Title: Till Death Do Us Part (9/15)

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.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



CHAPTER 9

ST. ANDREWS AVELLINO CHURCH

FLUSHING, NEW YORK

JUNE 4

Elliot and Maureen walked into the parish offices and were greeted warmly by Jody Wilson, "How can I help you, Elliot?"

"We need to speak to Father Brian," he replied.

"He's in with another parishioner at the moment, can I help with anything until he's done?"

"No, but thank you."

Jody could tell by the looks on their faces that something out of the norm had happened, but she'd been working for the parish long enough to not intrude. She offered them some water and quiet.

"Dad," Maureen said, "I think I'm going to go into the sanctuary for a while."

"You want company?" he asked.

"No, I need a few minutes alone."

"Okay, I'll come find you when Father Brian's ready for us."

Maureen gave Elliot a quick hug before going into through the doors into the sanctuary.

Fifteen minutes later Father Brian, a man in his early 40s, walked out of his office with a female parishioner. "Thank you for everything," the woman said. "I'll try this at home. Hopefully Harold won't be too upset I came to you for help."

"I'm sure he'll understand when you tell him how worried you were. Take care," Father Brian said.

"Elliot. It's nice to see you other than a Sunday morning. What I can do for you?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Elliot said.

"Please come into my office," he said.

"Maureen's in the church praying. Can we get her first?" Elliot asked.

"Certainly."

The two men walked companionably into the sanctuary and found Maureen lighting candles.

"Honey?"

Maureen turned around at her father's voice and stood up, wiping the tears from her face. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Go ahead and cry," Elliot offered. "I have a dry shirt and probably a box of tissue in the car."

Maureen sniffled and gave a little laugh before turning to the priest. "Father Brian, hi."

"Hello. Shall we go into my office?" he asked Elliot.

"Can we stay here instead?" Maureen asked. "It's peaceful and Mom loved it here."

Father Brian looked at Elliot and when he saw the nod, agreed to stay. "Let's sit over here," he said, directing them to one of the side pews.

"Father Brian, Kathy was killed last night," Elliot said matter-of-factly. "We need to make arrangements for services and a funeral."

"I'm so sorry, Elliot, Maureen," Father Brian said. "Was it an accident?"

"Her office was bombed. Unfortunately she was still inside." Elliot's voice betrayed no emotion. He was definitely in cop mode right now.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I'd heard about it on the morning news but didn't catch where it happened or any of the names involved. My condolences to you and your family," he said, feeling inadequate to this particular job. It was hard enough to console the families when a death was expected, it was much worse in circumstances like these.

"Kathy and I had talked often about what kind of services I'd want if I were to be killed in the line of duty, but we never really talked about to do if anything happened to her," Elliot said. "I want something simple and beautiful. Kathy deserves that."

"Mom wanted a service open to family and friends. She didn't want an open casket viewing though, she said it only gives people bad dreams afterward," Maureen stated.

"You and Mom talked about this?" Elliot asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah," Maureen said sheepishly. "After my friend's grandmother passed away I asked Mom what would happen if either of you were to die. We talked about it a couple of times after that too. I wrote a lot of it down, just in case."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Why, no one expected Mom to die. We were more worried about you than her," Maureen stated. "Guess we should have worried about both of you." Tears started falling down her face again.

Elliot reached over and pulled Maureen against his side. "I love you, Maureen," he said, kissing her forehead. "So, you want to tell the Father what Mom wanted for her services?"

Maureen sniffed back her tears and pulling a list from her purse said, "Mom wanted a simple service at the gravesite. Nothing too fancy and not too long. She said that being outside at a cemetary for too long was torture to the kids that had to attend. She'd have wanted them to be allowed to play and laugh, not wallow in the tears of loss. She also wanted only a few flower arrangements at the services, the rest should be plants that can be transplanted to grow in someone's yard to remember her by."

Elliot sat in amazement at the detail that rolled from Maureen's list. Things he never knew his wife had thought about, let alone actually planned. They sat with the priest for over an hour planning the services and funeral. Luckily, through a policeman's association, Elliot had purchased adjoining plots in a nearby cemetary, so they didn't have to worry about that part of it.

When they concluded their discussion about Kathy's funeral, Father Brian reiterated an earlier comment, "If there's anything I can do for you or your family, please give me a call. If you need an ear or shoulder. If you just want a quiet place to come to escape the chaos. Whatever. I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Father," Elliot said. "We appreciate everything you've done so far. We still need to go to the funeral home to pick out a casket and make arrangements to have Kathy's remains picked up. I'll let the kids know that they can come over if they need to talk, though."

"You take care, Elliot. I know with your job you're used to dealing with things of this nature, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with when it's this close to home. If you need to talk, please call," Father Brian said.

"Thanks."

"Thank you, Father Brian," Maureen said, standing up. "We appreciate your help."

Father Brian pulled the young woman in for a quick hug. "Call if you need anything. The ladies auxiliary will probably hear about this soon enough. If they stampede your house too soon or too often, let me know and I'll pull them back. Okay?"

"Okay," Maureen agreed with a small smile.

Elliot held Maureen's hand as they walked back to the car. "I'm so proud of you," he said. "The way you took charge in there makes me think my little girl is gone for good."

"She's been gone for a long time, Dad, you just never noticed before," she said, squeezing his hand. "But that does't mean I don't need you, you know."

"That's good to hear," Elliot responded. "I need you too."

They got into the car and continued with the day's itinerary.

While they were driving to the funeral home, Elliot decided to call Olivia at the station house to see how she and the kids were faring.



"Benson."

"Hey, how're the kids?" he asked.

"Kathleen's with Munch, Lizzie's with Fin and Dickie's been helping me get your filing done, since you never do it."

Elliot ignored the gentle jab at his paperwork ethic and asked, "Do I want to know what the girls are doing with Munch and Fin?"

"Probably not," Olivia said with a small laugh. "Kathleen's debating politics with Munch. Last I heard they were arguing over the veracity of legalizing drugs."

"You're joking."

"No."

"What about Lizzie?"

"She's just sitting with Fin. He's working and she's sitting at the side of his desk watching."

"She okay?"

"I think so," Olivia commented. "At least as okay as she can be. Don't worry about them, the guys and I will take care of them until you return. How are you and Maureen?"

"Okay. I gotta tell you I'm damn proud of my eldest. She really took charge of the arrangements with Father Brian." Elliot looked over at Maureen and gave her a prideful smile. "I don't know what I'd do without her."

"That's great. I'm glad she's with you."

"We've arrived at the funeral home, so I gotta go. Tell my kids I'll see them in a while."

"No prob. See you later."

SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

SQUAD ROOM

Olivia looked at Elliot's kids and reflected with some pride that they were doing very well considering the circumstances. Kathleen was happy debating various topics with Munch and making him a little crazy with her take on why things should be the way she wanted. Dickie was pretty much glued to her side, but she wasn't complaining, he was a good kid who needed a little extra attention. She was a little worried about Lizzie, but since she wasn't crying or carrying on, she didn't want to start something by asking how the girl was doing. She figured if Lizzie needed something, she'd let Livia know.

She walked over to Fin and Munch's double desk and said, "Kids, your dad just called. He'll be about another hour or so."

"Thanks," Kathleen said. Turning to Munch she said, "John, your position on this is a little strange for a cop, don't you think?"

"Remember who he was," Fin said from across the desk.

"Huh?"

"Ex-hippie, drug addict."

"Really? Tell me more," Kathleen said, leaning over the desk.

"Let's not," said Olivia, shooting a look at Fin for opening a can of worms.

"You're no fun, Olivia," Kathleen said with a pout.

"I'm lots of fun, just not about this," she answered. Looking at Munch she said, "Find another topic before Elliot finds a way to castrate you without benefit of anesthesia."

Munch gave Olivia a pained looked and said to Kathleen, "What do you think about digital cameras?"

Kathleen rolled her eyes at the adults and said, "I think I'm going to get something to drink. Anyone want anything?" When no one responded in the affirmative, she walked out of the squad room looking for a soft drink and a little alone time.

Olivia turned to Munch and said, "You should know better."

"Hey, not my fault, she picked the topic, I just went along for the ride."

"Like you couldn't have changed the subject." She touched Lizzie on the shoulder, "How you doing, honey?"

"I'm okay," she replied. "Just not feeling chatty."

"That's okay. I can understand the feeling."

Olivia went back over to her desk and the piles of files Dickie was working on. "Do you want some lunch?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm okay," he answered. Holding up a file he asked, "Do you know where this one should go?"

"That goes in the Captain's office. I'll take it over." Olivia took the proferred file from Dickie and went into Cragen's office. "Sir, I believe this is yours."

"Huh?" Cragen looked up a little startled by the intrusion.

"The file, I think this is yours."

"Oh, thanks. Just put it over there," he said, indicating the credenza at the side of the room.

"Any word yet?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing. Fin and Munch didn't get anything out of the guy they brought in. His high-priced lawyer showed up twenty minutes after he called and because we had no proof of any wrong-doing, we had to let him go."

"Even though he'd said something about a dead woman?"

"Yeah, we have no body and he said he was just pulling Fin and Munch's legs. We didn't have anything to hold him on," Cragen said with disgust. "We'll keep a team watching him just in case."

"Great," Olivia sighed. "Anyway, I've got Dickie helping me with Elliot's filing and we're almost to the bottom. If you have anything you need done …"

"I try to keep my paperwork off my desk," Cragen said with a smile. "But thanks for the offer." Cragen stood up suddenly, "What the …?"

"What?" Olivia said, spinning around. Seeing Lizzie wrapped in Fin's arm, she sprinted out of the office with Cragen fast on her heels.

"Lizzie?" she asked, reaching out to touch the girl.

Fin stopped her with a shake of his head. He stroked Lizzie's hair and whispered nonsense to her. He motioned to the others to go away while he dealt with the girl. They complied, but kept half an eye out just in case he needed help.

Dickie pulled his chair closer to Olivia's when she sat down. She put her arm around and held him close. Kathleen walked in to see her siblings wrapped in the arms of her father's co-workers. Not knowing what to make of this she walked over to Munch at the coffee area and asked, "Anything I need to know here?"

"Just a tense emotional moment," he answered.

"Oh."

"Do you need a hug too?" he asked.

"Um, no, I'm fine," she responded. "But thanks for the offer."

"Anytime," he said with a deliberate leer. She obliged him with a small laugh.