A/N: Wow, I am proud. I didn't end last chapter on a cliffhanger! faints However, I will try not to make that mistake again! This is my last update before I start school tear so the next one might be slower in coming, but I promise it won't be longer than a couple weeks! Anyways, enjoy! Read and review! Thanks for the advice! Also, just in case you were curious Devon has got some friends in very high places, so that's how he succeeds in getting the information he does.
Disclaimer: Hmmm… I must be doing something wrong. I still don't own them.
Devon ran a hand through his hair. It was almost midnight but he couldn't get to sleep. He was still greatly bothered by everything he had read in the e-mail. He was missing something. His laptop hummed quietly on his lap. Devon tapped his fingers lightly against the keyboard, hoping to think of something. A pair of hands rested on his shoulders. He turned and saw Reagan smiling at him. "Devon, you really ought to get some sleep."
"I am fine." he answered dismissively.
"You aren't going to figure anything out when you're this exhausted." Reagan insisted, kissing the top of his head.
Devon read over the e-mail once more. His eyes widened as it suddenly hit him. "Get me the phone." Reagan handed it over to him, looking at him curiously. She heard the other line pick up and Devon began, "Hey Ben… Yes, I know it's late. Sorry. But could you do me a favor… run a background on Tyler Reverend… Yes, the full thing…"
Reagan sat down beside Devon on the couch as his laptop began receiving results of the background check. "Dev… I am not sure what you're getting at…" she said slowly, "Tyler's our neighbor."
"Exactly." Devon replied, and then double clicked the file that had just been sent to him.
As soon as they had gotten out of the shower and mostly dried off Elliot and Olivia climbed back into bed. She curled up against his chest, her arms draped over his sides. Elliot rubbed her back gently and fell asleep in no time.
Elliot woke late the next morning, feeling a little sore but incredibly rested. He looked around the room, Olivia nowhere to be seen. With a deep sigh Elliot slipped out of the bed and looked down at the floor where the saddlebag that contained his clothes was. It was open and so he suspected Olivia had borrowed some. He walked out of the bedroom into the kitchen, where Olivia was cooking breakfast. Sure enough she was wearing some of his boxers and an NYPD shirt. She didn't seem to notice him and so he wrapped his arms around her waist and tucked his head against hers. "Morning."
"Good morning," Olivia responded, turning to look at him, a bright smile on her face.
Elliot placed his hand on her hips and pulled her up against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her breath tickling his collarbone. "Last night…" he began, pressing his cheek up against her silky hair.
"Amazing, I know." Olivia answered with a smile, pulling away gently, "And I would love a repeat, but I do have to finish breakfast."
As they munched away on some pancakes and bacon, the snow outside showed no signs of stopping. After eating about seven pancakes Elliot leaned back, moaning in pain. "Dear God…" he mumbled, rubbing his stomach.
Olivia smirked and said, "Well Elliot, I can't say I feel sorry for you. You shovel food in so fast your stomach realizes way too late that it just can't hold anymore."
Scowling at her Elliot made his way over to the couch, where he flopped on his back. Olivia sat across from him in a large armchair, closing her eyes in contentment. But creeping into the back of her mind was a feeling of deep unease. Sure, she and Elliot were in a fancy cabin in the beautiful Rocky Mountains after having spent an incredible night together, but nothing changed the events that had transpired to get them there. "So Olivia, what exactly happened yesterday? I don't think I have ever seen you that scared before in your life." Elliot questioned, rolling over onto his side and gazing at her.
Olivia told him the story, starting with Reagan finding the e-mail and how she and Devon left after he received a phone call. "Now I know that it was the DPD calling about you, but at the time Devon wasn't letting anything on. His snowmobile broke down and so he sent me on ahead. I got to that fork in the road and decided to go down the other path on foot. I heard someone in the woods… and it was so eerie. Seriously, that forest was like something from a horror movie. And then I saw him…" Olivia said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It was the most horrifying type of déjà vu, I recognize him from somewhere. I just can't place it."
"Great," Elliot sighed and then looked over at Olivia and halfheartedly joked, "This is just the vacation I wanted to take- running from a psycho chasing after my wife in the middle of the Rocky Mountains."
Olivia smiled, but couldn't shake the image of the man as he called her name.
They dozed most of the morning. Elliot woke first, stretching lazily as he flopped off the couch. He staggered sleepily over to the door, noticing that the snow outside had stopped. Jerking on the handle he finally convinced the door to swing open. His eyes widened as he was suddenly engulfed in a rush of snow falling in through the gaping doorway. It had been windswept well above the door and fell through when he opened it. Yelping when the snow hit his bare feet Elliot gazed outside. There was at least three and a half feet of snow on the ground, and the threatening sky promised more. He shook his head in amazement and shut the door.
Olivia woke up when she heard Elliot yell, and looked over as he closed the door, snow strewn all about the floor. "Good job," she laughed, walking over to help him scoop it up.
"I didn't think that would happen." he said defensively, getting up and throwing his armful into the sink.
After they had cleaned up the snowy mess Elliot's cell started to ring. He picked it up and then waved Olivia over. "It's dad!" he whispered, placing a hand over the receiver. Then he put the phone to his ear and said, "Stabler. Yes, were doing fine. Olivia is fine too, she's standing right here. You bet it snowed- we have at least three feet outside. Okay, talk to you then."
"Cragen?" Olivia questioned, and Elliot nodded.
"He just wanted to make sure you were alive." Elliot explained, grinning at her. Olivia sighed and absently brushed back her blonde hair. She couldn't wait until she could bring it back to her original color. "Hey, I think the blonde's cute. A little not you, but it doesn't look bad."
"Thanks." Olivia smiled at him, watching her with his baby blues.
A loud rapping on the door made both of them turn. Elliot immediately reached for his gun and stepped in front of Olivia. The lock turned and the door swung open. "Devon!" exclaimed Elliot in a relieved sigh as the ex-FBI agent slipped into the house. He had managed to clear enough snow from the door so that there was enough room to crawl through.
"Good morning, my friends." Devon said with a grin as he slammed the door shut again. His expression changed slightly after a second and he appeared to be hesitant about something.
Olivia instantly noticed and asked, "Devon, what is it?"
"Olivia… I think I found whoever is after you." Devon said, taking a gulp of air as he continued, "I got his background checked and…"
"Who is it?" Elliot questioned, pulling Devon around to face him.
"It's… Tyler Reverend, my neighbor." Devon told him, and at the shock on Elliot's face he quickly supplemented, "Neighbor is a relative term, he lives a couple miles away in a secluded little cabin."
"How do you know for sure?" questioned Olivia, her eyes wide.
Devon sighed and pulled a photo out of his jacket pocket, carefully pressing it to his chest so she couldn't see it. "That e-mail didn't make sense until I realized that whoever it was would have to live near to me, since he was worried about me getting in the way. There are three properties in this area, and it's surrounded by thousands of acres of national forest. One is an old married couple's, one is mine, and the other is Tyler's. So I had a friend of mine from the Bureau run a background on Tyler. He is originally from New York, and was arrested several times for assault. He did some time, but got out several years back."
Olivia and Elliot glanced at each other. "Great. How soon can we get out of here?" Elliot asked.
Devon shook his head and said, "I don't know, tomorrow hopefully. We can get out on horseback by that time anyways. But that's not it. I don't know how to say this." He glanced over at Elliot and then to Olivia, pain quite evident in his eyes. "I had a gut feeling about this guy, when I saw his picture."
With a shaking hand he held out the photo to Olivia, and she took it. "Oh my God… that's the guy I saw in the woods." Dark eye stared back at her… eyes hauntingly similar to her own. Olivia's stomach twisted in anguish as she started to realize…
Devon looked like he would rather kill himself than say the rest of what he knew. Olivia looked up at him and took him by the shoulders, "Devon, what else?"
"I saw that picture and I, well looked at your profile…I saw that you didn't have a father listed. So I got Tyler's DNA results; they are in the system for a rape he committed about ten years ago. And so I had my friend expedite another test with your DNA, also in the system from that paternity test you took a while back. Please don't mention anything about the DNA though to anyone else, I definitely pulled a bunch of strings. But… it's positive." Devon mumbled, resting his hand on her cheek, "I am so sorry."
"Positive?" questioned Elliot, putting his arms around Olivia's waist.
Devon nodded, "Tyler Reverend is her father."
For the rest of the day Olivia was very detached, her eyes distant and lost. Elliot tried to get her to talk, but she pushed him away. Finally that night after Elliot had gotten out of the shower he walked into the bedroom, finding Olivia dozing on her back. He slipped under the covers next to her and she immediately rolled over away from him. "Olivia, you are not going to shut me out. None of this is your fault." Elliot said, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back to him.
"Elliot, I don't want to talk about it! Just leave me alone!" she exclaimed, a tear running down her cheek.
"Liv… you have always needed closure. Now you can get it." Elliot told her, scooting closer to her and taking her hands.
Olivia nodded slowly. "Closure? I thought that the worst crime my father would have committed would have been the rape of my mother. Now because of him that firefighter was murdered, our daughter was kidnapped, Casey was shot, and our son was killed. Who knows what other harm he has caused."
Elliot took her face in his hands and told her firmly, "And that is not your fault. We are all victims in this." He pressed his lips to hers, tasting the saltiness of her tears. Slowly she relaxed against him, stroking his chest with her hands. Elliot pulled away, gently running his hand over her cheek.
"It all makes sense now…" Olivia said quietly, trailing off
Olivia slept fitfully that night, Elliot doing his best to comfort her when he woke from his own troubled sleep. The morning couldn't have come soon enough. They both got dressed quietly, not saying one word to each other. But the silence was comforting, not hostile. They walked out of their guest house, wading through the deep snow as they made their way to Devon's house. Elliot knocked loudly on the door. No one answered. Olivia's brow furrowed as she listened. "Elliot, the kid's are crying in there." She reached out and turned the handle.
There were definite signs of a struggle. Glass was broken on the floor and chairs were overturned. Olivia hurried forward and just behind the couch laid Devon. He was breathing, but other than that lay quite still. She knelt by his side, shaking his shoulder gently. He didn't respond. "Come on, Devon. You have to wake up." She said, running her hand across his forehead. It was cold. She quickly looked around and found a syringe lying on the floor. A sedative.
"Liv… look at this." Elliot said, and Olivia stood. He held out a piece of paper to her. Olivia took it, gazing at the sloppily scrawled out message-
I have the wife. You know where to find me.
Devon began to stir on the ground. Elliot looked down at him and pulled him up off the floor, setting him gently down on the couch. He took a shuddering breath, his eyes were unfocused as he slowly opened them. "Olivia… it was him…" he gasped out, before shutting his eyes once more.
Elliot shook his shoulder. "Devon, you have to wake up. We are going to go and get your wife back, but you have to watch your kids." Devon nodded, doing his best to open his eyes again. Olivia gestured Elliot over and they walked into the bedroom, wheeling the crib out and over to the couch. Jonathan and Maria had stopped crying and were happily reaching out to them. "Be good for your dad." Elliot told them, and with that he hurried out the door. Olivia paused for a second and then squeezed Devon's shoulder.
"We will get her back."
"Take… my horse…" Devon said shakily.
Elliot and Olivia had saddled their horses in record time, hurrying out of the stable. As soon as they reached the snow covered road Elliot kicked his horse into a canter. Olivia couldn't help but smile as they rode through the deep snow, the horses giving extra leaps with every stride. "Liv… where exactly does he think you know to meet him?"
"It's that fork in the trail. His house is back in those woods." Olivia answered, kicking her horse so that they caught up to him.
"You ride really well." Elliot commented, looking at the natural way she held herself on the horse and the softness of her hands on its reins.
"Thanks." Olivia said with a smile.
It took them a half hour to reach the other trail and they knew instantly when they had. A man stood right at the fork. As they got closer they saw he had Reagan held tightly in his arms, a gun pressed against her temple.
Olivia and Elliot drew their horses to a halt about ten feet from him. A smile came to Tyler's lips as he looked over at them. He slowly let go of Reagan, though he kept the gun on her head. "Olivia. Finally we meet. Now you come over here and I will let her go. I only want you."
Olivia slowly dismounted her horse and took a hesitant step forward. Elliot immediately leapt off his own horse and grabbed Olivia's arm. "Don't."
"Elliot, I have to do this. On my own. No one else is going to die on my account. Let me do this." Olivia whispered, pulling her arm away from his. She walked over to Tyler, who grabbed her arm and gave Reagan a hard shove to the ground.
"Hope you don't mind sharing your wife. My friend is quite eager to meet her." he said. His smile widened as he ambled over to where he had his horse tethered to a tree, dragging Olivia after him. Suddenly she twisted away, fighting against his hold. Tyler furiously hauled her back to him, striking her across the back of her head with his gun. She went still.
Elliot's hands shook as he glared at Tyler, who merely stroked the side of Olivia's face with one hand, keeping the other tight on his gun. "And Detective Stabler, do not follow us. I would probably have to kill her."
A/N #2: Sorry if this chapter was confusing at all,I promise next will bring itall together!But please review, the story has probably only got a couple chapters plus the epilogue left.