Pure and Simple

Chapter Six

Sherona Anderson's Apartment

South Side

2:51 AM

Olivia sprinted up the steps to the third floor to get to India. She prayed to God that India nor her grandmother was hurt too severely.

She made it to apartment 238 and her heart began to beat faster when she saw that the door had been left ajar. She heard the sirens in the distance, making their way down to assist her, but there was no time to wait. She drew her gun and entered the ravaged apartment slowly and quietly. It looked like a storm had breezed through the small space, and Olivia was careful not to trip over anything as she made her way to the bedrooms.

"India!" She called, sure that the perps weren't in the apartment. "India, where are you?"

There was no answer.

She heard her own heavy breathing as she approached the first bedroom. Once there, Olivia gasped.

"Oh my God," she said as she saw Helen lying face down on the floor. "Helen!"

Olivia felt for a pulse, but only found faint, irregular flutters, and she turned the elder woman over slowly onto her back. Olivia leaned in to hear whether or not Helen was breathing and she wasn't. The pulse was a good sign, so Olivia began CPR.

"Helen, you can not go, not like this," Olivia said firmly. "India!"

Again, there was no answer. Olivia knew just from over the phone previously that someone had taken the little girl.

"Helen, please don't do this," Olivia pleaded again, tears brimming her eyes. "You have to get through this, for India."

Despite all her best efforts, Olivia could not save Helen, but she continued nonetheless, clinging to a false hope of a miracle until she heard voices and several footsteps coming upstairs. She felt the tears slipping down her cheeks as she felt herself all of a sudden being pulled away by paramedics when they arrived.

She had lost Helen, and she knew that she would never forgive herself if she lost India too.

3: 25 AM

Elliot drove up to the hectic scene, his mind only on Olivia, even though he was pretty confident that she could take care of herself. But on this particular morning, he knew that she wouldn't be able to handle this by herself.

He got out of his car quickly, going in search of Olivia. He flashed his badge at a couple of unis trying to protect the scene and keep outsiders behind the tape. He saw two ambulances, and he immediately began to worry more because he wasn't sure if Olivia had tried something and gotten hurt, or that the remaining relatives of the Anderson family had gotten hurt or worse.

Elliot had been jarred awake from a nap on his couch by the phone. He couldn't quite remember what exactly Cragen had told him; all he could remember hearing were the names India and Olivia in the same sentence, and he only focused on them. He barely remembered the drive from his house in Queens to the south side.

He inquired about Olivia again.

"She's in the ambulance getting checked out," an officer finally divulged to him, and he raced over to her.

He saw her sitting on the stretcher, looking tired and drained. Her cheeks were glistening with the wetness of shed tears, and her shirt was stained with blood, as were her pants. She sniffled and looked up, and she held her arms out to him as he approached her.

Elliot embraced her tightly as she sniffled.

"We have to find her El," Olivia whispered. "I won't be able to live with myself if India dies too."

"Shh," Elliot whispered, cupping her face in his hands, wiping away her tears. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Olivia shook her head, taking in her state of dress for the first time since the whole ordeal began. She had Helen's blood all over herself, and she realized it must have been from when she wrapped her arms about herself as she was being escorted to an ambulance so that the paramedics could make sure she didn't go into shock or anything.

"I'm okay," Olivia said in a shaky voice. "Helen's dead. She's gone. I tried so hard."

"I know you did," Elliot said to her softly.

"I should've gotten here sooner and-" Elliot interrupted her.

"Liv, you did the best you could," he said, smoothing over her hair. "Liv, look at me."

Olivia met his eyes.

"You're alright," he said to her firmly. "You're okay."

She nodded and sighed, and Elliot could feel her entire body deflating from released tension. She didn't even notice that it had stopped raining.

"I'll take you home," Elliot said, helping her out of the ambulance.

"What about-"

"Liv, there's nothing more we can do here," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Okay?"

Olivia nodded.

Elliot offered his jacket to her since she had shed her own unknowingly before.

Olivia Benson's Apartment

4:00 AM

Olivia discovered that she didn't even lock her door in her haste to get to the Anderson apartment. He key slipped easily, and she furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head.

"Jesus, I wasn't thinking at all," she sighed, opening up her door and walking inside. "I was just…doing."

Elliot closed and locked the door behind her and went into her kitchen. He began to make some coffee as she shrugged off his coat and hung it up in her hall closet.

"I'm going to uh, take a shower," she said quietly. "Then we can head over to the station."

"Liv," Elliot said, coming over to her. "Do you need to talk about anything?"

"I'm fine El," she sighed. "At least let me get changed before we do anything else."

"Okay," he said, holding her gaze.

She nodded before going into her bathroom.

Elliot went back to her kitchen and looked in the fridge. She had some leftovers.

"Wow, she does cook," he mumbled to himself as he took out some of the food.

She had macaroni and cheese, some baked chicken, and of course a hearty salad. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Olivia looked at herself in the mirror. She knew that she had to throw the clothes she was wearing now away. She couldn't believe that the bastard had gotten to Helen and India. At this point, all she could do was hope that they could find India alive. But then, who would care for the little girl when she was found? Her mother was dead, her grandmother was dead, and so far, there was no father in the picture.

India would be a ward of the state once she was found, and as much as Olivia would like to possibly adopt the little girl, she knew that not only her job, but her own personal convictions wouldn't allow her to, and that angered her because she couldn't understand her convictions. She felt this constant guilt that she'd been holding for too long now.

She sighed. Elliot was being so open and he seemed so ready to work out the dynamic between them which she couldn't deny or ignore any longer. But she couldn't help but think that perhaps she was the rebound woman. It has only been a year that Elliot had been separated from Kathy, and from the way they continued to talk and remain friends, it looked like they could head toward reconciliation.

Olivia preferred that Elliot reconciled with his wife. It was easier than admitting that she wanted to be with him. Admitting that would mean going against her own personal code of getting together with your partner. She'd amended her code because she broke the original one: falling in love with your partner. She loved Elliot because of the life he led: he had a wonderful wife, four beautiful kids, he was a great detective, and he was an even greater man.

She shed her clothes and stepped into the spray. Before she could stop them, tears began to fall, and she couldn't control the ebb and flow of guilt that she felt.

She washed over her face and pulled herself together, soaped over her body quickly, and then turned off the shower. She grabbed her towel and dried off her body then began to brush out her hair to air it out.

She put on her robe and walked out of her bathroom. She was greeted with the smell of coffee and her macaroni and cheese. She furrowed her eyebrows and went into her kitchen. Elliot turned to her and shrugged.

"I raided your fridge," he said nonchalantly. "And I know you eat just about anything at anytime of day or night."

She smiled.

"I'm almost ready," she said. "Help yourself."

"I think I already did," he commented as he took a bite of macaroni.

Elliot fixed them both a plate while Olivia got dressed. He poured them a cup of coffee and fixed her cup the way she like it.

After accomplishing that task, he pulled out his cell phone and called Kathleen.

"Hi dad," she said drowsily.

"Hey, how did you know it was me?" He asked.

"Caller ID," she yawned. "Where are you?"

"The job called," he sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry I left you again…I-"

"It's okay dad," Kathleen sighed. "I think I'm starting to understand now. I'm old enough to take care of Dickie and Lizzie in the morning. Just be careful okay? We still need you even though we're getting older."

"I will," he sighed. "I love you. I love all of you."

"We love you too dad," Kathleen said. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he chuckled as he hung up.

A little while later, Olivia emerged from her bedroom smelling fresh and looking as such. She sat down at the table with Elliot and grinned a bit.

"This is good mac and cheese Liv," Elliot chuckled. "Olivia Benson, closet Martha."

"Shut up," she giggled. "It's my mother's recipe."

They both ate in comfortable silence.

When they both finished, Olivia gathered up the dishes and put them to soak in the dishwater before grabbing her coat and preparing to head out with Elliot. She could see him giving her that concerned look out of the corner of her eye.

Before he could say anything, she turned to him.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "Let's go."

1-6 Precinct

SVU Squad Room

5:45 AM

When Elliot and Olivia arrived, Cragen stepped out of his office.

"Liv, I heard about what happened," he said immediately. "Are you-"

"Captain, I'm okay," she said. "I can handle it."

Cragen looked to Elliot who nodded.

"Alright then," Cragen sighed. "Fin and Munch are at the apartments talking to the neighbors to try and find any links. Now, I've already put out a missing persons for India. Her picture is in circulation, and so is the baby boy's."

"Baby boy?" Olivia inquired.

"I followed the lead from the picture you found on Niklos Varlos's boat," Cragen explained. "The baby's name is Peter Varlos, he's Mindy Varlos's son."

"Well that's great," Elliot huffed. "They're both missing, so…"

Olivia rubbed her forehead and sat down at her desk. Cragen could tell that this case was taking a toll on her emotionally and physically. He knew that there was no way of convincing her to back off from the case because she was determined to find India. When Olivia was determined to do something, she went ahead and did it, regardless of the consequences.

"So we've got a missing baby, who's the child of a woman who seems to have vanished into thin air, and now India is out there with that maniac, and no other family to speak of," she ranted. "We don't even know where to start looking for this guy. Mindy has got to come forward or else we lose both India and baby Peter for good."

"Hey, hey, calm down," Elliot said softly. "We'll get him."

"How?" Olivia asked, feeling the stress and the tension all over her body.

Cragen shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"Come on out Mindy," he called to his office, and both Elliot and Olivia looked up at him in confusion.

The timid young woman emerged from the office and sighed. She had a large bag over her shoulder and she was gripping a picture frame in her arms tightly.

"I can't run anymore," she said in a small voice.