Infamous

Along the banks of the murky river Kim Barkley and her six and a half year old son Ben were out on there morning walk when they saw something in the water.

"Mommy," the little boy pointed out into the middle of the wide marshy, swamp like river "People," he told her with absolute certainty in his young voice.

Kim walked cautiously closer to the edge of the river "Stay there sweetie," she said to her son, indicating a tree that was safely away from the edge of the river. She peered closely at the two heads that bobbed just above the surface. It had been seven years but she would know those two anywhere, she turned around and called out to her son "Ben! Run back to the house and get your father!"

Their house was only a little ways away so Kim wasn't worried. Ben sped off at the request of his mother towards the house where he, his mom, his dad and his little sister lived together and had for as long as he could remember.

Once he was out of site Kim turned back to the river. She kicked off her shoes and rushed into the water. She swam quickly towards the two figures. The woman's head was nearly under and the man was doing everything in his power to keep her above but it was obvious that they were both badly injured.

Elliot heard someone approaching and didn't even bother to see who it was "Please help us," he managed to croak out "Something's got her by the leg," he added as way of explanation.

Kim took a deep breath and dove under the water. She saw the woman's leg and what was causing the problem. A large dead tree branch was tangled around her leg and in the woman's obviously weakened state it was impossible to fight against it. Kim had the leg clear of the tree branch in a matter of seconds. She surfaced quickly at the shoulder of the woman and helped the man keep her above water.

"It's ok," she told the both of them "It was just a tree branch. You'll be fine now," she reassured.

Olivia took in a big gulp of air. She was aware of Elliot in front of her and of the woman beside her. She was aware of their hands gently supporting her. But she was also very aware of the pain that shot through her body, pain that had been exacerbated by her struggle against what had turned out to be the tree branch. Elliot had tried to help her but the effort had taken its toll on him as well. If this mystery woman hadn't shown up when she had, Olivia was sure that she and Elliot wouldn't have been able to stay above water much longer. Olivia wanted to thank the woman but she couldn't find her voice.

"We have to get you to shore," her unidentified savior was saying to her. Olivia heard the woman speaking to Elliot next "Do you think you can make it?" the stranger asked him.

Elliot looked at Olivia. He knew that he couldn't make it to shore on his own, he was too exhausted and he knew that Olivia was exhausted too. He could see it in her eyes. He knew that she would need all the help that the woman who stood beside them could offer. Elliot made his decision "Help her," was all he said.

"Elliot," Olivia finally found her voice and it sounded sad and scared. She couldn't stand leaving him. She knew that there was a good chance that if the woman helped her to shore and left Elliot there, he would most likely drown before the woman could come back for him.

Kim looked at the two people who had without knowing it, helped her change her life around seven years ago. The woman whose head she held above water was the same woman who had helped her find the courage to testify against her former business partner in court. This woman, Olivia Benson had helped her more than she would ever know. That's why her son bore her last name as his first.

Elliot had been helpful to her as well. Elliot Stabler had helped her find a new job working for the city. She hadn't kept the job long out of fear but she had always remembered him fondly for helping her.

She couldn't leave either one of them behind. She cast her gaze upwards in a silent prayer and that's when she caught site of her husband standing on the river bank. Ben stood beside him and he held their eighteen month old daughter Halley in his arms.

"Nathan!" she called out to him "These people need help!"

Kim watched as Nathan directed Ben to watch his sister, pointing to the exact same tree that Kim had indicated to the child earlier. Nathan too kicked off his shoes and swam quickly to the three people in the middle of the river.

"They're hurt," Kim explained as she did her best to hold Olivia in her arms, letting the water do most of the work. Kim wasn't especially a very physically strong woman but she got by. "Help him," Kim directed her husband, indicating Elliot with a nod of her head.

Nathan went over to Elliot and tried to move him by placing an arm under his stomach which in turn inadvertently applied pressure to Elliot's ribcage. Elliot couldn't help the audible grunt of pain that escaped his lips and Nathan quickly removed his hand and awkwardly supported Elliot from under the armpits.

Together the group made their way to shore slowly. Olivia and Elliot still hadn't seen the faces of their rescuers but they were able to notice, as they headed for shore, the two small children that waited somewhat impatiently on the bank.

When they reached the shore, Kim and Nathan gently lay Olivia and Elliot on the ground. Nathan sat down on the ground and Kim dropped down beside them. The two shared a look that clearly spoke 'What do we do now?' Ben and Halley ran up to their parents. Ben went directly to his mother and hugged her. Halley too went to her mother and climbed into her lap sleepily.

"Who are they mommy?" Ben asked as he went and sat on the ground beside the man he called father.

"I knew them a long time ago honey," she offered, not wanting to go into too much detail.

At these words Olivia lifted her head to look at the woman who sat only inches away. Her hair was darker than it had been seven years ago but she was almost positive that she was staring at Kimberly Philips. What was Richard White's old business partner doing out here? More importantly, where was here? And if White had brought her and Elliot here, did he know that Kimberly was here? Olivia couldn't hold her head up very long though and she soon let it drop back to the ground.

"We need to get them back to the house," Kim told Nathan in a worried voice.

Nathan nodded slightly "We need to get them to a hospital Kim," he stated plainly. This however would be hard to accomplish.

When Nathan Barkley had first met Kimberly Philips, she had been a clerk in the district attorney's office. She had been so afraid around men, it had taken him forever to get her to go out on a date with him. She had made several excuses about not being able to get a sitter for her little boy. When he had found her a sitter she had confessed that she didn't want to leave her baby for even a second with anyone else and that it killed her to leave him at daycare so that she could go to work.

It had taken months before she had gone on the first date with him. It had taken a year before she had trusted him enough to tell him the whole truth about her past, about what had happened to her, about how she was one of the lucky ones in the whole mess. She didn't admit to him until the end of that conversation the truth about the father of her son.

Nathan knew the names of these two people who lay on the ground beside him and he knew how much his wife believed she owed them. He too owed them a great debt because from what Kim told him, if they hadn't caught the man, she probably never would have survived and he loved her so much that he couldn't imagine his life with out her or Ben.

Elliot groaned bringing Nathan back into the present. He watched as Elliot slowly sat up and reached for the woman beside him "Olivia," Elliot began softly "Please be ok," the last phrase was more of a prayer to God then something meant for Olivia to hear. Nathan knew as he watched the two people before him that they had the same type of bond that he had with Kim.

"Elliot," Olivia moaned softly up at him as she too tried to sit up. Elliot supported her as best he could but he was too weak. Olivia started to fall backwards only to be caught by Kim.

"Easy," Kim told her as she lowered Olivia back to the ground. Kim turned to Elliot "You shouldn't be up either," she spoke gently but with an edge of firmness in her voice.

"I need to know that she's ok," Elliot protested as Nathan helped him lie back down again.

"I'm fine," Olivia reassured him. She tried to make her voice sound strong the way it usually did but she couldn't help the shakiness that made itself known in the two little words.

"We need to get the two of you to a hospital," Nathan said as he stood up.

"Right now," Olivia began "I'd settle for a set of dry clothes and an actual bed to sleep in."

Nathan walked over to Kim and picked Halley up from her lap. He bent down and spoke to his wife in a hushed whisper "We half to get them to the house but I don't think they can walk all the way there."

Nathan was trying not to be heard by the two detectives because Kim had informed him of just how stubborn and persistent these two were but Elliot overheard anyway "I can walk," he informed the other man "You two can help Olivia."

Olivia not wanting to be treated like the weak link in the chain was quick to offer her own protest "I'm fine to walk."

Kim just shook her head at her husband as she stood up. She went over to Olivia and helped her stand up "You just let me know if you need to rest or anything," she informed the other woman once Olivia was standing on her own two feet.

Nathan helped Elliot up and made the same offer to the male detective that Kim had made for Olivia. Nathan and Elliot started down the path back to Nathan and Kim's house. Nathan carried Halley in his arms and Elliot leaned against Nathan for support. Ben ran ahead of the two men.

Olivia took a careful step and faltered. She stumbled backwards into Kim causing Kim to stumble a little bit but she quickly recovered. Kim took Olivia's arm and put it over her own shoulder "One step at a time honey," she encouraged as they slowly made there way forward.

As they walked, Olivia tried to keep her mind off the pain by making conversation "Your kids are beautiful," she said as she took in a deep breath and took yet another laborious step forward.

"Thank you," Kim responded as she steered Olivia to avoid a rock that lay in the path.

"What are their names?" Olivia asked, narrowly avoiding the rock and almost stumbling once again.

"My daughter's name is Halley," Kimberly began, not knowing how Olivia would react when she found out her son's name. She decided to tell her anyway "My son's name is Benson."

Olivia felt tears come to her eyes. She stopped walking and turned to Kim "Kimberly," she began but Kim shook her head violently at the mention of her full name.

"Its Kim," she said firmly.

Olivia corrected herself, not wanting to upset the other woman "Kim," she began once more "Thank you so much for what you did for us back there," they began their slow journey once more.

Kim was glad that Olivia didn't see the tears that she was fiercely trying to hold back "It was nothing compared to what you and your partner did for me all those years ago," she had to fight to keep her voice from cracking.

Olivia looked in front of them to see that the little boy who was her namesake come back towards them. He had a big grin on his face as he came up to his mother "Mommy," he spoke with the innocence of a boy who has never seen the horrors that other children had seen. Other children, Olivia's eyes misted over, other children like Karen and Byron. Oh how she missed those children. If she ever got back to them, she promised herself right then and there that she would adopt them. She would devote her whole life to Elliot and those children. The rest of Ben's words were unheard by Olivia as she broke down into sobs.

TBC

A/N: Ok so I've been out of the game on this one for a while but I think this is a pretty good chapter. Please, please, please review.