Disclaimer: Still not mine... though one day Mr Wolf and I may come to some arrangement.

xoxoinnocenceoxox

Two mugs of coffee sat cooling on the counter as Olivia walked into the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry," Lizzie stated, as soon as she saw Olivia.

"What for, honey?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

"For upsetting dad and Dickie … I thought …" she began before stopping.

"What did you think?" Olivia prompted, taking her hand.

"I thought that seeing Steve would make everything alright and I could get on with things …" Lizzie answered, pain filling her eyes.

"And it will," she replied, squeezing her hand.

"But I didn't realise it would hurt them so much … I was only thinking about me …" she said sadly. "Are they going to be okay?"

"Yeah, they will … everyone just has to deal with things in their own time and in their own way," Olivia reassured her. "As for your dad and Dickie, they'll be fine; we'll have to love them a lot."

The conversation continued and covered a range of topics before Lizzie looked over at the mugs.

"It's cold now … the coffee …" she said, pointing to the mugs. "And dad hasn't come back yet. Do you think he's alright?"

"I might just go and check," Olivia said, concerned herself that Elliot had yet to make a reappearance.

She found him lying back on the bed, his arm crossed over his face; he'd obviously been sitting on the end as his feet were still on the floor. Olivia stood between his knees and leant over, her arms bracing her body above him.

"How are you doing, babe?" she asked quietly.

"Better now you're here," he smiled, moving his arm and opening his eyes.

"Anything I can do?" she asked, lifting one hand to caress his face.

"Yep!" He scooted up the bed before taking her hand and getting her to join him. She lay on her side, tucked into him. Her leg and arm draped over him, her head resting in the crook of her neck.

"Need anything?" she asked as her hand caressed his chest.

"Got everything I need right here," he replied, kissing her head.

Before long there was a hesitant knock on the door.

"Come in," called Elliot. Slowly the door opened and Dickie peered around the corner, home from his outing with Kathy.

"Sorry," he started. "Didn't mean to interrupt… I can come back later…" He went to close the door.

"No, wait!" called Olivia. "Come back, honey." Dickie opened the door once more. "Did you want to talk to your dad?"

"Yeah, I sort of thought that we could kind of have a talk … you know … a man to man kind of thing," he said nervously, not quite able to look at his dad.

"I think that's a great idea," Olivia said, sitting up. She leant back to Elliot, "Liz and I might go for a walk or something… okay?"

"Yeah, okay," he nodded and Olivia could clearly see the anxiety on his face.

"It will be alright," she reassured, kissing his cheek.

"What if I make things worse for him?" he whispered. "What if I don't know what to say?"

"Baby, Dickie is you … just think about what you would have wanted your dad to do if it were you?" she whispered back.

"Don't be gone too long," he replied, still nervous about his impending conversation.

Olivia climbed from the bed and stopped by Dickie at the door.

"I'm really sorry, Liv," he said sadly.

"What for, honey?" she asked, raising his head.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier … it wasn't you I was upset with … you know that, don't you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I know that," she replied, wrapping her arms around him. "No harm done."

"I was just … well, I wasn't …" his voice trailed, as Olivia kissed his head.

"It's okay; you go talk to your dad," she whispered, before walking through the doorway and into the hall.

"Wait, Liv," he continued, turning to follow her. "I'm kinda nervous. What if I don't know what to say to him?" He nodded towards Elliot. "You know we find it difficult to talk about … you know…stuff."

"I think he's just as nervous as you, Dickie," Olivia replied. "But you know how you feel right now – just how much you need to talk to him, be near him? He needs that from you too."

"But what if I don't say all the right things?" he asked with quiet desperation.

"It won't matter," she reassured. "It's just important that you try. He loves you so much, Dickie, always remember that." He nodded.

"Um, Liv …" he began unsure as to whether he should continue.

"Yes?" she prompted quietly.

"I know I haven't really said this before … but I should have because I do … and I need to, I want to … it's just that … well, you've had your stuff to deal with and Lizzie's and dad's and … well …" his voice trailed to a whisper.

"What is it you're trying to say, Dickie?" she asked, her hands resting on his shoulders.

"I love you, Livvy," he said so shyly she could have cried.

"I love you too, baby," she replied, wrapping him in a warm embrace and kissing his head. "I love you so very much."

She stood in the hallway and held onto him for just as long as he held onto her, then she slowly moved back. "Now, to give you guys some privacy, Liz and I are going to go for a walk," she said caressing his face.

"Yeah, okay," he replied. "But Livvy… don't go too far."

"I won't," she smiled. "And I'll take my cell, so if you need me or…" she nodded towards the door, "he does, you just call and we'll be right back."

By the time Liz and Olivia had reached the pavement outside the building and seen Kathy off, Dickie was still standing by the bedroom door.

"You want to talk in here or go somewhere else or…" Elliot began, sitting up in the bed.

"Here's fine," Dickie replied with a nod.

"Oh, okay," he said. "You want to sit here with me?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, sitting up on Olivia's side of the bed, next to his dad.

Both were well aware of the tension and neither quite knew what to do next.

Elliot took a deep breath and remembered Olivia's words – what would he have wanted from his father? With that in mind, the rest came easy.

"Want to tell me about it, son?" Elliot asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and reflecting Dickie's posture.

"Not sure where to start, dad," Dickie replied softly.

"Just take your time and tell me whatever you want … or ask me whatever you want…" he prompted gently, something far removed from the dealings he had ever had with his father.

"How are you supposed to just get over something like that?" Dickie asked quietly.

"Like what?" Elliot asked, not exactly sure what he was referring to.

"Lizzie … and Liv … how are you supposed to just get up one day and be able to get on with life and not let it bother you?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "How can you just forget about it?"

"I don't think they've forgotten about it," Elliot began. "I just think they have accepted that it's happened and while it has affected them deeply, they just don't want it to control their whole life…"

There was a long silence.

"So how come I can't?" Dickie said, in a deeply forlorn voice.

"You can't what, son?" Elliot asked, turning to face him.

"How come I can't accept it? How come it's controlling my life?" he asked with a deep sadness.

"What's 'it'?" he countered.

"Lizzie's assault," he answered, tears filling his eyes.

"Which part of Lizzie's assault?" Elliot asked, feeling a little more cop than dad.

"The part that I was a useless idiot and let it happen … "he whispered, unable to give full voice to his comment.

"How did you let it happen?" he probed.

"I was in the house … and he went into her room, into her bed … and tried to get … well, you know, into her and I let it happen … I mean I didn't just let it happen, I didn't know he was doing it … but I was still there … it still happened when I was supposed to be the man of the house … the one who was supposed to be looking out for her … you know?" he asked, tears streaming down his face.

"Yeah I know," Elliot agreed, and he did. There wasn't a day that went by without him blaming himself for not being undercover with Olivia at Sealview. He should have been looking out for her; he should have had her back.

"You do know that Liz doesn't blame you, don't you?" Elliot asked, threading his arm behind his son's neck and pulling him closer.

"Yeah," he sobbed into his father's chest. "But I blame me." He looked up to his father in desperation. "I hate myself … I hate I couldn't stop it, I hate I couldn't fix it and… and … and I hate the fact Liz still loves me … at least if she hated me I could deal with it but she doesn't … she loves me anyway and I…oh god, dad, does any of this make sense?"

It all made sense and Olivia had been right, Dickie was his father's son.

"It makes sense, Dickie … It makes sense," Elliot assured him as he held him tighter. "And you know something, I blame me too."

Dickie raised his head and looked at his father. "Why, dad?"

"For pretty similar reasons … if your mum and I hadn't divorced, he'd never have been in the house … this would never have happened …" he began.

"You can't blame yourself, dad … you and mum shouldn't have to stay together just because someone else might do this … it's not your fault you weren't there … it was just circumstances," Dickie protested.

"Exactly, buddy, circumstances … I couldn't stop it and neither could you," Elliot said, ruffling his hair. "Doesn't make it easier to accept but it's the reality, isn't it?"

"Yep," he replied, struggling to stop his tears.

"You know what I think?" he asked as Dickie dropped his head onto Elliot's shoulder.

"What?" he mumbled.

"Liv and Liz are doing well and I think that maybe the help they've been getting has a lot to do with that … you know… counselling. Maybe that's what we need to try it … see if it helps us too. What do you think?" he asked, apprehensively. Never before had he truly contemplated therapy, and now he'd proposed it without a second thought.

"We wouldn't have to go in together, would we?" Dickie asked, not sure if he was prepared to have his father there listening to every word.

"No, son, we won't," Elliot said, squeezing him in a hug.

"Do we have to tell Liv and Liz about it? Well, right now anyhow?" he questioned, sitting up.

"Nah, for now it can be our little secret," Elliot grinned in conspiracy, not quite ready to let others know he needed the help of a therapist.

"It's gonna cost a fortune, you know?" Dickie said as he stood up.

"It'll be worth it," he replied, standing and meeting up with his son at the foot of the bed. "But there are a couple of things I can tell you for free… one, that none of this was your fault, never was, never will be … and two, I love you, son." Dickie hugged him tightly, even harder than Elliot was holding him.

By the time Olivia and Lizzie returned home, Elliot and Dickie were sitting on the sofa, Playstation 3 controllers in hands, challenging each other in some car racing game that Olivia just couldn't get. Their postures were mirror image and their faces reflected the same emotions.

Lizzie went and sat between them on the sofa.

"Who's winning?" she asked, ruffling her brother's hair, before she kissed his head, glad that he at least glanced at her.

"Who do you think?" Dickie grinned, tilting to the right as he turned a corner.

"It's not over yet," Elliot retorted, tilting right, not far behind his son.

"Well, I have won the last two, dad," Dickie remarked, taking another corner.

"I'm playing next," Lizzie called, resting her head on her dad's shoulder.

Olivia stood and took in the scene and couldn't help but smile at just how comfortable they all looked with each other. Knowing there was no room on the sofa for her, but not wanting to miss out on the togetherness they had finally achieved, Olivia took the controller from Elliot, surprising him.

"Hey!" he shouted, as she handed it to Lizzie.

"Here, Liz, see if you can beat him," Olivia said, climbing onto Elliot's lap. He didn't mind the substitution in the least.

She kissed his head as he wrapped her in his arms.

"Everything go alright here?" she asked, nodding towards Dickie who was too engrossed in the game to pay any attention.

"Yeah," he replied, kissing her shoulder. "Nice walk?"

"Yeah," she answered.

The details could wait; neither wanted anything to spoil this moment, which had been forever in coming.

The laughter and togetherness a sign of the positive nature of healing.

xoxoinnocenceoxox

There is only the epilogue to come. Will be posted in a couple of weeks if you're interested.

If you're so inclined, good thoughts and prayers are needed this way.

Thank you.