A/N: It is not things that make our lives worth living, but people.
DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and the characters; TStabler© owns the story you're about to read.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Olivia mumbled, her voice soft as she spoke to no one.
A voice in her ear assured her it would, then Elliot took the seat across from her. He slid a cup of coffee in front of her, offered her a smile, and said, "Porter, if this ends badly, it'll be your ass..."
"Relax," Dean Porter said, his voice flitting through their earpieces. "We have eyes all over this bookstore, there's no way anyone is getting hurt."
Sipping his coffee, Elliot hummed. He swallowed, then looked at Olivia. "I love you," he mouthed.
She grinned at him, leaned over the table, and kissed his lips softly. "I love you, too," she whispered against his skin.
Porter grumbled, hoping they couldn't hear him, and checked his watch. Simon was already late.
"Are you sure he's okay?" Chester asked, staring worriedly into a doctor's eyes.
The man in white sighed. "Detective Lake," he said, huffing, "Not a bruise, not a scratch, not even a hair out of place. Your son is perfectly fine."
Alex looked up at his words, her eyes glued to Chester, hoping to see his reaction. She saw relief in his features, the worry slowly lifting from his face, and she, too, relaxed. She followed with her stare as he moved, sat beside her, and shook his head.
"Those are the people you left him with?" he snarled, not looking at her.
"I didn't know them," she said, blinking away tears. "I just knew...I couldn't keep Ches...Elliot." She cringed, saying the name his adoptive parents had given him.
Chester looked at her and tilted his head. "You named him Elliot," he snorted. "It's always gonna be him, isn't it."
"I didn't..." she choked, stumbled, and took a breath. "I named him Chester, okay? But when they were writing out his birth certificate, I panicked. I couldn't lose another Chester Lake." She didn't stop the tears this time, and she sniffled as she continued. "I just said 'Elliot' without thinking, because he's the only other man I know that I would have been proud to name my son after."
Chester was staring at her, silent, stunned. He moved too fast for her to react, his hands gripped her shoulders, his body pulled hers close, and he kissed her with more fire than he'd intended.
"She say why she did it?" Casey asked over her shoulder, pulling an earring out of her ear.
Fin shrugged as he moved up behind her. "She caught him cheatin' on her, thought fakin' a kidnapping would be an easier way to milk him out of a million bucks than a divorce." He ran his hands over her smooth shoulders, his fingers dug into her skin just slightly as he dragged them down her arms. "She said he'd do anything for his son."
Casey hummed, squinted, and said, "You never have to worry about that."
He tilted his head, confused. "What?"
She turned in his arms, her own hands now laced together at his back. "I would never try to take our son away from you, no matter what you did. Even if I only left him with my mother, I would tell you."
Fin chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Well, that's good to know," he said. "It ain't you I gotta worry about, Case. It's Melinda."
"Fin," Casey said, her tone serious, her eyes begging him to stop kidding around. "I need you to make a choice," she said, her body tensing in his hold.
"You're scarin' me, here," he told her, pulling her closer.
"I'm scared, too, Fin, trust me," Casey breathed as she closed her eyes. "I just...you need to choose. Right now. Is it gonna be me, Beck, or Melinda?"
He furrowed his brow. "I thought you said I could take time if..."
"We're out of time, Fin," Casey interrupted. She took a breath, looked at him, and couldn't help smiling. "I think...I'm pregnant."
"We've been here for an hour," Olivia grumbled into her bracelet microphone. "I've got kids, ya know."
Elliot scratched his head and downed the last of his fifth cup of coffee. "Maybe he got cold feet," he shrugged. "He's been watching you for years, probably planned out exactly what he'd say if he ever got to meet you face-to-face, and he's terrified you have no desire to have him in your life."
"Okay, you need to stop watching Doctor Phil," Olivia teased.
He laughed. "That wasn't Doctor Phil, that was Doctor Huang," he told her. "I pay attention in those seminars."
She shot him a look. "Okay, I pay attention to the slideshows during his seminars, but bottom line, I learned something."
"Okay, you two," Porter spat, almost hissing in their ears. "He's walking into the building. He's heading for your table."
Elliot's head turned, and he blinked once as a younger man in a brown, leather jacket, walked up to them, bit his lip, and took off his ball cap. "I'm assuming," Elliot said calmly, "That you're Simon?"
The man nodded. He looked at Olivia and smiled, tears in his eyes. "Olivia, it's...I don't even...God, I had this whole list of things I wanted to say to you and now...I can't think of anything."
She looked at Elliot, who was smirking proudly, and she shook her head. "How...I mean, how did you...know?"
Simon blinked, then pulled out the third chair at the table. Then he stopped, looked around, and his eyes widened. "How many of you are here?"
Elliot felt his heart thud. "What? Who?"
"Cops," Simon hissed. "I know you'd never show up here alone. Listen to me, we have to get out of here, now. Are you...are you wired?"
Olivia went white. "Calm down, okay? It's just us. We're just talking."
"He set me up," Simon gritted out. "That slimy son of a..."
"Who?" Elliot asked. "Look, man, we're willing to work with you here, but you have to..."
"Porter," Simon snapped. "Three years ago, I got collared for something I didn't do. They took fingerprints, blood, you name it, they sucked it outta me. Porter was the man in charge, and when he told me they got a hit in the system on an unsolved rape, I almost..."
"Whoa," Olivia said, leaning forward now. "Porter was the one who told you about me?"
Simon bit his lip and nodded. He took a breath and sat down. "He asked if I had any idea, and then he showed me a picture of you and...well my dad...our...our dad had this shoebox full of clippings and pictures and letters. I just thought you were some niece of his I'd never met."
"Back to Porter," Elliot said, grabbing Olivia's hand.
"Right," Simon said with a breath. "He told me...he'd let me go if I promised not to contact you. Something about making it look bad if I got pinched and ran to my cop sister." He ran a hand down his face. "I moved to New York, and I swear, it was just a coincidence, being at your deli, your dry cleaner, I wasn't stalking you, but he...he grabbed me at a supermarket once, told me if I played nice and left you alone he'd arrange a meeting."
Olivia sniffled and squeezed Elliot's hand. "So...then..."
"So then someone breaks into your house, I'm Porter's first suspect," Simon barked, shaking his head. "Olivia, I swear, I wasn't even there! But Porter...he saw my wall...he thought that...look, I wouldn't hurt you. Or the kids. Ever. I know you don't know me enough to believe me, but you're the only family I've got now. I would never..."
"Liv," Elliot said, turning his head toward her. "I believe him."
Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Why would Porter set him up, El? What reason would he have to..."
Elliot held up a hand. "For years, Porter's had to go out of his way to save my ass, some debt his father owed mine." He scoffed. "Son of a bitch knows he can't hurt me, not directly, so he was trying to hurt you, the worst way he knew how."
Olivia opened her mouth to ask him what he meant. Before she could get the words out of her mouth, Dean Porter appeared at the side of their table, his arms folded. "I think we should all go somewhere...quiet."
"It's one thing to keep their marriage from your staff," Tucker said, his nostrils flaring, "But to keep the fact that you're his father to yourself is a new low, Don."
Cragen shook his head. "No one was supposed to find out," he said. "I wasn't even really sure..."
"You're risking a lot for them," Tucker interrupted, "Even put them on a bogus case to get them out of here while this investigation went down to keep them out of it. You can't tell me you honestly consider them..."
"Family," Cragen said. "Yeah, I do."
As the men fell into a stiff silence, a knock on the door cut through the tension. "Come in," Tucker ordered.
The door opened, Trevor Langan walked in holding a thick file. "I don't want to interrupt, but...I need to know where Stabler and Benson are."
"Not a good time to make amends with your frenemies, Langan," Cragen said, gritting his teeth.
"No, I'm not trying to apologize for what happened with Stabler's father," Langan said. Then he sighed. "I'm trying to apologize for what happened with Benson's." He threw the file onto Tucker's desk. "If you know where they are, if they're with Porter, you need to get them back here. Now."
A/N: Uh oh.