A/N: Oh my gosh it took me so much longer to update than I thought it would, I was pretty speechless after I saw 'Fault', and I had writers block, can you believe that? Anyways I loved that episode, but was anybody else expecting an actual stakeout? Because I had heard that they were supposed to be on a stakeout like sitting in a car or something and talking? Not that I'm complaining because it was a kickass episode.

Has anyone else seen the previews for United 93? Because Mariska's husband Peter portrays one of the passengers on the plane in that movie. I just thought that was interesting. That and the fact he guess starred in like four or five episodes of Beautiful People. I don't know if anybody has ever seen that show on abc family. Anyways enough blabbing and onto the story.

Chapter Seven: Reactions Part 1

It had been a couple of hours since Elliot and Olivia had arrived back at the precinct after getting the new crime scene secured and searched. Unfortunately they didn't find any evidence incriminating any of the four men that they knew were involved. The only real evidence they had was that she had obviously been killed and hung in John Master's house. Well that and the fact that Olivia's ten year old son had seen the four men at Anna Blake's house and had seen her dragged out of her apartment and pushed into a black suburban.

Olivia was sitting at her desk, her elbows on her desk and her hands laced together, her forehead resting on them. Elliot was sitting across from her, knowing she was mentally kicking herself for not working harder to find Callie's mother. Even though Elliot and everyone else knew they had done everything they could, with the information that they had.

"Olivia" Elliot said leaning over his desk to talk to his partner, but she didn't answer

"Liv it's not your fault" he told her

Without looking up at Elliot she answered,

"I know. I mean I still feel responsible in some way, but I'm really concerned about Callie"

Elliot smiled, figuring the little girl had something to do with the way his partner was acting.

"You're trying to figure out to tell her about her mom" he stated, more so than asked

Olivia finally looked up, dropping her arms down to her desk before crossing them and tilting her head to the side, revealing a half smile.

"How did you get to know me so well?" she questioned

"It's a gift really" he replied with a smile as he leaned back in his chair, his hands laced behind his head.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh, for the first time since this case had started, she really laughed. The laugh that he fell in love with over the last eight years, and he couldn't help but smile at her.

"You are so full of yourself" she managed to squeak out through her laughter

"Oh comeon Liv, you know that's what you love about me" he teased her

"You wish Stabler" she said rolling her eyes

The laughter and jokes didn't last very long, when Cragen called both of them into his office. They got up and walked into his office, shutting the door behind them.

"We need to find out as much information about these four men as we possibly can. There have got to be people out there that know them personally. Whether it be drug dealers or other child molesters, I don't care we just need to get these perps off the streets, before they get to the little girl" Cragen told his two detectives

"Yeah Cap, we know" Elliot told him

"Who is this witness that saw these men at Anna Blake's apartment?" asked Cragen

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before Elliot answered,

"He's just a kid Captain"

"So are you saying he's unreliable?"

"No I'm just saying, until we actually find the bastards I don't think we should drag him into it" Elliot told him

"Well Elliot he's already been dragged into it. That happened when he saw those men stuff Anna Blake into a car. Remember that?"

"Yeah but Captain-" Olivia began

"I don't know why you two are making excuses for this kid. We've worked with a lot of kids, on a lot of different cases, what's so different about this one?" Cragen questioned them, wanting an honest answer. He knew his detectives and he knew there was something else involving this kid, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"His mother doesn't want him to be involved unless we find the perps first. She's afraid he might get hurt or killed" Elliot told him

"Well we can protect him and his mother. Did you tell her that?"

Elliot tried to suppress a smile from forming on his face as he replied,

"Yeah Captain, believe me, this lady does not want any protecting from anybody"

"Well you tell her that I will get a subpoena that orders him to come in and tell us everything he knows"

"Captain can we talk to him again first. I mean I know the kid and he's a good kid, his mom can just be a little overprotective"

"Okay, look I don't want to cause problems, but we could really use his help. Especially if he has met the guys or might have overhead something about them that could help us"

"I know Captain, I'll see what I can do" Olivia told him as she and Elliot turned to leave the office.

"Oh, and Olivia?" Cragen said

"Yeah"

"Have you made it to the hospital yet to tell the little girl?"

"No, I was just about to head down there"

"Okay, just don't get to attached" he told her

Olivia smiled and nodded before she and Elliot left Cragen's office and headed back to their desks. Instead of sitting down at her desk she went over to the coat rack and grabbed her coat along with Elliot's. She turned around and threw his coat to him. He smiled as he caught his coat and they walked to the elevator together.

"So I get to come with you?" he asked her

"Well I can't just leave you here to fend for yourself once Munch and Fin get back" she told him, "Besides before I go to the hospital I thought we could stop by my place and talk to our witness again"

Once they got into the Sedan and were driving to Olivia's place Elliot started a conversation.

"You know we'll get everything worked out with Oliver"

"Elliot don't" she told him

"Don't what?"

"Don't pretend that everything's going to be alright, because it's not"

"Liv-"

"Elliot once we find these guys Oliver is going to have to testify. He's going to have to get up in front of a judge, state his name, and tell a court everything he saw, and probably everything he knows about these guys" she said as she turned and looked out her passenger window.

Elliot didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride to Olivia's place. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was, so he remained quiet.

They got to Olivia's apartment and when they went inside, they found Oliver sound asleep on the couch with the tv on, still wearing his soccer clothes from soccer practice. Olivia smiled at her son before sitting on the edge of the couch, next to him. She took her hand and brushed his bangs out of his eyes before kissing his forehead. He stirred a little bit, but it wasn't enough to wake him up, and Elliot couldn't help but smile.

"Well, at least I know where he gets his sleeping habits from" he joked to Olivia

"Yeah well he didn't always sleep this good" she told him, slightly under her breath, but he still heard her.

"What do you mean?" he asked her

"Nothing, never mind" she said as she carefully shook her ten year old son

"Hmmm...What?...Not hungry" he mumbled as he turned his head away from Olivia

Olivia let out a small laugh before shaking Oliver again, "C'mon sweetie, it's mom. I need to ask you something"

"Mmm...What?" he asked turning his head back towards her voice, but keeping his eyes closed.

"Baby I need to talk to you about the men who took Callie's mom"

Instead of responding he opened his eyes and looked at up at his mother, before spotting Elliot standing behind the couch.

"Why? Did something bad happen?" he asked, still laying down on the couch

"Sweetie, something did happen but-"

"Is Callie okay?" he asked immediately sitting up

"Yes Callie's okay. We were on our way to see her, but I needed to stop by here and ask you some more questions" she told her son

"Can I go with you to see her?" he asked using that puppy face that immediately turned his deep brown eyes into pleading puppy eyes, "Please?"

Olivia couldn't help but smile, because when he did that she found it very hard to say no to him.

"Actually I think that might be a good idea since we are going to talk to her about her mom"

"What about her mom?" he asked

When Olivia didn't answer Oliver glanced from his mother to Elliot who had a sad expression on his face, as did his mother.

"Mom...What happened? Is Ms. Blake okay?" he asked just above a whisper

"No baby, Ms. Blake isn't okay. She...she died" she told her son

"Oh"

"Baby when did you get home from soccer practice?" she asked changing the subject

"About an hour ago. I was going to watch some tv while I ate, but I guess I fell asleep"

"And obviously before taking a shower" Olivia told her son with a smile

"Mom" Oliver said, rolling his eyes at her

"What? You are stinky" she told him with a laugh

"Hey I don't complain to you when you come home smelling" he told her

"That's because I don't"

"Keep telling yourself that mom" he told her with a smile

Olivia's mouth went wide, as did her eyes, at her son's remark.

"Oliver Matthew Benson! When have I come home smelling bad?" she asked

"Well there was that time you came home smelling like garbage a couple of weeks ago" he stated

Olivia crinkled her forehead deep in thought of what could have made her smell a couple of weeks ago, and then she remembered, but before she could respond, Elliot answered for her.

"That's probably when she went dumpster diving" he laughed thinking back to two weeks ago when they were fishing for clues to one of their cases in dumpsters.

"You were crawling around in a dumpster?" Oliver asked, looking at his mother

"Hey I wasn't the only one, he was too" she said pointing at Elliot

"That's gross, no wonder you smelled" he told his mom

"Well he told me I didn't smell" she said pointing at Elliot again

"Hey you didn't smell to me, but maybe my senses were blocked by my own self smelling" he told her

They both let out a laugh, while Oliver just stared at them,

"You guys are weird"

"We don't think so" Olivia told her son as she ruffled his hair and then crinkled her nose.

"Tell you what, why don't you go take a shower, I'll call in some Chinese food, we'll eat, then talk, then we'll go see Callie" Olivia told him

"That's the longest list ever" Oliver said

"Just go take a shower buddy" she told him as she stood up, turning her back to him

Elliot watched Oliver as he sat up on his knees on the couch before getting in a squatting position, with a huge smile on his face. Elliot looked at him a bit puzzled as Oliver called his mother.

"Okay, hey mom, one more thing" he said his smile growing even wider as she began to turn around.

As soon as she turned around he pounced on her, springing off the couch like a trampoline, and wrapping his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist, as she stood there completely stunned.

"Now who's gonna smell" he laughed hysterically as he held onto her tighter

"Oliver you stink, get down right now" Olivia told him sternly, but with a smile on her face

"I will, as soon as I get my smell to rub off on you" he laughed

"Ollie you are going to pay for this" she told him as she tried to wriggle him off of her, but to no avail.

Elliot stood there laughing at the interaction between the two of them. He always figured that Olivia would make a good mom, he just didn't realize that she was a great mom.

"Oliver I am serious don't make me do it" Olivia told her son

"You wouldn't, Elliot will protect me" Oliver told his mom

This caught Elliot's attention and he looked at the two with a confused look on his face.

"Oh I'll do it and there is nothing he is going to be able to do about it" she told her son

"Mom-"

Before he could finish the sentence Olivia had jumped onto the couch Oliver going down first and then Olivia on top of him but she braced herself against the cushions so that she didn't squish him. Then she started tickling him, immediately causing him to let go of her and laugh, once again hysterically, as he tried to defend himself against her.

"Mom...Stop...Okay...Truce" he managed to get out through his fits of laughter

Elliot stood there laughing at the two of them the whole time, wishing he would have known about Oliver a long time ago.

Olivia stopped tickling her son and slowly leaned back against the arm rest of the couch, as her son continued to lay on his back and catch his breath.

"That'll teach you to pull a trick like that again" she told him with a smile

"Maybe, but you are still going to smell now" he told her with a smile before jumping up off of the couch and running to the bathroom.

Olivia just shook her head as he ran off, then she turned to Elliot who had a huge smile on his face.

"What?" she asked

"Nothing, just laughing at you two" he told her as he walked towards her kitchen to pull out a menu from a Chinese place, "So what do you want to order?"

"Well Oliver and I usually get Hunan Chicken and Shrimp Lo Mein and split it between us, although we usually have a lot left. What do you usually eat?" she asked him

"I don't know, both of those sound good, but I'm kind of in the mood for Szechuan Chicken"

"That sounds good too, Oliver doesn't like real spicy stuff so I never get it" she told him

"Well then we are going to get it tonight" he told her as he picked up the phone and dialed the number to the Chinese Restaurant and ordered all three dinners.

Once he had hung up he walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Olivia.

"Wow, you do kind of smell now Liv" he told her

She turned and slapped him on the arm, "Elliot!"

"What? The kid is good" he told her with a smile

Olivia shook her head before asking him,

"How long till the food gets here?"

"They said about twenty minutes"

"Okay well I'll just jump in the shower once Ollie gets out"

"Olivia I was just joking, you don't smell" he told her

"Yeah well I don't trust you. Besides I'll just take a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans and a t shirt and then I'll be ready. Fifteen minutes tops"

Elliot rolled his eyes, "Yeah right"

"Excuse me?" she asked him

"Olivia are you forgetting that I have lived in a house with four women. Dickie and I never stood a chance when we needed to get in the bathroom" he told her

"Well you can time me then, cause I'm not going out to dinner or anything. I'm just going to the hospital, I don't need an hour to get ready for that" she told him matter of factly

Just then Oliver came out of the bathroom in jeans and a blue t-shirt that said 'You know you want me.'

When Olivia saw him with that t-shirt her mouth got wide.

"Oliver Matthew Benson, where did you get that t-shirt?" she asked him

Elliot immediately turned to see what he was wearing and couldn't help but chuckle, causing Olivia to turn and glare at him, which immediately shut him up.

"It's Chad's, I thought it was funny so he let me borrow it for the week" he told his mother

"Well you aren't wearing that out in public. You're only ten years old, not sixteen" she told her son

"Mom it's the only clean t-shirt I have and I'm going to have on a sweatshirt"

"Oh yeah, well then, you have to keep the sweatshirt on everywhere we go"

Oliver rolled his eyes as he said, "Okay"

He then headed to his bedroom while Olivia went to her bedroom to grab her clothes before heading into the bathroom. Once Olivia was in the shower Elliot settled more comfortably on the couch and started flipping through the channels on tv. A few minutes later Oliver came out of his room and walked over to the couch, plopping down beside Elliot.

"So...What position do you play in soccer?" Elliot asked the boy

"Forward" he answered watching the television

"Cool. How long have you been playing?"

"A couple years"

"Since you moved back in with your mom?" he asked looking down at the boy

Oliver looked cautiously at Elliot out of the corner of his eye before turning to look up at him.

"How did you know?"

"She told me"

"Oh" Oliver replied looking down at the floor

"So what made you decide to move back in with your mom?" he asked, still looking at the boy

Oliver shrugged his shoulders but didn't answer the question.

"Well I guess I could just ask your mom about it huh?" said Elliot

Oliver looked back up at Elliot, "I know she hasn't told you why I was living with my dad. She hasn't told anyone. And I'm not going to tell you or anybody else either. Not unless she says it's okay"

"Okay that's fine" Elliot told the boy, "I'm sorry"

"For what?"

"Bringing it up"

Oliver nodded turning his attention back to the television before saying,

"It's okay. You seem like a cool guy"

"Thanks. You're pretty cool yourself. Where did you get that from?" Elliot joked with Oliver.

However he didn't hear Olivia open the door to the bathroom, all he heard was,

"That's funny Elliot"

Elliot turned to see Olivia standing in the doorway of the bathroom in jeans and little t-shirt, her hair still soaked.

"Oh hey, I didn't hear you come out"

"Obviously"

"The food's not here yet, but it should be here any minute" he told her

"Okay well I'm going to go dry my hair" she said walking back to her bedroom.

Just as she did there was a knock on the door. Elliot got up and answered it, finding the guy with their Chinese food. He payed the guy and then went over to the table and set the food down.

"Liv the food is here" he yelled to her even though he doubted that she was going to hear him over her blow dryer.

"I'll get her" Oliver said getting off of the couch and heading to his mother's room

A couple minutes later Oliver and Olivia both came out of her bedroom and headed over to the table to join Elliot.

"Mmm this smells good" Olivia said as she sat down at the table next to Elliot

They ate their dinner and then cleaned up what was left before Olivia sat back down at the table next to Oliver.

"Sweetie I need to talk to you about the men that took Ms. Blake"

"Okay" he answered

"Did you ever overhear them talking about places they had been or places they were going to go?"

"They talked about places they had been but that's about it"

"Okay. Did you ever overhear them say anything about a hideout?" she asked her son

"No, I mean I didn't know them that good or anything mom. I didn't trust them. The only times I ever really talked to them is when I went over there to get Callie." he told her

"Okay sweetie" she said turning to look at Elliot

"But Callie did tell me something a couple of weeks ago" Oliver said, getting Olivia to turn her attention back to him

"What?"

"She said she heard John say something about making her mom pay for what she did"

"But you didn't hear him say that?"

Oliver averted his eyes from his mother to the floor and she knew there was something more to the story.

"Ollie, what aren't you telling me?" she asked placing her hand on his knee

He looked back up at his mother before saying,

"I don't want you to be mad at me"

"Ollie if you know something you have to tell me. For Callie" she told her son

"I went over there the next day after school because I heard yelling coming from our hallway. When I knocked on the door, I heard a man yell to go away, but I didn't. I knocked again until he answered the door. He was really pissed mom" he said, looking at Olivia

Olivia nodded her head, ushering her son to continue with his story.

"I asked if Callie could come over and play and Andrew just stared at me. Then I heard her crying and I tried to look around Andrew but he was blocking her. I got really mad and I told him that he better let Callie come over and play or I was going to call the cops and tell them that he had hurt her"

"Oliver" Olivia said shocked

"He got really pissed then. I think he had been drinking cause he smelled like beer. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside the apartment and threw me into the wall. He told me that if I ever called the police about any of them that he would kill Callie and me"

"Oliver Matthew Benson" Olivia said angrily, "How many times have I told you not to leave this apartment when you're home alone"

"See mom, I knew you would be pissed" he said pulling away from her

"Oliver, can you see why I am pissed. I specifically made those rules so that nothing like that would happen. You could have been killed" she said shaking her head

"Can I finish my story. Because you're going to be even madder when you hear the rest" he told his mom

Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them back up and nodding her head for him to continue.

"I saw Callie curled up and the couch and she was crying, but I didn't see anybody else around, so I ran over to her and asked her if she was alright, but she wouldn't stop crying and I could see the bruise on her face. I got really pissed mom and turned around and started yelling at Andrew. That's when John came out of the bedroom and saw me. He said 'What's the stupid neighbor kid doing here' and Andrew told him that I threatened to call the police. I've never seen John so pissed mom. He walked over to me and I stood back up and he punched me in the stomach, hard-"

"Oliver why didn't you tell me" Olivia said interrupting him

"Because after he punched me, he told me if I ever told anyone about anything that went on in that apartment he would make sure Callie would never be able to play with me again. And he told me I could become an orphan" Oliver said, making sure to say the last part quietly

Olivia shook her head and tried to hold back the urge to scream and cry at the same time.

"Mom" Oliver said reaching his hand out to touch her arm, "Mom I'm sorry, really"

Instead of saying anything to him she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned into her as she held onto him.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again. Ever" she told him, "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you"

"I know, I'm sorry mom"

She let go of him and pulled him away to look in his eyes, "Promise me"

"I promise"

She nodded as she let him sit back down in his chair,

"Is that all that happened?"

"Yeah but when me and Callie were leaving her apartment I heard John say something about the safe place by the river" he told his mom

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's all I heard" he told her

"Okay. Hey why don't you go get your sweatshirt and jacket and we will head down to the hospital before it get's any later" she told him

Oliver nodded before getting up and heading to his bedroom. As soon as Oliver was out of earshot Elliot sat down in the chair that Oliver had been sitting in and looked at Olivia. He reached his hand out and placed it softly on her knee.

"Liv, you okay?" he asked her

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but she didn't let any of them fall,

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost him Elliot" she told him regaining her composure

He nodded and gave her a half smile, "He's stubborn just like you"

"What?"

"C'mon Liv, do you think you would have just sat by either while your friend was in trouble. I don't think so" he told her

Olivia didn't answer, but instead stood up when she saw Oliver come out of his room.

"Ready?" she asked him

"Yeah"

"Okay well let's go" Elliot said as he and Olivia grabbed their coats and they all headed out of the apartment.

A/N: Well I was going to make this chapter about something completely different, but once I started writing this is what I ended up with. So the next chapter is going to be what I had originally planned. I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, and please review and let me know what ya'll think. Thanks!