few questions to answer."
Morales had been surprised to see Olivia, to say the least, and he gladly helped them get the information they needed. The threatening phone call had come from a cell phone, disposable and untraceable. They had to convince their friend in Personnel that he wouldn't get into trouble, although it was, technically, against policy to search through records without a reason or open case.
Address in hand, they left, hoping to put an end to this nightmare once and for all. Elliot's foot was pressing a little too hard on the gas, they didn't have a lot of time before Porter would call in his troops and take the credit for figuring it all out. He wanted to do this; he had to be the one to take them down. His pride was at stake.
"Slow down," Olivia said, timidly reaching for his hand. She ran a finger over his knuckles, sheer white as his hands clutched the wheel.
"No," he responded quite quickly. "No way. That fucking asshole, Liv, he was purposely keeping you…"
"I know he was," she interrupted, "But I don't want to die on this highway, El."
Elliot laughed, sounding slightly crazy. "We're not gonna die," he said. He changed lanes, took the closest exit, and sped down the road toward their destination.
She took a breath and closed her eyes, thinking calming thoughts, and then she remembered why this had all happened. "You don't think he raped her, do you?"
Elliot coughed. He didn't know what to say. "I don't think anything, right now, baby. I know things. I know he blew up your apartment, whether or not he intended to kill you isn't my concern. I know he killed Cassidy and left him on the hood of the sedan. I know you're now being chased by a vengeful father, who knows that Cragen had something to do with you and your mother and never fucking told you. I know all of that, and that's enough of a reason to…"
"Stop," she commanded. "That's the house."
The brakes screeched and the car came to a halt with a jerk. They both got out of the car, hands immediately flying to their weapons, and they headed up the stairs. "You left your badge…"
"I know I did," Elliot said. "I'm not a cop right now, I'm a pissed off man with a grudge and a gun."
She eyed him for a moment, then nodded. He reached for the doorknob, just as the door flew open.
"Well, hello," the man said, grinning. "How nice, you came to me and saved me the trouble of coming back to get you later. And you brought my friend with you."
Elliot aimed his gun and cocked the trigger. "I wouldn't say I'm a friend, George."
"I wasn't talking about you," Cassidy's father said, smiling as another trigger was cocked, behind Olivia and Elliot.
Elliot, keeping his gun aimed, turned his head, as Olivia did the same. His eyes narrowed to slits as hers widened, and before either one could honestly react, the man they were now facing pulled his trigger.
It was a clean shot, right between the eyes, killing its target instantly.
Olivia's eyes welled up but she couldn't cry, not yet. "You…you just shot…you killed him."
The man nodded. "That was the plan," he said.
"Don," Olivia whispered. "Why…what…"
Cragen turned his gun around and held it out to the only man left standing. "Arrest me," he said.
Elliot, spattered with blood and still in shock that he'd just watched his captain and friend kill George Cassidy, shook his head. "I can't."
"Elliot, I know what I did," Cragen said. "Take me in so I can explain what…"
"I can't." Elliot said, awareness hitting him like a bullet. "I'm not…shit, I think I quit."
Cragen's eyes widened, and then slid slowly closed. "Stabler," he said, sounding disappointed. "What the hell did you do?"
Olivia, fighting conflicting emotions, reached into her pocket. She gripped her badge, squeezing it tightly, and said, "Just get him in the car, Elliot."
Elliot looked around, down at the body bleeding onto the carpet beyond the open door, then back up at Cragen. He saw her walking toward the car and shouted, "Liv, baby, I can't, I don't have…"
"I do," she shouted over her shoulder as she got behind the wheel. She needed answers, and she was gonna make sure she got them.
A/N: Does Elliot take his badge back, or has Porter already called someone to alert them to their actions. A confrontation with Cragen makes Elliot unstable, and Olivia's entire life flashes before her eyes, in the last chapter. Why? Review here or on Twitter: TMG212
