A/N: How will Elliot react to Liv's coldness? What will he think of being in the middle of a task, instead of being one himself? Will he ever find out he, too, was supposed to be a "robot"?
DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story, and all its contents, belong to TStabler©
Fin and Elliot were forced to follow the agents, and Olivia, back to HQ. The body of Serena Benson had been transferred to the morgue. White, being a former Ops employee, knew what to do to make her unfixable. Not that Olivia would have wanted to fix her, but Warner and the rest of the agents would have done it anyway. Serena was the maternal source for their Commander, the best agent Ops had ever seen. Olivia was their boss, their comrade, and some agents, against her advisement, considered her a friend.
Olivia led the barrage of people following her through a long hallway in the orange corridor of HQ. Meetings, briefings, profiling, some interrogations and a lot of yelling and screaming happened in these rooms and halls.
They turned left, Olivia slapped her hand down on the panel and the doors slid open. Once inside, everyone took a seat, automatically, including Fin. Only Elliot and Olivia remained standing. She stood because she was the Commander and was going to head the meeting, and he stood because he was confused as shit.
"Sit," Olivia said, nodding curtly to her husband. He blinked once and then pulled out the empty chair in front of him, next to Fin, and plopped into it. He'd never sat it on one of these strategy sessions before, only heard how much of a headache they were to his wife.
"Before any of you even mention the personal element of this task, I'm telling you right now it is of little to no substance. We proceed as if the innocent," she scoffed upon saying the word innocent, "had no relation to me or anyone any of you has ever even met. We go after the target as planned. With, of course, the two new additions to this taskforce. You all remember Tutuola and , of course, you know Stabler."
Hampton rose from his chair. "Commander, deep regrets for being ill-equipped to follow the target. R. White is..."
"An elusive son of a bitch," Olivia finished for him. "I know. We would have had him tonight," she said, glaring at Fin and Elliot, "But, as they say, the thrill of the chase makes the catch that much sweeter." She winked at the two boys and they relaxed. "Dr. Huang has prepared this cohesive and conclusive psychiatric profile of the target." She passed around black folders.
Elliot flipped through it, and had a basic understanding that the man was stalking someone he idolized, almost treasured. The people he'd killed, in his mind, were people who were threatening and standing in his obsession's way. In his warped mind, this was his way of helping the object of his fanaticism. The last page, once flipped, made Elliot's stomach flip in return. It was just as he'd thought and just as he'd feared. "He's obsessed with you," he said, horror-stricken, as he looked up at Olivia.
She turned to him, with an expressionless, almost cold face and said, "Yes." She then turned back to face her unit. "Any questions?"
Captain Cragen, in his office, pacing, was wondering where two if his best detectives were while they had three new cases. Munch and Cassidy were running around like chickens with no heads, Casey Novak, another new A.D.A was waiting in the bullpen, and he was still worried about whatever consequences he would have to face from Olivia.
He opened his door, stepped into the squadroom, and shook the strawberry blonde woman's hand. "Sorry to keep you waiting. We're very short-handed today."
"I can see that. I've got the D.A breathing down my neck. She wants this guy caught yesterday, so I need you to give me something I can use to get your detectives a warrant," Novak declared, trying to sound threatening. "They'll need it to search his..."
"That will not be necessary," came a firm voice from behind her. "His apartment didn't have anything useful, aside from the standard night-vision camera, aerostatic boots, print prevention kits and three copies of yesterday's paper. He was on the front-page, above the fold." Olivia folded her arms and waited for an introduction.
Casey folded her arms, too, but she wasn't about to shake hands and play nice. "Who the hell are you? I hope you had a warrant, if you didn't your search was against the law and anything you found is inadmis..."
"I am the law Ms. Novak." Olivia held out her hand. "Commander Benson. Special Ops."
Novak grinned smugly. "Oh. Are you the reason we haven't nailed this bastard yet? And how, exactly, are night a vision camera and aerostatic...whatever standard?"
Olivia smirked, her eyebrow twitching just the slightest bit. "Actually, no. Cragen's detectives are the reason I haven't caught him yet. I was damn close till Loudmouth and Trigger-Happy over here came along," she said, teasing Fin and Elliot. "And, to answer your second question, that equipment is standard for an ex-employee of Special Ops."
Cragen folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. "So, Commander Benson, what do you suggest we do, here? Your task, my case, one bad-guy. We're not giving it up and I know you won't either, and I don't want the two of you," he said pointing to Olivia and Elliot, "pitted against each other for, well, obvious reasons."
"Simple. Stabler and I will track and apprehend the target. Together," Olivia said. "With the occasional help of Fin and a few of my men."
Casey's eyebrows raised. "Wait, Captain Cragen, you are letting the United States government walk in here and step on your toes, going after a case that should be solely SVU's, without even putting up a fight?"
"United Forces, actually. Great Britain, France and Italy, too," Olivia said reaching for a cup and the espresso machine. "Miss Novak, I do not step on toes, the feet simply move aside when I walk into the room. I also, contrary to what you just assumed, do not overthrow police commanders or their attorneys, so why, if I may ask, are you being so hostile? After all, we are both wanting the same thing, are we not?" she asked, handing Casey the small cup. "You seem troubled, and speaking as one who is also going through a moderate personal crisis at the moment, you can't let it affect you at work. You may offend the wrong person," she added, both amicably and threateningly.
Taking the cup, Novak spat back, "What personal crisis could you possibly be going through? You look pretty damn calm and collected to me." She took a sip of the coffee-drink and her nerves were soothed. She visible relaxed.
"Better?" Olivia asked. Casey nodded. "Good. Now, can we work, together, to find the target? His latest victim, Serena Benson, was my, uh, mother. I use the term loosely." Novak's eyes raised and she was about to apologize.
"Excuse me?" A man's voice interrupted them as a very frantic figure in a suit walked into the bullpen and up to an Ops agent. "I'm looking for Captain Cragen." The agent pointed, and the frazzled man, hurried and anxious, ran over to him. "Don! The police, or whoever they were that came to get me, they said you found my wife? You found Serena?"
"Oh, Christ, this is just what I need," Olivia muttered. She turned to her unit behind her. "Welken, find Abrams. Ask him why he did not take the innocent's companion directly to HQ. Then, send him straight to ICE. I'll deal with him later."
"Yes, CIC, Ma'am." Welken sped off. Cragen shook the man's hand and furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, Charlie. She's been..."
"Christ, Don, don't say it. Just, tell me how. Was it fast?" Charlie looked up at Don with hope and fear in his eyes. Cragen just shook his head. "I can't give you the details, Chuck, and if I could, you wouldn't want to hear them." Charlie spun his head, looking around, trying to focus, and he spotted Olivia.
"Oh, my God." Charlie walked over and stood directly in front of her. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, unblinking, until Charlie wrapped his arms around her. Several agents advanced, with hands on their weapons, but Olivia held her hand up, stilling them. "God, Olivia. How long has it been?"
"Approximately thirteen years," she replied, her arms still at her sides. " Please, don't call me Olivia, it's just 'Benson' now. My condolences, Charles."
Charlie pulled himself off of her and wiped his eyes. "Condolences? That is so...formal, Oliv...uh, Benson? She was your mother."
"I'm trained to be formal, Charles. And, correct, by the technical definition of 'mother', she was mine. But, for the fourteen years you both were supposed to raise me, she was hardly maternal." She felt the anger and the hurt and the unfounded sadness creep up, but she couldn't stop it. "The poodle had nicer clothes than I did. You even hugged the damn dog more than you hugged me, which, I know, was in the manual. You had to train me to be emotionless and unyielding to affection, but nowhere in the manual, which I've read countless times trying to justify her behavior, did it say she was supposed to beat the living shit out of me every chance she got!" Olivia's mouth shot up to her mouth. She just yelled, very loudly, and in a highly emotional way, to a man who just lost his wife. She took a deep breath and smoothed out her suit. "I'm sorry, Charles, I shouldn't have...you uh..."
"I know," Charles said. "I'm so sorry I didn't stop her."
"No, you're not. You hated me as much as she did. But, you had a right to. I'm not your child, Charles."
"But that didn't give me the right to stand by and watch her hurt you," Charles said, with true regret in his eyes.
"Apology accepted. Fin," Olivia said turning to him, "You can interview Mr. Benson here at the station. No sense in dragging him all the way down to HQ. You know what to ask him." Fin took Charlie by the elbow and walked him into the interrogation room. Olivia turned to Casey. "Ms. Novak, I assure you all of our searches and seizures related to this case will be completely admissible in court, if the target even makes it to trial."
"I trust you, Benson," Novak said with a smile, drinking a second cup of espresso.
Olivia gave her a small-half smile. She looked at Elliot, a deeper sadness in her eyes and said, "I'm going home." Without a word to anyone else, she turned on her heels and left followed by the troupe she brought in with her.
Elliot walked through the elevator doors ten minutes after she did. He followed her home. He looked in every room of their penthouse and found her working tirelessly at the wall of computers in her office. She had photos of all of the evidence scanned into one, and they were flashing at her in a slideshow. There were several searches running, and a facial recognition scan running on another. She pulled out all the stops.
"Liv," Elliot called into the room. "Honey, you must be going through a lot right now, why don't you take a break, huh? You just lost your mother."
She laughed a little, and without looking at him she said, "Look at this way, El. You'll never be one of those guys who has mother-in-law issues."
"Hey, Liv, don't just shrug this off like you've done everything else, okay? And I do have mother-in-law issues. You hated her because she hurt you, therefore I get to hate her, too. I hate anyone who hurts you," he said taking a step into the office. "I just don't want you to get sick over this. You need to cry, or yell, or, hey, we can go have some mind-blowing, emotionally charged sex, but you need to vent, somehow, before it makes you sick."
She looked at him and she shrugged in disbelief. "I yelled at you today, El." She stood up and took a step toward him. "I yelled at you, a lot. Granted, I didn't know it was you, but I probably still would have yelled at you if I had." She cupped his face and held his gaze. "Also, I forced you into a bunch of meetings, where you looked completely lost and confused, by the way, because I need you on this task with me, and you're not mad at me?"
Elliot laughed. "Nope. In fact, I love you a little bit more, because I have a better understanding of what you have to go through. Those meetings were awful. And, Liv, God, you couldn't cry over your mother's dead body, because you don't know what you'd be crying for. You said it yourself, a hundred times, she didn't want you and she reminded you everyday. I wouldn't be able to cry over her either." He kissed her sweet lips and narrowed his eyes. "I can't imagine what my life would have been like if someone ripped me away from my family at fourteen, made me learn all kinds of secret agent shit and forced me to forget I ever had emotions, and then suddenly, because I meet someone I have this weird chemistry with, start feeling everything at once." He kissed her forehead and ran a hand down her back. His words hit home, hard. He almost had the life he couldn't imagine having. She peered up into his blue eyes and he saw the beginnings of tears starting to form. "It's all so overwhelming and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you through it then, but I'm sure as hell going to be here to help you through it now. I love you, Liv."
"I love you, too, El." She kissed him, warmly and tenderly. "Go to bed, I have a phone call to make. When I'm done we can have some of that mind-blowing, emotionally charged sex you were talking about."
Elliot's eyes widened. "I don't know what Munch has been talking about. Married life is fucking awesome," he said pecking her on the lips before running into their bedroom.
Olivia picked up the phone and dialed. He wouldn't answer now, they were probably still interrogating and comforting Charles, but she'd leave him a message. "Uncle Don, listen. I may have handled your technical error a bit harshly. You were following orders from the man in charge at the time, so I feel that this matter should be brought up with him. Besides, what harm was really done? He had a safe, loving childhood and he's with me, now. He wouldn't be who he is, the man I love, if...well, if he was like me. By oh-nine-hundred, all records of your task violation will be sealed and destroyed. Goodbye." She hung up the phone and padded into the bedroom, desperate to vent and forget, and thankful Elliot was around to help her do it.
"Well," Charlie said as he left the interrogation room. "Don, thank you. I know you're going to work like hell to catch this guy, and when you do I know uh, Benson is gonna make him pay for what he did."
"You can bet on that, Charlie." Cragen said.
"Will you tell her something for me? Next time you see her?" Charlie asked.
Cragen nodded. "Sure, Chuck."
He walked toward the doors and turned his back, fiddling with his hat. "Tell her I said 'no hard feelings', okay?"
"Yeah." Cragen walked into his office as Charlie left. Then he stopped moving. His head popped up and his eyes widened. "Oh, my God." He ran out of his office and out into the hall, hoping he wouldn't be too late.
A/N: Gotta love a cliffhanger. Reviews?