Title: Shadows In The Dark

Author: Ebony-Jayne

Notes: Casey and Olivia dig deeper into Ella's relationship with George. Her daughter and her old partner provide some insight. Olivia ends up meeting Ella's entire family.

I just felt the need to write a lighter and (hopefully) funnier chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the show or the storylines on the show. I do, however, own the characters that I make up so please don't steal them. Any resemblance to anyone or anyplace is a coincidence.

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Chapter Four: The Family

"Hello?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"Hi is this Colin Wright?" Olivia asked.

"Yes it is," the man answered.

"Great. My name is Olivia Benson. I'm with Manhattan SVU, I wondered if I could ask you a few questions about Ella Stevens?" Olivia asked.

"Oh! You're one of the Detectives in Ellie's new squad!" the man said excitedly. "Is she ok? What can I tell you?" he asked.

"Well I don't know how much you would know but we wondered if you had any suspicions about her husband?" Olivia asked.

"That bastard," Colin said in distaste. "Every other week Ellie came in with a black eye or a nasty bruise on her arm. That was when she first started in Special Victims. It got more and more frequent over time. No-one is that accident prone. And you can't get a handprint on your arm by hitting it on your kid's windowsill," he told her.

"So you think she was being physically abused then?" Olivia sighed.

"Yeah I do. He treated her worse than he treated their dog," Colin told her. "I was going to ring you guys myself next week and tell you to look after my girl for me," Olivia could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'll pass on that message," Olivia assured him.

"Could you say hi to Casey and tell her to say hi to Kendra for me too?" Colin asked.

"Sure thing," Olivia laughed. "Thanks so much for this."

"Not a problem," Colin replied. They hung up and Olivia decided to call Casey to tell her what she'd found out. Casey gave her an address for a house in Queens and told her to meet her there.

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Olivia pulled up at the address Casey had given her and parked her car. There was about six or seven other cars there too. She wondered what was going on. She knocked on the door and Kendra answered.

"Hi, Olivia right?" Kendra asked.

"Yeah. I was just looking for Casey," Olivia told her.

"Ah. Come on in. I guess she didn't tell you its Michael's birthday and all the family is over," Kendra held the door open and let Olivia through.

"No she neglected to tell me that," Olivia smiled.

"Just watch your step when you go outside. The mother of all water fights is currently in progress," Kendra warned.

"Ok," Olivia laughed.

"I'll introduce you to some of the Relatives as we pass. Might make them stop asking Ellie about who she works with," Kendra led Olivia through to the kitchen. "Ok this is Bowdie's wife Kelly, she's pregnant with their first. That's Megs she's Mike's wife and is pregnant with their third and that's our mom Ellen. Guys this is one of Ellie and Casey's colleagues, Olivia Benson," Kendra told them.

"Welcome to the mad house Honey," Megan grinned as she shook Olivia's hand.

"I second Megs' greeting. Nice to meet you," Kelly also offered a big smile which Olivia couldn't help but return.

"Don't listen to them dear. Although I have to admit there's not much sign of intelligent life out there at the moment," Ellen patted Olivia's shoulder. "Be careful taking her out there MaKendra she'll end up soaked if you're not careful," she warned.

"Mom hates nicknames," Kendra whispered when Olivia looked confused at the name.

"Ah. Right," Olivia nodded as Kendra led her outside.

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"Olivia!" Ella's voice rang out as soon as she walked out of the door. Ella was drenched. She stood in front of Olivia. "Case said you were coming. Sorry she didn't warn you about this- AAAGGGH BOWDEN YOU SHIT!" she screamed as a man turned a garden hose on her. He was now roaring with laughter. Ella took the opportunity to wrestle the hose off him and shove it down the back of his pants.

"HEY!" he shrieked yanking it back out.

"That'll learn ya," Ella grinned. "Olivia this is my oldest brother Bowden. Bowden my colleague Olivia," she introduced.

"I'm tempted to hug you but I won't because you're dry," Bowden offered his hand instead.

"Thanks," Olivia asked.

"I will though 'cause I'm an asshole!" a voice behind her said. Next thing Olivia knew she was wrapped in a pair of very wet arms.

"Oh Mike!" Ella yelped.

"Well you're nice and cool anyway," Olivia laughed.

"Yeah. I'm Mike Novak," he let her go and shook her hand.

"Olivia," she replied.

"Olivia this is our dad Rob. Dad, Olivia Benson. Come on Olivia," Casey had materialized and dragged Olivia away as soon as she'd let go of Rob's hand.

"Sorry," Casey grinned totally unapologetically. On the way to the other side of the yard Olivia was introduced to Kendra's husband Joel, their two kids Emma, 9, and Josh, 6, and Michael's two girls Carmel, 4, and Briannan, 2. Casey was relatively dry and Olivia watched amused as she sat down under the trees with her back to the water fight. She noted that Bowden and Mike were already conspiring to get her. Olivia ignored them for the moment and recounted her conversation with Colin Wright.

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"So he thinks that it was more than the once?" Casey sounded relieved to know.

"Yeah he thinks- Hello," Blaike and Briannan had just toddled over and Blaike had planted himself in Olivia's lap. "He thinks it was pretty frequent," she continued from where she'd stopped.

"Pwetty," Briannan stroked Olivia's hair. "Mine pwetty?" she asked petting her own little tufty pigtails.

"Yes yours is very pretty," Olivia told her. Briannan giggled and toddled away.

"Beeananan!" Blaike yelled as he got up and toddled after her.

"Anyway," Olivia continued, "He said that at first it was a black eye or a bruise every other week. Then it got more and more frequent. I think she must have been trying to pass the bruises off as accidents because Colin said and I quote 'No-one is that accident prone and you don't get a handprint on your arm from hitting it on your kid's windowsill.' He was adamant something was going on."

"Yeah. I talked to Gracie before. She said lots of times she found Ellie curled up in a ball in the bathroom with blood and bruises," Casey told her. "Do you think we should confront her about it?" she looked over at her sister.

"Not today. Let her have her fun. We'll talk to her another day," Olivia smiled. Suddenly a stream of water shot in their direction drenching both Casey and Olivia. Olivia was glad she wasn't wearing white. "Oh! Ok, you asked for it Novak! It is on now!" Olivia yelled across the yard at Bowden. "Come on Casey let's kick some ass," she grinned grabbing Casey's hand and yanking her up.

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