Ok I have to call Olivia, there's definitely something going on here, that boy is not right and Annie ran off with Noah to play as fast as she could as soon as I mentioned the bruise, which had to have come from somewhere I might add.

No I can handle this myself Liv's already so stressed out with the case she's working... The last thing i wanna do is burden her with this she's done so much for me I should really do this for her, help her out with this 1 little thing.

But if it were my kid I'd want her to tell me right away if she found him in a cage, and I'd be angry with her if she tried to handle it herself. That's sad but it's the truth and I don't want her to be angry with me. I've already done so much in my life to anger her, the way I handled the Getanno case years ago, leaving with out a word, giving her that god awful letter when I didn't have to... Somehow she's forgiven me for all of it and allowed me to still be her friend I wont reck that. He resolved in his head as he mashed the speed dial 2 on his phone "we don't need a baby sitter you know" Hudson scowled at him.

Elliot frowned at him holding off to press send "I might believe that if I hadn't seen Noah in a dog cage with a dog collar around his neck in your supervision. I told you we were hanging out here till your mother got back and that's what we're doing" he said as just then the door opened "mr. Stabler? What are you guys still doing here? I figured you and Noah would have already gone."

Elliot frowned and nodded his head seeing the pizza in her arms "well it was my plan to take him and go but when your daughter let me in I heard voices, at first I thought Noah and Hudson were just playing but I'm afraid that's not the case."

Hudson shook his head and glared "the guy's just making a big deal out of nothing! Me and Noah were just playing around! You can ask him!"

The mother frowned some "I'm sure you were Hudson, Mr. Stabler may we speak in private?"

"Sure" he said to her as he stood up and followed her into the kitchen "tell me exactly what happened, what you saw." She said trying to keep an open mind and not get to angry before she heard the hole story.

Elliot nodded "well your daughter let me in right away, she's a kind little girl I'm glad that Noah is friends with her I just wanted to say that.

She nodded acknowledging that as her face softened.

"So anyway when i stepped in I heard your son tell Noah to bark like a dog, he did it, I didn't think anything of it I have 5 kids of my own and sometimes they play silly games but it didn't take long for the situation to get heated."

She frowned and raised her eyebrows listening.

"I then heard your son say, and I quote, now eat your food little doggy. Noah refused, he sounded afraid so I went to check and I found them, Hudson was standing over Noah, unlatching the dog cage that he was in and removing a dog collar from around his neck. That's not okay ma'am, I get that kids play but a line was crossed here, he had the bag of dog food open for goodness sake!"

She sighed "it's Myra, my name is Myra and honestly mr. Stabler? Boys will be boys. I think your wound up a little to tight about this, I mean Noah didn't end up eating it right?"

He sighed "No he didn't but your son might have made him if I hadn't stepped in when I did, it didn't sound like he had any plans on backing down."

She shook her head "you know what? Hudson's right! Your making a mountain out of a molehill! I want you to leave now!"

Elliot shook his head at her and glared "I will but believe me this is not over, and I'd also like to know how your daughter got that bruise on her hand. When I asked her about it you wanna know how she reacted? She reacted like an abuse victim! So I want you to think hard about who you wanna protect because you can't protect them both. I'm going to go get Noah" he said as he walked off quickly as Myra glared harshly then drifted into a bewildered and puzzled expression.

"Come in, Annie called as she heard the light knock on the door as Elliot slightly smiled and entered "Noah it's time to go buddy, get your stuff ready please."

"Okay Elliot" he said as he quickly started packing his stuff into his bag "Annie, sweetie, I really really want to help you, can you please tell me how you got that bruise?" Elliot whispered in his soothing voice that he had mastered over the years, the voice that he still hadn't forgotten how to use after 10 long years away from the special victims unit.

She dissolved into tears "I-I really wanna tell you b-but I-I can't..."

He frowned and gently put a hand on her shoulder "you can sweetheart , I promise you can."

She shook her head again "n-no I-I really can't!" She cried.

He gently picked her up "shhhh shhh he soothed as he rubbed her back realizing that now was not the right time for him to push especially with Noah close by "okay sweetheart, okay.. But I want you to have this, this is my card, it has my phone number on the back and if you change your mind and wanna talk about it you can call me or Noah's mom anytime , we'll always answer and we'll always help ok?"

She slightly nodded "o-okay, thank you", she said as she dried her eyes and went back to playing as Elliot and Noah left the house, Elliot sighing heavily as they went.

A/n: well we know Elliot's temper and we know where it gets him. Do you think that Elliot is in over his head here? What do you think is up with the bruise on Annie's arm? Do you think it's nothing or has Elliot opened up a can of worms that can't be closed back up? Look forward to reading your reviews and thoughts, until next time every one.