In the Blink of an Eye

by originella

Margaret "Maggie" Holbrook has always wanted to be an actress; however, she soon discovers she was adopted soon after birth and her dreams change after she is sexually assaulted. After being educated at police academy with a degree in criminal law, she moves to New York, where her mystery, and her destiny, truly begins. Who is Maggie's mother? Prepare to find out...

10. The Pieces Come Together

Chapter Ten: The Pieces Come Together

I thank Olivia for returning me to the squad room and find myself missing the simpler days when I was just a detective, before Hunter and I ever got involved. I remembered my single life—after Elliot had gotten back together with Kathy—and before I had my children. Edythe was always a possibility; I remembered the overwhelming feeling that had come over me the moment that she told me of her plight back when I was just Officer Maggie Holbrook and dating Elliot; I instantly remembered the urge to keep her safe, and knew then that my maternal instincts had kicked in. As I walk the halls of the Homicide Unit, I buy a bottle of water from the machine and head back into the squad room; Nate immediately gets to his feet, concern in his eyes.

"Everything okay?" I ask, finding myself gripping the bottle in a brief moment of anticipation. "We get a new case?"

Nate shakes his head. "No, Hunter took Ford with him on the latest one and left me in charge," he replies. "But now that you're back..."

I nod. "Right. Okay." I uncap the water and take a couple of sips, regarding Nate, who still looks worried. "What's up? Be straight with me, Nate, please. Court was really difficult..."

"That's the thing..."

"What is?" I ask, taking off my coat, hat, and scarf and draping them all over my arm. "You're not making sense..."

He sighs. "In your office..."

Immediately, my hackles go up. Shit, I think. Who would it be? Tucker? The Deputy Commissioner about professional conduct?! "Let me have it, Nate. Who's in there?"

"Cragen," he replies. "Don Cragen."

The DNA, I think immediately, thanking Nate and making my way over towards my office, with the words LIEUTENANT MARGARET GRAYSON stamped to the door in black matte letters. Opening the door, Don gets to his feet and gives me a kind smile as I hang up my outside clothes and close the door behind me. Letting out a sigh, I cross the room and put my arms around him.

"Hi," I say softly.

He pats my back affectionately. "Liv called. Tough day?"

"You can't imagine," I reply, pulling away from him and moving to go around my desk, all my joints aching simultaneously. Perching in the chair and setting my water bottle down in front of me, I say softly, "John Buchanan is an animal. How he managed to attract a wife, I'll never know..."

"I heard he was censured today by Donnelly," Don replies, sitting back down in the chair he'd been occupying. "Was that during when he was attempting to dig you into a hole during cross?"

"Yeah," I reply, sipping my water.

"What happened?"

I swallow, forcing myself not to choke at the question. "My relationship with Elliot was brought up..."

"That's completely irrelevant..."

"You're telling me," I reply. "He even brought up the...termination," I say softly, shuddering at that. "Thankfully Donnelly stopped him and Olivia and Fin were there to swoop in and get me out of there..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been there..."

"Don't be," I reply. "You have a squad to take care of. So do I."

He sighs. "The DNA tests came back..."

I immediately lean forward. "Yes?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "I'm so sorry—I'm not your biological father, although I would have loved to have been. I would be proud to be your father, Maggie, but it's not the case."

I nod. "Yeah, I get that. I mean, unless I looked completely like this woman who claimed to be my mother..."

Don laughed. "Hey! Can't help it if you don't look like me!"

I returned his laugh. "Yes. Well. I don't have an abnormally large forehead," I reply wryly.

"You're very fortunate you're not part of my squad right now," Don replies, doing his best to keep from laughing.

I sigh a little at this sudden turn of events. "At least I have something in you that I only really have in one other person—Fin. You're both like fathers to me, and I'd do nothing to change that."

"I'm glad," he replies, giving me a kindhearted smile. "I heard Buchanan said something about Fin..."

I nodded. "He inferred that Fin and I got off to the fantasy of being in a father/daughter sexual relationship..."

"That's a new low, even for Buchanan," Don says, shaking his head. "I know that Fin would never act inappropriately towards you."

"He's been extremely protective ever since we went under together," I reply. "He never wanted me to be alone with Ryder—that's how protective he was. I know it could sound obsessive or something to some people, Don, but Fin and I never had any romantic inclinations whatsoever."

He nods. "I know. You don't have to convince me."

"I know I don't. It's just that..."

"What?"

"Elliot came to deliver the news to me about Paxton prepping me for court," I reply, feeling uneasy.

"Yes, I sent him. I would have sent Olivia or Fin, but they were preoccupied outside the squad room. John was nursing a cold that particular afternoon, and I would have sent him..."

"Don, really, you don't have to explain yourself... It's just that Elliot stirred up some old feelings..."

"What did he do?" Don asks, wary.

I sigh at that, feeling like a teenager caught in a lie. "We kissed," I reply. "He initiated it, but I didn't stop him until..."

"Until it was too late," he replies, nodding. "Well, I can't tell you what to do here, Maggie, but I will anyhow. Be careful. He's back with Kathy now and what with your affair being broadcasted in the courtroom this afternoon, all I can say is that there's bound to be backlash."

"You're right," I reply, taking another sip of water. "But I'm ready, Don. I'm ready and waiting."

Hunter comes to see me after he's finished with investigative work later on that evening; he enters my office and embraces me, not letting me go until I just begin to ease out of his arms. He places his forehead against mine, his arms still wrapped around my waist and shakes his head. "John Buchanan is now on my hit list," he tells me seriously.

I raise my eyebrows. "You have one of those?"

He nods. "Of course. A fictitious one, of course, but yeah, I do."

I sigh ever so slightly, feeling comforted in his embrace. "Well, let's just say that he acted inappropriately," I reply, letting him go and perching on the edge of my desk as I shake my head. "Don came to see me..."

"Everything okay?"

"Yes and no," I say. "He came in regards to the DNA test." I wait for Hunter to say something, but he merely nods, waiting for me to continue. "He's not my father; I guess I just have to keep looking..."

Hunter nods. "You prepared yourself for the possibility, didn't you?"

I find my eyebrows going together. "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?"

He shakes his head. "No reason." He leans against the wall and shakes his head at me, almost as if he's contemplating something but thinks better of it.

"What?" "You would tell me if you were keeping something from me, wouldn't you?" His question hangs there, almost as if in a balance, and I find that I desperately want to scream. What had I done? I was the one who had demanded that there be no secrets between us in our wedding vows... Hadn't I? I found then that I was not the same person who had married Hunter Grayson, and I found as if I was losing myself in this wide, wide world of crimes...

"Yes, of course," I reply, the trap snapping shut. Not yet, not yet... "Honesty is the best policy for any marriage."

"Yeah, I get that, but..."

"Captain, Lieutenant!" Nate says, bursting into my office then. "Tony Moreno has been found dead in his cell!"

My eyes nearly pop. "Bastard," I whisper. "Death by hanging... We haven't employed that method of execution in..."

"A hundred and twenty years, give or take," Hunter says, following Nate into the squad room, where he and the rest of the detectives have been watching the live news footage of it on our flat screen. "Turn it up," Hunter tells Nate as I come up behind him. "Dammit," he says, shaking his head.

"Reporting live from The Supreme Court of New York, I'm Nancy Grace," says the eponymous newswoman. "Here with me is the attorney for now-deceased rumored mob boss, Anthony 'Tony' Moreno. Mr. Buchanan, what can you tell us about your client?"

"Well, Nancy, let me be the first to tell you that Mr. Moreno would want his legacy to go out with a bang. Just before I left his cell earlier this afternoon—where the poor man was held without bail during the trial—he told me that he intended to change his plea from 'not guilty' to 'guilty'."

"Guilty conscience?" Nancy Grace asks him. "Or did he simply with to change his plea in order to avoid life imprisonment?"

"I believe wholeheartedly that his conscience was guilty," Buchanan replies. "I know I speak for everyone when I say that mistakes were made all around with this case and I know that Mr. Moreno would have wanted to one day leave prison and devote his time to the humanitarian work he was working on."

"Such as?" Nancy Grace questions.

"He was considering funding an orphanage," John Buchanan replies. "I think it would have been an admirable thing to do..."

"The sick bastard wanted more victims," I mutter.

"You said just now that mistakes were made all around with this case, Mr. Buchanan," Nancy Grace continues. "Were they solely resting on the shoulders of Mr. Moreno?"

"No, the most damning mistake of all were several factors," he replies. "Including, but not limited to, Judge Elizabeth Donnelly, due to blatant disregard. The judge refused to allow me to continue questioning Lieutenant Margaret Grayson, whose answers would have cast reasonable doubt upon the jury, thus getting the 'not guilty due to diminished capacity' verdict we were going for. But, what can you do, Nancy? My client was so overcome with grief that he took the law into his own hands and did just what New York's Finest wanted done to him—the death penalty, which he gave to himself since we do not employ such methods to mere rapists anymore..."

"Turn it off," I say, speaking through my teeth; I am gripping the edges of one of the desks separating me from the flat screen, and I find I am shaking. I could not believe what the son of a bitch had done now—he had singlehandedly blamed me and Judge Donnelly for the self-induced execution of Tony Moreno.

I wanted to scream, but no sound came out; making my way out of the squad room, I go into my office and make a grab for my hat, coat, and scarf before heading out of there and making my way down the hall. I press the elevator button and the chrome double doors open, and I step into the space, pressing the button for the ground floor as I hurry to get my outer layers on me as I step from the elevator and into the cold outdoors. Looking up, snow begins to fall around me, but I cannot delight in it. Ignoring the sounds of children laughing around me, I find I am at a loss for what to do. Finally, I know what to do and hail a cab, asking it to take me to SVU, for some much-needed friendly voices.

The fall leaves soon wash down the storm drains entirely and we are faced with the customary New York snow. In the second week of December, Edythe is excused from classes at her school until the first week of January; she tells us that many of her friends and classmates are going skiing, but informs us that she doesn't want to partake in that sort of thing. She is only twelve years old and is officially the youngest in her eighth grade class, yet she is already preparing for her future. She is unsure if she wants to go to medical school or law school, but Hunter and I tell her that she can do whatever she sets her mind to.

Hunter goes to the Captain Benefit Dinner in the third week of December, and Edythe is permitted to spend the night at a friends' house—a friend whose family did not, apparently, go on a ski trip. The twins, almost a year old, have been entrusted to Derrick and Esmerelda for the evening, who live across town, while Helena has gone out with her boyfriend, Sebastian, a lovely young man who is currently in medical school to become an oncologist. Given the fact that I have a rare night alone, I decide to order in and pop in a movie, when suddenly there is a knock upon my front door.

Pulling on a sweater, I cross towards the door and, upon opening it, see Olivia, Don, Fin, and John standing on my porch. I find myself throwing my head back and laughing in glee and immediately invite them inside. Don has brought a bottle of my favorite merlot, while Olivia has brought a good-sized chicken; John has brought some mashed potatoes and a Caesar salad, and Fin has brought a decadent-looking chocolate cake. We all pile into the dining room and make an effort to set the table appropriately and light a pair of candles.

"What brings you to my doorstep?" I ask then, eying them all. "I'm quite surprised at you, Don..."

"Why?" he asks, curious.

"Well, it's just that tonight is the night of the Captain's Benefit Dinner," I reply, giving him a smile from across the table. "I would've thought an SVU Captain would be invited to such things... Are you not really a benefit dinner type?" I ask him, genuinely curious.

"Benefit Dinner?" Olivia asks, turning to Don.

"You never told us about that, Captain," Fin puts in.

"And I would've thought that due to our closeness all these years would have warranted such topics of discussion," John says.

"I've never heard of a benefits dinner specifically for captains," Don says, and seems genuinely confused.

I let out an awkward laugh, quickly filling up my glass of wine further. "Maybe I just heard him wrong or something," I say, waving it away. "Tell me, Fin. Do you and Ken have any special Christmas plans?"

Don, Fin, and John leave when ten o'clock approaches, but Olivia remains, helping me wash some of the dinner dishes. We continue chatting as I throw the linens into the washing machine—a few drops of merlot may have dropped onto them—and then we go into the living room. Sitting at opposite ends of the couch, we make small talk for a time before Olivia sighs.

"I know you pretty well, Maggie..."

I snort ever so slightly. "Yeah. We go back to the time when I was an insecure teenager... Now here I am, twenty-five years old." I shake my head. "Twenty-five years old, married, three kids, this beautiful house..." I gently lower my head and lay it down upon my palm. "I think I've taken it all for granted, Liv..."

"What do you mean?"

"The signs were all there, I can see that now, but maybe I was fooling myself into thinking that Hunter was a better version of all the men that I've found myself in relationships with, time and time again..."

"Maggie?"

I raise my eyes upwards, at the ceiling, feeling the tears threatening to fall. "I just thought if we didn't get really personal these last few weeks that I could just forget that this all was happening..."

"What's wrong, Maggie?" Olivia asks, concerned.

"I really screwed the pooch on this one, Liv," I reply, shaking my head. "I rushed into things with Hunter..."

"Maggie..."

"...and now it's bitten me in the ass down the line," I say, shaking my head. "All I wanted was to be a good wife, mother, and cop, but apparently that was too, too much to ask for—or even want," I say, shivering as I allow the tears to fall. "Do you know that I originally got with Hunter— 'got with' as in had sex with—to get over Elliot?" I whisper, lowering my eyes to meet hers. "I'll never love anyone like I love him, Liv. Never have, never will..."

"Maggie," Olivia says, moving towards me and taking my hands. "I sense that you blame yourself for what happened with how things ended between you and with Elliot. Don't think that way. Don't ever think that way. Elliot was in a position of authority, and you were..."

"Don't say I was a vulnerable girl," I say, pulling my hands away from her grip. "I don't want to hear that! I loved him, Liv. I loved him so much..."

"I understand that, Maggie, I do," she says softly to me. "But what you have to understand is the fact that the moment Elliot decided to..."

"Act like a teenager and sleep with Kathy?" I demand, sharply, jumping to my feet and moving to pace across the room. "Yeah. I still hold plenty of resentment towards him for that little shenanigan. Jesus," I whisper, running my hands through my hair and shaking my head. "Now that Hunter's aware of said resentment now he's gone and..."

"What?" Olivia asks.

I turn and look at her, shaking my head at her. "He's been so distant with me lately, Liv," I reply, my voice breaking. "And my confusion over Elliot sure as hell hasn't helped the situation... Is it even possible to be in love with two men?"

"Just because it hasn't happened personally to me, Maggie, doesn't mean that it's impossible," Olivia tells me gently. "Now, how has Hunter been acting distant towards you? Tell me."

"We don't talk," I reply. "We-we've been having different shifts ever since the Tony Moreno trial. I'll come home, he's asleep or he'll come home and I'm rushing out the door..."

"Have you considered time off?"

"Then we'd have to leave the squad with Nate in charge... Don't get me wrong, he's a competent sergeant, Liv, but he's just not ready to take over command for a considerable amount of time..."

"You could get an interim captain and lieutenant, you know," she puts in. "Other squads do it all the time..."

I shrug and shake my head. "That's always risky. They could have backgrounds in Narcotics or Hostage Negotiations. Each squad, as you well know, does a very different, very specific kind of training. If they mix and match things, the whole squad could go to hell..."

"And what about your marriage?" Olivia asks, firmly. "You don't want your marriage going to hell, do you?"

"It's not..."

"Maggie, open your eyes!" she says, getting to her feet. "Neither of you are communicating, you never get any time together... It's a wonder that Edythe and the twins aren't completely screwed up!"

I turn and look at her full in the face then, my mouth hanging open. Quickly snapping it shut, I shake my head at her. "I can't believe you just said all that to me," I whisper.

"Maggie..."

"No. No-no, I think I need to be alone..."

"Maggie..."

"Please, Liv. No." I deliberately don't look at her as I hand over her coat and make my way over towards the front door. Opening it, I motion my hand back and forth between the foyer and outside in the snow. "Goodnight, Olivia," I say, my voice firm, so as she knows full well the subject is closed.

It took a very long time for Olivia and I to get back on the friendship track—many months, to be exact. In January, Hunter suggested that we take a week off together, but we mainly stayed around the house avoiding one another. By Valentine's Day, we are celebrating Edythe's thirteenth birthday party and the very real notion that she is officially due to start high school the following September, along with the fact that she is debuting her first crush, Jacob Hastings, a boy from an elite family with a congressman father and a high-powered attorney mother. By March, the twins—now one-year-old—got the chicken pox and we had to work around the clock in shifts to make sure none of us got it.

Spring dawned and there was no change in my relationship with my husband. I tried my best—successfully, mind you—to drown myself in paperwork of Homicide cold cases. I come across a new one after getting rid of our backlog of cold cases and discover that SVU needs this particular weapon in order to close a case they've been working on. I manage to send Nate over to them to deliver the information of this particular gun, which had a couple of bodies on it. When I don't hear anything back, I think nothing of it.

A few weeks later, at the end of May, I am in charge of the squad when Hunter and Ford, now his established partner, are out attempting to solve what's happening with a new mass murderer case. Sorenson is in the squad room when suddenly Nate and Fairfax enter, Nate hauling in a disheveled-looking man with gang tattoos in by the arm. I find myself raising an eyebrow as I leave the captains' office and make my way to the center of the room.

"Who we got here?" I ask.

"Jason Milo, Lieutenant," Nate tells me.

"Caught this one selling a gun to a minor," Fairfax tells me.

"Get him into a room," I say, nodding for Sorenson to haul him in—hey, she's stronger than she looks—so as Nate can talk to me. "What do we got? No holding back, now, you hear, Nate?"

"Just said that he sold it to a Jenna Fox..." Nate said, shaking his head.

At once, my blood ran cold—call it women's intuition; to this day, I'll never understand it. "That's SVU's latest case... Why...?" At once, I secure my gun to the belt at my waist, telling Nate to, "Watch the squad!" as I haul ass out of there. I run downstairs and bolt out the front doors, climbing into a cab and begging the man, almost breathlessly, to take me to the SVU squad room. We tear across town and city blocks and I throw some cash his way and dash up the front steps of the SVU building, up the stairs and in the direction of the squad room, where I see things looking normal, until all hell breaks loose.

"Jenna, no!" I hear Olivia scream.

I feel myself propelling towards the fray—I don't want anyone else to be hurt. As the bullets rain down, I crouch—I haven't been seen yet.

"Put the gun down, Jenna," he urges her.

Peering next to me, I can see Olivia bent over Sister Peg, a woman who has helped them with many cases. She's bleeding pretty bad, and Olivia looks shocked standing over her.

"Just put the gun down," Elliot tries again.

Jenna proceeds to lower it, when low-life Eddie Skinner decides to open his ugly mouth one more time.

"I should've killed you with your mother!" he yells.

Jenna, clearly traumatized, raises the gun again and shoots Skinner, point-blank, and Elliot raises his gun, and it fires, but no bullet comes. Taking my chance, I fire the gun myself, and Jenna goes down. Due to the trajectory, one could make the case for Elliot shooting Jenna himself.

"No!" Olivia screams as both of their bodies go down.

I am up the moment she shoots Skinner; what I don't realize is that due to the force of her shot, the bullet has gone through him, hit the wall, gone out from between the cell door and hit me. My knees buckle as Elliot rushes to Jenna's side, cradling her as she bleeds out, telling him that getting the gun was easy. Elliot then turns to look at Olivia as the survivors attempt to understand what went on as Jenna dies in Elliot's arms.

Lowering my eyes, I can see the blood leaking from between my fingers, and I feel as if I am floating. I fall backwards then, and it is my hair which gives me away, pluming out around my head like a flag. I turn and look at everyone around me, and vow that I will not die—not today. I breathe in, loudly, so as someone's attention will be given to me...

"No!" Elliot screams then, and nearly drops Jenna, rushing over to my side and taking me into his arms. "Maggie... Maggie, no..."

"Maggie?!" Olivia cries in disbelief, setting down the body of Sister Peg more gently and swoops in. "Maggie..."

I force myself to move my hands upwards to attempt to stop the bleeding, which proves difficult. "Elliot," I find myself whispering.

Olivia then gets on her walkie to report the shooting, leaving me and Elliot relatively alone. "SVU to Central, I need a bus immediately. 10-13, we have an officer down. I repeat—we have an officer down! This is Detective Olivia Benson, Badge Number 4015. The officer in question is Lieutenant Margaret Grayson of Manhattan Homicide..."

"Maggie, why are you here? You shouldn't have been here," Elliot says, the tears coming out of his eyes very real.

"We caught your guy—the guy who sold Jenna the gun," I whisper, my breaths quick and raspy. "Coughed up a name to my sergeant—said he sold the gun to Jenna on the street... We got him, Elliot..."

"Yes, but why are you...?"

"I knew she'd come here," I reply. "Can't... Can't explain it, really..." I shrug a little. "I just know that if someone ever killed my mother..."

"I thought you didn't get along with your mother..."

I laugh a little at that. "Not really, no. Realistically speaking, though, she is my mother, and I know I'd do something drastic... She wasn't in her right mind, Elliot..."

"Was I?"

"What?"

"Was I in my right mind when I pulled the trigger?"

I smile at him—my first genuine smile at him since forever. "You were doing your job," I reply. "Just like you were when you decided to get back with Kathy..."

"Maggie..."

"No, listen. I've given it a lot of thought. I get it. I'm a mother now, and I've somehow managed to put everything into perspective. You put your kids first above your own happiness—I get it. I... I can do it now, Elliot. I can let you go and be a good wife and mother to Hunter and our children..."

"Maggie, don't..."

"Elliot, please, listen. Take to heart that one part of me will always love you, and that you were my first love... That's why, I did it..."

"What?" he asks, confused.

I raise my eyes to his. "You'll find gun residue on my hands," I whisper.

"Maggie, what are you...?"

"I shot Jenna Fox. I killed Jenna Fox," I whisper to him. "As soon as I recover, I'll tell them everything," I whisper, smiling up at him. I caress his face as the elevator doors open and a stretcher is brought out for me to be taken to Mercy General Hospital. "See you on the other side," I whisper as I'm hauled up upon it and am taken away from the SVU squad room.

The bullet just missed my heart and all other major arteries and I'm cleared after a two-week hospital stay. I am encouraged by Hunter to take some time off so Edythe, the twins, Helena, and I take off for the rest of the summer to Disney World, much to Edythe's joy. After getting a generous tan, too many souvenirs, and memories to last a lifetime, we return to New York and to our normal lives, just in time for Edythe to start high school. I go to the SVU squad room and tap on Don's door, and he regards me with a sad smile.

"Maggie," he says, embracing me. "You look good."

I smile up at him. "Thank you. Vacations can do wonders if you let them."

"How's things with Hunter and the kids?"

"Just got back this afternoon. I'm off until the day after tomorrow... Hunter has a long shift so I probably won't see him until tonight..."

"Well, I'm glad you got the opportunity to get out of your head for a while," Don replies as I make my way over to the window of his office, leading into the squad room. "I know the gang has...really missed you..."

I spot Olivia, looking tired and worried at her desk while Fin and John look to be discussing something of great importance—but it just could be about the Giants vs. the Yankees. But Elliot's empty desk across from Olivia glares at me, and I find something shifting inside me then. "Don..."

"Yeah?"

"Where's Elliot?" I ask, turning back to him.

Don sighs then and shakes his head. "As far as the squad knows, Elliot's on leave for the time being but..."

"What?" I ask, my voice hard and full of worry.

He sighs. "He's turned in his walking papers, Maggie," he replies quietly. He pulls out the top drawer of his desk, where a golden badge with the name DETECTIVE STABLER and Elliot's gun are. "Gave up his badge and gun..."

"Don..."

"It's official, Maggie. He's not coming back."

"Don..."

"It's really confidential, Maggie... I..."

I shuffle from foot to foot to keep myself from falling. "Please. Don't."

He sighs. "You're not going to give up, are you?"

I sit down opposite him. "No."

He nods, sitting across from me. "Okay. He got the option to retire with his pension if he admitted to the shooting of Jenna Fox..."

"No!" I cry, springing to my feet and shaking my head at him. "Don, please, don't tell me he admitted to..."

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Don, I..."

"Maggie, I know this must be difficult for you, but..."

"No, you've got to listen to me! You've got bring him back!" I scream then, tears blinding my vision as I hold out my wrists to him. "I shot Jenna Fox," I say, my wrists trembling. "You've got to arrest me..."

"Maggie, what are you saying?"

"I was there, Don, you know that. I was shot in the fray, you know that. What you don't know is that Elliot's gun jammed and I went on automatic pilot and shot Jenna. I just... I just didn't want any more senseless violence..."

"But instead you let a veteran detective take the fall for you?"

"You have to believe me, Don, I didn't ask for that. I told him before the EMT's took me away that I was guilty. I told him that there would be gunshot residue on my hands..."

"But since Elliot already allocated for Jenna's death and since any evidence of your gun being the one who shot Jenna, I'm not prepared to go to anyone with this information."

"Don..."

"Elliot wanted to leave, Maggie."

"No..."

"Yes." His voice is firm. "You know what he told me after you were taken to Mercy General and after I called him into my office? Do you?"

"No," I admit, shaking my head.

"He told me that you admitted to still loving him, and that he was going to do what he should have done a long time ago—choose you."

"Don..."

"No, listen Maggie. I guess now I can take that to mean that he sacrificed his career for yours."

I lower my eyes. "I didn't ask him to do that..."

He sighs. "I know that, Maggie. You would never ask him to do something like that—you're too smart." He places a hand upon my shoulder, causing me to look up at him. "You raised ranks excellently as part of New York's Finest. Despite a few setbacks, I'm very proud of you." "Don't be proud of me," I say, pulling away from him. "I don't want you to be proud of me..." I walk towards his door leading into the hallway and turn the knob, heading out the door and down the hall, relieved when he doesn't even try to follow me. I make my way towards the elevator and click the appropriate button and head back down to the ground floor. Making my way towards the main door, I accidentally collide with a woman around my age with blonde hair and a hefty-looking box in her arms.

"Sorry 'bout that," she says with an easy-going Southern accent. "You part of SVU?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No. Homicide."

"No kidding," she says with a grin, putting out her hand, which proved difficult due to her box. "Detective Amanda Rollins from the Georgia SVU—just transferred up here. How are ya?"

I shrug. "Fine, I guess. Lieutenant Maggie Grayson, Manhattan Homicide," I say, allowing myself to take her hand.

"Well, hopefully we'll see more of you 'round here," she says with a grin before going towards the elevator and up to her new job.

I go outside to hail a taxi, shaking my head at this turn of events which is when I see it, clear as day. Across the street is Hunter, walking along with a woman who is a dead ringer for Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. I feel my blood run cold as he dips his head to catch every word which comes out of her mouth, and then says something, to which she laughs heartily—a beautiful soprano song. They pair of them stop briefly to embrace and kiss before turning around the corner, continuing their conversation.

"You son of a bitch," I whisper, shaking. Grabbing my cell out of my pocket, I quickly dial Nate. "Nate, hey, it's Maggie."

"Hey, Maggie. How are you? How was the vacation?"

"Great. Fine. Listen, I'm in the neighborhood and I was wondering if Hunter was free for lunch?" I ask him.

"No, sorry, Maggie. He stepped out about a half-hour ago to go over another case with Ford."

I nod, slipping into a taxi. "Oh, I see. Oh, well. Guess I'll just head back home then, I guess. Tell Hunter I'll see him tonight, okay?"

"No problem," Nate replies, hanging up.

I give the cabby the Westchester address and he seems pleased at the prospect of a big fare. As I settle back against the brown leather seats, I can't help but wonder who the woman was that Hunter was with. Betrayal ebbs at my senses yet I can't help but wonder if there's a deeper meaning to Elliot allocating to shooting and killing Jenna Fox. Resolved to put it out of my mind, I remember the real reason why I wanted to speak to Hunter. Although it was early, I remembered that he and I had made love after my release from the hospital and before I left for Florida with Edythe, Helena, and the twins. I'd taken a test and it had come up positive, and I wanted to let him know as soon as possible that we were going to have another baby, although the timing, as usual, was all wrong.

I press down his number and, as expected, it goes right to voicemail. "Hey, Hunter, it's me. Maggie. Your wife. Well, I was in the city visiting SVU and Nate said you were on a case with Ford and couldn't meet me for lunch. Well, I guess I can tell you now that I'm pregnant. We're going to have another little Grayson running around the house by next year—can you believe it?" I ask, finding myself laughing to myself ever so slightly. "Neither can I... Well, I'm heading back home now—I want to be there so Edythe and I can plan our shopping trip for school. I love you, so much, Hunter. Talk to you—"

"Hey, buddy, watch where you're going!" the cabby suddenly screams, swerving to the other side of the road. It is then that I see the massive, red semi in front of us, but the cabby is too busy leaning on his horn to care. Glass breaks and smashes all around me, and the cabby is thrown from the vehicle; I'm not so lucky. I hear crunches and snaps and then my head whips backwards and is smashed beneath the roof of the cab.

And then, there was nothing...

—END OF SEASON ONE—