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Elliot glanced back at Gemma as he entered Olivia's office, closing the door gently behind him. "I finally got her to sleep. One of us needs to be in there when she wakes though." He ran a hand down his face and looked at Olivia sitting behind her desk. The redness around her eyes told him all he needed to know. "Liv, we had no idea she was even here."
"Exactly." Olivia stated. "Our own daughter was in New York for years, and we didn't have a clue. I could've walked right passed her. Elliot, she wished for us to swoop in and save her, and she told that to the person she fears most." She teared up again, standing from her chair to see Gemma sleeping on the conference room couch. "She needed us, El. She needed us, and we were living our lives."
"Hey, you're not going down this road, Liv." Elliot stated, standing in front of her and cupping her face in his hands. "Remember what you told me. Even if we kept her, even if we knew where she was, she would've been too proud to tell us she was in trouble. Look at what's happened. Everything we've learned, she's told us about it after the fact. What we know has been controlled by her. It hurts me too. That she needed us, and we weren't there. But, we can help her now. We can save her from Jimmy now." He pulled her against him, kissing her temple. "She has us now."
Olivia wrapped her arms around Elliot's torso, burying her nose in his shoulder. "But, he's still hurting her, El. He's still terrorizing our baby."
"I know, but we'll get him." Elliot sighed, holding onto her tighter. He glanced over at the clock, seeing that it was already noon. He pulled back and gazed at her face. "You haven't eaten anything today, have you?"
Olivia shook her head. "I'm fine-"
Elliot interrupted her before pecking her lips. "You need food. Gemma threw up everything she's eaten since last night. You two need to eat before you end up in the hospital for malnourishment." He kissed her cheek before walking around her. "I'll walk down the street and get us all some lunch. A little food might calm us all down."
"Seeing Jimmy behind bars would calm us all down a little." Olivia retorted, turning to look at him over her shoulder. "Or dead."
"My vote is on the latter." Elliot said raising his hand above his head before opening the other door to her office and walking out into the bullpen.
Olivia huffed out a breath before grabbing a few of her files and heading for the conference room. Keeping an eye on Gemma, she quietly spread out her paperwork before sitting down. Despite her exhaustion, Gemma woke up a few minutes after Olivia had settled into her chair. "Hey, baby, go back to sleep. You need it from everything this morning."
Gemma shook her head. "I won't be able to sleep until I know Jimmy knows the truth. He'll dig up every detail he can on you two to find out. Until then, I'll be on his list of 'things to deal with'." She turned onto her back before looking over at Olivia. "I didn't mean for you guys to hear all that. About the superhero thing, any of it really."
"I know you didn't. It's not your fault. Your father and I should've been there to protect you. You were right outside our jurisdiction. We should've known." Olivia said, trying to keep Gemma calm. She knew that her daughter was feeling a tremendous amount of guilt. It came with the territory. The least she could do was try to keep it to a minimum. "What happened that you wished for that?"
"Nothing special." Gemma shrugged, but her eyes looked defeated.
Olivia stood up and crouched down next to the couch, stroking Gemma's hair. "I haven't known you for very long, but I do know that you wouldn't show your true emotions to anybody unless you couldn't help it." She sighed as Gemma closed her eyes. "Talk to me, baby."
Gemma covered her eyes with her hands, her stomach shaking as she tried to keep her tears at bay. "I can't. It's too horrible. You guys already know more than I ever wanted anybody to know. The warehouse. . .I didn't even tell Danny about that. I waited outside the apartment for five hours until he left so he wouldn't see me when I got home. I sat in the shower for over an hour just scrubbing myself raw. That was only the beginning." She cringed away from Olivia when she continued to stroke her hair. "You'd hate me if you knew what I allowed him to do to me."
Olivia teared up herself, feeling like someone was stabbing her stomach repeatedly. "Honey, look at me." Gemma shook her head, but Olivia pulled her hands away. When Gemma squeezed her eyes shut, Olivia pressed her forehead to hers. "I want you to listen to me very carefully. I don't care what you've done or what you'll do. I will always love you. Whatever Jimmy has done to you or made you do, he took away your choice to say no, Gemma. You may think you're weak for staying with him, but you're stronger for surviving it."
"I don't feel strong." Gemma breathed. "Once he says it's time for me to move in, I'd be better off six feet under. I can't stop it."
"That's okay." Olivia said, caressing Gemma's cheek. "We're not going to let that happen. Alright?"
Gemma shook her head. "He'll do something. I know him too well. He won't let anybody stand in his way, not even you two." She exhaled sharply. "That's what scares me."
"Thank you, Carisi." Olivia sighed as she took the completed case file from him. When he didn't step away from her desk, she looked up to see him gazing in at Gemma barely functioning at the table in the conference room. "Carisi?"
His eyes snapped back to hers as he took a step back. "Sorry. What did you say?"
Olivia smiled despite herself. "I didn't say anything. You were staring at my daughter."
Carisi blushed as he opened and closed his mouth in an attempt to gather his thoughts. "Sorry. I just. . .I've seen that look. She's not doing too well, is she?"
"Can you blame her?" Olivia asked, leaning back in her chair. "I don't think I've ever had a case where it was this hard to catch the perp." She started shuffling around some files and sighed again when Carisi didn't move. "Did you need something else?"
"Uh," Carisi blushed again. "I was just going to suggest she should do something to blow off some steam, let her get some control back into her life." He shrugged. "I could take her over to the shooting range and teach her how to handle a gun. She might feel a little better about protecting herself if she can use a weapon."
Olivia looked back in at her daughter. Despite her and Elliot's best efforts, Gemma had been a walking skeleton all day. Even when they brought Noah in to distract her, she seemed to only go through the emotions. It was beyond heartbreaking. Elliot had gone to the gym almost two hours ago to blow off some steam. "It can't hurt her at this point. Just watch her closely. She's never been suicidal, and I don't think she is now. But, she's never been pushed this hard." She teared up and shook her head to keep her emotions in check. "Just keep her safe for me, Carisi."
Carisi nodded. "Hey, you don't need to worry about a thing. She's a tough cookie, your daughter." He looked back in at her. "We'll make sure she comes out of this, Liv. All of us."
"Thank you." Olivia gave him a small smile. She waved towards the conference room. "Just don't get too close to her."
"What?" Carisi frowned. "You don't trust me?"
Olivia smirked as she looked down at her paperwork. "She's a professional escort who knows how to get a guy she likes. I don't trust her with you."
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