A/N: Learning from the tears and the mistakes, We're not perfect but we've come such a long way (Soldier - James TW)

DISCLAIMER: SVU and all related plot/characters originally belong to Dick Wolf. This story is allllllllllllllll mine. © TStabler

"For the love of God," Elliot shifts in his seat and rubs his red eyes. "Please, tell us why the hell you dragged us down here at two in the fucking morning."

Tucker sighs and folds his arms, his wrinkled suit puckers as he leans against the conference room table. "I wanted to clear this up before it became something... I couldn't get you out of," he says, and he coughs into a fisted hand.

"What are you talking about?" Elliot raises an eyebrow and loops his arms around Olivia, pulling her into his lap and laying his palms over her stomach. He can't help smiling, though it's not the right time for it.

Tucker notices and squints at them. "Elliot, your fingerprints were found at the scene of...a pretty brutal murder in the East Village, tonight." He holds up a hand before Elliot can speak. "I stepped in because Homicide outta the Ninth was gonna slap cuffs on you and drag you into the hole."

"Well, thanks, because I wasn't fucking anywhere but here and home," Elliot's nostrils flare and his hands grip Olivia's stomach.

Another man, behind Elliot, clears his throat and steps forward. "All night? You left work at ten, you were home with your wife from then on? No where else at all?"

Olivia turns sharply. "No," she barks. "We stopped at the pharmacy, then went home. When he made me take seven pregnancy tests, we had to wait half an hour to get results. We got them, and we haven't left the house since! Not until Tucker showed up and dragged us down here!"

"Pregnancy tests," Tucker says, suddenly sitting up straight. "What, uh, what, um…"

"Yeah," Elliot nods and smiles, and tears spring to his eyes for the third time that night. "We're having a baby, Ed."

Tucker's mouth opens but before he says a word, the other man slams a hand down on the table. "You two lie for each other all the time," he says. "Can you prove that you were home at midnight?"

Olivia rolls her eyes and pulls her cell phone out of her pocket, scoffs as she scrolls through her photo album, and clicks on a video. "He recorded the entire thing," she says, and she throws the phone down onto the table.

The time stamp is a clear and firm 11:57. The video plays, the screen is panning over a line of plastic pregnancy tests as Elliot's voice is loudly realizing that each and every one is positive. Olivia can be heard telling him to stop filming the damn things, and he laughs and says he's "preserving the happiest moment of his life," and then there's five full minutes of laughing, crying, screaming, excited laughter from the other kids, and then a blurry moment before it focuses on Elliot and Olivia kissing.

Dickie's voice rings as the video shakes. "My parents, people! Kissy, kissy! I'm a big brother!"

Elliot's hand moves as he laughs against Olivia's lips and he grabs the phone from his son just before the video freezes and ends. The time stamp at its final moment is 12:29.

"Satisfied?" Olivia practically growls, though she's leaning back into Elliot even more and her heart thuds in response to reliving the moment she found out she was having his baby.

Tucker smiles at them, picks up Olivia's phone and hands it back to her, and says, "Congratulations, guys."

Elliot kisses the back of Olivia's head and nods, but then sobers as he turns back to Tucker. "Who, uh...who was killed? Why the hell would I kill anyone?"

"Hamlin over there thinks you'd kill anyone who looks at you sideways," Tucker quips as he just a thumb toward his partner. "I told him the only reason you'd actually kill...was if they hurt your wife or kids."

"Damn right," Elliot's voice grits out. "I haven't been anywhere but home and work for...months. How could my prints possibly be anywhere else?"

Hamlin scratches his chin and clears his throat. "You don't know anyone named Clark Dougherty?"

Elliot makes a face. "If I did, I wouldn't kill him. That name is punishment enough." He chuckles but then says, "No, uh...name doesn't ring a bell. What were my prints on, exactly?"

Hamlin opens a folder that he's been holding, throws two photos down onto the table in front of Elliot and Olivia, and he points. "The murder weapon."

Olivia squints as she twists the photo, and then she gives Elliot a scared and unsure look.

He shakes his head as he stares down at the photos. "We…" he tilts his head. "We were on a case...undercover...upstate. These candlesticks were on the mantle in the house we stayed in, but...we didn't take them home. We had no reason to…" he presses his lips together. "The FBI took everything out of that house when we…" he squeezes his eyes shut. "When the case closed."

Tucker and Hamlin look at each other and nod, and then Tucker looks down at Elliot. "This guy," he taps the picture. "He was an FBI informant. He was in a safe house when he was killed."

Elliot squints and shakes his head as he pulls Olivia tighter to him and looks at Tucker. "So you jumped right to me, someone who couldn't have possibly known where this guy was unless I was in the fucking FBI, because of a smudged set of prints?" He looks at Hamlin. "Who else's prints are on those candlesticks?"

"Besides mine," Olivia interjects. "I can name five people who had their hands on them, and unless you tell me that you woke them up at two in the damn morning for this…"

"Dean Porter," Elliot snaps, "But last I heard he was in lock-up."

Hamlin nods and licks his lips. "We have a list," he says, "But you were on it, so we had to…"

"Can we go home?" Olivia asks, pushing out of Elliot's hold. "You have proof he didn't do anything, you know why his prints were…"

"Yeah," Tucker says as he nods. "Just...one more thing before you go." He crooks a finger and watches Elliot rise and walk toward him.

Olivia runs a hand over her stomach as she looks on, seeing Tucker whisper something to her husband, seeing Elliot's face go from tan to white to red. Fear to anger. "What?"

Elliot shakes his head as he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the conference room, through the squadroom, but he's stopped as he tugs her into the hall. His eyes narrow as he glares at the man who's in his way. "Why?" is all he says, through tightly clenched teeth.

Cragen swallows hard. "She's pregnant? You…" he turns to Olivia. "You're having a baby."

She squeezes Elliot's hand. "Yeah, we are." She chews on the inside of her bottom lip, unsure of what the look in Cragen's eyes means or why he says the word baby like it's poison. "And it's probably the most incredible thing that's ever happened to me, so if you could look less furious, I'd appreciate it."

Cragen smirks at her. "You don't...you really don't have any idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Liv," Elliot says, still glaring at Cragen. "Tucker told me...the reason they suspected me in the first place…" he looks at her. "Northwood brought three boxes of stuff from the house here, when we got back, because he thought we'd want it. Those candlesticks were in one of the boxes. Someone took them from here...to that house...last night." He blinks and suddenly he's in Cragen's face, leering, baring teeth. "You want me away from her so badly, you'd frame me for murder?"

"What?" Cragen gasps. "No, that...that's why you…" he shakes his head. "No, I thought you were in there...talking about the job that…" he swallows and clears his throat. "I went into the pit, just to see if I was right, and I heard…" he sighs. "Murder? You would never…"

"I wouldn't," he says, "And I'm fucking lucky Tucker and Hamlin know that, or they would've let some punks from the Ninth throw me in a cage!" He growls for a moment. "And what the hell do you mean, she doesn't know what she's doing? What the fuck is going on with you?"

Cragen drags a hand down his face and looks around, and then pulls Elliot's wrist until he and Olivia follow him into his office. "Sit," he spits.

"Not the best time to be bossing me around," Elliot intones. "The truth, now, before I prove to Tucker that I really am capable of murder."

Cragen rolls his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic, Stabler," he says, and then he drops his hands and sits on the edge of his desk. "Someone's been watching the two of you," he holds up a hand. "Not...not just Porter. And you know I was just…"

"We know," Elliot bites, "But it obviously wasn't to protect us." He rubs his forehead as he sits and grabs hold of Olivia. He pulls her into his lap and holds her stomach protectively, his new favorite habit. "We deserve the truth, now."

Cragen drags a hand over his nose and mouth and exhales. "I was told...if you two got too close, it could cost you your lives. I tried like hell to stop you, scare you out of this, but now...once he hears that you're having a baby, he's gonna…"

"Who?" Olivia asks before Elliot can. She tilts her head. "Not Porter, not you, then who?" ."

Cragen nods but he makes a frustrated noise as well. "You have to understand. The thought of anything happening to either of you…" he shakes his head. "It was the night you came home, it's why I was so fucking insistent you tell me what happened up there. When you wouldn't...I panicked. I just agreed to do whatever he told me to do. Because he swore he'd kill you if I didn't."

"Christ," Elliot holds Olivia even tighter. "Who?" He stares into Cragen's eyes and fumes as he says, "If my family is in some kind of danger, my wife, my kids...all five of them...you should have fucking told me!"

Cragen barks back, "He told me not to! He had you both in his crosshairs and God damn it, I wasn't about to be responsible for…"

"Fucking who, Don?" Elliot's voice cracks on the name, his eyes burn, his hands dig into Olivia's waist as his chest heaves.

Cragen winces, closing his eyes, and he whispers, "Monaghan," he confesses. "Threatened my job, your badges, your lives. He...he was hoping that the bastard you were after in Syracuse would…"

"Kill us?" Olivia's eyes narrow and she breathes deeply.

Cragen shakes his head. "Just Elliot," he says. "Liv, I don't know how to tell you this...Commissioner Monaghan...he's about as dirty as they come, he knows you've been after the corrupt bastards in this city, and he's terrified that the two of you are eventually gonna bring him down." Cragen shrugs and says, "I can't prove anything, all I could do is try to keep you two out of anything that…"

Elliot shakes his head again. "Doesn't make any sense," he mumbles. "Why the fuck would it matter if we got married, if we had kids, what does that have to do with…"

"He not alone in this," Cragen licks his lips and knows what he's about to say will set into motion a series of events that could lead to more trouble than he's prepared to handle. "Elliot, there's a reason I've been pushing for you to patch things up with Kathy. Why I've been trying to pull the two of you apart." He runs both hands over his head and down his neck. "Christ, Elliot, it's Kathy's father."

Elliot's eyes widen. "What?" he spits, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Isn't he a dentist?" Olivia eyes Elliot and wonders if she really knows what she's gotten herself into, after all. "El?"

"He's a dentist," Elliot nods, biting his lip. "Some of his patients, uh, are a bit…"

"He's one of the only dentists in the state that is authorized to work in the system," Cragen says flatly. "He works in prisons, and he works on the military and cops." He exhales again. "He was cleaning Monaghan's teeth, shooting the shit, found out they had a common enemy...and they roped me into things, knowing I would do anything to keep the two of you safe."

Elliot is quiet for a minute, but the he turns and kisses Olivia, his hands scoop over her stomach. "I'm not letting anything happen to you. Either of you," he rubs her belly once." He looks at Cragen. "Are you gonna stop being such an ass to us? Or was this all just an excuse for you to…"

"Watch it," Cragen warns, holding up a hand. "I've already told you...I don't approve of how this happened but I love the two of you, and I'm...happy for you." He looks at Elliot sternly. "I'm gonna do what I should've done when this all happened. You two, go home. Stay there."

Elliot pushes Olivia up and watches as Cragen gets up and leaves his office, and then he kisses her again. "You heard the man," he grins and slaps her ass playfully. "Let's go home," he says, and he pulls her by the hand. When they get through the door to the stairwell, his calm facade crumbles. "Fucking," he spits out with a hard grunt, and he pulls her into him, wraps his arms around her, and whispers. "I promise, I'm not gonna let anyone…"

"You haven't," she whispers, scratching her nails through his hair, "And you won't." She kisses his chin. "I'm not letting anyone hurt you, either. Never, El." She kisses his lips, feels his hands cup her ass and pull, and she wraps herself around him.

He moans against her lips, kissing her softly, holding her tight, and in the back of his mind, he wonders if he truly believes anything Cragen has said, or if it was all a ploy to get the heat off of him and keep them playing his games.

He promises, as he kisses his wife, that he will find out as soon as the sun comes up, and he prays that he gets the answers he wants. "I love you," he whispers.

She nods and says, "I love you, too," and walks with him, down the stairs and out of the building, knowing he has a plan, and knowing that he's not doing anything on his own. She will be by his side, no matter what. "Whatever you're thinking," she says to him as they head for the car, "I'm with you."

He turns, stunned, and he smiles. "Yeah, baby," he says. He winks. "You are."

A/N: Truth? Lies? Next.