A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I've been pretty busy at the moment with settling in, taking care of my grandparents, and dealing with my parent's marital problems. Things are starting to calm down now, but it was a bumpy ride.
Well, it's time for some more revelations, and they'll be coming out in spates now. The story is rapidly approaching its big climax so buckle up ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own SVU, which is a damn shame. Anyone care to pool our savings to get it from WL?
This chapter is for my friend Srhittson, who graduated today.
Enjoy and be sure to review :)
Chapter Fourteen: Maureen
2:11 AM, July 14th, 1969; Lydia Hotel, New York City
It was as if a knife was plunged into his heart, and he was the one that drove it home. 'How could… I do this?' Elliot just stood there, eyes filled with welled up tears as he listened to Olivia cry. What kind of monster was he for doing this to her?
"It was the worst time of my life El," Olivia cried, the pain of her miscarriage and their fight all rushing back; there was never really any time to mourn, not with keeping an air after the fact an with the breakup after Elliot found out. "I didn't know what to do. You were off in Korea doing God knows what, stuff that would put you in a great chance of dying. I had no one to help me Elliot; I just couldn't ask Casey since she was going through personal problems of her own, and the only family I had was my mother and I didn't even know what happened to her, so that's why I asked Fin for the money.
"The night before I stayed in my room, searching myself and praying for the right answer. I then knew that the baby was a blessing and I was going to keep it, but the net morning I woke up in a bed soaked in blood. The pain, the pain…" she trailed off, breaking down into heavy sobs.
Himself completely lost in grief, Elliot rushed forward and took her in his arms, squeezing tightly. "I'm so sorry Olivia, I'm so sorry. What kind of heartless bastard would do that to a beautiful soul like you?" He hated himself right now. Olivia may not have been his wife but obviously she had meant everything to him (notwithstanding the current feelings he was slowly discovering he had). Fin's betrayal earlier had hurt him deeply, so he could imagine how his monstrous act affected Liv.
Crying into his shirt, Olivia fought to hold at least a semblance of composure. She was so mad at El for months after the incident, but she realized long ago that her foolish pride ruined the only truly wonderful thing that had ever happened in her life. Every day waking up in a bed without him killed her soul one bit at a time. "Don't say that El." The fact he was blaming himself only hurt her now.
"It was my fault Liv, I should never have doubted you."
"And I should never have deceived you El. It was my fault as well."
"I should never have left."
"I should have followed you."
Leading them both to the bed, Elliot held Olivia close to his chest as both after sixteen years finally mourned for their baby, for their relationship, and for all the lost time since.
"I had a child," Elliot kept murmuring into her hair, matted to her head by his tears. "We had a child Liv." The thought left him with a deep feeling of loss, more so than when Kathy told him earlier in the day they were childless.
"We did." She nuzzled his chest, allowing herself just a tiny bit of comfort. "We didn't speak for years. I ended up getting married to a jerk; from what I can tell I think it was only to prove that I got over you."
"I got married too huh?" Elliot replied. "When was it?"
Olivia didn't want to think about Kathy, but she couldn't not tell him. "Four years ago, March 1965."
"I wish I could remember her, at least just for knowledge's sake." Elliot wanted to kiss her head but thought better of it; he didn't know how she'd take it. "At least you did have a child Liv. Someone was able to gift you with one."
The words made Olivia remember the dark secret she had kept, the one fact only she knew that she kept from Elliot. 'Should I tell him?' Olivia thought. 'This isn't the right time, and I had good reasons for not doing so, he's married.' But the last time she kept a secret it destroyed their relationship and almost destroyed their lives.
Before she could make up her mind there was a knock at the door. Wiping his eyes clear of tears, Elliot composed himself; these problems were between him and Olivia, no one else. Peeking through the peephole he flashed an ok sign to Liv and unlatched the door, opening it. "Hey guys."
"Hey Elliot, Olivia," Alex said as she entered dressed in a stylish black coat, Munch right behind her. "Sorry we're a bit late, but boney ass back here wouldn't stop and ask for directions." She pointed back at her husband with an eye roll.
"Asking for directions in this neighborhood is asking to get mugged Al," replied Munch. "It isn't my fault that Lindsay can't deal with crime."
Olivia giggled at their bickering idiocy, putting the grief aside for a moment. These two were a riot.
"Well," Munch continued in an ominous tone. "There was another reason. We were followed."
"WHAT?" yelled El and Liv simultaneously.
"I told you honey," he told Alex, "They still share a brain."
"Out with it man!" Olivia shouted. "Was it Fin?"
"We didn't see them," Alex replied, "But it's either him or his people."
Elliot ran a hand through his hair, heart beating out of his chest. "Ok, so what the hell do we do now?"
Looking at each other, Munch and Alex wore matching grins. "Don't worry, we have a plan. As I always say, be sure to come prepared."
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2:38 AM, July 14th, 1969; Lydia Hotel, New York
"Sir, we have two suspects leaving the hotel."
Sitting in his car a block from the Lydia, Fin came out of his reverie and picked up the portable radio. "Is it the targets?" After the disaster at the hotel (at which he had to pay off several people and threaten a few others to keep silent), the whole situation had gone from bad to worse until Henderson spotted Alex and Munch leaving their house. Fin knew Alex, and the girl would not even come near such a place as the Lydia unless she had too. Elliot and Olivia were here, he just knew it.
"It appears to be Benson and Stabler sir," Brian replied. "They are of the same general build and are dressed in their clothes…"
"It's them sir," said Ackie Horowitz, the agent who took over the tail on Munch once they entered Brooklyn. "They're entering Dr. Benson's car… shit. I think they spotted me."
'Stupid fuck,' Fin thought. The plan in his head was to catch up with the car, take Elliot away from Olivia and to a CIA safehouse, create an elaborate escape attempt where Ackie tragically lost his life, and then put a bullet into Elliot's head. Now the rookie agent might screw up the entire plan.
Cassidy's voice crackled over the radio. "Sir, the Munches are heading for their car as well, should we follow?"
"Negative," Fin responded; he couldn't care less about them, Elliot was who he wanted. "Stay after Benson and Stabler."
All of a sudden, shouts erupted out of the radio. "Fuck," Ackie yelled, "They're tearing out of the lot. Cassidy and I are in pursuit. North toward Bed-Stuy."
Cursing, Fin shifted the car into gear and kept along the road directly to the west of the chase. Elliot was very smart as was Olivia but in dealing with Ackie and Brian they'd likely be distracted, easy prey for an unseen ambush on his part.
Racing at nearly seventy miles per hour, swerving in and out of the sparse traffic on the street, Fin ignored the honking horns and middle finger salutes as he hit the brakes and banked wide. He balanced the speed for the best and burst into the road. Olivia's Buick swerved to the side, only narrowly avoiding hitting the buildings alongside the road.
Throwing open the door, Fin drew his pistol and approached the vehicle. "Get out of the car Stabler!" he yelled, gun raised. "Hands in the air!"
As the occupants in the car complied, Ackie and Cassidy arriving in the background, when Fin got a close up on their faces his jaw dropped in disbelief. "Should I cuff them sir?" asked Ackie.
Muttering, Fin approached them. "A fucking wig!" he screamed in rage, ripping the hairpiece off the man. "You fucking morons! Can't you see in front of your cocksucking faces?" He wanted to rip off his hair; Munch's car was nowhere to be seen. Elliot slipped his grasp again. "Do you know what you fucking did you bony assed cuntface?" With this cluster fuck his filter wasn't just off, it was overloaded to the breaking point.
"What did we do Fin?" Alex asked, angry herself. "What do you want with Elliot?"
"None of your business you blonde bimbo," Fin snarled. "Get back in the cars and get to every bridge out of Brooklyn as quickly as possible," he ordered his men.
"Don't you talk to my wife that way Fin," Munch yelled as Fin ran back to his car. "What you did to Elliot is illegal. How could you do this to your friend?"
"Go to hell!" he shouted back, slamming the door and zooming off. This was not good, not good at all. Drastic measures were needed now.
10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…
4:48 AM, July 14th, 1969; Iselin, New Jersey
The 1967 Cadillac convertible just screamed John Munch in Olivia's opinion; Elliot had protested, not wanting to put them out like that but the Munches had silenced him. After all the scientist had done for them over the years, it was the least they could do they said. Olivia was happy that Elliot still had such good friends, especially after what happened with Fin.
Speaking of Fin, Olivia couldn't believe Fin fell for the ruse. Desperation must have clouded his judgement, for the better too. Not a second after the chase began her and Elliot drove out of the city heading for the closest Amtrak station.
Walking away from the ticket booth, she saw Elliot sitting on a bench, head in his hands. A wave of sadness crossed over her at seeing him this broken. Elliot was a man full of life, full of confidence which was one of the things she loved about him. The guilt from what had happened at the Tutuola mansion must be killing him. 'El, I wish I could take it away for you, but that's Kathy's job.' Sighing, she headed over to him and tapped his shoulder.
"I've talked to the airport in Philadelphia Elliot," Olivia said, handing him a folded piece of notebook paper. "There's a flight heading for Chicago at 8:15 and a connecting flight to Houston thirty minutes after you land. Since you don't have much luggage you can get there by late afternoon tomorrow."
"Thank you so much Liv," Elliot told her.
Olivia waved him off. "What else was I supposed to do El? Aside from Maureen you are the person I care the most about." Seeing a tear slip down his cheek, she wrapped her arms around him consolingly. He smelled just like she remembered, so wonderful.
"I wish I could remember you Liv," he murmured, resting his head on her shoulder. "I feel like we've known each other forever but I hate knowing that we did and I can't remember it. It's not fair to you."
"Don't feel that way El, it's not your fault. It's Fin's, no one else's."
He hugged her tighter. "I can't believe I'm married. Can you tell me about Kathy?"
While she wanted to tell him everything, voices in her head selfishly telling her to badmouth the blonde she couldn't do it. She wasn't that type of woman. "It's not my place El. You'll have to discover that part of your life for yourself."
She felt him sigh against her shoulder. "I feel like I've been discovering more and more things about myself every second; most of it is rather sickening isn't it?" Olivia was heartbroken for this man. He was so amazing and having him hate himself made her want to die. What came out of his mouth then made her heart clench. "I'm so glad to have you, especially since you should hate me."
"El," she whispered, placing her hand on his chest. "It's my fault too that happened."
Elliot shook his head. "But I should have come after you. You deserve nothing but the best."
"That's why I only want you." Realizing she said it out loud, Olivia pulled out of the hug, hand clasped to her mouth.
Elliot heard it as well, gazing at her. He didn't know everything about his life yet, not knowing about Kathy or why his best friend wanted him dead; there was one thing he did know though: he was in love with Olivia Benson, head over heels. Reaching out and softly pushing her hand out of the way, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
Part of Olivia screamed to draw back, that he was married and this was highly inappropriate but as the seconds passed his warm, soft lips began to kill that voice little by little. Slowly, her hands made their way to his shoulders, clasping them firmly as her eyes closed. Taking this as a hint, Elliot caressed her bottom lip with his tongue, seeking entrance.
Lost in the magic of past feelings rushing back, Olivia let him in enthusiastically, fusing their mouths together with the same passion as they had all those years ago. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her close, both moaning in each other's mouths.
Finally the need for air became too great, Olivia breaking the kiss and gazing up into Elliot's blue eyes, still as gorgeous as ever. She loved him, the love of the past still burning brightly even after sixteen years apart. "El…" She bit her lip.
Elliot was torn at the moment. He knew he was married and should feel guilty about cheating on his wife. On the other hand though this felt right. It was as if God built Olivia for him and he for her, the two meshing together perfectly. Much as he hated himself he would never regret this. "Don't Liv," he whispered, tugging her back in a tight embrace. "I don't regret this."
A tear of happiness fell down Olivia's cheek, the brunette knowing that even through all the turmoil and problems that had happened and were bound to happen she didn't regret this either. 'You have to tell him Benson. No more secrets.' "Elliot, I need to tell you something before you go." She wriggled out of his grasp, leading them both to the bench to sit. "No one else knows about this El except me."
"That big eh?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Well then I graciously accept this high honor."
Olivia giggled; even now he still knew what to say to lighten her mood. "Thanks El." Sobering up, she looked him straight in his eye. "Elliot, Maureen isn't my ex-husband's daughter."
He blinked. "What…"
"She is yours El, Maureen is our daughter."
The words registering in her brain, Elliot sat there in shock. 'I have a daughter? A daughter with Olivia?' Back at the university when talking to Kathy he remembered the pained feeling when learning he didn't have children with her, but now learning he had one with Olivia, the woman he loved? "Why didn't you tell me?"
Closing her eyes, Olivia remembered the day she was born. Maureen looked and acted exactly like her except for her supreme confidence toward others and her eyes. The beautiful blues just like her dad; she had fallen in love with them just like she had with Elliot's, the moment she saw them. "It was right after I left Dean. He had cheated on me the fourth time and I moved into Casey's brownstone. I headed to a bar to drink my problems away and you were there, drunk. The feelings came back and an hour afterward we were in your hotel room making love."
Elliot gulped, wishing he could remember.
"I woke up first at around six AM. For a moment I was happy, thinking we had finally forgotten that day long ago but then you stirred in your sleep and mumbled 'Kathy, mmmm.' Tears running down my eyes, I just got dressed and walked out. Three weeks later I found out I was pregnant; everyone just assumed it was Dean's and you were with Kathy… I'm sorry Elliot, I'm so sorry." She covered her face with her hands, hating herself for not telling him.
Without a word Elliot drew her into his arms, calmly stroking her back.
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5:25 AM, July 14th, 1969; Apartment of Olivia Benson, New York
Slipping his spare key into the lock, Fin slowly opened the door so as not to cause the hinges to creek. Just as he figured Casey was asleep on the couch, snoring loudly as was her style. 'She's loud even in her sleep,' he thought humorously.
The smirk died on his lips as the reason he was here popped back in his head. He did not want to have to resort to this but after Munch and Alex abetted Elliot's escape he was pushed to desperation. Only Olivia would know where he was headed, so Fin had to make her talk.
Using all of his CIA training, Fin silently proceeded to the smaller bedroom of the apartment and flicked on the light next to the bed. Sick with guilt, he lightly shook the little bundle in the bed. "Hey Maur, wake up little one."
Shifting sleepily, Maureen rubbed her eyes and looked up. A wide smile broke out on the mini-Olivia's face. "Uncle Fin!"
"Shhh honey," Fin replied, faking a smile. "How would you like to come with me for a little surprise?"
"Really?" The girl nodded excitedly, sleep forgotten.
A/N: I am evil I know. Had to screw your good moods up after all the revelations I gave you, lol.
So after all the action we find out Maureen is Elliot's daughter and not Porter's. Also we got a kiss and an internal admission that they still love each other. All is culminating as the story winds down :)
Next up, what the hell does Fin want with Maureen, and what does Elliot think about Maureen being his? Plus how did he end up with Kathy? Stay tuned.
Be sure to review this and my other stories :)
God Bless
Alex