Crumbling Armor

Chapter 11: Avoidance

A/N: I seem to be in the updating spirit these days. I know it's been a really long time since I updated this one but I hope you're all still interested in it.

Olivia's Twister ploy hadn't fooled anyone. Everyone's eyes remained on her for several minutes. Even Eli seemed to be trying to read the truth on from her expression. After a while, Olivia took Eli from Elliot "Wow," she attempted to stifle an obviously forced yawn "I'm beat. I guess we should get to bed," she rose with Eli in her arms and stared pointedly at Elliot.

Elliot shrugged "Yeah, bedtime everybody," he got up and followed Olivia into her room. In spite of Elliot's words, the chatter in the living room resumed as soon as Elliot closed the bedroom door.

Olivia laid Eli in the crib and turned to Elliot. She took a deep breath. There was no way that she could avoid telling him now. "That was Detective Burnette," she began.

Elliot nodded, stepping closer to her. He had had a feeling that she'd been keeping something from him all afternoon. When Olivia hadn't continued, he reached out, touching her arm softly "And…?" he prodded gently.

"They haven't been able to make an arrest yet," Olivia sighed, turning away, hoping that she could get away with just that much information but knowing that she couldn't and knowing that Elliot wouldn't let her.

"There's something else," Elliot stated simply. He could tell that something was still weighing heavily on her.

Olivia turned back to face him. She was caught between her allegiance to Elliot and her promise to Kathy. She simply nodded.

"Who was this guy?" Elliot asked, taking another step closer to Olivia and wrapping his arms around her. He had been right, this had been too much for her.

Olivia gulped, realizing that Elliot would find out eventually with or without her cooperation "He was Kathy's boyfriend," at least that wasn't the part Kathy had been so insistent be kept a secret.

Elliot was silent for a moment. He wasn't bothered by the fact that Kathy had had a boyfriend, he was bothered by the fact that this boyfriend had turned out to be so dangerous "Is that all?" he asked, looking into Olivia's eyes "Were you trying to protect me from that all along?" he chuckled softly.

Olivia closed her eyes for a moment as she felt Elliot's lips brush gently across hers. She took a deep breath "Kathy… didn't want you to find out."

Elliot nodded "I probably would have wanted to run a background check on the guy. That would have driven her nuts."

"Yeah," Olivia smiled a little bit, then something occurred to her "Didn't you run background checks on a couple of my boyfriends?" she asked.

Elliot looked away, unable to hide the embarrassed grin "Well, that was different," he defended.

"How so?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Elliot gulped "I… may have been, a little bit… concerned about you…"

Olivia leaned into him, grinning "Just concerned," she pushed.

Elliot laughed nervously as he looked down into her face "Maybe I was… a bit jealous too," he admitted finally. He wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug. "Did Detective Burnette say if they were going to keep an eye on Kathy or not?" he asked.

Olivia nuzzled close to him "Yeah," she said softly "He and his partner are gonna watch her till they get him."

"Good," Elliot said as he tried not to yawn.

Olivia took a few steps in the direction of the bed. She turned down the covers on what had become Elliot's side of the bed "It's been a long day for everyone," she said gently.

It wasn't long before Elliot and Olivia were snuggled beneath the covers together. And it wasn't long after that that Elliot drifted off to sleep. Olivia stayed awake for a little longer, listening to Eli's even breathing and to the now lowered whispers that were being traded between the living room's occupants ever less frequently.

She had doubts as to whether she had been truly ready or not when she had gone to Kathy. She hadn't recovered yet. She knew that. It was almost impossible for her to admit it too herself and even harder to admit it to Elliot, especially with everything that had happened. Elliot and his kids needed her to be strong for them. Even Kathy needed Olivia to be the strong one.

She just hoped they arrested this Luke Jordan soon. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that she just couldn't shake. The man probably wouldn't have cared if the children had been in the house or not when he torched it. Olivia was scared and she couldn't even tell the man who now held her so protectively as he slept.

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A man in gray sweats slid along the hospital wall. He was attempting to reach a specific destination. His reason for being in the hospital was not one of mercy or of beneficence, no, he was there for a much darker purpose and he intended on completing his mission.

That bitch thought that she could refuse him? Well, he was going to show her what happened to the ones that thought they had the right to say no. She'd survived the first time. She was the only one who had. Now he would correct that mistake.

He reached his destination and came to an abrupt halt. Two men stood outside the room. His aim would have to be accurate. He slid the light bulb bomb out of his sleeve and surreptitiously tossed it underhand right in between the two men. The bulb exploded in a bright flash but there was no time to stick around to make sure he'd gotten it write. One of the men began chasing him.

Panicked shouts erupted behind him as he dove down a stairwell. He was outside the hospital far faster than he thought he would be. The man chasing him had no chance of catching him now. He ducked down an alley and was gone.

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The shrill and unwelcome ringing of Elliot's cell phone sent them both bolt upright in bed. Olivia muttered a soft curse under her breath as she flipped on the light and looked at Elliot. Elliot muttered a series of not-so-soft curses as he found the phone and flipped it open. But about ten seconds into the conversation, his whole expression changed.

Olivia instinctually moved closer to him and grabbed his free hand, holding it tight in hers as the call continued. After a few minutes, Elliot finally hung up. He turned to Olivia and she could see tears welling up in his eyes.

"Kathy," it was a statement rather than a question because Olivia just knew that the conversation involved his ex-wife.

He nodded slightly at her and pulled her close to him as he laid his head on her shoulder and began to cry. "She's in intensive care," he whispered as Olivia rubbed his back, trying to will his pain away "The bastard actually got into the hospital. He threw a Molotov cocktail in her room. They don't think she'll make it this time."

Olivia began to cry too. She had been talking with Kathy earlier that day. She had been fine, well not a hundred percent but her outlook had been good. Olivia had offered to let her stay with them. And now, how could hospital security have not noticed that creep? Olivia was angry, hurt and afraid all at once. This madman needed to be stopped.

The two of them sat there, wrapped up in each other's embrace and simply cried. Olivia couldn't think of the words to comfort Elliot and she suspected such words didn't even exist. Their tears were interrupted by Eli's cries for attention.

Without saying a word, Olivia rose from the bed, delicately extracting herself from Elliot's iron hold and went to the crib. She picked up the little boy who continued to scream his head off and would not be soothed. She held him close to her and whispered soothingly to him but it did nothing. It wasn't until she pressed her lips to the top of his head that she realized how warm he felt.

She pulled back from the baby and looked him over in the light cast by the lamp on her bedside table. He looked flushed and bubbling snot was running from his nose. That, most certainly, was causing him some discomfort in terms of breathing.

She turned to Elliot who was staring at the ceiling despondently. This night was not being kind to him. She cleared her throat softly and he turned his gaze towards her. Sad blue eyes examined her carefully "What is it?" he asked.

"I think Eli's sick," she told him.

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Olivia sat in the kitchen, staring down into her cup of tea. Elliot had called Eli's pediatrician and gotten some medicine for him. Eli had still refused to go to sleep and Elliot was currently driving through the streets of Manhattan in the hopes that the sound of the car's engine would lull the infant to sleep.

Olivia had been left to explain about Kathy to Kathleen and the twins. Something that wasn't easy at all considering that Olivia could barely look them in the eye as she herself broke down into tears once again relaying the details to them.

They were all awake now, and there was no hope of any of them getting back to sleep that night. Kathleen had been the one to volunteer to tell Maureen. She currently sat on the couch, cradling the phone to her ear as she sobbed.

Olivia had made hot chocolate for the kids and tea for herself but as of yet, none of them had made an effort to drink any of it. Lizzie and Dickie sat across from Olivia at the kitchen table, their eyes glued to the wood grain of the table top.

"When's Dad gonna be back?" Lizzie asked, not raising her eyes to meet Olivia's.

"Soon," Olivia offered in a soft voice "He'll be back soon," she wanted him to come back to the apartment too. She felt vulnerable without him there. And even though deep down, she knew that she was doing everything she could to comfort the kids, she knew that she was no substitute for their father; their actual parent.

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Elliot drove through the streets, Eli very nearly asleep in the back seat. He knew he should head back to Olivia's for the night. She needed him, after all. And his children needed him too. But somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to go back just yet.

He had the strangest feeling that Eli would begin to fuss the second he stopped the car anyway. Plus, he needed sometime alone with his thoughts. Though Kathy and he had separated and he was happy and most definitely in love with Olivia, there was a part of him that would always care for her. That part of him was causing him tremendous pain at this moment.

He knew that Olivia would understand and that she would do everything in her power to soothe him. But that made it so much worse. How could he possibly heave the burden of his own pain on her when she herself had her own demons and her own pain to deal with? How could he trouble her with his worries and sorrows about his ex-wife and not make her feel insecure about his love for her?

And he did love her; with all his heart he loved her. He couldn't be responsible for adding to the heavy load that she carried on her shoulders already. So he turned down another street, unaware of how desperately Olivia was wishing that he would come home soon.

His phone rang and he answered it. When the conversation was over he turned in the direction of Olivia's apartment building. He suddenly found that he needed her, no matter how selfish that was. Kathy had died.

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"Are you ready, Ms. Ashmore?" a man in a dark suit asked as he entered the room where the now brunette woman stood with a bag in one hand.

The newly christened Katrina Ashmore nodded somberly "Do I have to do this?" she asked, meekly, looking down at the pictures of her children that she'd been told she couldn't take with her.

The man stepped forward, an understanding expression covering his face "I know this is hard," he told her "But you're the only witness we have against him. He's not gonna stop until you're dead."

She nodded "But couldn't I just tell them-"

"No," the man told her "You'd be putting their lives in danger. I know you don't want that for your family."

Kathy Stabler sighed heavily and shouldered her bag. She wiped away a tear that had started to fall "Alright," she whispered, following the man out of the room "Let's go."

A/N: Okay, so I was trying to think of a way to avoid having to write all that drama of Kathy staying with Olivia and Elliot and I think I may have gone a bit overboard but at the same time, I feel strangely satisfied. Let me know what you think.