AN: Thanks for the reviews you guys! We're sorry it's taken us this long to post a chapter when that last one was such a cliffhanger…please don't hate us! Please do review!

Elizabeth was trapped in a swirling mass of grays and blacks. It was so warm here, why should she care if she couldn't leave? Back to him.

I think I'll rest a little more… Elizabeth thought to herself. So…warm. Suddenly, much to her dislike, a voice, somewhat familiar, called out to her. The voice made her feel cold, and she didn't like that. She wanted to be warm and safe, not cold and insecure. So Elizabeth turned away from the voice, nestling deeper into the darkness around her.

"Elizabeth…" she groaned, annoyed now. Why couldn't this person leave her be?

"Elizabeth… you need to wake up…"

Wake up? Wasn't she already awake?

She opened her eyes.

Dr. George Huang had received a call from a very panicked Elliot Stabler. He had heard of Elizabeth's rape, and was deeply concerned. Elizabeth was very special to him. She didn't treat him like a shrink. She treated him like a friend.

So when Elliot called from the hospital, saying Elizabeth had collapsed, George had no problem leaving his empty apartment and rushing to Mercy General. He now sat at Elizabeth's side, watching the young girl struggle to stay away from harsh reality of consciousness, and remain within the comforting depths of her mind.

He hated to have to pull her away from that. Gently placing his hand on Elizabeth's pale arm, he called her name softly, trying to awake her. After a few moments of pushing and prodding, Elizabeth began to stir. George held his breath, hoping she would wake calmly.

Elizabeth opened her eyes. And instantly shut them again. A blinding light was above her, making her head roar in protest. She heard a clicking noise in the distance, and then a very familiar voice ask,

"Is that better, Liz?" Elizabeth opened one eye, and saw that the lights were dimmed comfortably. Where was she?

"Liz?"

She turned towards the speaker and almost smiled at the person she saw there.

George Huang saw the twitch of her lips and smiled inwardly. At least she was happy to see him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly. "Are you okay?" Elizabeth tried to sit up, but stopped immediately as her head began to pound. George fluffed the pillow behind her head and pulled her blankets up higher.

"Hey, you should take it easy…you've been through some rough times…" Elizabeth finally found her voice.

"What happened?" she asked in a raspy voice. Face grim, George handed her a cup of water before launching into an explanation.

"You fainted after you found out that… that Father Joseph had… escaped." Elizabeth coughed suddenly as she inhaled the water. George took the cup from her and made small, comforting shushing noises.

"He's going to come after me…" Elizabeth whispered. "He knows I told… I shouldn't have told… this is all my fault." Tears began to stream down her face as she began to breathe heavily. George placed his hand on her head and rubbed it in a soothing manner. He forced her chin up and looked her directly in the eye.

"Listen to me, Liz." He began, "This is NOT your fault. Don't you ever think that!" He leaned down and gave her a comforting hug as Elizabeth sobbed in his shirt. A few moments passed before Elizabeth had calmed down enough to ask,

"Where are dad and Casey?" George sat back in his chair.

"They're with your siblings. So for now, you're stuck with me."

Elliot and Casey were on their way back to the hospital from Kathy's house. They had dropped off Kathleen and Rich at the house, and Maureen at her dorm, not wanting them to be frightened and worrying for Elizabeth in a hospital environment. Elliot was still shaking from the incident. When Elizabeth had collapsed… no, he couldn't think about it. He just needed to focus on helping Elizabeth.

Casey, sensing his worry, placed a comforting hand on his arm. "She'll be all right." She murmured. "You heard the doctors… and besides, Huang is there with her." Elliot had instantly relaxed when she touched his arm. Her mere presence was soothing to him.

Elliot smiled over at her, and Casey felt a wave of heat wash over her. What was wrong with her? She opened her mouth to speak, but a car honked behind them, pushing their attention back to the road. Elliot looked back at the driver behind them, and in doing so, noticed Kathleen's backpack in the back seat. He groaned.

"Kathleen left her bag… she's going to need that!" He turned into Mercy General Hospital and pulled into a parking space. "We'll go back after the hospital releases her." Casey nodded, but her attention was wandering.

Why am I acting so weird around Elliot? It is just Elliot…Casey thought to herself. As they walked into the hospital and towards Elizabeth's room, Casey glanced at Elliot through the corner of her eye. His face was blank, dead of any emotion. It's just the stress of the case… she reassured herself. Nothing more.

Her mind instantly went to Elizabeth as they reached her room. They looked in through the window and saw Elizabeth talking with Huang. Smiling and laughing even! They entered the room and Elizabeth looked up, her face instantly breaking into a smile as she saw her father.

"Daddy!" she jumped off the bed and embraced Elliot. Elliot hugged her back, holding her as if he could shield her from the world's evil and pain. "Are you here to take me home?" Elliot nodded and grabbed Elizabeth's things off the bed.

"Yep. The doctor says you're ready to go home to your mother." Elizabeth's face fell at the mention of her mother.

"Dad, do I have to go stay with her?" Elliot's heart almost broke at the look on his daughter's face. He sighed and put an arm around her shoulder.

"I'll talk to her… but I know she wants to see you again, and apologize." Elizabeth nodded and turned to Huang. She gave him a tight hug and mumbled a thank you into his chest. Huang, smiling, patted her back, and with a quiet, "come talk to me anytime," left the room.

Casey looked down at Elizabeth. "Ready to go?" Elizabeth nodded jovially, her happy façade back once more.

The ride to Kathy's was silent. Elizabeth really didn't want to go, and was dreading seeing her mother again. As they pulled into the driveway, Elliot could here muffled shouting from within. He couldn't tell what was being said, but he had a feeling it wasn't anything good.

Elliot stepped out of the car and quickened his pace as the shouting got louder and louder. Suddenly, the door burst open, and Kathleen came running out, sobbing, followed by Dickie, who also looked upset. Kathy soon followed, not noticing Elliot. She had a look of fury and outrage on her face.

"Kathleen Augustine Stabler, you have exactly five seconds to get back into that house unless you want out of it for good! That goes for you, too, young man!" She screamed at them.

"Elizabeth," Kathy said, the same look of fury in her eyes, "Get in the house, you slut!"

Elliot stood in shock. This isn't my wife…she's a completely different…my God, what happened to the women I married? He snapped out of his shock as his children slowly started to walk towards their grandmother's house. He gently took hold of Elizabeth's shoulder, holding her back, Casey doing the same with the other two, both of them then stepping in between Kathy and his children.

Elliot forced his voice to be gentle but firm as he addressed his children.

"You guys," He said, "Get in the car. I'll be there in a minute."

Casey gently guided the kids to the car, keeping an arm firmly around Kathleen. Once they were safely out of hearing range, Elliot snapped around, his eyes flashing.

"I don't know what the hell your problem is," Elliot said, his voice shaking with rage, "But if you think I'm letting my children walk into that house, you're insane. Elizabeth was raped, Kathy, the last thing she needs is her mother thinking she's a whore!"

"The kids are behaving like crap, Elliot. Unlike you, I'm not going to spoil them!"

"This is Kathleen, Kathy! She doesn't cry easily, so I don't know what the hell you said or did, but you can bet I'm going to find out," He said, getting into the car.

"Kathleen," He asked, "What happened?"

"Why don't we talk at the house?" Casey offered, knowing that Kathleen probably wanted some time to regain her composure. Her assumptions were confirmed by the grateful glance Kathleen shot at her.

Elliot looked over at her as she gently squeezed Kathleen's hand reassuringly. She really does love my kids…He realized. Which was one of the first things I required when it came to dating again…

"So," Elliot said, sitting down in the living room with Casey and his kids, "What happened?"

"Mom's been…a little weird lately." Rich said.

"A little?" Kathleen scoffed, "She only freaking called Elizabeth a whore who seduced a priest, after she heard the results of the rape kit!"

"What?" Elliot said, his eyes then falling onto Elizabeth. Kathleen then realized that her sister didn't know what her mother had said, and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, no…" Kathleen whispered, "Lizzie, I am so sorry."

"She…she…she…she said that?" Elizabeth asked, sobbing, "She said that? Oh, God…oh, God…oh my God…"

"Come here, honey." Casey said, pulling Elizabeth onto her lap and rocking her. Only able to imagine how it felt to have your own mother say that about you, Casey's heart was breaking for Elizabeth, up to the point where empathetic tears of her own started to fall.

"What else has she said?" Elliot asked, his rage barely controlled.

"She called Rich a disgrace to Catholicism the last time he looked at a video game." Kathleen admitted

"And Kathleen a stupid whore when she told her that Elizabeth had been raped, and hadn't seduced anyone, and for trying to stick up for me." Rich said.

"Has she been this way since we divorced?" Elliot asked.

"Right before the divorce," Elizabeth admitted.

"Has she ever physically hurt one of you?" Casey asked, her arm still around Elizabeth, whose sobs were starting to reside.

"She slapped Kathleen tonight, and then Kathleen left, and I went after her…and then you came. It's just gonna get worse." Rich said, "I don't want to go back!"

"You don't have to," Elliot soothed, "I'm fighting for sole custody. We're gonna get through this, you guys. And it's all going to be great."

"You actually want us to stay with you?" Kathleen asked.

Elliot's heart broke all over again at the looks on his children's faces.

"Of course I do."

AN: Well, there you go, people. What do you think? You can tell us via that wonderful blue button that allows you to express your opinion. No flames, please. By the way, neither of us thinks that Kathy's a biotch. A little stupid for leaving Elliot, maybe, but we don't think she's like this…it just worked for the story.