A/N: So…buckle in because it's going to be a wild ride.

Chapter 27 – Jail is a funny thing

Elliot had escorted Olivia as far as he could once the car pulled up at the jail. He was so hesitant to let Olivia go in there alone but he knew that she needed to. They had barely spoken on the ride up here, it was only about an hour or so outside of New York but the pair had sat in silence almost the whole way. Elliot had held Olivia's hand in his the whole journey whilst she had been lost in a trance looking out the window. Elliot knew she was likely thinking about something and she would talk to him if she needed to, so he wasn't going to force it. He was glad that she was clearly showing the search for some comfort with him though and he was glad that he could come with her today. Now all he could do was wait till she was done and out again. He'd given her a soft kiss on the side of the head when she was at the entrance doors to the jail and told her that he'd be at the car when she was done. Olivia had just smiled in return, thanked him and told him she'd see him soon.

Elliot honestly didn't understand why they had to do this, he didn't understand why Dani was determined to see Olivia like this and why it all had to be done alone. He couldn't help but wonder whether there was more of an intention to this than simply 'wanting to talk'. He had wondered this last night and, on the drive, up this morning. Elliot was coming to see what Dani was clearly like, something he had been blinded to when he first hired her and had her working with his children after Kathy left. That was something that would never happen again.

The air was cold and a strong stale smell in it, the kind of smell which made Olivia question whether people in this place knew what personal hygiene was. But she had to reprimand herself over that thought as she didn't imagine there was too much choice on that in here. Olivia had only ever been to prison once before now. She had come to visit Brian once when he first got arrested for domestic abuse against her as she felt bad about it. She had hated the place then though and vowed to never go back. Yet, here she was again and making the same kind of vow once more. Things were different this time around though, she was here because she was trying to make a case easier for those she cared for, she wouldn't be here otherwise. The minute she'd left Elliot outside, she felt the wish to go back to him and htat wish had only continued as she was searched on her way into the prison and directed to the room where they would bring Dani. Olivia had thought the Assistant District Attorney, who was handling the case would be here with her, but she had yet to see whoever this actually was. Just breathe, the sooner your in, the sooner you can get out and hopefully it'll all be done Olivia reminded herself as she felt herself becoming rather uneasy about everything. She wanted this over as soon as possible and she knew she could get through this.

When Olivia entered the meeting room, she saw a guard standing by the door and Dani was sitting at the desk across the room. She felt a bit of relief that she wouldn't be entirely alone in here, she had a guard there now if Dani went for her.
"Olivia! How nice for you to join me" Dani greeted in a smile, which made Olivia suspicious.
"Well, you called for me" Olivia replied.
"So, I have all the power, do I? If I call, you'll just come running? How empowering that is" Dani taunted.
"No, you told the officers and the lawyers that you wouldn't talk unless you and I had a talk first. So here I am now" Olivia replied, keeping straight to the point. She wasn't here for niceties, she didn't really want to be here at all and she wanted to get out of here as soon as she could. She didn't want to do the small talk.
"Getting right to the point then I see. Look, I called you here because I know that you don't actually want to go to court. I've heard all about your previous experiences in the court room and well I doubt you want to go through that again"
"How do you know all this?"

"Haha, I have my sources. You are not the squeaky-clean princess that the world seems to think you are and I'm going to make sure that Elliot sees it. You thin you have him wrapped around your finger but I know you've not told him anything about your murky past" Dani continued to taunt.
"You're delusional. If you brought me here to try and taunt me like this into believing that you knew everything about me and could ruin my life, then you're just delusional" Olivia remarked, she wasn't going to take this. She felt concerned by what Dani might know about her past but there was nothing there that she could twist even the smallest bit to cause too much of an issue.
"Really? Tell me then, how does Brian feel about Chloe? Funny how he didn't know that he even had a daughter till recently. He was less than impressed that you stole a child from him and it makes me wonder, how you would feel if Chloe was taken from you" Dani taunted.
"My daughter, is none of your business!" Olivia retaliated.
"I think her father would disagree with you there as he'd been told that you miscarried the child…Funny how tables turn" Dani continued.

"What do you want?" Olivia asked, not liking this taunting but wanting to know the deeper meaning in it all.
"For the charges towards me to be dropped! You drop the charges and I take all of this away. No court house, no taken child and well, we can all be happy" Dani replied.
"You attacked me! You scared Elizabeth and Dani and you just want to get away with it like that? In what mindset is that remotely ok?" Olivia asked.
"I was not mentally stable on that day, I had been fired from my hob with no warning and then Elliot wouldn't talk with me. Then finally I saw you with the twins, my twins and I just snapped. I'm going to get help but I really think these charges area bit of a stretch here. Do you really want to go through a long legal battle, which you likely won't win and I don't think a teacher's salary would afford a decent lawyer and there was no way that Mr Elliot Stabler would support you through the trial as just a teacher. His reputation and hotel would be tarnished and I doubt you would want that…for Elliot"
"I'm leaving…this was a mistake"
"You walk out that door and I guess we'll just see each other in court. But I don't think you'll be very happy with the result. Not to mention Brian will probably want to meet his daughter and you can't keep him away, he has paternal rights" Dani taunted again, Olivia knew she had to get out of here, she was going to lose it and she had to remain professional.
"That man will never get near my daughter and you are never getting away with the damage you've done. This was a mistake and I guess I'll see you in court" Olivia staged before standing up and walked towards the door again, where the guard let her go. This was the biggest mistake she'd made, thinking that by seeing Dani it would all work out.

Olivia had a hard time controlling her anger whilst she was talking to Dani but she hadn't lost it too much. However, when she left the room and was being escorted back out again, Olivia wanted to cry. She couldn't believe the things Dani had actually said and she was terrified now thinking Brian knew about Chloe. Dani was making threats about taking her little girl away and whilst Olivia knew she couldn't, deep down Olivia was terrified. Chloe was her absolute everything and she had never wanted Brian anywhere near her. Olivia didn't understand how Dani had contact with Brian or if these threats were even real but they certainly seemed to have some power to them. She wouldn't let Dani get away with it though, she wouldn't let her attack and the damage that woman had done, just fall away. She could overcome all the threats Dani was making to make sure that she got the consequences she deserved.

Olivia knew that she would have to tell Elliot about the meeting, she knew that he would want to know all about it and what exactly had been said. But there was just so much that Dani had said, which involved her past, especially the threats of Brian and the ones of Chloe being taken. Olivia didn't know how Dani knew all of this, but she was seriously concerned by how Dani was twisting everything and she didn't know how to tell Elliot. Olivia felt like this was all really intense and not something one should be sharing in the first couple of weeks of a relationship. She was still getting to know Elliot and getting to trust him, her past was huge and very intense so she couldn't exactly tell him if she didn't trust him. But on the other hand she felt safe whenever she was with Elliot and she knew that maybe this would be the situation where she was going to just have to tell him all.

Olivia smiled as she saw Elliot get out of the back of the car when she was walking over. The minute she was close enough he engulfed her in a tight hug. Olivia instantly felt a rush of relief fall over her and was glad to have Elliot here now with her. She couldn't imagine how she would handle getting back to the city without him if he'd listened when she said she didn't want him to come. Olivia kissed him softly before pulling apart and Elliot held the door as she got into the car. Olivia hadn't said a single word to him yet for some reason, he wasn't sure why exactly but Elliot could tell something was up with Olivia and this meeting hadn't gone well. He wanted to get to the bottom of it and work out what the next steps were from here but he knew now to push her right now.

"Thank you for pushing to come with me today…Thank you for coming" Olivia said once the driver had started the commute back home.
"There is no other place I would rather be right now, I just wish you would have let me come in" Elliot took Olivia's hand in his.
"It was better that you didn't. I don't want to get into specifics but things aren't going to be any easier from here now" Olivia explained.
"Whatever she said, we'll get through it together. If we have to go to court or something then we'll do that. She's not getting away with what she did" Elliot said as he gave her hand a soft squeeze. It was the slightest touch, but it really meant the world to Olivia right now. It meant more than she knew how to explain, because it gave her the knowledge, she really wasn't alone in all of this – Elliot was here and he wasn't going anywhere. There was just so much he didn't know…
"Thank you" Olivia squeezed his hand back in response. It was surprising in just a few days of being together, she already felt like they'd taken some big steps in this relationship. Olivia found herself growing to trust Elliot more, wanting to be around him more and simply wanting him in her life so much right now. She could feel that when Elliot said they would fight this together, he really meant it and he really meant he wasn't going anywhere. She just couldn't quite strike up the courage to tell Elliot about the past yet, she didn't want to break what had been growing between them so well.

A/N: So this will likely be my last update before the holidays, so I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones/friends. Thank you to all of you who take an interest in my stories and stick with me so passionately like this. I'm grateful for each and everyone one of you and your reviews mean the world to me.

Next Chapter; Alex and Olivia have a serious conversation that makes things a little too real and Elliot gets an unexpected delivery that may just shape things moving forward – but what will that mean for our new couple?

Until Next Time ;D