"The Good Son"
He was the little boy who hid in the closet and witnessed his mother's murder. Olivia got emotionally involved in the case at the time and became protective of Nathan. She even slept at the precinct one night with Nathan. When Nathan shot and killed the guy who killed his mother, it was Olivia who came to his defense. Olivia told Nathan, anyone would be proud to have him as a son. It was Olivia who made sure Nathan received a good foster family to take him in. Nathan is now 17 years old. He's an All-American High School Football. On signing day for college, it was Olivia by Nathan's side when he signed with the University of Florida. Olivia had become not only a mentor to Nathan but he saw her as a big sister, his protector. Olivia made sure she was at every High School football game unless work took priority. Nathan had become a big brother to Mackenzie and Taylor and would babysit them from time to time. He spend majority of his time with the Bensons. Now it was a week before graduation and Nathan decided to stop by the precinct to see Olivia.
"Is Detective Benson here?"Nathan said asked Munch.
"Yes, she's here" Much replied. "She's in the interrogation room with a perp. Could I help you with something?"
"No sir, I'll wait until she comes out; I really need to see her"
"Ok, you can have a seat at her desk" Munch said.
Nathan took a seat at Olivia's desk. She was in the interrogation room for two hours. Munch knew the teenager looked familiar and wondered what he wanted with Olivia but didn't ask. Olivia finally came out of the interrogation room and is surprised to see Nathan because he never stops by the precinct.
"Nathan, I'm surprised to see you here"
"Hey Olivia, I stopped by to give you an invitation" Nathan replied. "Here ya go"
Olivia opens the invitation.
"Oh Nathan, your high school graduation and you're Valedictorian too. I'm so proud of you" Olivia says as she gives Nathan a bear hug.
"Awww Olivia…..you can let go now"
"I'm sorry, it's just, I'm so happy for you" Olivia says, as tears filled her eyes.
"Olivia, I owe it all to you. You have been such a positive influence on my life. When the system wanted to throw the book at me, you saved me. You believed in me and I couldn't let you down" Nathan tell Olivia.
"Nathan, you did this yourself. Don't give me any credit" she says as she takes a seat.
"Olivia, without even knowing it, you became like a mother to me. You came to all my games, made sure I stayed an A+ student; you made sure I got a job after school and you made sure I stayed out of trouble. You welcomed me into your life, into your family and I love you for that" Nathan tells Olivia.
"Ok, ok stop being so sappy." Olivia tells him. "Now, you have to work on your graduation speech. Have you thought about what you're going to say yet?"
"Well, I thought you could help me with it" Nathan says, giving Olivia that big smile of his that she couldn't resist.
"Ok, I'm off tomorrow so stop by the house around noon and I'll help you" Olivia tells Nathan.
"Oh, Olivia could you make…."
Before he could say anything else Olivia interrupted him. "Yeah, I'll make Beef Stew" she says.
"Thanks Olivia, you're the best" Nathan says as he gives her a goodbye kiss on the cheek and leaves the precinct.
The next day came and Nathan hadn't showed up at Olivia's house. She called Nathan's cell phone twice and there was no answer. Olivia began to worry because Nathan always returned her calls or texted her to let her know he received her call. It's a little after 7pm and the doorbell finally rings.
"It's about time you showed up" Olivia says as she opens the door.
"Oh El, I thought you were Nathan"
"Cragen called, we have a victim at Mercy General" Elliots says.
"El, did you forget today is my day off?" Olivia replied
"Liv, the victim is Nathan"
"Oh no..GOD no" Olivia said as she grabbed her jacket.
It took Olivia and Elliot fifteen minutes to get to Mercy General. Olivia heart was beating so fast, she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. She literally had to take deep breaths to calm down.
"Nathan Phelps, he was brought in about two hours ago" Olivia asks the nurse.
"Are you family?" the nurse asks Olivia.
"No, I'm Detective Benson and this is my partner, we're investigating what happened to him"
The nurse escorted Olivia and Elliot to the Intensive Care Unit where Nathan was being treated. As she enters Nathan's room, Olivia eyes began to fill with tears, she can't believe what she sees in front of her. The little boy she loved so much was lying there on a ventilator beaten beyond recognition. Tears rolled down Olivia's face as she inched closer to Nathan. Olivia took a seat next to him and held his hand.
"What happened?" a sobbing Olivia asked Elliot.
"Members of a gang jumped him".
"Why? Nathan wasn't in any gang" Olivia replied.
"Liv, apparently Nathan stole over $5,000 worth of drugs from them a week ago and they wanted to teach him a lesson.
"No, I don't believe it. Nathan doesn't do drugs and he sure as hell doesn't sell them" Olivia said angrily.
"The perp is in custody now. I'll give you some time with Nathan."
"No El, lets head to the precinct now. I want to see the scum who put Nathan here" Olivia says.
They leave Mercy General and head straight for the precinct. Olivia goes straight to the interrogation room where the gang leader is. The Captain stops her at the door.
"Liv, you're off this one, you're too close" the Captain tells her.
"No Captain, you can't do this"
"Liv, I'm not going to let you nowhere near that perp. So, you can stand out here and watch or go back home. Your choice" the Captain tells her.
Olivia stands and watch as Elliot and Fin interrogate the perp.
"So, you're the gang leader, huh?" Elliot asked the man in the room.
"Yep"
"Is Nathan in your gang?" Fin asked him.
"Who?"
"Nathan, you prick. Is he in your gang?" says Fin.
"What did Nathan do to make you want to kill him?" Elliot asked the gang leader.
"Look, I don't know nobody name Nathan" the gang leader said.
Fin walks over to where the suspect is sitting and gets so close in his face, he can feel his breath.
"You piece of shit, you think you're so tough. Why Nathan, huh?" Fin asked him.
"Look man, I don't know anybody name Nathan"
"Nathan is the one that's in the hospital because you ordered your gang members to beat him" Elliot said yelling.
"I didn't order a hit on anyone name Nathan, what the hell are you talking about?"
The Captain and Olivia continue to listen in as ADA Novak walks up.
"Liv, I just got a call from Mercy General" Casey said with a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry Liv, Nathan died fifteen minutes ago"
Olivia blacks out after hearing the news of Nathan's death. The Captain catches her before she could hit the floor. He carries her into his office and calls Melinda, to inform her of the news. Meanwhile ADA Novak interrupts the interrogation and informs Fin and Elliot of Nathan's death.
"Nathan is dead and I'm going to see to it, you spend the rest of your life in prison", ADA Novak tells the perp. "You ordered the beating that ended his life and I'm not going to rest until you're behind bars"
The gang leader still insists he doesn't know anyone by the name of Nathan.
"Look lady, I did order a beating but it wasn't on anybody named Nathan. I ordered a beating on Craig..Craig Holmes, not Nathan" the gang leader admits.
"So, how did Nathan get into the crossfire?" ADA Novak asked.
"I'm telling you the truth. Craig was in my gang and he stole from me, so I wanted to teach him a lesson. I told my boyz, if they see him, beat him good. I told them to make sure they put him in the hospital"
"Where does this Craig live?" ADA Novak asked.
"Off W. 53rd and Cameron, apartment 205".
ADA Novak called Fin and Elliot out the interrogation room.
"I'm going to need you two to check this out"
"Casey, you believe that scum" Elliot says to her.
"Come on Casey" Fin says.
"Look, he sounds believable. What if he and his gang had nothing to do with Nathan's death?" Novak says.
"We have eye witnesses" Elliot says, yelling at Casey.
"Look, do your job and check it out" Novak replies.
Elliot and Fin both storm out the precinct pissed off. Meanwhile Olivia finally comes too and the reality begins to sink in. She continues to cry in the Captain's office. Melinda and the girls walk in the precinct. Melinda and the girls were all in their pajamas. She see's Olivia in Cragen's office and heads straight for her wife.
"Liv, sweetheart, I'm so sorry about Nathan. What happened?" Melinda says.
"I don't want to talk about it; I just want to go home. Mel, please take me home"
"Sure, lets go" Melinda said, as she put her arm around Olivia.
Elliot and Fin arrives to the apartment the gang leader gave them. Fin knocks on the door.
"Police open up" Fin says.
A young lady comes to the door, she looks like she's in her mid-20s.
"And what the hell yall want?" she asks the detectives.
"Where's Craig, is he in there?" Elliot asked her.
"No, he aint here and what yall want with Craig anyway?"
"So Craig do live here" Fin asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Do you have a picture of Craig?" Fin asked her.
The woman let the detectives in the apartment and shows them a picture of Craig.
"This isn't Craig, this young man's name is Nathan Phelps" Elliot tells her.
"Nathan" the lady says laughing. "You two must be on crack. This is my boyfriend Craig, we've been living together for a year"
"Ma'am, the guy in this picture is Nathan Phelps" Elliot tells her again.
"Wait a minute" the lady said….
Meanwhile the ride back home was very quiet for Melinda and Olivia and the girls had fallen asleep. Melinda could see how bad Olivia was hurting and could feel the same hurt. Nathan had become a part of Melinda and the girls' life as well. She didn't know how she was going to tell the girls of Nathan's death. The girls loved Nathan and Melinda didn't know how this was going to affect the girls. They finally reached the drive way and Melinda turned the truck off.
"If you want to sit here for a while, I'll stay here with you" Melinda says to Olivia.
"No, lets go in" Olivia says.
They carry the girls up to their room and put them to bed. Olivia goes into the master bedroom while Melinda locks up the house. When Melinda walks into the room, she sees Olivia sitting on the edge of the bed. Melinda walks over to her wife and sits next to her.
"Liv, it's okay…It's okay to cry" Melinda says to Olivia as she wraps her arms around her. "Baby, I'm here. If you want to let it out, please go right ahead". Melinda knew she couldn't cry, she had to be strong for Olivia. She knew, Nathan's death was devastating to Olivia. She was going to need all of Melinda' strength to get through this.
"Olivia, did you hear me"
Olivia said nothing
"Baby, please let it out. I'm here for you" Melinda said as she held Olivia.
Olivia couldn't hold it in any longer; tears began to rush down Olivia's face. Olivia started crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Her cries became louder and louder until it woke up the twins. The girls came into their mothers' room.
"What's wrong with mommy?" Mackenzie asked.
"Girls, I need for you to go back to bed" Melinda told them.
"Why is mommy crying" asked Taylor.
Melinda didn't want to tell them about Nathan right now. So, she told them Olivia was going to be okay and for them to go back to their rooms. Melinda undressed Olivia and lay next to her, holding her tight. Olivia cried herself to sleep.
Around 2am the phone ring. Melinda answers the phone.
"Hello"
"Mel, glad you answered the phone" Fin says. "We need you at the morgue".
"Why.. I don't want to leave Olivia here by herself"
"Please Mel, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important" Fin tells her.
Melinda eases out of bed and out the house.
"Fin, what the hell is so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Melinda says walking toward him.
Olivia wakes up and realizes Mel is gone. She reads the note Mel left her and reaches for the phone to call Mel. Before she could pick up the phone, it rings.
"Benson" she says.
"Olivia" says the voice on the other end.
"Who is this?"
"Olivia, it's me…Nathan"
Olivia hangs up the phone and stares at it. The phone rings again and again. Olivia answers….
"Who is this?"
"Olivia, it's Nathan. I'm sorry for not showing up today" the voice said.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Olivia yells into the phone before slamming it down. The caller gave Olivia chills, she couldn't go back to sleep. She wanted to know, who could be so evil to pull a prank like that. Ten minutes later Olivia's door bell rings. She looks out the window and sees Nathan's car. Olivia immediately goes for her gun, she runs and check up on the twins. The door bell rings again. Olivia makes her way down stairs, when she looks out the window, no one's there and Nathan's car is gone. Olivia calls the precinct; she figures it's the gang members trying to intimidate her. Cragen tells Olivia the gang leader has been in the interrogation room the whole time and haven't made a call. Just as Olivia is about to call Melinda, the door bell rings again and Olivia doesn't say anything. Someone has a key, unlock and opens the door.
"Freeze or I will blow your brains out" Olivia says.
"Olivia, it's me Nathan"
Olivia turns on the light switch and faints when she sees Nathan. As she comes to, she sees Nathan, who's beaten up pretty badly, kneeling over her. Olivia screams.
"Olivia, it's okay, It's only me" Nathan says.
"Bu…bu…but you're supposed to be dead" Olivia says.
Nathan laughs… "You must have been dreaming, I did wake you didn't I?"
"Is it really you" she asked Nathan.
"Yes, it's really me" Nathan says.
Olivia gives Nathan a bear hug and tears filled her eyes, because she's overcome by joy. Nathan is puzzled, he wanted to know what was going on.
"Nathan, where were you today?" Olivia asked him.
"While on my way over here, I decided to stop by the corner store on W. 53rd street. When I came out the store, some dudes jumped me. They shoved me into this van and continued beating me up. They took me to this abandon warehouse and held me there. They kept calling me Craig and wanted to know where the money was. I told them, they had the wrong person but they didn't believe me. After beating me all day, they received a phone call and they just let me go. Olivia, you were the first person I called after they released me, but you kept hanging up on me. Could you take me to the hospital?"
"Yeah, lets get you to the hospital. Can you see out of your left eye?" Olivia asked Nathan.
"Yeah, but my vision is blurred"
"Wait…Wait one minute" Olivia says.
"What is it?"
"If you're alive, who's…Oh God, I gotta call Mel" Olivia says as she runs to the house phone.
"Olivia what is it?"
"Nathan, there's a young man in the morgue, who we all thought was you" Olivia tells him.
"You really thought I was dead"
"Yes"
Olivia calls Melinda.
"Mel, there's something I gotta…"
Melinda cut Olivia off
"Liv, it isn't Nathan. The body in the morgue isn't Nathan" Melinda tells Olivia.
"I know Mel. Nathan is standing in front of me. We're going to wake up the girls and head to Mercy General"
"Liv, I ran a DNA on the body in the morgue. The deceased is related to Nathan, it's his twin brother" Melinda tells Olivia.
Olivia is shocked and confused because Nathan was the only child. "Mel, there must be a mistake; Nathan was the only child and both of his parents a dead." Olivia says.
"Olivia, DNA doesn't lie" Melinda says. "Fin and Elliot are here, we'll meet you at the hospital"
At Mercy General Olivia ask Nathan about his parents.
"Nathan, do you have a brother?" Olivia asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Melinda ran a DNA test on the body in the morgue, it's your twin brother, I'm sorry" Olivia tells him.
"My grandmother told me I had a twin brother, before she died. She died when I was six. She said my parents couldn't take care of two kids, so she gave one up for adoption. She never told me his name, she said he lived in Chicago" Nathan told Olivia.
Melinda, Fin and Elliot arrived at Mercy General. Melinda's eyes filled with tears when she saw Nathan. She gave him a hug and held unto him for a long time as tears rolled down her face.
"Mel, don't cry, I'm okay" Nathan said.
"I know, it's just, we thought we lost you. We thought we lost our son" Melinda says.
It wasn't until then Nathan realized how much he meant to Olivia and her family. Tears filled Nathan eyes, for years he wanted so much to feel the mother-son bond his classmates felt. He wanted so much to be someone's son and not just foster son.
"I love you guys" Nathan tells Melinda and Olivia.
"We love you too" Taylor says.
The doctor comes back in and gives Nathan pain relievers and releases him from the hospital. The Bensons drive back home with Nathan. The twins run up to their rooms and gets in the bed. Olivia and Nathan takes a seat at the kitchen table, Melinda puts on a pot of coffee. Olivia tells Nathan, she'll take him to see his brother tomorrow, if that's what he wants to do. Nathan agreed to see his brother, to pay his respects. Olivia asked Nathan how he felt about his brother's death. Nathan told Olivia, he didn't know what to feel.
"How could I feel something for someone I never met" Nathan said. "But on the other hand, I feel really awful because I never got a chance to know him. He looked exactly like me. He moved to New York two months ago and only lived five miles from me" Nathan said. "I wish we would have ran into one another, I wish I would have gotten the chance to know him"
"What's going to happen to the guy you have behind bars for his murder?" Nathan asked Olivia.
"Well, he'll be charged with murder and put away for a long time" Olivia tell him.
"That's good" Nathan says.
Melinda pours two cups of coffee and gives Nathan a glass of soda.
"Nathan, are you hungry?" Melinda asked.
"Yes Ma'am. Liv, did you make…"
"Yes Nathan, I'll get the beef stew for you" Olivia says with a smile on her smile.
Nathan eats and heads up stairs to take a shower. Olivia gives him one of her Miami Heat jersey and basketball shorts to wear to bed. Nathan took two pain reliever which made him sleepy. On their way upstairs, Melinda and Olivia peek in on Nathan.
""He's really lucky, you know" Melinda says.
"Yeah, I know. It could easily have been him in that morgue" Olivia says. "Did you mean what you said at the hospital?"
"What?"
"When you called Nathan, our son"
"Liv, I meant every word of it. Nathan spends more time with us, than his foster family. He's here for every holiday, every birthday and he attends our family reunions. I love him as if he was my own son. I just regret not adopting him when we've had the opportunity. He's the big brother the girls wished they had, they are the sisters he wished he had and we've been the parents he's wanted for so long. He's a good kid, a good son".
They close the room door and head towards their bedroom. "So, its daylight, the girls are asleep and Nathan is asleep, what do you want to do?" Melinda asks Olivia.
"Mel" Olivia says as she sits on the edge of the bed. "Last night when we thought we lost Nathan, you held me even though you were hurting you kept it together for me. Now it's my turn to hold you. I just want to lay here and hold you" Olivia tells Melinda.
As the two women laid there in bed, Melinda cries on the inside from earlier became reality. Melinda began to sob in Olivia's arms. Melinda realized, their lives would have never been the same without Nathan.
"It's okay…let it" Olivia tells her wife.
