May 31st, 2013, 7:50 AM.
"Mommy! Daddy! It's morning," Izzabella said cheerfully as she shook both of their shoulders.
"Oh it is huh?" Elliot said groggily as he tried to open his eyes.
"Mmhmm it's bright outside so it is."
Elliot sighed slightly as he looked at his phone and groaned at the time "yepp your right kiddo it is morning give me a few minutes to wake up then I'll get up and fix you something for breakfast."
Izzabella nodded with a smile as Olivia's eyes opened slightly "good morning you two," she said.
"Morning baby," Elliot said with a smile as he gave her an angel kiss "did you sleep well?"
Olivia smiled "I did did you?"
Elliot nodded "I did, what do you want for breakfast?"
"Waffles," Izzabella said with a smile as Olivia chuckled and slightly smiled "waffles are fine with me El."
He nodded "alright then," he said as once they both stretched they got up and got started with their day.
"Looks like Cragen never came in last night," Elliot said as they all ate their waffles.
Olivia sighed "doesn't surprise me there's no telling what kind of case they caught."
Elliot nodded "true, do you think clothes for 2 days will be enough? I don't see us staying in Chicago any longer than that."
Olivia nodded "yeah I think so and if it's not I'm sure they have second hand stores there."
"True," he said with a smile as Izzabella looked to them "can I have another one please?"
"Sure kiddo," Elliot said as he passed her another waffle then put syrup on it for her as before long everyone was full "Liv I'm gonna wash these dishes up since we're leaving I don't feel right leaving Cragen with a sink full of them."
Olivia nodded "you want me to help dry them?"
"No thanks baby," he said with a smile as Olivia nodded and decided to take Izzabella into the living room to entertain her while he worked.
As 8:45 approached Olivia couldn't help but notice the heat coming from her arm "El? Can you come here for a minute?" she called.
Elliot nodded and quickly dried his hands then went to the living room where she was "everything alright honey?"
Olivia looked to make sure Izzabella was distracted as she sighed in relief when she saw she was "El I think I need more ointment," she said as she rubbed her sleeve against the end of the couch to move it up slightly as the spot on her arm had spread considerably as it was now an inch and a half long and an inch and a half wide and extremely red.
Elliot frowned seeing it "it's almost doubled in size since last night sweetheart," he said as he gently touched it with the back of his hand "it's burning up too I think we should stay in the city Liv."
Olivia shook her head "no no we don't have to do that El the ointment will do the trick it did yesterday."
"But what if it doesn't? It worked for a little while yesterday yes but it still spread."
Olivia sighed "we'll just put more of it on there this time, El we already told Kathleen we were going we can't back out now this is really important to her."
Elliot sighed "I know it is but honey your health and recovery is really important too."
"Elliot it's just a bug bight that probably got a little out of hand, it's not life or death and it's not gonna stop me from doing this."
He sighed "baby please think of yourself for once, I promise you Kathleen will understand if we just explain to her why we can't go."
Olivia sighed "maybe she would but we really need to meet that guy, I'm not gonna change my mind on this El."
Elliot sighed heavily but nodded his head "alright," he said as he gently took her arm and drew new marks to keep track of the spots growth with the pin.
After a minute of uncomfortable silence Olivia sighed "please don't be mad El I just feel like this is the right thing to do."
Elliot sighed slightly and softened his expression "I'm not mad sweetheart just worried."
She nodded slightly "why don't we plan on flying back tonight then? The flight will land there around 2, we can meet Brad, swing by Millennium park for long enough for Izzabella to see it then fly back here around six? That would be about the same as going to Jersey and back and you can check my arm as much as you want."
Elliot nodded slightly "that's a fair compromise I can live with that."
She nodded "me too," she said as they gave each other a peck on the lips then he applied a generous amount of antibiotic ointment to the spot.
The next hour passed quickly as Elliot put Cragen's dishes away then checked to make sure they'd have everything they'd need for the day as he decided to just carry their entire bag just incase "you think we should leave Cragen a note? That way he'll know where we are when he comes back?"
Olivia nodded "yeah that's a good idea El," she said as just then the doorbell rang and she let Lizzie and Kathleen in "morning Liv," Kathleen said with a smile.
"Good morning sweetie," Olivia said smiling small as Kathleen looked to her "how you feeling?"
"I'm doing okay we decided we're only gonna stay in Chicago for a few hours though."
Kathleen nodded "I understand Liv I'm honestly just glad your both coming at all."
Olivia smiled slightly "of course we are sweetie we both want to meet the man whose making you so happy," she said as Elliot hugged both of his girls warmly then looked to Olivia "the note's been written and it's sitting on the table by his recliner."
Olivia nodded her head with a slight smile as Kathleen looked to him "you guys ready to go dad?"
Elliot nodded "just about which car are we taking?"
"We'll have to take yours dad I dropped my rental car off this morning and took a cab here."
He nodded his head "alright, Lizzie do you wanna just fly back with us this evening or how do you wanna do it?"
She smiled "yeah I probably will, will we go to your house tonight?"
"Probably tomorrow because it'll be so late when we get back, Cragen's couch is pretty comfortable though and if he has a problem with you staying too we'll just all get a motel."
"You guys don't have to do that dad if worse comes to worse I can stay in the motel by myself."
Elliot shook his head "I'm not having that honey, it's not because I wanna control you you're a young adult now and I know that but Jim was right about one thing, this city is big and sometimes unsafe for people who aren't used to being by themselves in it, trust me you'll have plenty of opportunity to get some of that independence you crave once we're back in Queens."
She smiled and nodded her head believing him as she hugged him tightly "guys we've all gotta go you know it takes forever to go through airport security," Kathleen called as Olivia was finishing explaining to Izzabella where they were going and what they'd be doing there.
"We'll be ready in a minute Katie," Elliot said as he sighed and walked over to Olivia "it's gonna be a tight fit in the car how do you wanna do this?"
She sighed then tapped her head in thought for a minute "Laguardia isn't far from here so I say put Izzabella in the middle front, she's smaller so it'll be more comfortable for us and Lizzie and Katie can take the two back seats."
Elliot nodded "that works, I'll put the luggage underneath the back seat."
Olivia nodded her head with a smile as with that now figured out they all headed to the car to go as Elliot put Cragen's spare key back underneath the doormat.
The five of them made it to Laguardia at around 10:30 "we might be pushing it to get on on time the FAA recommends getting here two hours early," Kathleen said as Elliot parked.
"It'll be fine honey," he said confidently as he turned the truck off "Lizzie, Kathleen can you both grab a bag?"
The girls both nodded and did as asked as Elliot took one bag and helped Olivia as she held onto Izzabella as they got in line to go through airport security.
"This place is scary I don't like it," Izzabella said warily as she clutched Olivia's good hand tightly.
"I know it looks scary but it's not I promise it's actually good that they do this."
Izzabella shook her head skeptically as she watched people in front of them removing their shoes and socks to be inspected "w-will I have to do that too?"
Olivia nodded "you will baby but it'll be okay me and daddy will help you and you'll be able to put them on again right after."
Izzabella just nodded her head slightly "why do people have to do this mommy? Daddy always says that our things are private and we have to say it's okay for other people to be allowed to touch them."
Olivia smiled "daddy's right sweetheart but this is just to make sure that nobody brings any bad stuff on to the airplane with us, it's for safety."
Izzabella gave a slight nod as Elliot leaned over and kissed both of their heads "we don't have any bad stuff do we?" Izzabella asked nervously after a couple minutes.
"We don't baby," Elliot said reassuringly as Izzabella nodded and was much calmer during the rest of their time in line.
Thankfully their security check went off with out a hitch as by the time they had everything they needed to do done it was 20 minutes till 12 "Izzabella honey who do you wanna sit by?" Olivia asked as they boarded their flight.
"Can I sit with you mommy?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course sweetie," she said with a smile as she sat beside Izzabella, Elliot sat directly across from them beside Lizzie and Kathleen sat right behind them "attention all passengers, takeoff is in 15 minutes, I repeat takeoff is in 15 minutes," the flight attendant said over the speaker.
"W-What's takeoff?" Izzabella asked.
"It's when we start to fly, don't worry sweetie we'll be safe I've flown a bunch of times."
"R-Really?" she asked.
Olivia smiled "I sure have," she said as Izzabella nodded "what's this?" she asked touching Olivia's cast.
"That's my cast baby," Olivia said.
Izzabella nodded "why's it there?"
"To help my arm heal," Olivia explained.
Izzabella frowned "is it hurt?"
Olivia sighed slightly "a little yeah but the cast makes it better."
Izzabella nodded with a smile as Lizzie smiled from her seat "she's so inquisitive," she whispered to Elliot.
Elliot nodded "she sure is she's been that way ever since she could talk, I guess it's the mini detective in her," he said with a smile.
Lizzie smiled and nodded "what was I like when I was her age?"
Elliot smiled "you were adorable, a little shy though you never misbehaved or strayed far from us. You were our easy baby."
She smiled "that sounds like me, I remember I was always teachers pet in elementary school because I always listened."
He nodded "mmhmm and the rare times you ever did get in trouble at school it broke your heart, you were usually so upset with yourself about it that me and your mom didn't have the heart to say anything."
She nodded "mmhmm like when I had to sit out of PE for throwing the spoon away."
He nodded "I'm surprised you even still remember that you were only six, I remember you were so upset about it that I went to the school and talked to your teacher, told her she had been to hard on you for making a simple mistake."
"You really did that?" she asked surprised.
Elliot nodded "I did honey," he said as she reached over and hugged him tightly "I never knew that."
He smiled "I never told you, just because the teacher had been too hard on you didn't mean that throwing the metal spoon away wasn't wrong."
Lizzie nodded understanding "I've missed you so much in these last couple years daddy," she said.
Elliot nodded "I've missed you too sweetheart and we're gonna see each other more now I promise," he said as before she could respond the safety speech began on the flight and everyone quietened down to listen to it.
Once the speech ended takeoff began as Izzabella gripped Olivia's hand worriedly "t-t-this is scary..." she whispered.
"Everything's gonna be fine baby I promise just keep your eyes on me and daddy and squeeze my hand okay?" Olivia said softly.
Izzabella gave a slight nod as Kathleen frowned "I thought you guys flew to Florida in December?"
Elliot nodded "we did but she slept through everything and I was holding her."
"Ahh," she said understanding as before they knew it takeoff was complete and they were on their way to the wendy city.
The five of them enjoyed their flight as eventually Izzabella felt safe which allowed her to ask a million questions about how the compartments worked, speakers worked, how the plain was able to fly etc as Olivia and Elliot answered every question "attention all passengers, delta flight 6205 will land at OHare airport in Chicago Illinois in five minutes, please prepare for the landing, I repeat, delta flight 6205 will land at OHare airport in Chicago Illinois in five minutes, please prepare for the landing."
Every one heeded the warning and made sure they were buckled in their seatbelts as when the plane started to descend Izzabella grew scared again "a-are we gonna fall?"
"No baby I promise we're just landing it's totally safe," Elliot soothed.
"B-But it looks like we're falling..."
"Shhh it's okay baby we're not I promise just hold onto my hand," Olivia said as a man who was sitting pretty close to them sighed "would you please make her shut up? She hasn't been quiet this entire plane ride."
Elliot gave him a harsh glare which quietened him immediately as before long the plane had landed alongside another and everyone was hurrying to get off.
"Alright lets wait the five of us we're not in any huge hurry and I rather us not get trampled over," Elliot said as Olivia, Kathleen and Lizzie nodded in agreement.
Once things settled a bit the Stabler group got off the plane and grabbed their bags "I'm gonna go get our rental car dad I arranged it to be dropped off here," Kathleen said.
"Alright honey we'll meet you outside the gate," Elliot said as they went separate ways.
"You know El I appreciate everything Kathleen has done but I feel bad about it in a way it's not her place to have to pay for our flight," Olivia said as they walked.
Elliot nodded and sighed "yeah me too Liv it kinda hurt my pride in a way, I know that wasn't her intension but"-
"It happened," she said finishing his sentence "I know how you feel El."
He nodded slightly "we can plan on paying her back in a couple months if you wanted."
She nodded "that works for me," she said as she turned her phone back on "damn how is it only 1 o'clock? It was 12 in Nu York when we left."
Elliot smiled "time change," he said as he gave her a gentle kiss "you ready to find Kathleen and meet this guy?"
She nodded "I am," she said as before they could move though the car drove up to them, Kathleen in the drivers seat and Kathy sitting beside her "what the fucking hell?" he said confused and frustrated.
Olivia sighed heavily but rubbed his arm "it'll be alright El, awkward for sure but alright," she said now extremely glad they had decided to fly home this evening.
Elliot just nodded slightly as he sighed "honey I'm sorry, so sorry you have every right to be upset about this."
Olivia nodded "I know I do but I trust you and we're all adults, lets just hop in El."
He sighed slightly and nodded "a-alright honey," he said as he and Lizzie began putting bags in the trunk.
"Shit dad's madder than I expected him to be," Kathleen said through a sigh as she had watched his and Liv's exchange from inside the car.
Kathy nodded "I told you you should have told him."
Kathleen sighed "he wouldn't have come if I had."
She sighed and nodded "true, I'm sorry Jim couldn't make it he was tied up on a construction job."
She shook her head "it's alright mom really it's just yours and dad's approval that I need I would have just brought dad but"-
"He wouldn't have come with out Liv, I know honey. I can't say that I blame him either not after what she's just been through."
Kathleen nodded "from what I saw on the news the man was cruel."
Kathy sighed "there are differing opinions on that but I'm gonna believe she's telling the truth until it's proven otherwise," she said as they ended their conversation when Elliot, Olivia and Izzabella piled into the back.
Lizzie hopped in beside her mother soon after as Kathleen drove off "you know where we're going right?" Kathy asked.
Kathleen nodded "yeah I've been there a couple times."
Kathy nodded and smiled as her eyes then focused on a sign: Mollies, first ever firefighter and cop bar in Chicago as she smiled "Elliot you and Olivia might like to go there , I bet they give discounts for cops."
Elliot shook his head "we won't be in the city long," he said.
Kathy just gave a slight nod as Kathleen nodded "mom I think if he takes her out here it'll probably be to somewhere more classy than that."
Kathy nodded "yeah maybe," she said as she went on her phone and Olivia, Elliot and Izzabella played a quiet game of I spy in the back seat.
"Okay where are we Kathleen?" Elliot asked a few minutes later as they were driving into a rough part of town.
"We're close to Brad's place he lives about five minutes away from here," she said.
Elliot sighed slightly and frowned as Kathleen sighed "dad don't judge a book by its cover please I know this isn't the best neighborhood but he's an incredible guy where he lives means nothing."
Elliot just sighed as Olivia leaned close to him "I don't like this," she whispered as they passed by a black kid dealing drugs on the street corner.
Elliot nodded and stroked her hair as Kathy sighed "guys please stop passing judgement until we get there and meet him not everyone lives in a prim and perfect neighborhood like you guys."
"We never said we live in a prim and perfect neighborhood," Elliot said.
"You guys didn't have to say anything we can see what your both thinking it's all over your faces, especially yours Olivia."
Olivia sighed and shrank back in her seat uncomfortable and a little nervous as Elliot sighed "she's unnerved by this gang corner, we're driving through a fucking gang zone Kathy there are criminals everywhere."
She nodded "yes but that doesn't mean Brad is a gang member."
Elliot just nodded as Izzabella looked to them "what's a gang?"
"A gang is a group of people that do bad things," Olivia said as she looked to Kathy "can we table this discussion please Izzabella really doesn't need to hear it."
"If you adjust your attitude I'll stop talking about it," Kathy said.
"You don't tell her what to do Kathy," Elliot hissed as Lizzie sighed and put on her headphones.
"Can we all just enjoy the ride and keep open minds? Please?" Kathleen asked as she drove by two guys with guns.
Olivia shivered seeing the men on the side of the road "you know what I'm calling the police."
"They won't do anything honey, your safe though I promise," Elliot said softly as he held her hand in his and stroked her hair.
Olivia sighed slightly as she leaned to whisper in his ear "I-I'm not judging Brad until I meet him that's not what this is it's just in Nu York we don't see this, not this much and not this bad."
"I know baby, trust me I know and I know your under a lot of stress, we'll be through with this before you know it and back on a plane home I promise."
Olivia gave a couple slight nods as Kathy sighed from her seat up front as the rest of the drive was done in a tension filled silence "well we're here," Kathleen finally said as she pulled up at a rundown house.
"You sure you have the right address?" Lizzie asked warily.
Kathleen nodded "yeah I'm sure sis," she said as Lizzie nodded and Olivia sighed "forgive me El but I'm sticking close to you," she said as a couple of pit bulls which were on chains began barking aggressively.
"You stay as close as you need to sweetheart," he said protectively as they all got out of the car just as a balled man with several tattoos walked outside "you all must be the Stabler's, I'm Brad it's a pleasure to meet you all."
"You as well sir, I'm Kathy Smith, Kathleen's mother," Kathy said shaking his hand.
He nodded "nice to meet you," he said as the dogs continued their aggressive barking as he walked around the car "you Elliot?" he asked pointing at him.
Elliot nodded "yes I'm Elliot Stabler, this is my wife Olivia. I need you to call your dogs down they're scaring her a bit."
"Ah don't worry about them they're just guarding my house they'll calm down soon."
Elliot nodded tightly as they all shook hands "why don't you all come inside? Hang out for a while?" he suggested as he pulled Kathleen into his arms and she melted into his embrace.
Elliot looked to Olivia as she nodded slightly "just stay with me," she whispered.
Elliot nodded "I won't leave your side," he said softly as Izzabella began feeding off of Olivia's worried vibe "is this a bad house?" she whispered.
"If it is we'll leave," Elliot said as Izzabella nodded slightly and her and Liv both stayed close to Elliot as they walked inside.
"Yo Fred! The hotdogs ready?" Brad called from inside the door as a bunch of random baggies laid on the coffee table and a few tattooed men sat on the couch watching the purge.
"Yeah man won't be much longer!" Fred called as Brad nodded and pulled Kathleen in the direction of his bedroom as she went with out protest.
"What is this place?" Lizzie asked Kathy in a whisper.
"It looks like it might be a frat house, Brad seems cool though and your sister really likes him."
Lizzie gave a slight nod as she sat down in a dirty arm chair and Kathy, Liv, El and Izzabella tried to squeeze onto the love seat.
After a minute Elliot sighed "this isn't working," he said as he stood up as when he did Olivia's eyes darted to him "I'm not going anywhere," he whispered softly as he patted her shoulder reassuringly then began scanning the room with his eyes.
"What you lookin at man?" one of the tattooed men asked.
"Nothing in particular," Elliot said as he had to hide a frown when he caught sight of a gun sitting on the end table with the safety off.
The guy just nodded his head slightly "woah!" Izzabella exclaimed when she saw a guy get shot on the tv as she cuddled herself into Olivia's side "don't look at that anymore baby," she whispered.
Izzabella nodded slightly as Elliot sighed "has anyone seen my daughter?"
"She'll probably be out in around 20 minutes or so," a guy said.
"20 minutes or so?" Elliot said confused as a realization then hit him "you've gotta be kidding me..."
"Sorry man," the guy said as he went back to watching the movie as a burly man brought a pan into the living room which had about 30 hotdogs in it.
Elliot just sighed and shook his head as Izzabella saw the hotdogs "mommy! mommy can I have one?"
"Sure sweetie," she said as she walked over to where the pan was as she picked the two of them which looked the least burned and gave them to her "thank you mommy," she said.
"Your welcome sweetheart," she said with a slight smile as Elliot sighed and stepped back over "I need to check your arm again baby," he whispered.
Olivia nodded slightly and let him check it as he frowned when he saw it had grown more as now the patch of red and inflamed skin was 3 inches long and 3 inches wide "baby we've gotta get you back home soon," he whispered in her ear.
"Has it spread?" Olivia whispered attempting to mask her worry.
Elliot nodded "yes it's in the bend of your elbow now," he said as he reached into the bag and put more ointment on it "your due for your morphine do you need it?" he asked not noticing that Brad was standing right behind him having come from the bedroom.
Olivia shook her head "I don't El it's a lot more manageable now, thank you though," she said as Brad smiled to himself "yo Elliot can I talk to you a second?"
"I'm Mr. Stabler to you for now," Elliot said being the intimidating father "but what do you want? And where's my daughter?" he asked stepping aside.
"Yo relax man she's totally fine she's just asleep."
Elliot glared "don't yo man me, I'm her father and I expect to be treated with respect."
Brad sighed "respect goes both ways and I'm not scared of you, anyway I had a question for you."
Elliot sighed as he glanced quickly over at Olivia to make sure she was okay as when he saw she was he sighed in relief "what do you want?"
Brad slightly smiled "I couldn't help but overhear that your wife is taking Morphine."
He sighed "she is because she was hurt but weather she is taking it or not really isn't any of your business."
Brad nodded "your right it's not but I heard you ask her if she needed it which means your the one who has the bottle not her."
Elliot frowned as his brow raised "what you getting at?"
Brad smiled "I wanna buy a couple off you, I'll pay 30 dollars per pill, she'll never notice that one or two are missing."
Elliot gave him a hard glare as he leaned into his ear "I'm not like that and I'd never sell Olivia's medicine, not to anyone but especially not to a little prick like you. That was a bold move asking me but I'll tell you right now Brad if you know what's good for you you'll stay away from my daughter."
Brad just smiled "like I said before I ain't scared of you, plain and simple I love Kath and I'll date her no matter what you say."
"Yeah we'll see about that," Elliot muttered as he stepped away from him and over to Olivia "honey I've gotta leave the living room I've gotta talk to Kathleen then we should all go."
"What happened?" she whispered.
Elliot leaned into her ear "he overheard us talking and tried to buy your pills, I've gotta tell Kathleen to break it off."
Olivia nodded her head "you want me to come with you as moral support?"
He shook his head "no baby I need you to stay here and keep Izzabella and Lizzie safe, I won't be long," he said softly as he gave her a quick kiss then walked off.
"Hey! You can't go back there," One of the tattooed men said.
Elliot glared "I need to speak with my daughter."
He nodded "well that's fine but it'll be when she wakes up, you are a guest in this house and your not welcome back there."
Elliot sighed "I'm not looking to start trouble here but if you try and stop me we'll have problems," he said as he began walking further.
The tattooed man nodded "then I guess we'll have problems," he said as he pulled his gun and held it to Elliot's temple.
Elliot went to try and strike him but when the gun touched his temple his fist froze in mid air "easy there you don't need to do this," he whispered.
The man nodded "I do you haven't given me much choice, there are things in there that you can't see!"
"I don't care what's in there all I want is to speak with my daughter that's it, everything else in there doesn't matter to me, what's your name bud?"
"None of your business," he said as Olivia glanced over at that moment seeing the gun on Elliot "Izzabella, sweetie I need you to go over to Mrs. Kathy okay?"
Izzabella nodded her head slightly and went over to her as she was looking out the window at the cityscape "okay your right it isn't my business I'm sorry I asked, look I don't have to go in there if you don't want me to you can wake her up and have her come out here," Elliot bargained.
"No!" the tattooed man shouted as he then took a couple deep breaths and lowered his voice "your just gonna tell her that Brad isn't good enough for her and he deserves a good girl like her, you'll expose his double life."
"Or maybe I'll give my blessing, you don't know what I'm gonna tell her but if you kill me she'll blame Brad for it, she'll know it was one of his men who took my life."
"I'm not stupid you old fool I know your not gonna give your damn blessing!" he said angrily as Olivia walked over "drop your gun, m-my husband means you no harm d-drop your gun."
"Back off lady this doesn't concern you," he demanded.
Olivia shook her head "I'm not leaving El," she said as Elliot looked to her "please baby, it's okay I need you in the living room with the kids."
Olivia shook her head and Elliot sighed as just then Brad ran over "drop your gun Darious."
"But boss he wanted in your bedroom, he was gonna tell Kathleen to leave you I could tell by the look on his face."
Brad nodded "and you really think holding a gun to his head is gonna change his opinion of me? It won't besides I already have her where I want her anyway," he said as he whispered the last part.
Darious sighed heavily as Kathy whipped her head around "and I approve, I can tell you're a great guy Brad and I know my daughter is happy with you, that's all I care about and it's all Elliot should care about," she said as her eyes were full of sincerity.
Brad nodded "I scored pretty good Darious, her mom approves that'll be enough, I appreciate you having my back but let him go."
Darious thought about it for a minute as he then looked to Olivia "do you approve?"
Olivia grimaced and Brad nodded "of course she doesn't she's married to her father," he said as two of the other men were playing dominos, one was just sat there watching and the other man turned on the cell jammer since Lizzie had noticed what was going on and had opened her phone to call the police.
"Izzabella sweetie we need to go," Lizzie whispered as her heart sank when the man who had turned on the cell jammer locked the door and stood in front of it "it's okay Darious Kathleen's love for me is strong, just drop the gun," Brad said.
Earl, the other man walked over then "we're in too deep man we need to kill them all if we don't they'll turn us in," he whispered.
He shook his head "we do that I lose Kathleen, no right now I'm the one who saved her family lets just end this before it gets ugly."
"It's already gotten ugly man, you should have never had them over here you should have met them at a public place."
Brad sighed "yeah maybe but it is what it is and we are where we are, we're not gonna kill them Earl."
Earl sighed "fine your the boss," he whispered as Darious still held his gun to Elliot's temple "please, please let Elliot go," Olivia pleaded.
"If she keeps this damn begging up it's gonna wake up Kathleen," Earl said as Brad nodded to him slightly and walked over to Darious "let him go Darious I have a plan just let him go so she'll shut up," he whispered.
Darrious nodded and finally moved his gun as Olivia raced into his arms "shhh, shhh, I'm safe sweetheart, I'm safe," Elliot soothed.
"I-I was afraid he'd kill you a-and we'd never see you again..."
"I know baby," he rubbed her back gently "I know but he didn't though and I'm safe," he soothed as Kathy rolled her eyes slightly watching the embrace "go on in there Elliot, wake your daughter and let her make her choice," Brad said after quickly talking with all of his men.
Elliot just nodded as once another minute or so passed and Olivia had composed herself he looked to Brad "will my family be safe while I go in an talk to her?"
Brad nodded "absolutely man Darious just got a bit out of line you all are in no danger here."
Yeah yeah you're not fooling me kid he thought to himself as he just nodded slightly, helped Olivia sit down then walked off.
"Mom what's wrong?" Lizzie asked Kathy quietly as Izzabella was in her arms and clinging tightly.
Kathy sighed "nothing honey," she whispered.
Lizzie shook her head "mom I saw you role your eyes earlier, why did you?"
Kathy sighed "she was just so clingy, I know she went through something horrible and I know it's wrong for me to think it but I can't help it."
Lizzie sighed "mom she stood there and watched while daddy almost died, I think you would have been upset too."
She sighed "maybe but he didn't and Jim would have told me to toughen up."
Lizzie sighed "mom you asked for the divorce nine years ago not him, Jim's a bad guy I know that, you should leave him but how he is has nothing to do with dad and Liv."
She nodded slightly and teared up "I know honey it's just I'm jealous, I know what I gave up nine years ago and I just want it back."
Lizzie nodded slightly "mom there are tuns of good men out there you just need to leave him and find the right one for you."
Kathy sighed "that's easier said than done baby," she said as Fred walked up to Lizzie "yo you should be a therapist sweet cheeks, you want another hotdog pretty thing?" he asked Izzabella.
Izzabella drew herself further into Lizzie's shirt as she ended up throwing up all over her in terror "good god," Fred muttered as Kathy looked to Lizzie "let me take her."
Lizzie slightly nodded and managed to hand her over despite Izzabella's insistent clinging and Kathy took her to get cleaned up "it's not true dad, I don't believe you Brad is a good guy," Kathleen said as her and Elliot were sitting on the edge of Brad's bed.
Elliot sighed "I'm sorry honey, I wish that was true but it's not. He is a gang leader and one of his men held a gun to my head."
"But Brad didn't hold the gun to your head?"
"He didn't no but his man did, he wanted to kill me to make sure the two of you stayed together and honey Brad tried to buy Olivia's pills from me."
Kathleen nodded "but he didn't get them right?"
"No he didn't I refused to sell them to him."
She nodded "then no harm was done dad he asked you, you said no and that was the end of it, he didn't steal them from you I'm staying with him."
"Katie please don't do this..." Elliot pleaded.
She sighed "I'm sorry dad but he asked me to marry him and I'm saying yes with or without your support..."