A/N: I apologise for the delay in posting chapters for you all to read, I have just finished the end of the school year here where I live and I was very caught up in that. However, I am on holidays now for the next little while and I plan to update more regularly for you before school goes back again in the new year. Also, I am now on Twitter, so feel free to come say hi :) Or reach out to me there - BenslerFanatic
I do have a feeling though that none of you will like me after this chapter...

Trigger warning: Shooting and death.

19. A Hit

By the end of 2 weeks, the same figure whom had been watching Olivia, Elliot and the kids at the park, knew everything about Olivia's routine. He knew where she lived, where she went to the grocery store, where Chloe's daycare was and where Olivia went to school every day – as well as the year which she taught and how to get inside. The man had followed them everywhere, without even causing the slightest suspicion. He could clearly see that Elliot wasn't someone who was permanently in the picture of Olivia's routine as he had only been seen when Olivia turned up at the hotel or occasionally, sneaking into Olivia's building. The figure had been told explicitly not to hurt Elliot or his older children in anyway and it had been recommended that he minimise the damage if possible to the youngest child, Chloe. The only real target of his was Olivia. But he hadn't quite figured out just yet how he was going to complete the task he was given. He would have to make sure it was somewhere with less security or attention than most places. He'd been told to avoid a major public place but also not to target the home as it may be a challenge to access, which really didn't leave him with many options. He was going to have to spend a little longer observing routines and working out the best place to carry out the task to receive his major pay day.

Olivia woke up before her alarm with a really strange feeling in her stomach, like something about today was wrong. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly the reason for this was but she just had a really bad feeling about today. She went through her daily schedule in her mind and it was just your typical Monday. She rolled over to look at the beautiful sleeping man next to her to try and erase this feeling from her. They'd spend the weekend with all the children at his place and it had been wonderful. Olivia had even taught Elizabeth how to make cookies on Saturday afternoon which had been loved as a dessert treat after dinner, by everyone. The baking was then followed by an after-dinner movie night, with everyone snuggling up on the couch together. Olivia had taken a picture of the adorable moment between Chloe and Elliot, where Chloe fell asleep on Elliot during the movie and stayed asleep even when Elliot put her to bed. Sunday had been lovely too, just allowing the group to relax into the start of a new work week so there was nothing that stood out to Olivia as to why she would be feeling like something bad would happen today. Elliot had even insisted that she take the car to work this morning rather than the subway or a bus as then there was no way that she could be hurt on public transport. None of it really made sense. Perhaps it was just something that she ate which was playing up in her stomach or maybe the results of the stress over events which had been happening at school in the previous week. Maybe, Olivia was just overthinking things and putting down the slightest feeling to a major event.

She felt his arms around her waist start to move and she could hear Elliot start to stir, it was still early so she really hoped that she hadn't woken him up.
"Did I miss the alarm?" Elliot groaned as he tried to pull Olivia back to him, not ready to get up for the day yet.
"No, it's still quite early. Go back to sleep" Olivia replied, hoping she could coax him back to sleep and leave her thinking for a little while longer.
"Is Chloe awake?" Elliot continued to ask.
"No, or she would be in here with us. You've still got time, get more sleep" Olivia encouraged but Elliot could tell that something was clearly the matter if Olivia was so wide awake already.
"Why are you awake then?" Elliot asked.
"I woke up early, clearly must have all the sleep I need now" Olivia lied, that was not the real reason that she was awake right now but that was the reason Elliot was going to get.
"Well, if you're awake then I'm awake" Elliot agreed, watching Olivia as she lay and just stared at the ceiling. He could tell something was on her mind and he didn't want to push her to tell him, but he wanted to be able to help.

"Are you just going to lie there and look at me?" Olivia asked after looking over at Elliot, expecting to see him sleeping again but he was just lying on his side, watching her.
"I can hear you thinking, what's up?" Elliot asked, Olivia knew that he'd clearly been able to sense something with her was wrong.
"It's nothing" Olivia deflected.
"If it was nothing, you would tell me and if this 'nothing' has woken you up early then clearly it's something" Elliot explained, he was a very wise man when it came to it and he knew how to get Olivia to tell him what was on her mind. Olivia sighed before rolling over on her side, looking at Elliot.
"I just can't shake this feeling I have, the feeling that something bad is going to happen today or someone is going to get hurt" Olivia confessed, deciding that it was really better to tell Elliot what was going on rather than keeping it bottled up. Olivia saw the concern spread across his face.
"Honey, what's brought this on? We're fine, the kids are fine and you know that I would never let anything happen to you, the kids or us" Elliot tried to ease her worries.
"I know, I just can't shake this feeling like something is going to happen…But I'm sure it's nothing and probably just me overthinking things again" Olivia remarked as she moved to get out of bed, if she was up early then she may as well use this extra time to her advantage and get ready. Elliot lay and watched Olivia gather her things and then head into the bathroom before deciding that if they were both up early and there was no noise from the kids yet, maybe he could use this time to properly distract Olivia from all those thoughts she was having about today.

North Lincoln Street Elementary School wasn't exactly a hard school to find and surprisingly easy to actually get into. In fact, one could quite easily just stroll right into the school if they managed to time things right and not a single eyebrow would be raised. Whilst some would say that it was a definite 'step down' from working at an elite private school with all the resources one could ask for, you would have to admit there were some perks to working here. It definitely would not be as easy for one to get into Olivia's previous school compared to this one, which makes one question what other 'shortage's' this school has.

He sat in his car across the street, watching children play in the playground, obviously enjoying a break from their classroom learning. Using binoculars, he was able to spot Olivia on playground duty, walking and watching children as they played with the occasional distraction by children coming to her. He watched closely at how she interacted with the children and always seemed so warm and friendly towards the children. He listened as the bell rang and watched as Olivia obviously 'herded' the children back into the building, ready for learning. She even waited till the last children slowly made their way over to the building again, seemingly annoyed that playtime was over. When the playground was empty and everyone seemed to head inside, he got out of the car and moved around to the book. He took the time to grab his bag from the boot, glancing around once more to check his surroundings. This had to be done without an obvious witness. He'd get in, get the job done and get out again...he didn't need anyone else to get hurt.

He took a deep breath, locked the car and crossed the road. He walked in through the main gates, past the sign which read 'North Lincoln Street Elementary School' and across the playground. He reached the front doors of the building within minutes, quickly slipping inside and scanning his corridor. Room 4015 he reminded himself, 2nd floor at the back of the building, teaching grade 5 he continued to remind himself, visualising the floor plan of the building which he'd managed to secure ahead of time and studied at great lengths. He knew exactly where he had to go and he hoped there was very few interruptions. He stuck his hand inside his coat pocket, wrapping his fingers around the handgun which he'd hidden in his pocket, just in case his larger gun didn't end up working out and for interruptions. He was going to get the $150,000 which he'd been promised for finishing this job, no matter what. He just hoped that there wasn't any other interruptions, that wasn't part of the plan. He kept his head down and hoodie up as he moved through the corridors of the school, surprisingly the doors to the classrooms were mainly shut and he shyed his head way from the few students whom happened to be in the corridor as he passed by.

Olivia moved around the classroom, watching students as they attempted the maths activity which she had set for the lesson. They were learning about fractions and mixed numerals. She'd really wanted to create a hands-on activity outside for the students but sadly the weather had other plans and Olivia had ended up having to cover for another teacher on recess duty, which meant that her plans just didn't work out for her students and what she wanted. Thankfully, her grade partner teacher had designed an assessment worksheet for her class and was able to give Olivia extra copies of the worksheet she'd made for her class. She still had the feeling that something was wrong and something was off today. Olivia had checked in with day care to see how Chloe was, which was perfectly fine and she'd tried calling Elliot, but he was busy with meetings. She'd even texted her father to check that he was alright and had been sent a response saying that he was perfectly fine with a picture of him in the horse paddock. Everyone she loved and cared about seemed to be perfectly fine, yet she just couldn't shake this feeling like something was off or wrong or about ot happen. She would simply have to get through today and then Elliot was determined to pick her up after school and they would collect Chloe together before spending the night at his place. If she was so concerned about her safety or the family's safety then he was going to do everything to try and reduce those concerns to keep her close by.

"Uhhh Miss Benson?" One of the students spoke up, drawing Olivia out of her thoughts about what was going on. Olivia looked over to find Halle, one of her students whom must have just returned from the bathroom as Olivia remembered letting her go.
"Yes Halle?"
"There is a strange person walking through the halls? I was at the bathroom and I saw him with looking in the grade 3 classrooms" Halle explained, Olivia was confused by this claim as Halle wasn't usually one to make things up.
"Was it Mrs Tatum or another teacher?" Olivia tried to clarified as she knew Mrs Tatum, the principal often patrolled the halls during class time and other teachers can be moving through when they have a break.
"No, this was a guy. I've never seen him before" Halle continued and Olivia was concerned, but he didn't want the kids to catch on to her concerns. Instead, she ushered Halle inside and got her restarted on her work before making a brief call to the office to let them know about the development. If it had been another student, she may not be so concerned as she had some story tellers in her class but Halle wasn't one of them, usually.

He scanned the rooms as he walked past, there were classrooms full of students with a teacher out the front. Children all busy learning and making a difference in the world. Something that he never got the chance to do when he could of. He had the potential, he knew he did but the educators that were in his life, just claimed he was 'different' and never completely believed in him, and his family was much the same. That was part of the reason that he took this opportunity, he wanted to make a serious impact on the world which had 'left him behind'. Children need to know they have a choice with their learning, and they can't be brainwashed by an education system which is thought of to be best.
"Um, can I help you?" A voice spoke up behind him as he stood looking in the classroom.
"I'm looking for Olivia Benson?" He replied to the woman, keeping his replies short and sharp.
"She's on the next floor, who are you?" The woman asked again.
"Take me to her"
"Sorry, who are you?"
"Take me to her or you die" He threatened as he removed the handgun from his pocket and pointed it at the woman. She paused for a moment before starting to lead the way without another word. He wasn't supposed to hurt anyone else, that was the instruction given, but he wouldn't be interrupted from his task and he had been spotted now.
"Why do you want to see Miss Benson?" The lady asked as they reached the stairs, the lady was in front with the gun pointed low on her back.
"No more questions, or you'll die" he responded, forcing the woman up the stairs.

"You are going to go into the room and get her, then no one else has to get hurt" He ordered as the young woman pointed to the room down the corridor after they reached the top of the stairs, showing him where they were going but without a word.
"What do you want her for? I don't care who you are but I'm not just giving you a staff member without a reason" The lady replied but he wasn't going to talk anymore. He pulled the trigger, and watched as the woman fell to the floor before moving on. If the people around weren't going to help him with his task then he would simply have to have more casualties, as he wouldn't risk the mission failing. The woman had been warned what would happen and clearly didn't listen. He knew the sound of the gunshot would send a lot of alarm bells off around the school but he just kept moving, with a faster pace now. He had to get to Olivia, he had to follow through with the task and get his money. This was his starting over.

He quickly made his way down the hall, he would fire his weapon at anyone who got in the way now. He walked into the first classroom at the end of the hall and saw no-one. She said they'd be in here he thought and remembered that he didn't see anyone leave, and if that lady had said Olivia would be in here, then they had to be somewhere.
"Olivia Benson" He called into the room but was met with silence.
"Olivia Benson...if you are in here, come out and no-one has to get hurt" He tried again and stood waiting, listening for any sign about where they were. He was going to find her and he was going to finish what he was sent to do. When he had no response, he would look in other rooms, someone would tell him where she was. He'd seen her on the playground and he was sure she wasn't in the rooms he passed when he was downstairs, so she had to be up here. Anyone else who got in the way was simply a casualty.

He made his way into the room next door but again, saw no one in the room. He knew from when he had been in school, there were shooting procedures that everyone had to follow. So the kids were in this room, and so was the teacher. The sound of a sneeze came from the cupboard. Someone is in there he thought. He leant over and opened the door, the eyes of a young boy looking back at him, terror clear on his face.
"Where is Miss Benson?" He asked and the boy just shrugged. The man fired the weapon and watched the boy fall to the floor, lifeless. 2 casualties now but he wouldn't stop till he made the target.
"You don't help, you die" He announced into the room, with no response.
"Olivia Benson, if you are in here, you need to come out now and no one else gets hurt. You keep hiding and everyone who dies now, is on your hands" He stated into the room before standing to wait to see the reaction. A moment later, he saw a figure in the doorway to the classroom, another young boy, frozen like a deer in the headlights.
"Miss benson, where is she?" He ordered.
"N-next d-d-door...s-he-she is in the n-next room" the boy replied before taking off down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him. The man let the boy go, he knew now she was in the room he had been in before. He would go through every part of that classroom now to find her.

Olivia had heard every gunshot, she'd heard the figure enter the room from her space under her desk. She knew whoever this was that was here looking for her, wouldn't stop till they found her. She didn't know what the best step here was but she really didn't want anyone else to get hurt, she'd heard the figure kill 2 people already.
"OLIVIA BENSON! COME OUT NOW OR EVERYONE DIES" A voice yelled and Olivia knew they were getting seriously frustrated now. She could hear the pacing out in the hallway and knew that they only way anyone else would be saved was if she went out. She wouldn't have anyone else in this classroom or the school get hurt or killed because of her.
"The minute I go out there and get them away from the class, take everyone and run out. Tell Mrs Tatum or Ms Daniels to get the police and make sure everyone is ok" Olivia quietly whispered to the students next to her. She didn't know what this person wanted or what would even happen to her but he had a gun and she had to do something.

"OLIVIA BENSON I'M GOING TO COUNT TO 5 AND THEN I WILL START SHOOTING" He threatened again, this time inside her room. Olivia took a deep breath and climbed out from under the desk.
"I'm here! You don't need to shoot" Olivia held her hands up in the surrender position as she stood next to the desk. Visions of Chloe, her father, Elliot and the twins al flashed before her eyes. She was sure she would not walk away from this and she hated that she would never see them again. She would never get to see Chloe grow up or get to grow old with Elliot.
"I don't know what you want but whatever it is, not in front of the children" Olivia pleaded and for a moment it seemed to hit a nerve with this gunman.
"Outside, now!" The man simply replied and Olivia said a silent prayer for whoever was listening, that her students would be safe and no one else had to die. She walked slowly towards the classroom door but felt the bullet hit her before she even heard the shot. A sharp pain ripped through her chest as she fell to the ground.

Pain ripped through her body, she couldn't breathe and struggled to gasp for air to try fill her lungs and keep her alive. The room was spinning and she could feel the darkness trying to take over. Chloe, Mommy will always love you sweetheart, I'll be watching over you forever. Elliot, I'm sorry, I love you baby Olivia thought as she finally let the darkness win and felt the pain in her chest subsiding.

A/N: *Dun Dun*