120th STREET

25 MAYBERRY STREET

SHORE ACRES, STATEN ISLAND


Olivia knew that her squad and its affiliates were so loyal to her that they would even follow her to the bitter end, if she asked. Rare was the day now that they questioned her command.

Even when things changed on the turn of a dime.


The captain who ran the Staten Island precinct where Olivia and her squad found themselves was a woman by the name of Irving. She was pleasantly surprised by the situation but offered her whole squad's assistance. Olivia was appreciative of this. She then tag-teamed with with Casey to talk to Donatella and Solomia in an interview room. It went very well. Everyone else watched from the other side of the glass in the exterior viewing order.

By the time the interview had finished, they had a good lead. A new one. It was better.

But it was momentarily driven from her mind and replaced with something else.


The moment that Donatella and Solomia were shown out, Olivia rounded on Carisi.

"What the hell?!" she hissed at him.

Carisi jumped in surprise. "What the hell what, lieutenant?"

"Why haven't you ever said that you know the Bianchi family?"

Carisi laughed nervously as every other eye turned to watch them. "Oh, that. I didn't even think about it."

Olivia put her hands on her hips. "Explain yourself."

"Well... Of the Bianchis my age or close to it, there are presently two."

"Go on."

Carisi moved back a pace, a little intimidated by Olivia's ferocity because it was almost never aimed at him. "The son is called Gio. He was never all that nice to me when we were kids. I think he's in jail at the moment..."

"Talk to me about the other sibling." Olivia said. "Are they older or younger?"

"Older. Her name is Gaia, and she turned married into a family like mine."

Olivia arched an eyebrow. "Meaning what?"

"Old," Carisi supplied quickly. "As in they've been in the neighborhood for a generation or more. Around 2007, Gaia and her husband moved to south Italy. Totally Godfather style."

"Fine." Olivia huffed. "Anything else we should know?"

"The older members of the Bianchi clan have known my mother since she was an infant. Donatella and Raphael are also more friends of my parents than me because they've been clients of our bakery for decades. I've known the family for as long as I've been on this earth." Carisi said thoughtfully. "My parents would scare the fear of God into us until they were satisfied if they caught us showing anything like disrespect towards the family."

"Your parents had the right idea because my mom was the same way about good manners. Did you have your own posse, or something?"

"Yes. Who knows where they are?" Carisi stuck his hands in his pockets. "I left Staten Island the second I could could. There's no way I could begin to know what the Bianchis have been up to now."

Casey moved forward and put a hand on Olivia's shoulder, giving a gentle push to steer her away. "Let's let him breathe. Dominick hasn't done anything wrong. Neither has his mother."

Olivia heeded her friend's words and backed up, centering herself.

"I'm sorry, Dominick." apologized Olivia. "You good?"

"Mhm." Carisi said. "You didn't mean anything by all that, and you had to ask."

"Yes." Olivia nodded. "I believe you. That means it's time to go on the next part of the operation—finding the gangsters, and stopping them from blowing Garrett away."

She moved to where Amanda and Casey had been watching everything unfold.

"I would like for you to go see our friends at the hospital. Please update them on the situation." Olivia told her. "Hold the fort down at the precinct when you're done there, alright?"

"Okay." Amanda replied. "I can definitely do that."

Olivia moved on to the person beside her. "I know I don't have any power over you, and pardon the forwardness, Cassandra, but do you think there's any real reason for you to be out here?"

"No." Casey checked her notes and then her watch. "There isn't."

"Alright. Then I will catch up with you later." Olivia decided.

"Works for me." Casey looked to Amanda. "Can I get a ride back with you? The boys picked me up on the way here."

Amanda made a sweeping motion towards the door. "Off we go."

They could see that Olivia was removing them from the situation on purpose. Both left quickly.

Olivia surveyed the people before her. She still had Elliot, Fin, Carisi, and even Capitan Irving to work with. All of them gave her their complete attention.

She sighed heavily. "Donatella really did name the one place I think she did, right?"

"Yes." Everyone else chorused.

"Solomia even backed her up." added Fin.

Elliot crossed the room and pointed to a spot on the map of the district. It was affixed to the wall, but he still knew exactly where they had to go. All of them did.

"Fort Wadsworth, but more specifically... The old Battery Weed bunker." Elliot pointed the spot in question. "Out in The Narrows. Everyone be careful. The water on the other side of the bunker leads to the Atlantic."

Elliot's tone was so heavy and foreboding that Olivia, Fin, and Carisi were all surprised when Irving cleared her throat.

"There are only five of us in this room." she said. "Since the fort is no walk in the park this time of year, and we're going to be looking for gangsters in addition this Garrett Rhys guy, we're going to get all the help we can get. Let's go mobilize my detectives.


FORT WADSWORTH

BATTERY WEED BUNKER, THE NARROWS

RICHMOND COUNTY, STATEN ISLAND


Fort Wadsworth was an old army site that had seen all kinds of wars and skirmishes that predated even The American Revolution. After a particular incident in 1806, actions were taken to build a few fortifications on it. The most notable one was an old bunker called Battery Weed. It was located on a particular patch of land referred to as The Narrows—a tidal strait that separated Staten Island and Brooklyn. During the glory years, Battery Weed had not only housed troops preparing for combat, but it also served as a lookout point from which to shoot any enemy troops that came sailing up the strait.

Now... It was old, crumbling, abandoned, and rundown. This happened to be the perfect place to hide out.


Raphael Bianchi was very easy to find.

Battery Weed stood three stories tall. It was made of now-crumbling granite and was shaped in an open wraparound fashion. One side faced the water in the bay while the other faced a courtyard.

Raphael was in a far corner of the ground level, with his men. They were having a powwow.

At the sight of Olivia and company, they trained their weapons on her.

"Who are you?" spat the closest of Raphael's men as they drew level.

"I'm Lieutenant Olivia Benson from the Special Victims Unit in Manhattan." Olivia said of herself.

"And them? We know her!"

He had indicated the rest of Olivia's backup; they had quietly formed a semi-circle around her. The person in question was Irving.

"She's always looking to frame us for something!"

Olivia directed her gaze over to Raphael. "You don't know me, but I know about you, and you know about my fiancée."

"I do?" Raphael said in puzzlement.

Olivia nodded. "My fiancée's name is Alex Cabot!"

Understanding slammed into the gangster. "Oh, my God—"

Olivia cut across him. "I know about why all of you are here. Each of us appreciates it. At the moment, we have a favor to ask."

Raphael sobered up when he saw that Olivia wasn't playing around. "Okay, lieutenant. Name it. We'll help."

"All I'm asking now is that none of you kill Garrett Rhys."

There followed immediately a grumble of disapproval. Olivia's request threw a wrench in their plans.

Carisi stepped forward, appealing to the gangsters as a whole. "Please—I know we're asking a lot, but we wouldn't have known to come here if not for getting the clue from Donatella... and my mother."

Raphael pushed his way through the line of men protecting him when he caught sight of the detective.

"Sonny? Sonny Carisi? Is that you?" the look of surprise on Raphael's face was genuine. "How are you? I haven't seen you since before you left the neighborhood!"

Carisi shook his hand. "Listen, Raph, we're not here to bust your chops."

"No?" Raphael said sardonically.

"We know about your…" Carisi paused as he searched for the right word. Character, and we're pretty impressed that you all tracked Garrett here."

"But…?"

"I have a pregnant friend who just wants to be with her family again, and to feel safe. Is that really so terrible? We've all made it here, to a bunker that's as old as Time itself. We just really need the help because it sounds like Rhys is a tricky son of a bitch."

Every eye turned to Raphael. His word was law.

The man relented and even used Carisi's actual name. "Alright, Dominick. The only reason we'll cooperate is because of whose word even got you this far."

Carisi bobbed his head in understanding. "Thanks."

Raphael spoke directly to Olivia now. "Tell me what you need, lieutenant."

"Garret's location." she said simply. "Where is he?"

Raphael pointed overhead. "Somewhere up there. He's probably realized we're all here."

"Got it."

Olivia readied her weapon. So did everyone around her.

Raphael pointed to the far end of the area. "The stairs are over this way."


Garrett was on the second floor, near a staircase that led away. He didn't move when he saw Olivia and the others.

"Garrett Rhys!" Olivia barked at him. "Put your hands up!"

He looked annoyed and chose to ignore her as he called to Raphael. "Why in the world would you bring the cops here?!"

"They found us." Raphael sneered. "We're looking for you because we found out who you hid at my tavern!"

"How?!" Garrett cried.

"Not important, but we are never doing anything for you again—you know the code!"

Garrett spat on the ground and sneered. "I got off Staten Island and joined the service. At least I have a real code!"

"Do you think it's a secret that you washed out?" Raphael said coolly.

Garret just took a step back, towards the next staircase.

Olivia yelled out, "Don't you move!"

"And who are you to make such a demand?" Garrett asked her.

"Someone who has been looking for you for two days, and someone who cares about Alex!"

A light went on behind Garrett's eyes. "If you want me, come get me!"

And so he ran off. Again.

Olivia ran the fastest, chasing her target through the rest of the structure... and on to its roof. Exactly the last area they wanted to be. Yet...

Garrett stood very close to the part of the wall that overlooked the water. If he wasn't careful, he could slip and fall. Unless he was petty enough to jump on purpose.

As for Olivia, if she moved too far to the right, she would fall off the roof and to her death. On the pavement slabs below.

"I just want to talk!" she said to Garrett.

"No!" he cried. "You want to arrest me, and kill me!"

Olivia shook her head. "Nobody said anything about killing you."

Garrett made a scoffing sound. "You want to talk? Then let's talk!"

"Have you been cleaning house? The vehicle fire in Inwood was you, huh?"

Garrett shrugged like it was nothing as he moved back a half step. "Slade Cadwallader was disposable. You've probably found Misha by now, huh?"

"We did. Garrett, why?"

"Because this was all just about getting Alex. Everyone under my thumb was disposable. Alex was all mine." Garrett stomped one foot. "I just didn't bank on her being found and escaping or getting caught by the cops!"

"Yet out of all the people in this entire town, you chose Alex. It could have been anyone. Why her?"

"I loved her once," Garrett said. "And after we bumped into each other the other night, I took it as a sign from the universe."

"For what?"

"To run away with her, but then I realized who she is." Garrett moved back again. "I just had to have her. Simple as that. Nobody lies to me twice and gets away with it."

Garrett regarded Olivia a little further.

"You must be the fiancée she mentioned. I've seen everyone in some shape or form… except you, Olivia."

All of the articles ever published on Olivia's cases over the years were archived in different places of record around the city. Finding her trail wasn't too difficult.

But it wasn't working. She wouldn't let it.

"Yes, I am the fiancée." Olivia replied moved towards him. "So you were planning on having off with Alex? What happened? Things go sideways?"

"In more ways than one." Garrett grumbled. "I realized it was about more than being spurned—so I decided that I was going use her money to disappear with her. We were going to have our own family. Now look. She was rescued and I'm on a roof."

Garrett moved back even more. Now he was at the point where one more step would send him into the water.

"I just can't ever win."

Olivia had seen this exact scenario too many times over the years to not realize what was happening. She moved even faster towards him.

"Don't do this, Garrett." Olivia said in desperation. "You don't have to."

"No? I don't have anything left and I'm no child molester, but those morons in jail still after people like me."

Olivia was almost to him now. "And just what does that mean?"

"People who kidnap political figures and endanger them." Garrett tossed his gun over the wall, into the water. "This was fun."

Before Olivia could stop him, he jumped into the water.