"Elliot?" Olivia said softly, gently shaking him awake. He'd fallen asleep, stretched out over the hospital chairs. He stirred and jumped as he awoke, taking a moment to let his brain catch up. Light streamed through slits in the blinds.

"How is she?" he asked before his eyes could even focus.

"She's okay, all things considered. A sprained ankle, and she fractured her hand. We should be able to find the perp just from the shiner she gave him," she said with a smile. "They found fluids, but... they were too mixed with blood. She wants to see you."

He sprang up, the blood rushing so quickly from his head he was dizzy for a moment. Olivia led him to her room, and left them alone, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Hi Daddy," she said. She was curled up around a stuffed horse that Kathy must've brought- one he had given her for her birthday years ago.

"Hey honey. Good morning." He sat beside her bed, and took one of her hands in his. "I didn't even think you still had that."

"What, Pony? Of course I do," she smiled softly. He smiled back.

"You sleep okay?" For some reason, it was easy to forget what had happened to her. To pretend she was in the hospital for a broken hand, and not a broken heart.

"Yeah. When can I go home?"

"As soon as they say you're okay, honey."

"Which would be right about now, Miss Stabler," a nurse said cheerfully, swooping into the room in brightly-printed scrubs.

"Your mom brought you some clothes to wear home- they're in the bag under your bed. As soon as you're dressed, come outside and we'll take you through discharge, alright sugar? Mr. Stabler, may I speak to you outside? Just an insurance matter."

He squeezed Elizabeth's hand, then followed the nurse into the hallway.

"My insurance is through the city, it should-"

The nurse cut him off with an efficient tone of voice. "You need to think about what kind of therapy you want for her. This attack was not her first. And it was more brutal than most- she's already got signs of PTSD, and the sooner you can get her help, the better."

"What? What do you mean, 'more brutal than most'? What happened?" His voice cracked, but there was no mistaking the urgency in his tone.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that- your daughter has to give me permission, and she explicitly asked me not to give you details."

"I'm her father!"

"And I'm under HIPPA regulations. Look, if it was up to me, I would have dragged you down here to hold her hand during the exam, but for whatever reason, she only wanted her mom there."

"Her mom? But... she didn't get here until after the exam was done."

"Then who was with her?"

"My partner, Olivia Benson- we work at Special Victims Unit."

"Oh... your daughter said she was her mother."

"You ready?" he asked Elizabeth, flipping through papers to make sure he had signed all of them.

"Yeah," she replied tiredly. "Can you help me up? I'm still... sore."

He looked up. He was pained to see how tired she looked- like she had just run a marathon, on no sleep. "Sure, hon." He grasped her forearm and helped her to stand up. She held onto his hand as they walked, something she hadn't done in years. Olivia had taken a cab home, and was picking them up in her car- his was still at the station. She was waiting right outside the doors.

"Hey, beautiful," she said brightly.

"Well, thanks," Elliot said with an absurd smile. Olivia's only response was to smack the back of his head and roll her eyes, while Elizabeth giggled. She'd never seen this side of her dad before- she couldn't remember the last time she saw him smile and laugh with her mom.

"I stopped and picked up some food. I hope you like greasy burgers, Liz."

"Oh, it's... um, I'm not hungry. Thanks though," she said quickly, ducking into the front seat of the car.

"No problem," Olivia said, handing Elliot his bag, then getting behind the wheel, french fries already stuffed in her mouth. Elliot thought of all those years ago, when Maureen had tried her hand at being anorexic. They never really discovered what all that was about- she just eventually started eating again and never looked too thin, so that was the end of it. He hadn't given it a second thought, until now. He knew that rape victims often suffered from eating disorders, but he was sure he could take care of her. She would never doubt how beautiful she was, even if he had to tell her three times a day. The nurse's words- "brutal... therapy... signs of PTSD..." all flashed through his memory. He turned it off like he would an annoying song on the radio, with the same distance and cold efficiency.

"Where to?" Olivia asked. She knew where Elizabeth wanted to go -her dad's house- but she knew Elliot expected to take her to Kathy's.

"Take a left up here-" Elliot started, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"Can I go to your house, daddy? Please?" she asked, her voice on the edge of frantic. She turned around, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"Of course, sweetie." He didn't ask why, but he had an idea it might have something to do with Kathy's reaction to all this. She wasn't known for a calm exterior under pressure. "Do you want to stop by your mom's and get some clothes, though?"

"There's three changes of clothes in the bag I brought," Olivia answered before thinking about it. "They should fit."

"You know, I thought there was something familiar about the stain on that shirt," Elliot said, putting two and two together. He leaned forward to whisper in Elizabeth's ear, "No idea how she doesn't weigh three hundred pounds. She eats like a pig."

"Pot calling kettle black! Who goes through every Three Musketeers bar in the vending machine?" she said with a smile, sticking her tongue out at him in the rearview mirror.

"You."

"Excuse me? Is this the thanks I get for spending fifteen bucks on a cab, buying you food, AND driving you all over town? Ridicule and shame?"

"What do you think, Liz? Sound about right?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand as he leaned forward, cocking one eyebrow. She laughed and pushed his forehead back with the heel of her hand.

"You guys are as bad as me and Dickie."

"Just him," Olivia said, giving her a wink.

"Not true, and I saw that."

"You were supposed to."

The banter continued on the way to Elliot's house, and Elizabeth was glad that they weren't grilling and drilling her. If she heard it wasn't her fault one more time, she was going to scream.

"Do you have any CDs?" she asked Olivia shyly. Unlike her sisters, she had never really been around Olivia much. From how she had acted at the hospital, when her mom had shown up, she liked her already.

"Sure- look in the case under your seat," Olivia said, flipping her blinker on to get onto the highway. "Merge means GO FAST- WHY ARE YOU BRAKING- aaaaaand getting into my lane. Lovely."

"Skinny one's the gas pedal," Lizzie said at the same time as her dad. It was his favorite thing to yell at the window and drivers he thought were going too slow. He leaned forward again to say something, when he saw the collection of music in her lap.

"Spice Girls? Are you serious? I think Maureen had that CD when she was nine, Liv."

"Shut up, El," Olivia said, trying to get over to the fast lane and turn the page in the CD case before he could see-

"Was that Creed I just saw?"

"I give lots of kids rides home, you know-"

"Then why do you have a burned copy with little hearts on it?"

Olivia deigned this too absurd to be granted comment, and decided to concenrate on driving. Elizabeth popped in a country CD and waited for the groans.

"Hustlers shootin' eight ball, throwin' darts at the wall, feelin' damn near ten feet tall-"

Sure enough, as soon as Elliot recogonized the song, he made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a sigh.

Olivia flashed her a grin, "Your dad HATES this song. He never lets me play it."

"Give me a break. "'Donkey Kong'?" I mean-" he was drowned out by Olivia and Lizzie singing, "HONKYTONK BADONKADONK" at the top of their lungs. He complained a little more just to let them know he was sufficiently tortured to satisfy their cruelty, inwardly glad that Elizabeth was so relaxed around him and Olivia.

"Do I force you guys to listen to music you don't like?"

"Yes," they answered automatically, and laughed together. She perked up when they reached Elliot's apartment. She opened her door, and tried to hop out of the car, moving a mile a minute as usual. She was shocked when her body swayed, and she had to grasp the door frame to keep from falling.

"Easy, killer," Elliot said, gripping her good hand and helping her to steady herself. He was hurt to see tears spring to her eyes. She shrugged his hand off, and shuffled towards the house, the playful girl suddenly gone. Olivia traded uneasy looks with him, and caught up with her, leaving Elliott to get the bag.

"Hey... your body is just a little weak right now, from the shock, but it'll get better-"

"It will. I won't," she whispered, turning away from Olivia. Elliot walked up, and touched her shoulder, only to be greeted with an all too familiar startle response.

He would never be able to forget that right now, his daughter's life- his life- would be divided into before and after. She was a rape victim now, and only time would tell when she made it from that, to a survivor.