As soon as they left Olivia's apartment building Kathy burst into tears. "How did this happen?" She sobbed. "He's broken her, that girl up in Olivia's apartment, that's not our Elizabeth, she's usually so self assured and mature. She hates me...why does she want to be with Liv" Kathy cried and Elliot took his wife into his arms. "She doesn't hate you Kath, she was confused and scared. She's been through a huge trauma. Liv was the first person who made her feel safe so it's perfectly understandable that's who she feels safest with right now. It's been less than 24 hours, right now the most important things are keeping her safe, making sure she's had medical care and a rape kit, which she has and getting her statement. Which Liv has done. She's scared and exhausted and just needs time to process what's happening." Elliot explained to his distraught wife. "Why do my kids love Olivia more than me. First Kathleen and now Elizabeth. I'm such a terrible mother." Kathy sobbed. "Kath. Stop, you're a wonderful mother. But this is Liv's expertise this is what she does. But she doesn't know how Elizabeth likes her toast. Elizabeth's favourite songs. Elizabeth's childhood toys. Elizabeth loves you. She always has and she always will. It was probably more to do with my reaction. She is too upset to realise my anger wasn't aimed at her."

Kathy was struggling. She was a nurse. A trained nurse and she had done a few rape exams. Luckily it wasn't very often as she didn't often work in the emergency room. It was truly one of the worst parts of her job along with telling the family after a patient had passed away. She loved being a nurse and helping people but it had it's difficult days too. It broke her heart thinking of her little Lizzie going through a rape kit. The same girl who still slept with a stuffed animal and always cried watching sad movies on TV. Lizzie was 15, so grown up in some ways but still so little. At the apartment Olivia had mentioned that Elizabeth hadn't wanted to call Kathy last night, but Olivia had put that down to the shock of it all. Kathy wished she could have been there to support her daughter through the exam, although it would have broken her heart. At least Liv had been there so Lizzie wasn't completely alone. It felt like a stab to Kathy's heart that Lizzie hadn't wanted her there but this wasn't about her, or Liv, or Elliot. This was about Elizabeth and that's who they needed to concentrate on right now.

Meanwhile in Olivia's apartment the TV was on but neither Olivia nor Elizabeth were watching it. Liv looked over at Elizabeth and realised she was asleep. She was physically and mentally exhausted. Liv grabbed the throw that she usually kept on the back of the sofa and placed it over Elizabeth, almost tucking her in like a small child. "You're gonna be okay Lizzie." She whispered even though she couldn't be heard. She was planning to start on some chores but needed to call the precinct. She decided to call Captain Cragen rather than the number for the precinct.

"Captain Cragen!"

"Captain it's Olivia"

"Oh hi Liv , is everything okay?"

"It's about Elliot's daughter Elizabeth. She was raped last night. I took her to mercy and she's had a rape kit that should be being processed right about now. She disclosed to me and I've typed it up. Shall I email it to you?"

"Yes. How's she doing? How's Elliot?"

"Lizzie's doing okay considering. Physically a mild concussion and lots of abrasions. Emotionally she's still trying to process it all. El's struggling. He was angry but he's calmed down now. He's gone out to get Lizzie a new phone. She wants to stay with me for a few days. I'm sure you understand why I called you rather than the precinct."

"I get it Liv, I'll be as discret as I can."

"Thanks Cap bye."

'Bye'

"Liv? Liv? Where are you?" Liv heard Elizabeth yell. "Hey honey, it's okay I'm right here. I was just in the bedroom." Liv smiled at Lizzie who had just woken up. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. How long was I sleeping for?" Elizabeth asked. "About an hour. Can I get you anything, something to eat? Toast or chips or we can order in?" Liv asked. "A glass of water please." Lizzie asked and Liv got her one and got herself a tea and sat with Lizzie. "Elizabeth, I called Captain Cragen." Liv didn't need to explain who Cragen was. All the SVU squad knew each other well and they had all met Elliot's children dozens of times. "I told him what happened," she looked at Lizzie's face. "I know you're scared Lizzie, but everyone at the precinct loves you and we will all be 100% behind you and we will do everything we can to find and prosecute the man who hurt you."

"Is everyone gonna find out what happened?" Elizabeth asked. "The squad will, and Casey. And probably some other people. They'll see how brave you are." Liv answered. "Will my friends find out? And my siblings?"

"I don't know about your friends but I think it would be best if your sisters found out. And Dickie. They can be there to support you. Eli won't understand but little kids often sense when something is up and Eli gives the best snuggles." Liv smiled. She loved all the Stabler children but really had a soft spot for little Eli. She'd practically delivered him. "But Dickie is already angry at the world. I don't want to add any fuel to that fire, and what about Kathleen. I don't want to be the person to send her spiralling."

"We can talk about this when your parents get back but the only person you need to focus on right now is yourself."

"I just wish it had never happened." Elizabeth started to cry. "I just want to be normal, like I was before" she sobbed. "Oh honey, I know, I know, you are normal I know you feel like everything has changed and it's the end of the world. And some things have changed but that's okay and you will get over it. You might not be the same as you were before, but we all change every single day. Even though it's hard right now, you're still sweet Elizabeth. You're smart, kind and loving. Worrying about your siblings over yourself, I bet you're still going to listen to Taylor Swift and watch dancing with the stars. An awful thing happened to you Lizzie, but I know how strong you are, you proved that to me over and over again just yesterday.

Kathy and Elliot had bought a pink pay as you go phone for Elizabeth and added credit. Kathy knew that her girlie girl would like a pink phone and hoped it would make her smile. Elizabeth was usually never short of smiles but Kathy had never seen her like she had that morning. She'd seen her get angry when Dickie used to break her toys. Upset when Maureen and Kathleen moved out to college. Distraught when Kathy's father, her beloved grandpa had died, yet still trying to comfort the rest of her family. But earlier that morning she couldn't even explain Elizabeth's emotion or mood. It was scary. They were at the grocery store. She'd sent Elliot to get the essentials like bread and milk while she'd get something that might count towards actual meals for Olivia and Elizabeth. She couldn't find El anywhere. She knocked on the door of the men's restroom. "El, are you in there? El?" She didn't get an answer but she heard a banging noise and gingerly pushed the door open. Luckily El was the only one in there. He was kicking and punching the metal stall of the toilet. "El." She said calmly "El, stop that, and take a breath."

"They didn't have any semi skim milk." He turned and slumped against the wall of the stall . They both knew he was angry about something far worse than the lack of semi skim milk. "He fucking raped her. Our Elizabeth. I wanna kill that son of a bitch." He said and she could hear the anguish in his voice "our little Lizzie."

"I know El. I know. Give me your hands." She took his blooded hand and looked over it. "I don't think it's broken but you're gonna have a helluva bruise tomorrow. C'mon let's finish the shopping." Kathy smiled slightly. She knew her husband and one of the reasons she loved him was his passion for justice but his passion often gave him bruised knuckles. She was so proud of her cop husband, but she hated the darkness of the world he lived in. Rapes, murders, missing children and so much more. The unpredictable hours and worse of all for her the fear that everytime he went to work there was no Guarantee that he would make it home. She'd met him in the hospital where she worked as well as many others when he'd been shot or otherwise injured. She lent forward and gently kissed her husband. In the grocery store men's room. "I love you Elliot Stabler."

"We brought Chinese!" Kathy said in an over jovial voice as she stepped into Olivia's apartment. Liv had opened the door, Elizabeth was still sat on the sofa, knees drawn up to her chin. Staring unseeingly at the episode of how I met your mother playing in the background. "Lizzie I got you Chinese, chicken in black bean sauce. And prawn toast." That had always been Elizabeth's favourite dinner whenever she got to choose.

"Not hungry."

"Lizzie I thought we were over this, you're beautiful and denying yourself food isn't healthy." Kathy reminded her daughter.

"I know I'm just not hungry!"

"Okay, but I would really like you to sit at the table with us." Kathy told her daughter and helped her up, they put all the food in the middle of the table. "Just eat what you want Elizabeth." Elliot told his daughter. Olivia knew that all Elizabeth had eaten since lunch the day before was a small nibble of toast. She was slightly concerned but not unduly so since it had been less than 24 hours. Elizabeth sat staring at her plate biting the skin on her lip nervously. She'd but a tiny bit of rice and sauce on her plate but very little of it passed her lips. "Listen Honey, what do you want me to tell Dickie and your sisters?" Kathy asked her daughter. "No Mom, you can't tell them anything!" Lizzie replied worriedly.

"Lizzie love, they're going to realise something is up if you're staying with Liv, and a new phone and your face won't heal for a while." Kathy told her daughter. She reached towards Lizzie's face but decided against it when her hand was midair and snatched it back to her lap before picking up her cutlery, Kathy had never been one of chopsticks. "Lizzie, we could always tell them you were mugged? They'll realise something is up." Elliot looked at his little girl. Battered and bruised. She nodded lightly "ok. Tell them I was mugged."

The adults tried to keep the rest of their conversations light and engage Elizabeth, unsuccessfully. About halfway through the meal she looked at her mom, then Olivia. "I'm real tired, can I just take a shower and go nap?" It was only about 4 in the afternoon but she was truly exhausted, plus she was starting to feel suffocated by the adults inane conversations. Olivia looked at Kathy who just shrugged dejectedly. "There's towels in the linen closet and shampoo under the sink." Olivia smiled at Elizabeth. Once Kathy heard the shower running she asked Olivia "she's not okay, is she?"

"She survived, that's the most important thing. She's hurting and she's scared but I think she's gonna be okay." Olivia turned to Elliot. "I called Cragen, he's gonna keep this discreet." El nodded. "God, I wish I'd been nicer to some of the families." He mused. "Kath, are you working tomorrow?" Liv asked. She knew that herself and Elliot were. "Yeah, 12 hour shift on peads." Kathy didn't enjoy her peads shifts. Seeing kids get sick. It was hard. "Do you think we could get Mo or 'Leen over to sit with Lizzie? I'd rather not leave her alone. I know she probably wants to be alone but I don't think it's the best thing for her." Liv asked.

"Kathleen is going to the mall with some old friends from high school. Mo was going to watch Eli but I can put him in the hospital crèche and send Maureen over here with some DVDs and popcorn." Kathy smiled. "Maureen was talking about wanting a girlie night with Elizabeth at some point before she goes back to school anyway. Olivia has Lizzie eaten at all?"

"About a quarter of a piece of toast." Liv said and Kathy visibly deflated. "I can't do this again." She said looking over at her husband for support. "Darling, it's been less than 24 hours. It's totally normal for her to be finding it hard to eat." Elliot smiled slightly at his wife. She had had it with Maureen and Elizabeth. Body image issues. The anorexic in training routine as she wryly called it with Maureen. It had lasted about 3 weeks before she was back to asking for seconds. With Elizabeth it had hit harder. She'd never truly had an eating disorder thank God. Kathy had seen the worst of them as a nurse but she liked to keep an eye on Lizzie's food intake, but she'd been doing a lot better these last few months. "Let me go talk to her." Kathy said. "I got some of her favourite cereal bars and cookies. We have a no eating in bedrooms room at home but..."

"It's fine Kathy, she's welcome to eat wherever she feels comfortable." Liv smiled at Kathy as they both knocked on then went into the spare room which for now was Lizzie's.

"Hey darling." Kathy smiled at her daughters back. Elizabeth was curled up on the bed facing the wall. When she heard her mothers voice she pushed herself to sitting and looked up. "I got a few of your favourite cereal bars and cookies. Liv said you can eat in here if you want. Elizabeth I'd really like for you to try..."

"Mom." Elizabeth interrupted "I'm not thinking I'm too fat I know that's what you're thinking I'm just so nauseous I feel like I'm gonna vomit if I eat anything." Lizzie looked at her mom. "How's your pain?" Kathy asked. "Not too bad. It really stings when I pee but I'm not too bad other than that." Lizzie gave her mom a quick smile. "My friend Callie is a midwife I'll see if she can grab anything that might soothe your injuries. I won't tell her it's you honey don't worry." Kathy smiled at her daughter. "Sweetie. Your Dad, Mom and I all have to work tomorrow so we were gonna get Mo to come over and stay with you." Olivia smiled at Elizabeth who just said. "Can you just let me rest please?" So Liv and Kathy left, not long after Elliot and Kathy left the apartment.