Title: Till Death Do Us Part (3/15)

Author: KatRose

Disclaimer: Simply put, Dick Wolf's, not mine.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None that I can think of

Author's Notes: The dates for this story are all 2004. I also have to thank kukrae for all her help, wisdom, cheerleading and browbeating me into getting this story written.

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CHAPTER 3

SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

SQUAD ROOM

APRIL 24

"Hey, guys," Munch said as he strode into the room. "We got another one."

"Where?" asked Olivia.

"Soho. Similar M.O., but worse."

"Worse?" Fin said. "How much worse?"

"This vic's got definite signs of torture before she was killed. Torture in *addition* to the sexual assault."

"Man, that sucks," Fin replied.

"Yeah. Just got back the ME's report on Lizette," he replied holding up a file, "she was pregnant."

"She was WHAT?" Olivia asked as she whipped around to look at Munch.

"Yeah, about three months along. She took a lot of beating across the abdomen," he responded with anger in his voice. "Makes ya wonder if the perp knew she was pregnant and wanted to destroy the baby."

"Ugh," she replied. "You guys going down to Soho or do you want Elliot and I to go?"

"We'll take it. I need a break from this paperwork."

"Okay, have fun," she said turning back to her desk. "Gimme that file before you go, I'd like to go over it while you're gone."

"Sure, here ya go." With that Munch and Fin walked out the door and into the street.

BEHIND KELLY'S DINER

SULLIVAN BETWEEN PRINCE AND SPRING

"Whaddya got?" Munch asked pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Dead woman beaten pretty severely around the back and torso. Definitely was sexually assaulted," was the response from the coroner's assistant.

"Any idea how long she's been dead?" Fin asked.

"Looks to be about 12 to 15 hours. Body's still in rigor, so it's been a bit, but we'll know for sure when we get her back to the lab."

"Thanks," Munch said. Turning to the uniformed officer standing nearby, he asked, "Did anyone ask the diner if they saw or heard anything?"

"No, sir, not yet," was the reply.

"Guess that means you and me, Fin," Munch said.

Walking in the door, Munch made a beeline for the woman behind the counter. "Hi, beautiful," he said in way of greeting. "I'm hoping you can help me with something."

"Sure, sugar, whaddya need? Coffee? Tea? Me?" she asked with a laugh.

"He wishes," Fin said coming to Munch's side. "We're with the Special Victims Unit and need to ask a few questions."

"Oh, and here I was getting hopeful," the waitress cracked. "What kinda questions?"

"Did you see or hear anything unusual since last night?" Fin asked.

"Unusual? Not that I can think of. Well, except for cutie here coming in my door," she said with a grin towards Munch.

Munch returned the smile and took out his business card. "Here's my number if you do think of anything else, miss."

"Dottie," she said. "My name's Dottie."

"Thanks," he replied. "Gimme a call … if you remember anything."

Dottie slid the business card into the front of her uniform and smiled as the two detectives walked out the door. "What a cutie," she thought. "Maybe I'll call him even if I don't remember anything."

As the men walked back to their car, Fin chided Munch on his way with women, "I don't know what you think you got that makes 'em smile like that, but it's embarrassing."

"Only because you don't have it and wouldn't know what to do with it if you did," Munch smirked as he got into the car. Fin's only response was a snort of derision.

STABLER RESIDENCE, QUEENS

JUNE 3 - 11:30 PM

Elliot stirred as Olivia gently shook him back into wakefulness. "Wha'?" he said as he came back to the present.

"We're home, Elliot," she said. "Do you want me to come inside with you?"

Elliot sighed. "I should do this alone, ya know?"

"Elliot, you've got four kids in there. Sure you don't want an extra set of arms when you break the news?"

Elliot stared off into space looking at the house, but not really seeing it. He remembered the day he and Kathy bought the place all those years ago. He remembered the hopes and dreams they had for their future and their kids' futures. This was definitely not part of those dreams.

"Elliot?" Olivia prodded.

"I know. Yeah, if you don't really mind, I could use the support."

"Of course I don't mind. I love your kids too."

They got out of the car and walked with heavy hearts to the door. The only light on in the house was in the living room, presumably Maureen reading and waiting up for Kathy to get home.

"Hi, Dad," she said when the door opened. "Oh, Olivia! Nice to see you." She got out of the chair and started across the room. As she got closer to her father and his partner, the tension was palpable. When she got in front of them, their faces came out of the shadows and she knew that something was terribly wrong.

"Dad? What's wrong? Why's Olivia here? Where's Mom?" Maureen asked each question with more urgency than the one before. Her voice rose to almost a shrill level by the final one.

"Maureen," Elliot said, pulling his oldest into a close embrace and walked them towards the couch. "Honey, there was an accident at Mom's work."

"What do you mean 'accident'?" she asked, sitting down. "What kind of accident?"

"There was an explosion …" he started.

"An EXPLOSION!?" she cried, leaping to her feet. "An explosion!? What would have blown up at Mom's clinic?"

"Maureen, you need to sit down and listen to me for a moment. Then we need to get the others and tell them too. Okay?"

Maureen took a deep breath and sat back down next to her father. "Okay, go on," she said with feigned calm.

"We don't know what happened. Only that something exploded at the clinic. Bomb squad's looking into what the cause could be. It could have been a gas leak or a radical pro-life activist or anything. We don't know anything just yet. Only that Mom was inside when it happened."

"Are you sure?" she said with tears in her voice. "Could she maybe have gotten out before it happened and she's just wandering around with no memory or something?"

"No, honey, it's not," he said gently. Tears accumulated in his eyes looking at his daughter and knowing the pain she was experiencing. "I wish it could be otherwise, but they know …" he took a breath to calm the tears in his voice, "they know she was inside."

Maureen's feigned composure cracked. The tears flowed as she clung to her father. Olivia went to the kitchen to give them some privacy, before returning with a box of tissue and glasses of water. Both took them gratefully, just in time to hear the patter of feet coming down the stairs.

"Dad?" Lizzie called as she came into the room. "I heard a noise …" Seeing her father and sister on the couch with tear stained eyes, she knew something was up. "Daddy?" she said in a little girl voice.

"Come here, pumpkin," Elliot said, gathering his youngest daughter to his chest. Soon other feet were heard and the rest of the family came into the room.

Kathleen rushed over to her father and sisters and started crying, even without knowing what was wrong. Dickie stood to the side looking like he wanted to join the family hug, but didn't want to appear less a man for it. Elliot saw Dickie standing there and opened his arms for his son. Dickie flew across the room and soon Elliot was buried under a pile of crying children.

It took some time for the tears to stop and explanations to be heard. Elliot sat with a child on either side of him on the couch and Olivia sat on the coffee table with the other two. All six were in constant physical contact as the conversation ebbed and flowed, along with the tears. Olivia only got up to find another box of tissue. When she returned, she found the siblings all on the couch with their father.

"Olivia," Kathleen said, patting a small space on the middle cushion, "you can sit here."

Olivia looked at the family, wondering if her presence was doing help or harm and saw all five pairs of eyes look at her expectantly. She scooted her way onto the couch, ending up with Lizzie in her lap and Kathleen and Dickie crowded to her sides. It was a good feeling, and she felt a little guilty enjoying this feeling of belonging. She tamped those feelings back and just held the kids while the sobs subsided and they fell into an uneasy stupor.

Time passed quickly and slowly as they sat on the couch. Bodies moved into comfortable positions to catch a few moments of sleep and respite from the horror of losing their mother. Elliot never let go of his children, not even when he stood to get feeling back into his legs.

"Elliot," Olivia whispered. "Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, for my wife and their mother to be alive," he replied in a weary voice.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything about that, but do you want to lay down, call family, go to the bathroom, eat, anything?"

"Oh, man, I forgot about my dad. I need to make that call. I should probably go over there. But I can't leave the kids." Elliot's voice broke, but the look on his face was resolute. He wasn't going to allow anything to happen to anyone else, not if he could help it. "Can you stay with the kids while I go cross town to Dad's?"

"Of course. I'll be here as long as you need me."

"Thanks. Let the kids know I'll be back soon."

"I will. You take it easy and don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

Elliot walked to the door, grabbing his jacket on the way. "I don't know what I'd do without you here, Livia. I don't know if we could have gotten through this," he said motioning to the kids in heaps on the couch, "without your strength. Thank you." He didn't allow her time to respond before closing the door quietly behind him.

She stood in the center of the room listening to the car start up and drive away wondering about the feelings welling up inside her. Chalking it up to the overly emotional evening, she went into the kitchen to try and keep herself busy until Elliot returned or the kids woke up.

Elliot drove away with trepidation and fear dogging his path. He called Cragen's cell phone. "Cragen."

"Captain, Elliot."

"How are you? How'd the kids take the news?" Cragen asked.

"About as well as could be expected. Olivia's staying with them while I go talk to my father."

"Let me know if there's anything we or I can do."

"Thanks." Elliot turned from grieving husband to cop and asked, "Do you have any word yet on what caused the explosion? Does the bomb squad know anything more?"

'They're still sifting through the rubble and searching for clues. They found another body. Fin and Munch contacted the clinic's director and found out who was working with Kathy. They're pretty such it's the receptionist, Sharon Dukins."

"I liked Sharon. She always had an easy smile and ready to help the patients anyway she could. Has her family been contacted yet?" Elliot asked.

"Fin and Munch already took care of that."

"What did the bomb squad have to say?"

"That it was probably a medium sized wad of C4 with a military blasting cap. The explosion was focused on the office areas in the back and left the patient rooms pretty much intact. The front windows blew out, but not much else damage to that front area."

"Like they knew where Kathy worked and how best to kill her," Elliot stated.

"Could be. Or it could just be that someone didn't want to hurt any passersby when they made whatever point they were going for."

"Captain, you're not seriously trying to convince me that this wasn't a mob hit, are you?"

"Elliot, until we know more, we can't assume anything. There could be a couple dozen explanations for what happened there tonight. We'll dig until we find the correct answer."

"I want these bastards, Captain!" Elliot said emphatically. "They took my wife and my kids' mother away from us. They've gotta pay."

"They will, Elliot. They will. Just give us time to do this right. Don't go off half-cocked and make an even bigger mess than we already have."

"I hear you, sir. I'm at my dad's place. I'll talk to you later."

"Get some rest when you're done there, Elliot. You'll need it for the coming days," Cragen counseled.

"Thanks," Elliot said before disconnecting.

Elliot got out of the car and walked up to the door, raising his hand to knock.