All the Pieces Fell into Place
Summary: A case hits a little too close to home as the Stabler's struggle to save one of their own.
Disclaimer: Still not mine, but I'd be glad to take them off Sick Wolf's hands if he wanted!
A/N: Okay, now that the ground work has been laid, and there is clearly somethign iwth Olivia, the comming chapters will reveal more!
Chapter 4
That night, Elliot and Olivia's assignment was to stake out The Blue Room. It was already after midnight, and there was no sign of there perp.
"I wonder if Emma even remembers what home looks like." Olivia noted as soon as Elliot came back to the car from getting coffee for the two. "She spends so many nights at Alex's that she probably thinks that's her home."Olivia was referring to the fact that Alex was watching Emily for the night.
Elliot chuckled at this, even though he knew that Olivia was only half kidding. Every morning Elliot or Olivia would drive Emily to preschool. Ifone or both of them had a lunch break,they would bring her to the park, and then it would be back to the preschool. If they were lucky enough to get out on time, then they would bring her home, but usually it was Sylvia who picked the youngest Stabler up. On nights like these, when neither could be home for her, Emily would either spend the night with Alex and her family or with Kathy, Ed, and the other Stabler children. Elliot and Olivia hated to leave her, but that was just the way it had to be.
"At least Derrick's there fo…" Elliot began to comment, but was cut off by Olivia.
"I got him." She said, leaning forward in her seat to get a better view in her rear view mirror.
Elliot spotted him too. The suspect was breathing down the neck of another young woman. "Let's pick him up." Elliot said as he and Olivia got out of the car at the same time.
"Excuse me, sir." Olivia called, getting the man's attention. To her surprise, he stopped, and waited for them to approach him.
"Yes?" He asked coldly.
"I'm afraid that you match the description of a suspect in a murder case." Elliot explained, getting ready for a chase. "I'm gonna have to ask you to come down to the station with us to answer a few questions." He finished.
To both their surprises, the man complied, and followed them to their car. The ride to the 1-6 was silent, except for the few moments when Olivia called Cragen to tell him that they were bringing the suspect in.
Back at the 1-6
"So, detectives, what can I do for you, I mean, you can imagine that I'd like to clear up this mix up as soon as possible." The suspect said in a cocky tone.
"Well, let's start with a name." Olivia said as she closed the door of the interrogation room and walked around the table to take a seat opposite the man.
"Martin Stanford, now how about you?" He answered.
"Detective Stabler, Detective Benson" Elliot said, indicating himself and Olivia as he said the names. "But enough about us Mr. Stanford. Why don't you tell us where you were last night?"
"I was at home." Stanford answered.
"Alone?" Olivia asked.
"Yes detective, I live alone." He answered coldly.
"What about the ring?" Olivia asked, beginning to get annoyed. She motioned to his left ring finger with her head. There was a gold wedding band on it.
"My wife and I have been… having issues. We're working through it though." He explained. "I have an apartment that I've been staying at." He finished.
Olivia made some notes on the pad of paper in front of her, before Stanford started talking again. "Detective, Benson, right?" He asked. Olivia just looked up without answering him. He continued, "Do I know you from some where? Maybe I've seen you at a club or something." He finished.
"I highly doubt that Mr. Stanford." Olivia said coldly. "Do you like hanging out outside of clubs though?" She asked, half trying to get information, and half trying to change the subject.
"I'm no spring chicken as you can tell detective. Being around those youngladies makes me feel young again." He answered, smiling at her. "Are you sure we've never met? I never forget a face." He tried perusing the topic again.
"Have you ever tried to re-live your youth by going home with any of these younggirls Mr. Stanford?" Olivia asked ignoring his question.
"Sometimes, you know, despite my age, the women still love me." He said cockily. "And, what's with the formality detective, we're just talking, I'm not under arrest, right? Please, call me Martin."
Elliot could see Olivia was getting agitated, so he decided it was his turn to get involved with the interrogation.
"Okay Mr. Stanford, look, you're not under arrest, so you're free to go whenever you want." Elliot said. "However, you're still going to be a suspect until we can clear you, so don't leave town."
"So how do I go about getting cleared?" Stanford asked.
"Give us a DNA sample." Olivia interjected. "Then you can go."
Elliot shot her a confused look. She knew that there was no DNA found at the scene, or any of the scenes for that matter. Why was she asking him for it?
"Done." Stanford answered.
Warner came in shortly after, and took a swab from the man's mouth. He was than allowed to leave.
"I'll get this right to the lab." Warner said.
"Benson, Stabler, you guys have been at this for 16 straight hours, It's now officially 4 a.m. Why don't you guys catch a few in the crib? If you need me, I'll be on my cot." Cragen said when he found Olivia and Elliot still at their desks as Warner left.
Both were too exhausted to protest, and there was nothing more they could do at that time, so they obliged.
"Why are you letting him get to you?" Elliot asked Olivia as they were getting into two bunks in the crib.
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked as she climbed into the bunk.
"Well, you've been acting weird all day. Then you looked like you were ready to kill Stanford during the interrogation, and then you asked for his DNA before letting him go, even though you had no basis." Elliot explained. "He's getting under your skin, and causing you to jump to conclusions."
"And just how am I jumping to conclusions?" Olivia asked.
"You got his DNA so that you can nail him as soon as he messes up." Elliot revealed. "And you can't even prove that he's committed a crime."
"He's our perp El." Olivia said looking over at him from her bed.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
"I just do." She answered, before turning over to her side so that her back faced Elliot, officially ending the conversation.
Elliot decided that he was too tired to argue, and turned to his side to try to catch some sleep.
Olivia knew that Elliot was right, this guy was getting to her, the whole case was, and she couldn't understand why. She wished that she could wrap herself up in Elliot's arms; everything seemed to make more sense there. Too bad they were stuck in the small bunks of the crib. She knew that she would just have to find some way to fall asleep on her own tonight.
TBC... next chapter reveals what Oliva's problem is! THere is also some cuteness with EO!