Fall to Pieces

Chapter Twenty One

Disclaimer: Alrighty then, the show and the characters on the show do not belong to me, but, Chris (who is no longer part of my story at the moment, as well as Mary), Rebecca, and Cassandra do belong to me. Moreover, the various criminals and victims are my property, also. So, there it is. What's their's and what's mine. Not much is mine, but, I'm content.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait in-between chapters. But, most of you know how Christmas time is! Hectic is one word which comes to mind. And, this is my first chapter of this story which is being typed on my laptop. :)

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It only took him around fifteen minutes to get home, grab something to sleep in and something to wear the next day, and get back to her apartment. Instead of knocking, which could have waken the girls, he just used his key to enter. Olivia wasn't in the livingroom, nor was she in the kitchen. "Liv?" he called out as quietly as he could, "where are you?"

"My room," she replied just as quietly, "changing."

"Oh," it was said more to himself than to her. He set his bag down on the couch and then sat next to it, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. He flipped through the channels, but there wasn't anything really good on. Unless he wanted to watch a re-run of 'The X-files' on TNT, or 'Forensic Files' on CourtTV. Opting to watch neither he simply turned off the TV and rested his head against the back of the couch with a sigh. "Liv?" he called out again, "you still not dressed?"

"I am," she said, walking out of the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of jogging pants and an old, worn out, NYPD t-shirt, but she still managed to look incredibly gorgeous. Her cheeks flushed when she noticed how attentively he was watching her, and she made her way over to the couch to sit next to him. Or, more like lay her legs over his while she stretched out over the rest of the couch. Not that he minded, it was relaxing in a way.

"So?" she asked, "we're not going to be partners anymore."

He nodded with a sigh, they hadn't really talked about the change that would inevitably take place in only a few days. Neither of them had wanted to admit it, even though the captain had assured them it wouldn't mean the end of them working together. "We just won't have the title anymore, I doubt much will change."

"Yeah," she admitted, "but, we can't introduce each other as 'my partner' anymore." A frown spread across her face, "There's going to be a lot of gossip around the station house for the next couple of weeks, maybe even months. We'll probably be scrutinized."

"We'll deal with it," he told her, taking her hand into his own, squeezing it reassuringly. "Don't worry about them, they're just jealous."

"Maybe," she sighed. "Munch and Fin are never going to stop joking."

"They did even before," he reminded her. "They're just being themselves."

She smiled lightly, "I guess so."

He glanced over at the clock, "We should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah," she agreed, sitting up on the couch. "Probably." she grinned, "if that's what you want." She leaned over and kissed him passionately, slipping her hands under his shirt and up his chest. When they broke apart she was still grinning, "Still tired?"

"Olivia Benson, are you trying to seduce me?" he asked with a grin of his own.

"Only if it's working," she replied, the grin on her face stretching.

"Oh, it is." He kissed her briefly, then stood up from the couch, and since she had been practically sitting on his lap, he carried her with him. She laughed and brought her arms up around his neck, kissing him again. Just as the previous night, they paused only to lock th e bedroom door.

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She woke up early the next morning, still wrapped in his arms. Smiling to herself she turned to face him, even though she could tell by his short, even breaths he was still sleeping. He was covered from the waist down and his bare chest and arms were a welcomed sight, it had been awhile since she had waken in a man's arms. She hadn't realized how much she missed it.

Her movement had waken him, his eyes blinked open sleepily and he smiled. "Morning," his voice was husky and he coughed to get it to return to normal, "what time is it?"

"Four something," she said, placing light kisses along his jaw. "I didn't mean to wake you."

His arms wrapped tighter around her, "I'm not complaining."

A grin stretched across her face, "I didn't think you would." She kissed him again, "We've still got over an hour...."

"I know," he replied, returning the kiss. "I'm not tired anymore."

"Me either," she grinned as he changed positions, hoovering over her.

Another kiss.

"Elliot Stabler," she said with an amused smile, "are you trying to seduce me?"

He grinned, "Only if it's working."

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Olivia had been right in assuming that the gossip would stick around for awhile. A week after Cragen called them into his office the two were split up, Olivia began to be associated as Fin's partner, and Elliot was reassigned to Munch. That only fulled the gossip, if they had to be separated then something had to be going on. Something well worth hours of gossip.

That very day Cragen called Fin and Olivia into his office, they were being sent on a case. He admitted that them going together was only to prove that he the partner swap had be authentic. If he had done all the paperwork and then sent Olivia and Elliot on a case when it finally went through that would just point out to the higher-up's that this was a sham, and that wasn't exactly a good thing. Therefore, they went off on their first official case as partners, and for the next few weeks they would continue to work together. That way nobody was suspicious.

She made eye-contact with Elliot as they left the station, both frowned at the same time and she gave him a look, he understood that it meant for him to call. She would fill him in on what Cragen had told her. He probably wouldn't be any happier with it than she was, but she knew it was necessary, and so would he. A few weeks wasn't that long to wait, and both of them had worked long cases with other detectives. None had ever been three weeks long, but some had come close.

Elliot had stayed over at her apartment nearly every night that last week where they were still partners. Olivia was surprised that Cassie hadn't asked why Elliot had been over in the mornings, her young, inquiring mind always seemed to notice things like that. Then again, Cassie really liked Elliot, so maybe she was just content in spending more time with him, and Elliot had made breakfast every time he stayed over, so that was a plus for the girls- not to mention Olivia.

Chris continued to call every other day to talk with the girls. Olivia didn't mind at all, she was glad that he was making an effort to still be in their lives, even if he had moved away. He never stayed on long, though. He worked in the ER at his new hospital, so he was forever being beeped with an emergency, something Olivia knew about all to well- she didn't blame him for that.

Two and a half weeks after Olivia's first case with Fin the Captain assigned her to a case with Elliot, no explanations as to why, it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision- at least that would be what he said if anybody asked him why they weren't working with their partners. It was something he occasionally did, he'd done it before, so nobody would really have any reason to wonder.

It was a very disturbing case. A nine year old girl, blonde hair and bright blue eyes was the vic. Her mother, who could only be described as a crack-whore (and that was putting it nicely), had a nasty problem of inviting men over and then getting so drunk that she passed out. Now, where many men would either give up on her, or have their fun while she was still asleep, one particularly sick guy found his way into Amber's room and figured if he couldn't have the mother the daughter (who was only 8 at the time) was the next best thing.

Amber was small for her age, the mother didn't exactly worry about feeding her, so she couldn't even attempt to fight the man off. And when she screamed for help nobody heard, or either they did and didn't care. Her mother didn't exactly live in the nicest part of town.

This man, this sick excuse for a human being, bragged to his "friends" about his easy lay. It got a few of their heads spinning, and some made it a point to go out with the woman only to get her drunk to the point of passing out, then ventured into the little girls room. It went on for months before Amber's mother found out, but Trisha didn't exactly do what any half-caring mother would have. Instead of fighting the man off of her daughter she demanded that he pay her 200$ for stealing her daughters' innocence.

The last man had bragged to the wrong person. A younger man, early twenties, who hadn't made the best choices in his life. He brushed it off for awhile, but as soon as he got clean he knew he had to do something. Trisha was still living in the same hell-hole of an apartment that she had when the man bragged to him, so they didn't have trouble finding them.

It didn't take an expert to see that the mother was high when the two detectives came to talk to her. Her face was sunken in and it looked like she hadn't slept in days. "Ms. Thomson?" Olivia asked, showing the woman her badge. "My name is Olivia Benson, I'm a detective. This is Elliot Stabler, my par- he's also a detective. Can we talk to you?"

She studied them suspiciously, "About what?"

About how you're using your child as a prostitute. Olivia thought, angrily. "We just need to ask you a few questions, Ms. Thomson."

Trisha Thomson frowned at Olivia, then shifted her gaze and studied Elliot appreciatively, then looked back to Olivia and smiled. Olivia scowled in response and as stealthily as she could she scooted closer to him, it was instinctive. This woman was trash, and Olivia didn't really like the look that she gave him. After glancing between the two once more she finally nodded in frustration.

"Alright, come in." she stood out of the doorway and let them pass. The smell of marijuana and dirtiness greeted them and Elliot noticed Olivia's face twist with disgust.

"Ms. Thomson, where is your daughter?" Olivia asked, glancing around the living room.

"Her bedroom," Trisha replied cooly. "Where she normally is."

"Could I talk to her?" she asked, although leaving Elliot alone with Trisha wasn't something she wanted to do. Not because she was worried about what he would do, but because she was worried about what Trisha would. "If you don't mind."

"I don't see why you would want to," Trisha grumbled. "But, go ahead." She pointed down the hallway, "First door on your left."

Olivia nodded, "Thank you."

Trisha grunted in response. "Whatever."

She headed down the hallway, and knocked gently on the door that had Amber's name written on it. Makes it easier for the drunks to find their way around, Olivia thought with disgust.

"Come in," the voice was meek and tired. Olivia reached for the knob, but it was missing, only the empty hole where it had once been remained. Olivia cringed, Amber must have locked the door one night so either the man broke the door handle, or Trisha took it away. Gently pushing the door open Olivia glanced around the room, it was immaculate. Nothing like the rest of the apartment, which probably hadn't been vacuumed in months, and clothes cluttered the floors. Amber's room, however, was painted bright white and there were blue and pink flowers plastered against the walls. It looked like a normal 9 year olds bedroom, too bad the little girl who lived in it was far from normal.

"Amber?" she asked, the little girl nodded. "Hi, my name is Olivia."

"Hi," she replied shyly.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

She nodded.

Olivia took a deep breath, "Ok, then." Stepping into the room she looked around and found a chair, "Can I sit here?"

Another nod.

"I'm a police officer," she told her, taking out her badge and handing it to her. "So, it's ok to tell me things, right?"

"I guess," Amber replied, tracing the edges of her badge. "What kind of police officer are you?"

"I'm a detective," Olivia answered. "I investigate crimes."

"Oh."

"So, Amber.... You're 9 so that means you're in what- 4th grade?"

Yet another nod.

"So, what's your favorite subject in school?"

"English," the little girl replied almost immediately. "What was yours?"

Olivia smiled, "I was always more interested in science."

Amber wrinkled her nose, "Science?"

"Yeah," she said with a laugh, "I was a science geek."

"You don't look like a geek to me," Amber assured her with a smile that surprised Olivia.

"Well, thank you." Olivia sighed to herself, the conversation would soon turn serious. "Amber, if I ask you something do you promise to tell me the truth?"

Amber nodded, not sure why Olivia needed to ask for her to tell the truth.

"Good.... When your mommy brings men home, does she fall asleep some times?"

A look of horror passed through her eyes, and the smile that had so surprised Olivia disappeared automatically. Amber didn't answer.

"All you have to say is 'yes' or 'no'. You could even nod or shake your head."

A nod.

"Good, that's good. Now, can I ask another question?" Another nod. "Alright, when mommy passes out, do some of the men come into your room?"

Olivia could see the lump in her throat. The little girl nodded, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Do any of them ... touch you?"

"Yes," a simple, yet so complex word. Her voice was thick and strained, and the tears could be heard.

"Do they hurt you?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"You're doing great, honey." There was a knock at the door, Olivia turned to see Elliot poke his head into the room. She turned back to Amber, "Honey, this is Elliot, we work together."

"Is he a police officer, too?" she wanted to know.

"Yeah, hon. He is." Olivia assured her. "I need to talk to him real quick, is that alright?"

She nodded and wiped a tear off of her cheek. Olivia got up from her chair and walked over to the door, "She confirms the tip, Elliot. We need to get her out of here, now."

He nodded, "I"ll call Cragen. Do we have enough to bring the mother in?"

"All she's said is some of the men come into her room and hurt her when her mother passes out, so not yet." She sighed in frustration, "It would probably be best to keep somebody watching her though, tell Cragen that."

"Alright," he left the room and Olivia walked over to the bed were Amber was sitting.

"Is it ok if you come with me to where I work?"

"What does mommy say?" she asked, looking truly concerned that her mother might not like that idea.

"It doesn't matter, honey." Olivia said, picking the girl up from the bed. It was scary how light she was, Olivia could barely tell the difference between Amber's weight and Becca's, and there was a 6 year difference between the two. "You know," Olivia said, "I have a daughter around your age."

"Really?" Amber asked as Olivia walked out of her bedroom. Elliot was talking to Trisha, who didn't seem upset that her daughter was being taken away.

"Yep," she replied, "her name is Cassandra. She's eight. I have another daughter, too. Her name is Becca, she's only three, though."

"Can I meet them?" she asked, that beautiful smile somehow returning to her face.

Olivia was silent for a moment. She had never even thought of having Becca and Cassie meet some of the victims she worked with, she had never admitted to any of them that she had children. "Sure," she told Amber, afraid of how it would make the little girl feel if she said no. "Maybe sometime during the weekend, when they're not in school."

"It's after four, where are they now?"

"At a friends house," she answered, the sedan coming into view. After she got her buckled in the back seat Elliot came out, cell phone to his ear.

"Yeah, we're bringing her to the station now. ... We didn't have enough evidence on the mother to arrest her, but you should send somebody to tail her, just in case she tries to tip anybody off. ... Alright, Cap, we'll be back in a few." He hung up the phone and sighed in frustration. "I don't like this case one bit."

"We never do," she replied with a sigh of her own.

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A/N: Again, sorry for the long delay. Hopefully the next one won't take so long to come out!

Let me know what'cha think about it.