Elliot seemed almost glad to see Goren and Eames when he answered the bell. "Come in, please," he said, pushing the door open wider.
The calm before the storm, Eames thought as she and her partner entered the living room.
"First, we're working overtime to nail this monster," Bobby said determinedly. "Finding him is our top priority."
"Good!" Elliot responded promptly. "What do you have so far?"
"We're not at liberty to say," Eames answered honestly. Then, to preclude a clash, she immediately continued: "We need to ask Elizabeth a few questions."
"I'll see if she's awake," Elliot said, polite but frowning. He obviously didn't like being kept out of the loop.
"I notice that it's quiet," Goren commented. "It's great that she's receiving support from her family."
"Yes, she is," Stabler replied, "though right now it's just me, my wife, and our baby at home with Elizabeth right now--you just missed two of my kids by about a minute, in fact. Excuse me."
When he reached upstairs, Eames remarked confidentially: "I'm glad Mrs. Stabler's here."
"You know that doesn't always keep 'em from exploding," her partner replied.
"I know. I just want Elizabeth to have one calm parent to soothe her if--"Alex stopped as Elliot descended the stairs.
"She awake and willing to talk," he said. "Just take it easy on her, please." He spread his hands out with the last word.
"We will," Eames promised, and with that Elliot led the way up the flight of stairs.
"Wha--what do you need?" Elizabeth asked nervously when the detectives were in her room. She was seated on the lower bunk, facing Alex, who was sitting on the chair for the girls' desk. Goren remained standing near the door, partially to act as observer but also because he knew that Elliot was standing in the hallway.
"First, do you remember approximately how old the man was?" Detective Eames asked gently.
"Ah, well, uhm, he was young," the girl replied slowly, pressing her knees together and tightly clasping her hands on her lap. "Twenty-something."
"All right," the female detective said, writing down the information. "Is there anything else you remember?"
"Well--yes! My glasses fell off when he…tackled me. That's why I'm using these spares." She pointed towards her right eye. "They're identical to this pair."
"Anything else?" Goren inquired as his partner wrote.
There was a long pause while she looked indecisively towards the window. Then she faced the detectives while drawing her feet up on the bed and hugged her knees. Her eyes were wide, almost trance-like, behind her lenses, but she kept looking back and forth at Bobby and Alex.
She's definitely holding something else back. But yet she seems to want to speak. He assumed a puzzled manner as he inquired kindly: "Is there something you need to tell us, Elizabeth? Or are we being too hard on you?"
"N-n-no. No, it's not that," she said quickly. "'Too fresh.' He said…I was…'too fr-fr-fresh.'" She was rocking back and forth now.
"Honey, it's all right," Eames said soothingly, reaching out to hug the agitated teen.
"It's never gonna be 'all right, it's never gonna be 'all right,'" Elizabeth sobbed, her head on Alex's shoulder. Then, louder: "No! No! Nooo!"
"What are you doing?!" Elliot burst into the room pass Goren, teeth clenched. "Leave her alone!" He lunged at Eames, ignoring his daughter's protest: "No Daddy, please! Please!"
Fortunately, Bobby was able fall back on his training. In a feint, he touched Stabler's right shoulder and almost simultaneously sidestepped as the Marine veteran drove an elbow backwards. But the taller, stockier army veteran used the inertia to pull the arm and twist it behind Elliot's back while forcing him to the floor.
Kathy, who had been changing Eli in the master bedroom, was presently brought to the scene by all of the shouting. She immediately sized up the situation--her daughter's tearful pleas to Elliot, who was pined on the floor and cursing--and carefully made her way to her daughter. Tenderly embracing the teen, she turned then turned her attention to her husband, who ceased his raging at her stern mien.
"Elliot," she said quietly and yet firmly, "I don't know what was happening in here, but it's obvious that you didn't make it easier for anyone, especially Elizabeth. I know you want to protect her now more than ever, and I know that you hate yourself for being unable to have done so before. However, that doesn't change the fact that you're taking out your frustration on the very people who are trying to help our child--whom you're further upsetting! Now, when you do get up, you need to go into our bedroom and stay there until you can function calmly. Can you do that?"
His face flushing with humiliation, he gave a scowling but sincere nod.
Feeling the man's muscles relax, Goren gradually rose, releasing Elliot. He maintained steady eye contact as the latter slowly exited the room, rubbing his arm. Then Bobby furtively moved into the hallway to watch the master bedroom door close with a reverberating slam.
The 16th Precinct, 9:45PM
"He really said that?!" Fin was almost incredulous.
Sighing, Olivia nodded sadly.
"Well, what do you expect?" Munch said quietly, shrugging. "He barely kept his head when the crimes affected vics who merely reminded him of his family. Now that--how's he going to control himself now?"
"Look, I kinda figured he'd be chomping at the bit to get 'justice for all', and the captain would have to make him transfer," Fin explained. "I guess he's actually holding it together."
"Yeah, at least for now," Chester said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"And what's that suppose to mean?" Fin gave his partner an inquiring look.
"Well, I'm not saying he's going to do," Lake replied, stirring in sugar, "but if--and I do mean if--Elliot looks at the police report, he--"
"He's not going to do that!" Olivia broke in loudly. "Why would he want to do that?"
"Cop instincts kicking in," the younger man answered, walking across the room. "Remember when that bomb was sent here in a pizza box? Fin went looking for answers, and I used my medically required 'stay-up' time to do some sleuthing of my own. Now, I'm not saying Elliot won't be too involved with his daughter's recovery to think about checking out the details, but…well, you guys have known him longer than I have. What do you think?"
There was a long, troubled pause. The other three officers looked in different directions with uneasy expressions on their faces. Then, opening the door, Captain Cragen came out of his office, his face grave.
"Everyone, listen," he said, giving an acknowledging look to Olivia, "I just received a call from Captain Ross at One PP. According to Detective Eames, Elliot…overreacted badly during an interview with Elizabeth. Detective Goren had to use force to subdue him, and Kathy had to talk him down." He looked about at his officers as a hushed pall fell over the room.
Olivia was agape. When she could find her voice she managed, "What was happening?! Did Elizabeth call out to him, or--"
"I don't know." Captain Cragen was shaking his head. "Ross wouldn't elaborate. But he's very concerned about Elliot's state of mind and wants me to officially get him off duty immediately."
"That's not going to be a problem, Cap," Benson said somewhat reassuringly. "Elliot says that he's going to take a leave of absence." She decided not to add anything references to his plans to remove his personal items. She was unsure of his plans and knew that Stabler would give Cragen a complete explanation whenever he arrived.
"Well, that's one good thing," Don said, sighing. "Did he give you any details?"
"No." Not really.
"I'll let Ross in on the development. In the meantime, as bad as things are for the Stablers, there are still other people that need our attention, now more than ever with the manpower shortage. Munch, get your partner up to speed on the Stephen's case. Fin, call the lab again, and let them know we're still expecting those results yesterday! Lake, try the Ruperts again, and if there's no answer, you and your partner get down there and canvass the neighbors!" With those words, he quickly returned to his office and closed the door.