Olivia and Munch stood in the hallway across from the nursery and watched as animal control caught the rattlesnake and placed it in a white cloth bag.

Becca sat in the living room and let out a soft giggle as Alex moved to the corner of the room and jumped ontop of a chair.

"What?" Alex asked innocently, noticing her friend laughing at her.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Becca, you know that I don't do snakes."

"I know. But, you could of given me time to get my video camera out."

"Oh shush," she gulped as an animal control officer emerged from the hallway, carrying the bag.

"Thanks for coming over," Olivia walked the two officers out and closed the door behind them.

"Well, that's not something you see everyday," Munch remarked, taking a seat.

"Ya think?" Alex growled. "Ridiculous."

"Cragen and Fin are on their way over," Olivia said. "They've got some news on our

stolen credit card."

"Good," Alex remarked. "Maybe it'll give us a good lead."

Olivia let out a giggle. "Why are you standing in that chair?"

"I don't do snakes!" she stepped down. "They make my skin crawl!"

"Apparently you're not the only one..." Munch replied as he pointed towards the balcony, where Elliot was standing by himself.

"I'll go talk to him," Olivia said, as she moved to go outside.

"Wait," Becca winced in pain as she stood up. "I got it."

"You sure?" Alex asked. "Maybe you should get some rest."

"I'm fine," she replied. "The next person that tells me that...I swear to god."

Alex simply held her hands up in defeat. "Okay..."

Becca quietly opened the sliding glass door, stepped through it, and closed it behind her. Elliot didn't hear her come out, so just stood, facing the street. His hands were resting on the rails on the balcony. Becca took note of how his knuckles were turning white, from squeezing the rail so tightly.

"Hey..." she said softly, sliding her finger through one of his belt loops.

"Hey," he attempted to force a smile.

"I'm not gonna ask if you're okay, cause I know you're not," she said, moving next to him and turning her back towards the street. She reached out and took his hands, taking them off the rails. "Just don't keep it all inside, please?"

Elliot gently sighed, lacing his fingers with hers. "What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know," she replied, searching his eyes for a possible answer. "I know that you're angry, scared, upset...the list goes on." She moved one of her hands to touch his cheek.

"I can't even protect my family anymore," he said. "I feel...hell, I don't even know how I feel."

"I know, honey, I know."

"Maybe..." he started. "Maybe you should go stay at your parent's in Albany."

Becca raised her eyebrows at him. "I don't think so."

"I'm just saying," he replied. "Maybe it's the only way to keep you safe until we figure all this out."

"El, I love you. The last thing I want to do is be difficult. But, I'm not leaving."

"I just keep thinking," he turned to look over the street again. "What if something worse happens? What if this psycho-"

"There's a lot of 'what ifs' that you could keep naming off, Elliot," she interupted him. "Do you really think Albany would be any safer for me at all? I know for a fact that it wouldn't be."

"Why wouldn't it?" He asked, turning back around to face her.

"I would be there constantly worrying about you, for one thing," she replied. "Secondly, I moved out of my parents house for a reason. You know me and my mom don't get a long that well. You keep telling me that I have to avoid stress, well me going to Albany is only gonna multiply the stress that I already have, by a thousand."

He sighed, knowing he had long been defeated. "Alright. That idea is out."

"Good," she said, moving her arms to wrap around his waist.

He planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "I don't know what to do..."

"Just stop stressing yourself," she said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

"This guy tried to rape my wife, could of killed our baby, then snuck a rattlesnake into our apartment and you're telling me not to stress about it?"

"This person is getting exactly what he wants, Elliot."

"What's that?"

"Under your skin."

Before Elliot could respond, Olivia stuck her head out the door. "Cragen and Fin are here...you need to come hear this."

"Alright," Elliot sighed. "Be right there." He turned back to Becca and forced half of a smile. "This sucks."

"Yeah," she replied. "It does."

"You feeling alright?" he raised an eyebrow. "You should be resting."

"I feel fine," she smiled and took his hands, placing them on her stomach. "The baby's fine too..."

Elliot grinned as he felt the baby move and kick against his hands. "Still...you should be resting."

"I'm tired of resting."

"Too bad," he pecked a kiss onto her forehead.

"Too bad?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "You gonna try to force me to sleep?"

"Nah. I wouldn't do that. But if I have to go sit down on the couch with you all day long...I will."

"Is that a threat or a bribe?"

"Both," he smiled.

The sliding glass door opened and Fin walked onto the balcony with them. "Get inside."

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just listen to me and get inside!" He demanded, frantically. He ushered the two back inside the apartment, closed the door, then closed the blinds.

"What the hell is going on?" Elliot asked.

"Fin and I called to do some more checking on that credit card," Cragen stood up from the couch. "Our perp did a little shopping this morning."

"And?"

"He went to a hardware store on 22nd. His purchases are a little sketchy..."

Fin pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and started reading. "A shovel, plastic bags, plastic gloves, pliers, bolt cutters, chain, a pad lock, five box cutters, box cutter blades, rope, and a couple buckets."

"What the hell?"

"That's not the half of it..." Cragen made a face. "Fin just got a call, the last thing that credit card purchased was a sniper rifle."