August 5th, 5:45 AM.

"Liv, Liv it's time to wake up baby," Elliot murmured softly as he rubbed circles on her back and stroked her hair gently.

"Mmmmm," she groaned as she then shook her head and burrowed it further into his chest "nnhnnn..."

"I know I know I'm sorry baby... But you told me to get you up at 5:45 remember? You wanted to have time to shower and curl Izzabella's hair for her for her big day today."

She yawned slightly, nodded and stretched her arms "mmhmmm how do you feel about that?" she asked groggily.

"You curling her hair? You're great at it always have been."

She chuckled slightly and shook her head "I meant her starting preschool today. Are you nervous?"

He sighed "I guess I am a little but not really her and her teacher seemed to get along alright and we liked her."

She chuckled and smiled "if she could spend the hole day with that music teacher I know she'd be thrilled, she hasn't stopped talking about him once what was his name?"

"Jackie Walker I think."

Liv nodded "I'm gonna have the talk about good and bad touches with her while I curl her hair do you wanna be there?"

"Nah that's a mother and daughter thing I'll fix us all a good breakfast," he said as her phone started to ring on her nightstand.

She nodded then rose from his chest hearing her phone "who the hell could that be?"

"I have no idea," he said and she sighed, nodded and grabbed it "hello?" she answered.

"Liv! Hey it's Don! I need a huge favor from you," he said as he was speaking quickly.

"What do you need? Is everything okay was someone hurt?"

"Yeah yeah everything's okay no one was hurt I just need you to give a safety presentation this morning we got a case that's all hands on deck and I can't spare anyone."

"Cap I'm sorry but I can't I'm on leave until the first of October remember?" Liv said, her expression full of concern as she was beginning to worry about his mental faculties.

"Yeah I know you are but it's at Margarett fuller academy."

"Ohh," Liv said and Elliot looked over to her "baby what's going on?"

She held a finger up "yeah so I know you're gonna be headed that way. Or are you? I didn't think about the fact that Elliot might"-

"Yeah cap, yeah we're both taking her today I'll ask Elliot."

"Please, please do I can't spare anyone and it'd only take an hour or so. I'd appreciate it so much."

Olivia nodded "one second cap," she said as she then looked to Elliot "he wants me to do the safety speech at Margarett Fuller."

He nodded "what time would we be speaking?"

She put her phone on speaker and asked "9:30," Cragen said.

"Okay what grade?" El asked.

"Preschool, are you gonna help with the presentation?"

"Yeah I may as well I'll be there and it's good to have both a male and female in the room."

"That's true plus the two of you could role play, give them some examples."

"Maybe though that might not be necessary. We'll figure it out we've done plenty of these before right Liv?"

She nodded and Cragen smiled "thank you guys so so much, I'll make sure the principle knows to be expecting you."

"Sounds great, good luck with your case."

"Thanks Elliot, take care," Cragen said hanging up and Liv sighed "how plans change right? We don't have a powerpoint or anything."

"We don't need one we've got this I have faith in us," he said then kissed her tenderly.

She returned it in kind then sighed and pulled back "I'm glad you do cuz I'm not to sure every time I've ever done this I went in with a powerpoint."

"You weren't gonna talk to Izzabella with a powerpoint," he said gently.

"True but this is different and you know it."

"Yeah maybe it is a little but we've done this so many times it'll be like riding a bike. We can do this I promise baby."

She sighed slightly then nodded "I hope you're right, I'm gonna go hop in the shower."

"Sounds good, I'm gonna get dressed then start on breakfast."

"Kay see you downstairs," she said as he nodded and they went their separate ways.

6:45 AM.

"It's time to wake up sweetheart," Liv said softly as she stood beside Izzabella's bed already dressed to go.

She shook her head and rolled onto her stomach and Olivia rubbed her back "today's your big day!" she said excitedly.

That peaked her interest and she rolled over and opened her eyes groggily as Liv smiled "you start preschool today isn't that exciting?"

"Preschool?"

"Yeah remember? Me and daddy took you there last week and you met Ms. Tina and Mr. Jackie?"

Izzabella's eyes lit up "do I get to play in the clap and play box again?"

"Maybe but right now we have to head downstairs because daddy has waffles with extra chocolate chips waiting on us."

Izzabella nodded and quickly jumped out of her bed as she started running "easy easy don't run Lizzie's sleeping and they aren't going anywhere!" Liv said with a smile.

She continued to run and Liv just kept smiling despite herself glad that she was excited "morning kiddo!" Elliot said cheerfully once they were downstairs.

"Morning daddy! Mommy says we have preschool!"

"Actually you have preschool not us, we'll be talking to your class though."

"What's a class?"

He smiled "a class is a group and you and a bunch of kids your age will be grouped together in a room about the size of our living room at preschool."

Izzabella frowned as she sat down at the table and began eating her waffles "why?"

He smiled "it's so you can learn a little and hang out with kids your own age some. You like kids right?"

She nodded "Zara's fun. I miss her."

He nodded "I know you do baby but now you can make new friends."

"Really?" she asked through a mouth full of food.

Elliot nodded and Izzabella smiled "mommy said I might get to play in the clap and play box."

He smiled "if you do you'll have to tell us all about it," he said finishing his waffle as Olivia nodded in agreement "these are amazing El as always," she said finally biting in to hers.

"Thanks baby, ohh kiddo no don't do that," El said to Izzabella as she had her face in her plate licking the syrup off it.

"But it's sooo good," she said as she got a bit of syrup in her hair.

"I'm glad you like it but you still can't do that, not today you can't go to preschool with syrup in your hair like that."

Izzabella just nodded and once everyone was through eating Elliot put the dirty dishes in the dish washer "I'm gonna make her lunch and pack it," he told Liv with a slight smile.

"Kay I'm gonna take her up, get her dressed and fix her hair."

"Alright, kiddo do you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or turkey sandwich for lunch?"

"Peanut butter jelly!" she said with a bright smile and with that Liv took her upstairs.

7:20 AM.

"Mommy why do you have my doll?" Izzabella asked as they were heading out to the truck.

"We need to borrow it while we talk to your class if that's okay?"

She nodded "can I play with it?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," she said as she handed her the doll, buckled her in then hopped into the passenger seat and they drove off.

They got to the school at around 7:45 and Elliot parked the truck "can I take Barbie in with me?" Izzabella asked.

"That's not a good idea baby not unless you wanna share her with everyone besides we need to use her remember?" El asked.

Izzabella nodded slightly and handed the doll to Elliot "will you keep her safe daddy?"

"Of course baby me and mommy both will. You ready to go inside? Ms. Tina will be there."

Izzabella nodded and they all got out and walked together, Izzabella in between them and holding both their hands "did you lock the truck El?" Liv asked halfway to the entrance.

"Yeah," he said lightly and a minute later they were inside the chaotic hallway as people were bumping into each other trying to get around "there really needs to be some kind of system here!" Elliot said over the chatter.

"Right?! Someone's gonna wind up getting hurt!" Liv said agreeing and after colliding with a couple people they made it to Izzabella's classroom "well here we are baby! Are you excited?" Elliot asked as he led her in there, Liv right on there heels.

"I-I guess so," she said clinging to Elliot's hand.

He frowned "hey hey what's wrong?" he asked kneeling down.

She just kept a hold of his hand while looking around at the rug and all the desks "it's okay kiddo you just sit at those, see the other kids? They're all in chairs and your teacher'll probably read you all stories on that," he said pointing at the rug.

She nodded slightly and just then the teacher walked over "hi! Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

"Morning! Izzabella's a little nervous the classroom looked a bit different last week," Liv said as Elliot was coaxing her into a seat.

"Gotcha," she said as she then turned to the pod of desks where Izzabella was "no need to be nervous we're gonna have lots of fun! These are Josh, Carry and Faith! Can you all say hi to Izzabella?" she asked cheerfully.

"Hi," the kids said shyly and Izzabella slightly smiled and waved while keeping a hold of Elliot's hand "I'm right here kiddo we won't leave until you're feeling comfortable I promise," he soothed and a minute later the teacher placed a box of play-doh on her desk "ohhh look what we have here," he said pointing at it with a smile.

Izzabella smiled seeing it and the other kids did too "can we play daddy?" she asked.

"Of course," he said as he took a few cups out of the box "where's mommy?" she asked.

"I'm right here," Liv said and Izzabella nodded "you wanna play too?"

"Sure," she said with a smile and Faith looked to them shyly "c-can I play too?"

"Of course you can," Elliot said handing her some play-doh and Tina walked over "this is usually when the parents leave," she said with a slight chuckle.

"Izzabella's not quite ready for that yet," Elliot said and Liv nodded in agreement "we wanna take this at her pace we can be here all day."

Tina just nodded slightly "you two are the ones who will be speaking right?"

"Yeah," Olivia said and Tina nodded then went and tended to the other children while they played.

After around 10 minutes or so Elliot discreetly handed his cup to Josh and Liv followed suit giving hers to Carry as Izzabella was having to much fun with Faith to notice "we love you honey, we'll see you in around an hour okay?" El said not wanting to just sneak off.

"Okay," Izzabella said as she was having to much fun to care at this point and they stepped away "where do we need to be at 9:30?" Elliot asked Tina.

"Just come back here I'll have all the children on the rug. What exactly will you be discussing?"

"Good touch bad touch stranger danger that sort of thing."

She nodded as just then more children and parents trickled in and she stepped away "see you shortly detectives!" she called and with that they left the classroom sending Izzabella a final wave.

8:30 found Liv and El in central park as they sat side by side on a bench drinking Frappuccino's "it's weird being out this early together isn't it?" Liv mused with a slight smile as she sipped.

"It is it's kinda chilly too we should have worn sweatshirts."

"Agreed," she said as she sighed "I think I'm gonna try and find a video or something that we can show the kids since we didn't have the time to make a powerpoint."

"I like the idea of a video as extra but I promise you we don't need a powerpoint Liv."

"What if I blunder or something though? I could get off track or fumble on my words."

"You won't baby I promise and hey even if one of us does they're three year olds they won't care."

"You have a point," she said with a smile as she leaned into him and he smiled, rubbed her hip and finished his Frappuccino "you wanna study for a few while we have some quiet?" he asked.

"Sure," she said and he nodded and opened Quizlet on his phone "you want multiple choice right?"

She nodded and he loaded the test "only who may be transported in department vehicles except in certain situations?

Department employees or employees of the state of New York?

2.5 grams?

Any interrogation during which a reasonable person in the subject's position would consider him/herself to be in custody and during which a question is asked that is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response?

Or, Proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues?"

"A, El," she said chuckling slightly and he nodded and clicked it "An officer is responding to an emergency call that requires a rapid response by a law enforcement officer to reduce the seriousness of the incident. Which of the following response codes does this scenario BEST describe?

Level two? Code two? Yes or the officer should just isolate the location themselves?"

"Level two."

Elliot nodded "At which level of service shall a trooper begin to be recognized as "Trooper First Class" and receive collar insignia for that level?"

One year, three years, five years or ten years?"

She thought for a minute as he rubbed her hip with his free hand "5," she finally said as he nodded and they continued the list of questions.

"How'd I do?" she asked when they finished the 50 question sample test.

He smiled "you got 38 of em right, here I'll show you the ones you missed," he said showing her his phone.

She sighed "dammit I should have done better... El I have to do better," she said as she pointed at the red lines on his screen in frustration then rubbed her temples.

Elliot locked his phone, put it in his pocket then pulled her closer to him "baby you're doing great you still have two weeks to perfect this and you will, Liv you will I promise."

She sighed "there'll be 100 questions on that test, I missed 12 out of 50 today if I miss 24 out of 100 on test day that gives me a 76. 76 El that's not acceptable."

"Who says? Baby who says? Because if someone's pressuring you I'll"-

She shook her head cutting him off "I just have to do better than that El."

He shook his head "all you have to do is your best baby that's it. That's not saying that you'll make a c on the test because I know you won't but I don't want you feeling overly pressured because if you do the stress will just make you do worse and I'll be proud of you for trying no matter what you make."

She sighed "I-I haven't taken a test since my police academy days and you know how my mom was back when I was in high school."

He nodded "an overly critical bitch and that extended to your grades too didn't it?"

She nodded "90. 90 was the magic number I either made a 90 or above or she gave me hell."

He nodded and kissed her temple "she's not here honey and no one's gonna judge you even if you make a fifty in two weeks and fail the damn exam then hey that'll just mean it's not your time right now and that'll be okay."

"I'm not gonna make a 50."

"I know baby, you know all you've gotta do is say the word and I'll make sure you get it if that's what you want. I'll slip you a paper with all the answers on it and you can hide it in your bra or something."

"Elliot Joseph Stabler please don't tell me you're serious..."

He nodded "As a heart attack but only if that ends up being what you want."

She shook her head "I'm either gonna earn this on my own merits or not get it I'm not cheating."

Elliot nodded, smiled and kissed her temple again "then next time we study I'll focus you on the ones you missed and we'll get those memorized. What do you think though about taking Izzabella to the pool after school then we can all go out for dinner tonight?"

"That sounds great, how long do we have till we need to go?"

He sighed "maybe ten minutes."

She nodded "alright lets enjoy it then," she said and they ended up doing just that with smiles.

They made it back to the school around 5 minutes early and when they went inside they carried in Izzabella's lunch and doll "you sure we can do this El?" Liv asked as they approached the classroom door.

"I'm positive baby it'll be just like the old days," he said and once she nodded he knocked lightly "come in!" the teacher called.

They walked in and Izzabella jumped off the rug and ran over to them "mommy! Daddy!" she said excitedly as she tried to hug both of them.

They each hugged her quickly then Elliot took her hand gently and lead her back to the rug as Tina smiled once she was seated "can all of you look at me please?" she asked the kids brightly.

Most of them did but two of them ignored her and kept talking "Cooper, Jonah I need you to look up here please you can talk later."

There heads snapped towards her and she smiled "raise your hand really high if you know what a police officer is."

All but one girl raised their hands "well Evie police officers keep this big world we live in safe and two of them are here to talk to you today. These are the Stablers and they're both detectives in this city where we live."

"Are we in trouble?" a little girl with brown eyes and brown hair asked.

"No sweetheart, no you're not," Olivia cut in with a soft smile and she nodded relieved "they just wanna talk to you guys about how to keep yourselves safe," Tina said.

The kids nodded and she smiled "so please all of you, keep your eyes on them like you've done for me this morning and give them your full attention okay?"

The kids nodded and Liv and El took her place in front of the rug and stood side by side "so I know you guys probably don't enjoy sitting still like this to much so we're gonna try and keep it short, I'm Elliot, this is Olivia and like Ms. Tina said we're police officers. Actually she's a police officer and I used to be one," he chuckled and the kids did too "but we'll both answer any questions you have about us after we're done talking to you today. Yes?" he asked as he pointed at Cooper seeing his hand up.

"What's a detective?"

"A cop that figures stuff out."

"But don't all cops do that?"

"To a point yeah but detectives know how to see clues in stuff that normal cops miss."

Cooper nodded and Liv and El smiled "so anyway the first thing we wanna talk to you guys about today are strangers. Do any of you know what a stranger is already? If you do raise your hand up high!"

Cooper and a little girl with blonde hair raised their hands "what's a stranger?" he asked pointing at the girl with a smile.

"A bad person."

He continued smiling "you're kind of right a stranger is anyone you don't know, now they aren't always bad people but they can be so you should never talk to them without someone you already know and trust around just in case."

The kids nodded their heads and Faith raised her hand "yes?" El asked.

"What if a stranger talks to me?"

"That's a really good question sweetie! If no one you know and trust is around then you just ignore the person."

She nodded and he smiled "now we know that sometimes things happen where you have to talk to strangers so we're gonna tell you the difference between good strangers and bad strangers okay?" Liv said.

The kids nodded and she smiled "a good stranger is someone who may be walking on the sidewalk with you and your mommy and daddy or maybe they could be in the store with you. They can be anywhere really and they might say something like your hair is so pretty," she pointed at Izzabella's curls "or," she turned to face Elliot "your daughter looks so cute! I can never talk mine into wearing purple," she turned back towards the kids "but they'll only say things like that if your mommy or daddy is with you.

Good strangers might also talk to you if you're by yourself on the road or sidewalk because kids as little as you should never be by themselves like that right?" she chuckled and the kids did too "so here are some things that a good stranger might ask you if they see you that way.

Are you lost?

Where is your mommy or daddy? or, do you need help finding your mommy or daddy? and in those cases it would probably be okay to talk to a stranger."

Elliot nodded "she's right and in those cases you probably won't feel nervous about seeing the stranger, the stranger might also say something to you about finding a police officer too and that's a good sign that the stranger is good bad strangers don't like police officers and if they see you alone they'll just offer to take you to their house to wait for your parents, give you candy or show you their puppy."

Olivia nodded "bad strangers are everywhere too but they spend a lot of time at playgrounds and places where kids like to go and play and wait for their mommies and daddies to step away so they can go up to them and ask them questions while they play. They ask them things like do you wanna go get some ice-cream? The truck isn't very far away. Do you like puppies? I have some in the back of my van if you wanna come pet them it'll only take a minute or I can't find my daughter, will you help me find her?"

Elliot nodded as the kids were listening intently "when they ask kids these questions they hope that they'll say yes then if they do once they have him or her away from their parents they take them away from the playground and try to hurt them."

A lot of the kids faces paled and Izzabella glanced at her parents in fear "guys we aren't trying to scare you by telling you this stuff we just want you to know some of the things they say so you can make sure it doesn't happen to you and what you do if any strangers ask you questions like that or for help with anything at all is say no then go to your mommy or daddy right away and tell them what happened," Liv said.

Most of the kids nodded but a couple raised their hands including Izzabella "yes baby?" El asked softly as he pointed at her.

"What if you say no but they make you go with them?"

"Then you ball your hand into a fist, hit them in between their eyes really hard then run to me or mommy as fast as you can."

She nodded and he pointed at Jonah "what if I really want ice-cream?"

"Then you ask your mom or dad never take ice-cream or candy from a stranger."

Jonah nodded and Elliot slightly smiled "do any of you have any more questions about strangers?"

Faith raised her hand and Elliot looked to her "what if they really can't find their daughter?"

"Then they'll ask a police officer or another adult for help. No adult should ever ask kids your age for help you're to little to help them and they know that."

She nodded and he smiled "any more questions?"

The kids shook their heads and he nodded with a smile "then we're gonna move on to the other thing we need to tell you about and that's good touch and bad touch. Everyone knows what touch is right?"

All but Evie nodded and Elliot nodded, walked over to her and gently touched her shoulder "this is touch."

She nodded and he smiled and went back to stand beside Liv "you all deal with touch every single day. When your mommy or daddy helps you get ready every morning that's touch, when your grandma or grandpa gives you a hug that's touch, when you move your hair out of your eyes that's touch. Touch is usually good and the touches I just told you about are good ones but there are some bad ones that you guys should know about. Again we're not telling you this stuff to scare you just so you'll know what to do if they happen to you okay?"

The kids nodded and he slightly smiled and turned to Liv "every person has areas on their body that are private or just theirs, those parts of your body are any part of it that a swimming suit covers and you have to say it's okay for people to be allowed to touch them. This means if a stranger, or even someone you know touches these parts of your body," she pointed towards her breasts and vagina "then that is a bad touch and you need to say no, get away from the person then tell someone you trust right away."

Elliot nodded "bad touches are also any touch that hurts like this," he pinched his arm "this," he pulled a few hairs from Izzabella's doll "this," he slapped the doll "and this," he grasped the doll roughly and slung it around "so if anyone touches you in any of those ways I just showed you you need to tell someone that you trust about it too."

The kids nodded and Izzabella glanced at her doll sadly "she's alright honey I promise," Elliot said seeing her face.

She nodded slightly and Olivia smiled "that raps up everything we needed to tell you guys so now it's time for us to answer your questions. Raise your hands up high and we'll try to get to all of you I promise, what's your question sweetie?" she asked Carry as her hand was raised.

"Mommy uses toilet paper to wipe my peepee all the time. Is that a good touch?"

"Yes as long as it needs to be wiped when she does it."

She nodded and Elliot pointed at a Latino boy with a mohawk "I bight sissy sometimes that's okay right?"

"Well would you want her to bight you?"

He shook his head and Elliot nodded "then there's your answer. If you aren't okay with it being done to you then you shouldn't do it to anybody else."

He nodded and Olivia pointed to a little girl with a princess outfit on "daddy touches mommy's boobies a lot. Is that bad?"

"Probably not but maybe that's something you should talk to your mommy about okay?"

She nodded and Liv moved on to Izzabella "yes baby?"

"If hitting is a bad touch then why is it okay to hit bad strangers in between the eyes?"

"Baby hitting is a bad touch... A very bad touch but if a bad stranger is trying to take you away from us then it's not hitting it's keeping yourself from getting taken away and hurt and that's okay."

Izzabella nodded "guys we have time for one more question before you have to go eat lunch, what's your question?" Elliot asked as he pointed at a shy boy who was sitting away from most of the kids on the rug.

"Me and uncle Steve play the weaner game all the time... He says that all little boys play it with their uncles but I don't like it. Do I have to play it?"

Elliot frowned deeply, shared a look with Liv then glanced at the teacher "we're done you can take all but him on if you like," he said as he then looked back to the boy "why don't we wait until everyone's gone then talk about this in private okay?"

He nodded slightly "a-am I in trouble?"

"No, no not at all buddy I promise," he said reassuringly as Izzabella ran over "mommy! daddy will you eat with me?"

They sighed slightly and a second later Elliot spoke "baby we can't, we can't right now maybe we can meet you in there a bit later."

She teared up and Liv sighed "baby we're sorry we'll make it up to you okay?"

She nodded slightly and went to follow Tina out "grab your lunch box baby it has your sandwich in it," Elliot said pointing.

"I've got it Mr. Stabler don't worry j-just help him," Tina said and a minute later the three of them were alone "buddy what's your name?" El asked softly.

"K-Kyle," he whispered.

"Okay, Kyle do you wanna talk at a desk or on the rug?"

He shrugged and Elliot nodded and moved to sit beside him "can you tell me about this game you and your uncle play?"

"I-It's the weaner game," he whispered.

Elliot nodded "and what is a weaner?" he asked as although he knew the answer he couldn't coach the boy.

Kyle pointed to his private parts and Elliot nodded "how do you play this game?"

"Uncle Steve pulls his pants down t-then I..." he cringed and shook his head.

"What happens next? It's okay you can tell us," Liv soothed as she sat down beside them.

Kyle shook his head as his cheeks turned red and he looked down "I-I shouldn't be talking about this..."

"It's okay buddy you aren't gonna be in any trouble and we really wanna help you but to help you we have to know what happens," Elliot said softly.

Kyle nodded slightly then sighed resignedly and looked Elliot in the eye "h-he pulls his pants down then makes me put his weaner in my mouth and s-suck on it like a lollypop... N-Nasty stuff comes out of it after a few minutes and he makes me drink it."

Elliot nodded somberly "does anything else happen?"

"I-If I swallow it all then he gives me a real lollypop."

"What about if you don't?"

"Then I don't get a lollypop."

Elliot nodded and sighed as he did his best to hide his anger and disgust from the young boy "Kyle does your uncle ever touch your weaner?" Liv asked taking over.

Kyle shook his head "he says he'll do that when I'm older. I don't like the game though the stuff is nasty so can I tell him I don't wanna drink it anymore?"

"You'll never have to drink it again honey I promise. Do you live with your uncle or your parents?"

"B-Both uncle Steve lives with us."

Olivia nodded and Elliot looked back over to him "buddy are you hungry?"

"Mmhmmm, y-you promise I'm not in trouble?"

"We promise," he said as he then turned to Liv "I'm gonna take him on to the cafeteria. Will you call Cragen? Find out if he wants to come here or"-

She nodded "yeah copy El, I'll meet you at the cafeteria after?"

He nodded "of course," he said as he gave her a quick peck on the lips then looked to Kyle "lets go eat lunch buddy, I'm starved just like you," he said and with that they left the classroom.

xxxxx

When they got to the cafeteria Elliot walked over to Izzabella first and she smiled brightly in surprise "you knew I'd come in here as quick as I could! Mommy's not far behind us how's your sandwich?" he called over the noise.

"Good but can I have tater tots too?"

"Of course we can share a plate, be right back! Come on buddy," he said to Kyle and they went through the line together.

A few minutes later found them eating together at the table and Liv quietly took the free seat on Elliot's right side "you want some tater tots with chilly?" he asked as he had gotten a plate full.

"I'm good thank you though," she said as she then leaned to whisper in his ear "I talked to Cragen."

"What'd he say?"

She sighed "he wants us to drive Kyle to the precinct apparently he still can't spare anyone to come here."

"Okay that's fine we can do that but we have to cut him off at that we can't keep letting him use us as free labor baby," he whispered.

Olivia frowned at is wording and he just nodded "I haven't minded doing what we did this morning, not at all but you know what comes next best case official statements are gonna have to be gotten from him and his parents worse case they'll have to be located too we can't commit ourselves to helping with all that not unarmed and especially not when we have a daughter to pick up in a little over 3 hours."

She nodded slightly "I know," she whispered.

He sighed "it feels like you maybe want to though, to help," he whispered as he rubbed her back.

She sighed "it's less about that and more me just feeling bad in general me not being ready to go back put him in a lurch."

"Yeah well that's not your fault honey you know that right?"

She nodded and he kissed her temple "you'll get back there Liv. I promise you you will."

"I know," she said with a slight smile and he smiled, nodded and went back to eating as he was relieved to see Izzabella chatting with Kyle and the other kids "you sure you don't want any tater tots with chilly Liv?" he ended up asking.

"Yeah I'm sure, thank you though," she said with a smile and they finished the rest of the lunch period chatting with the kids "Mr. and Mrs. Stabler! You guys are taking Kyle with you right? That's what principle Kenner said but I wanted to make double sure?" Tina asked.

"That's right we are we just wanted to let him eat first."

"I understand detective, thank you both for speaking today really I believe what you guys said resonated with a lot of them."

"I think it did too, I'm concerned about one student though, Evie please make sure she understands the gist of what we said."

She nodded "I'll talk to her guardian, thank you guys so much again."

"No problem really," Elliot said and once he and Liv hugged Izzabella and promised her they'd be back to get her at two he turned to Kyle "hey buddy I'm gonna need you to come with us okay," he said softly.

Kyle frowned "I can't daddy's supposed to pick me up I'll be in trouble."

"You won't be in any trouble sweetie, come on," Liv coaxed and he just stood up hesitantly, took El's hand and walked with them to the office.

"Are you guys the detectives signing Kyle Gains out?" the middle aged receptionist asked.

"We are," Olivia said and she nodded "can one of you sign here please?"

She nodded and signed it Olivia Benson-Stabler "have his parents been contacted?" El asked.

"Principle Kenner is trying to get a hold of them."

Elliot nodded "well if he does make sure he knows to tell them that their son will be at the special victims unit, it's located at the 16th precinct on the third floor."

"I'll pass the message along, you three have a great rest of your day."

"Thank you ma'am," they said then left the office and headed towards the parking lot "wow..." Kyle said looking at their truck in awe.

"You like it?" El asked with a smile.

"Mmhmmm it's cool. Can I sit up front?"

"No sorry that's my seat," Liv said as she got in with a chuckle as Kyle just nodded and Elliot opened the back door for him and helped him into Izzabella's booster seat "can you buckle yourself in or do you need help?" he asked.

"I can do it I'm a big boy."

"That you are, okay go ahead," he said with a smile and a minute later he drove off.

xxxxx

"Whoa it looks so cool!" Kyle said as Elliot parked in the precincts parking lot.

"It sure does! You get to go inside there are you ready?" Elliot asked.

"Mmhmmm will I get to play?"

"Probably so they do have a lot of toys here."

"Really?!" he asked excitedly.

"They sure do. Come on lets go buddy do you need help unbuckling?"

Kyle shook his head and did it himself as they smiled "I love his independence," Olivia whispered.

"Me too but I can't help but wonder why he's so independent. You ready Liv?"

"Yeah," she said getting out as he smiled, helped Kyle climb down then they went inside together.

xxxxx

"Warner's gotta be off, one perp using two different knives? That's insane," Rollins was saying as they walked in.

"I can count on one hand the number of times she's been wrong Amanda maybe he just wants to throw us off."

"Well if that's his goal it's definitely working, were their finger prints on the knives?"

"The forensics report hasn't come in yet," Fin said and Rollins just nodded "That figures," she said as she sighed and turned back to the crime board just as Elliot cleared his throat "hey you two! Long time no see," Fin said glancing at the couple "and who's this little man here?"

"This is Kyle Gains Cragen's expecting us," Liv said with a slight smile.

Fin nodded and Kyle turned to look at the crime board "no no don't look at that bud," El said quickly.

"But why?"

"Cuz the stuff on there is only fit for grownups to see, come on lets go this way," he coaxed and the three of them headed towards Cragen's office.

The door was open so they stepped inside "hi," Kyle said shyly.

"Hi Kyle, I'm Don, do you like trucks?"

"Mmhmm," he said with a smile.

Cragen nodded "well we have a special room here that has lots of trucks in it. Would you like to play with them?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly and Cragen nodded "take him to them then," he told Elliot with a smile and he nodded and lead him out.

"Are you gonna need your statement from me or Elliot?" Liv asked once they were out of earshot.

"That depends who was the outcry witness?"

She sighed "technically both of us we were both there. He was talking more to Elliot though I think they have a little bit of a rapport."

He nodded "I'll just talk to you both together then, how are your studies going?"

She sighed "they're going I'm doing my best."

He nodded "I know that with out you even saying it I've always admired your work ethic Olivia."

"Thank you I try. Seems like you guys are working a rough one out there."

He nodded "the girl was raped in her apartment, stabbed 38 times then bludgeoned, it's the second case like that this week."

"My god..."

"Yeah and in both cases two knives were used, one for shallow cuts and one for deep ones. We can't figure out the reasoning for that but honestly I just think it was to extend the Vic's suffering."

"Maybe or maybe you're dealing with two perps, one that's hesitant and one that isn't."

"That's what Rollins thinks too but Warner says it's one perp and there was only one seaman sample in the rape kits."

"Any spermaside?"

"No," he said and she nodded "then it's gotta be an attempt to confuse you and slow down the investigation, is there any way to know which stab wounds came first?"

"No," he said and she just nodded and sighed "I hope you catch him."

"We'll be on it until we do," he said as Elliot was smiling slightly in the doorway "Kyle's settled in the interview room."

"Great thank you Elliot, I need to take your statements real quick why don't you both have a seat?"

He nodded, shut the door then they sat side by side and told him what Kyle told them, said goodbye to Kyle then left for home as it was good that they left when they did because Kyle's furious parents marched in about 30 seconds later.

12:05 PM.

"How the hell is she still in bed?" Elliot wondered aloud as he put one of Lizzie's favorite breakfast pizzas in the oven then began fixing him and Liv glasses of tea.

"I have no idea but it's not the best thing considering that she's about to resume college courses in two weeks."

"Ain't that the truth. Her breakfast'll be done at around 12:30 I'll wake her up then."

"You sure that's wise El? She's irritable when she's woken up."

"Yeah she needs to get used to getting up again now so it'll be easier for her when her classes start."

"Sounds good. Stop me when you hear something you wanna watch, there's Naked and afraid, that one sounds horrible doesn't it?" she said repulsed as she scanned through the tv guide on the couch.

"It does, what else is there"

"Hmm lets see. We have Catfish the Tv show, Jersey shore, I survived, MSNBC news, fox news, CNN news, how it's made, Rattlesnake republic, extreme couponing, Survivor Man, Pawn stars, Worlds dumbest inventions"-

"How about Survivor man?" he suggested as he walked over with their teas.

"Sounds good," she said as she turned it on there, took hers then cuddled into him as Lizzie staggered into the living room "morning," she said groggily.

"Morning sweetie. Long night?" Liv asked.

"Mmhmm was on Skype till 3:30."

"Why?" Elliot asked as he frowned slightly.

She sighed "Sam's just going through some stuff right now and needs somebody to talk to."

"Sam as in your friend Samantha right?"

"Mmhmm," she said while curling up on the love seat and laying her head on the arm rest.

Elliot nodded and sighed "you need a blanket?"

She shook her head "I'm okay daddy, thank you though."

He nodded, kissed Liv's temple then headed into the kitchen "your breakfast will be ready soon and I'm putting you on some coffee. I don't wanna tell you what to do either but I feel like as your dad I should remind you that you only have two weeks of vacation left before you're back in college and can't be sleeping in like this anymore."

"I know dad I promise. I didn't plan to be on for that long last night anyway but she found out her boyfriend cheated on her and she was really upset about it."

"That's terrible," Liv said and Elliot nodded agreeing "I'm really sorry to hear that and I'm glad you're there for her, you're a good friend just don't let the all night sessions become a habit, not this close to the start of your semester okay honey?"

"Okay but what if she needs me late at night?"

"If she's a good friend then she'll understand that you need rest at night so you can concentrate at college and she'll work around that."

Lizzie nodded and he just slightly smiled and sat back down "you wanna go with us when we pick Izzabella up from preschool? We'll be going straight to the public pool then out for dinner once we leave."

"I wish I could but I have majorette practice."

Elliot nodded understanding "do you still have gas in your car?"

"Yeah," she said and he nodded, slightly smiled then looked to Liv "you wanna get in the water today?" he asked.

"Yeah I think so it's been a while. I'm gonna keep my bathing suit cover on though."

He nodded and kissed her temple reassuringly "as long as you feel comfortable that's all that matters I don't care what you ware," he whispered and with that conversation fizzled out and they finished watching the episode of survivor man then headed out to get Izzabella from school and surprise her with a fun evening.