A/n: I forgot to add this to my last chapter before I posted it so I want to wish you all a late happy summer. Happy reading.
"This is the best barbecue I've ever had," Ryan told Elliot with a smile as he stood to throw his paper plate in the outdoor garbage can.
"Thanks buddy I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Hey let me take that you shouldn't be on your feet to much."
Ryan smiled some "my back doesn't hurt much anymore I'm tired of sitting still."
Olivia smiled "hey I get how you're feeling kiddo but let him be overprotective it'll help us both feel better."
He sighed "I just want everything to go back to how it was before."
"We do too buddy trust me and it will in time," Elliot said as Mrs. McGuire nodded "just think of this as a time where you don't have to pick up after yourself for a while you enjoy the thought of that don't you?"
Ryan smiled a bit and sat down as she smiled "mommy can we have cookies now?" Izzabella asked.
Olivia glanced over at her and Zara's plates as when she saw they were clean she smiled and nodded her head "thank you mommy!" she said with a smile.
"Your welcome baby," she said with a smile as when El sat back down beside her she leaned to whisper in his ear "have you heard from Amaro? Zara's been a little angel really but it's almost 7."
Elliot sighed "he won't be coming."
Olivia frowned "why not? Did something happen?"
He shook his head "a guy escaped from Rikers, kidnapped his 18 month old son SVU's hunting him down."
Olivia sighed heavily and nodded with a deep frown "I've worked SVU for 15 years and there are still crimes that I don't completely understand."
Elliot nodded sadly "I know baby same here," he said as Ryan smiled brightly at them oblivious "you guys... You guys got it?"
"Got what buddy?" Olivia asked.
"The cookie dough. I-I tried to bring it but never knew if you actually got it."
Elliot smiled "we sure did we got lucky and someone put it in the freezer for us."
He smiled and nodded relieved as before to awful long the whole pan of cookies were gone, everyone having loved the peanutbutter chocolate chunk "Izzabella! You wanna play hide and go seek again?" Zara asked.
"Yeah!" she said with a bright smile and both of them stood up as Elliot looked to them both "wait one second."
Both girls turned to face him and he smiled at them "both of you have fun and no playing on the deck okay?"
"Okay," they said as they nodded and ran off "why don't we all play trouble? Or life or something?" Lizzie suggested.
Everyone smiled and Elliot looked to her "our board games are in the closet in your bedroom, here's your key to the house," he said figuring that was a good time to give it to her.
"Thanks dad," she said with a smile and he nodded "your welcome honey, try not to lose it but if you ever do just make sure you tell me okay?"
She nodded "I will I promise," she said as she headed towards the house and everyone listened to the radio while they waited.
Around an hour passed with them playing several short games "I hate to end this but it's about time for the little ones to get inside," Elliot said.
The McGuires nodded understanding "we've had a great evening with you guys tonight," Dana said as Olivia yawned.
"We've enjoyed it too I'm glad you came," Elliot said while reaching to rub Olivia's shoulder as an unfamiliar car pulled into the driveway.
"Maybe we can do it again then sometime?" Tim asked as he helped Ryan up and Dana took him home.
Elliot nodded "I don't see it being an issue," he said as he frowned when he felt Olivia tapping his arm franticly "what is it baby?" he asked giving her his full attention.
"A guy I've never seen before just parked on the edge of our driveway, he's in a jeep wrangler and it looks like he's staring at something."
Elliot nodded "okay baby, okay it's alright Izzabella Zara come here!"
They ran over quickly hearing the urgency in his tone "is this about the man in the truck? Is he bad?" Zara asked.
"I don't think so sweetheart we are giving some stuff away out there, just to be safe though Lizzie's gonna take you both inside," he said as Lizzie nodded her head having been listening and stood up.
The girls nodded and El looked back to Olivia "why don't you go with them baby?"
She shook her head "I can't if he's dangerous you shouldn't be alone with him."
"I'll stay with him, I've got this too so don't worry," Tim said pulling a knife out of his pocket.
"T-Thank you Tim," she said as in their conversation they hadn't seen the man approach "excuse me guys?" he asked.
"Can I help you?" Elliot asked as Olivia stayed still and Lizzie herded the kids inside.
The man nodded "is it for real?"
"Is what for real?"
"Are the mattress, headboard and footboard all free?"
Elliot nodded "they are we just bought new ones."
"Ohh thank god I was convinced it had to be some kind of a joke! My wife will be so happy we've been married for a month now and she's been bugging me constantly to go with her and buy an upgrade! Thank you thank you thank you she's gonna smile so much!"
"It's not a problem man I hope you both enjoy it once you get it home I found it to be really comfortable."
He smiled "I'm positive we will. It's clean right?"
Elliot nodded "I made sure it was before I covered it up, take it all out whenever you like the quicker it's all out of here the better."
He nodded "I'll try and load it all onto my truck now. If I can't though would it be alright if I come back tomorrow with a trailer."
Elliot nodded "absolutely but there's a chance it won't still be here we want everything gone as soon as possible so I'm gonna let anybody who has a way to take it get what they want."
He nodded "I understand," he said as Elliot nodded and smiled "have a nice night," he said turning the radio off and grabbing the board games.
"You as well," the man said walking off and Tim went with him to help him "you ready to head in Liv?"
Olivia nodded with a smile as Elliot nodded, kissed her right hand then took it as they walked in together.
"Izzabella Zara time for baths then bed girls," Elliot said once he had sat the board games down.
Izzabella stood and walked over to him knowing the routine already "can I call daddy first? Tell him goodnight?" Zara asked.
Elliot nodded "go over there to the couch where Liv is she'll dial him for you okay?"
Zara nodded with a smile and walked off as Elliot smiled and took Izzabella upstairs "did you have fun tonight baby?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she said with a bright smile "I like Zara."
Elliot smiled "I'm really glad you do kiddo friends are important."
Izzabella just smiled brightly and nodded as she got into the tub and they went about her almost nightly bath routine.
"We're gonna do your story together tonight. Mr. Nick does read Zara bedtime stories right?" Elliot asked while blow-drying Izzabella's hair.
"Mmhmm I think he read something called Charlotte's web."
Elliot nodded "we don't have that one here you're a little young for it."
Izzabella just nodded, smiled and yawned "you think you'll make it long enough for a story?" he asked chuckling lightly.
"Mmhmm," she said as her eyes closed and he just smiled, picked her up and tucked her into bed.
"Izzabella's out fell asleep in the bathroom, did you guys get ahold of Nick?" Elliot asked Liv once he was back downstairs.
"No we didn't," she said clearly annoyed.
Elliot nodded "that alone wouldn't usually frustrate you this much so what's wrong?"
She sighed "not in front of Zara she doesn't need to hear this."
"Okay," Elliot said nodding as he saw Zara looking sad on the love seat "I'm sorry he didn't answer sweetie," he whispered.
"I-It's okay Mr. Elliot Liv tried a lot of times and called a lot of people."
Elliot nodded, sighed and rubbed her shoulder for a minute "why don't I show you upstairs and you can take your bath while me and Liv talk okay?"
"Okay," she said following him up there as once he showed her where everything was he left her to bathe alone and went back down to talk to Liv.
"What happened Liv? Is Amaro hurt?" Elliot asked sitting down beside her.
Olivia shook her head and chuckled frustratedly "no El he's just fine."
Elliot nodded relieved "that's a good thing then isn't it?"
Olivia sighed "it is."
Elliot nodded slightly "lets start at the beginning Liv. Tell me why your angry."
She nodded "Zara asked me to call him for her so I did 3 times. We didn't get any answer and he has a terrible habit of letting his phone die at work so I called Cragen, I figured if he was at the precinct he'd let Zara speak to him"-
Elliot nodded "and he didn't? That's ridiculous I'll call him myself."
Olivia shook her head "Cragen told me he had sent him and Rollins to the crib 2 hours ago to get some rest so I dialed Rollins."
Elliot nodded "was her phone dead too?"
She shook her head "far from it. She answered while they were in the middle of..." Olivia shook her head "of"-
Elliot nodded slightly "I get what your saying Liv and I know you don't wanna here this but who they see is there business."
She nodded "I know that El i could care less if they see each other I'm pissed because they couldn't stop for long enough for him to tell his daughter goodnight."
"She didn't... She didn't pass the phone over to him?"
"Nope just told me they were busy I doubt he even knew who had called or why not that she gave me any time to explain my reason for calling. I got a moan and I'm busy that's it."
Elliot nodded and frowned deeply "and you're sure she was with Amaro?"
Olivia nodded "they've been hooking up for over a month and Cragen said they were the only ones in the crib."
"Wow," Elliot said as he just shook his head "I'll be completely honest with you El the only reason why I think Rollins is still working there is because she's good at her job and Cragen has a soft spot for addicts."
Elliot's brow rose slightly "she had a gambling problem and Don gave her a second chance because of his problem with alcoholism."
Elliot nodded his head understanding and sighed "she's not helping herself when it comes to getting back into your good graces is she Liv."
"No," she said simply as Elliot just pulled her close and held her tight as she melted into him.
A few minutes later he pulled back slightly so he could look at her "maybe we should try calling her back? Maybe they're umm, done now?"
Olivia nodded "I'll try," she said grabbing her phone and dialing as Zara walked down the stairs, done with her bath and doing her best to keep the towel around her body as she had forgotten her clothes downstairs.
Olivia sighed heavily when she got her voicemail "Rollins this is Olivia Stabler. I actually did have a reason to call Amaro's daughter is staying here, his phone died again and she wanted to tell him goodnight. At this point it's pretty much to late for that but have him call us in the morning, please. Thank you," she said hanging up right when Zara's towel fell off her body, her hands to full with her pajama's to keep it up.
"Ohh no," she muttered embarrassed as she bent down to pick it up but dropped her pajama's "it's okay sweetie let me help," Olivia said as she moved from Elliot's arms, tucked the towel around her chest then handed her her pajama's.
"T-Thank you Liv. Y-You're the only person that saw right?" she whispered.
Olivia nodded her head and Zara nodded relieved and ran to the closest bathroom to get changed.
"Damn poor thing it went right over my head I didn't even think," Elliot said once Liv was back cuddled in his arms.
"It's alright El things like that happen she's okay everything's good."
He sighed "I know I just hate that it happened and she ended up embarrassed."
Olivia nodded "I know," she said softly as Lizzie walked over "hey Liv will you send me some slotomania cards? I know you play."
She nodded "in a bit sweetie," she said as Zara then walked into the living room again, this time fully dressed "lets get your hair blow-dried and you in bed honey," Elliot said.
She nodded slightly "where do I go?" she asked.
"We'll just go upstairs to the bathroom you just used if that's alright?"
"Okay," she said nodding as Elliot smiled, kissed Liv's temple then followed her upstairs.
"So everything considered Zara have you had a good day here? Would you want to ever come back?" he asked as he blow-dried her hair and used the fingers of his free hand to gently work out her tangles.
Zara nodded her head with a smile "mmhmm you guys are really fun and it's not your fault that I've been sad because daddy didn't say goodbye or answer his phone."
Elliot smiled some "well I'm really glad to hear it because Izzabella's loved having you here. When I talk to your dad tomorrow I'm gonna talk to him too about today okay?"
She frowned slightly "you're not mad at him are you?"
"No honey I just want to make sure that he understands how you felt today and keeps it in mind from here on out," he said as when his phone rang her face lit up "I bet that's him Mr. Elliot!" she said happily.
Elliot turned off the blow-dryer and grabbed his phone from his pocket mom, the screen read and he shook his head apologetically "Stabler," he answered putting the phone on speaker and turning the blow-dryer back on low.
"Hi Elliot what's that noise?"
"The blow-dryer is everything okay?"
"Yes yes everything's great here son I just wanted to make sure you guys were safe."
"We are mama I promise we're back home."
"Then you guys need to stay safe I just finished watching the news and Elliot it's gonna be really bad."
Elliot grabbed his phone then and took it off speaker not wanting Zara to become alarmed "what is mama? I don't understand."
She sighed heavily "I take it you're still not watching the weather. You should watch the weather every day Elliot you never know when it might turn bad."
"Yeah and half the time the weather guys get it wrong anyway. What's going on are they saying something I should know?"
"Yes Nu York is supposed to get strong thunderstorms between 1 and 7 in the morning tomorrow."
"What part of Nu York mama there are five different boroughs just around here."
"Queens honey, so please, please stay safe Elliot use your basement if it gets bad and make sure you have lots of candles just incase the power goes out."
"I will mama don't worry I've done this many a times before, I do need to go I need to put Izzabella's friend to bed but I appreciate you letting me know."
"No problem Elliot. Call me after it all passes please."
"I will mama I promise. Love you."
"Love you too, I'm glad Izzabella has a friend too that little girl really needed one."
"I know I know me too, night mama," he said as he hung up, sighed then quickly checked Zara's hair "I think it's dry enough sweetheart," he said with a smile.
She nodded and slightly smiled then her face grew concerned "what was bad?"
"She's just worried that we might get a little bad weather, don't worry sweetheart I'm sure it'll pass us buy and if it doesn't this house is very safe."
She nodded her head slightly "o-okay, where will I sleep tonight?"
"I was thinking we could put an air mattress in Izzabella's room for you that'd be more comfortable than the couch."
Zara nodded her head and smiled as Elliot smiled too and went and dug it out of the upstairs closet.
"Okay this way sweetie," he said with a smile leading her to Izzabella's room once it had been set up.
Zara followed him in there, laid down on it right away then yawned "would you like for me to tuck you in?" he whispered.
Zara nodded then yawned again as Elliot gently tucked her in "good night sweetheart, sleep well we'll be in the next room over if you need us."
Zara just smiled up at him sleepily and happily and he kissed her temple then walked out.
"She out?" Olivia asked quietly seeing him walking down.
"She's out. Why you whispering?" he asked curiously.
Liv smiled "Liz's asleep on the love seat."
"Ahh," he said as he chuckled slightly and went over to her "you should head to bed baby you'll be more comfortable there," he said softly.
Lizzie groaned slightly at having been awoken "I know Liz I'm sorry I'm sorry you'll thank me tomorrow though.."
She just nodded slightly and staggered to her room as he watched closely to make sure she didn't fall then stepped out once she was in bed "have you heard anything at all about us getting severe weather in the morning?" he asked Liv.
"No have you?"
Elliot nodded "mama called me a little bit ago to tell me about it. She seemed really worried about it but you know how she gets."
Olivia nodded "I'll check the forecast, let you know what I find."
Elliot nodded "I'm gonna go ahead and bring our new bedroom stuff into the house if it does rain I don't want it to ruin it."
"Are you sure you feel up to it El?"
Elliot nodded "I'm only gonna lean it all against the bedroom wall baby I just need it all in the house."
She nodded "as long as you don't leave me by myself to work in the middle of the night again tonight."
Elliot kissed her temple "that was just a one time thing baby I promise."
She nodded, slightly smiled and began googling the weather as he smiled and took his opportunity to sneak away as he brought the three items in as quickly as he could then sat down beside Liv "what did the forecast say?"
"We have a 100% chance of rain tomorrow and a 60% chance of thunderstorms in the morning."
Elliot nodded "alright that's alright it shouldn't be nearly as bad as mom made it sound."
She nodded "maybe not," she said as she yawned slightly and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Elliot smiled, kissed her head then stroked her hair for a minute "you ready for bed baby?"
"To comfortable," she murmured contentedly.
"We'll be more comfortable in the bed," he whispered leaning down and kissing her lips "want me to carry you?"
Olivia shook her head with a smile and raised off his shoulder "I think you've exercised your arms enough for a little while El," she said standing up and he smiled, kissed her again then followed her upstairs.
June 8th, 2:58 AM.
Elliot woke to the shrill ringing of a phone as he sighed, moved his hand from Olivia's hair and blindly grabbed it.
Rollins, the screen read and he sighed again "Olivia Stabler's phone," he mumbled quietly knowing it was hers.
"Hi can I speak to Olivia please?"
"Not unless it's an emergency she's sleeping do you not realize what time it is?"
"No..." Rollins said sheepishly "I-I just checked my voicemails. I found one from her and I wanna talk to her about it?"
Elliot sighed "I know the voicemail you're talking about call back at a reasonable hour and I'm sure she'll be happy to talk with you."
Rollins sighed "I-I'm sorry it's just I only checked my voicemails now and I need her to know that I didn't know Zara was there and that I'm sorry."
"I'll let her know in the morning," Elliot whispered.
"But if I could just tell her now? She already hates me enough as it is I-I need to set this right."
"I'm not waking her up detective Rollins this isn't an emergency, Zara's fine everyone's fine it can wait till morning."
"Please? I know you have compassion somewhere in you. That you've lost a friend sometime in your life that you wanted forgiveness from everyone has."
Elliot sighed "stop begging me you're not gonna change my mind."
Rollins sighed heavily "but this is really important to me..."
"And it's really important to me that Olivia gets her sleep. You ask me if I have compassion in me? Well I do and it's hers, it goes to her and our kids. Take a look at the clock and call back in a few hours," he said as he ended the call, sighed heavily and let his head fall back onto the pillow.
4:35 AM.
The sound of hale, thunder and gusting wind was loud and Olivia's grip involuntarily tightened on Elliot as her head stirred on his chest.
Elliot stroked her hair while still mostly asleep "you're safe baby," he murmured lowly.
"I know El," she whispered quietly and not loud enough to wake him as the way he sensed small traces of unease in her amazed her sometimes.
She tried to fall back asleep but ended up not being able to right away as she raised her head slightly and looked out the window at the storm.
Wow she thought to herself as she saw a branch lying in the middle of the yard and the small table which was on the deck turned over this storm must have been going on for a while, she realized as she grabbed her phone and quietly pulled up the radar.
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for the following cities until 5:15 AM today, Elmont, Queens, great neck, valley stream and Linbrooke. If you are in a mobile home you are advised to seek shelter in a storm cellar at this time, as as soon as she finished reading it the storm sirens began going off and she sighed heavily "El? El I need you to wake up honey," she whispered.
Elliot stirred slightly "what's wrong baby?"
"We're under a severe thunderstorm warning we all need to head down to the basement El."
Elliot nodded and rose up as the house shook slightly then grew dark "oh no..." she whispered.
"Everything's gonna be alright baby we're all gonna stay safe I promise," he said as she nodded then sighed when her phone rang "hello?" she answered.
"Hey Liv it's Don. Are you guys seeing the storm? It's really bad there in Queens."
"We are we're about to wake up the kids and go downstairs."
"Okay good great. I don't wanna hold you up just stay safe please."
"We will we're all in great hands with El."
"Yes you are, call when it's passed," he said hanging up quickly and Olivia sighed turning on her phones flashlight "I'm gonna go get the little ones will you go wake up Lizzie?" Elliot asked.
Olivia nodded and left the bedroom "I'm scared..." Izzabella whispered in her room having cuddled up with Zara when it got bad.
"M-Me too," she whispered as they then heard the door open "girls," Elliot said softly to test if they were awake or not.
Zara's head quickly rose and Elliot's heart melted seeing the two girls cuddled together "we need to go down to the basement we'll all be safe down there okay?"
"O-Okay," Zara said and Izzabella reached out for him "it's gonna be okay girls I promise," he said softly as he picked her up, grabbed a blanket and left the bedroom.
"Lay them down right there sweetie, thank you," Olivia was telling Lizzie as Elliot and the girls entered the basement and they were making a pallet out of 2 blankets.
Lizzie just nodded as the house shook a little more and Izzabella gripped Elliot's shirt tightly "I've got you honey you're safe I promise."
She nodded very slightly and he sat down on the blanket, letting her stay in his arms as Lizzie sighed exhaustedly and Olivia found herself sitting in between Elliot and Zara.
The storm got worse and worse, finally being upgraded to a tornado warning and everyone huddled closer together into a sort of circle and held hands "we're gonna get through this," Elliot assured the kids gently.
"Y-You promise? i-It's so dark a-and I don't wanna die."
"Zara I promise honey, I promise something would have to happen to me before you guys get hurt."
She nodded slightly as the house shook a little more then they heard the sound of breaking glass upstairs "oh no..." Olivia whispered.
"It's okay baby, whatever that was it's okay we'll replace it I don't care about material things right now just all of you," he whispered back.
We don't have the money to replace anything else she thought to herself as she let herself nod her head and they all went back into their weary silence.
"Okay I think it's passed can we go back to bed now?" Lizzie asked.
"Lets wait about five minutes honey just to make sure."
She nodded slightly and Olivia scooted back a little "you okay Liv" Elliot asked.
She nodded "just feeling a little claustrophobic."
Elliot nodded slightly and stroked her knuckles with his thumb "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"It's okay El," she said as she then turned to face him "you know whatever was damaged up there we don't have the money to replace it right?" she whispered.
He squeezed her hand gently but gave her a grim nod "I-I may have to go back to work early and work overtime," she whispered, her voice trembling.
He shook his head adamantly "you won't have to do that baby I promise."
"I-If I don't though you will."
He shook his head again "if worse comes to worse I have a perfect credit score and we can get a bank lone. We'll be alright."
Olivia nodded slightly as Lizzie then stood up "I love you guys but the storm's over so I'm gonna go lay back down," she said as she yawned heavily.
"Wait, wait baby please I need to check the upstairs first," Elliot said.
Lizzie just nodded and sat back down "I'll go with you," Olivia said.
Elliot frowned slightly but she gave him a pleading look "o-okay," he whispered as he put Izzabella down then they went upstairs.
"You were brave baby I know being in a dark basement was triggering," he said as they assessed the hall and kitchen for damage using their flashlights.
She sighed slightly "a little but you helped, these rooms look okay," she said relieved.
Elliot nodded as they walked into the living room and Olivia chuckled slightly "what's funny?" Elliot asked.
"Just that... Just that this is what fell, what I freaked out over," she said as she pointed at an empty glass picture frame.
Elliot chuckled slightly "I guess we did get lucky didn't we."
Olivia smiled "we did," she said as her phone began to ring "hello?" she answered.
"Hey Liv it's Amaro I'm calling to check on you guys?"
She sighed "the tornado has passed me and El are checking the house for damage now."
"O-Okay is Zara alright?"
"She is she's in the basement with Lizzie and Izzabella we tried to call you all evening yesterday."
"I'm sorry Liv I really am my phone died and we've been looking for that missing boy and his dad and"-
And you and Rollins made time to get it on she thought to herself as she just nodded "it's fine Nick it happens to the best of us. You know I think she'd really like to talk to you."
Amaro nodded "of course, of course I have a couple minutes."
Olivia nodded "great," she said as Elliot walked over to her "the upstairs is fine besides one loose banister rail I'll fix it tomorrow."
Olivia nodded "will you call Queens utilities El? I would but"-
He smiled and nodded "thank you El," she said.
"Your welcome baby, I'm headed down to get the kids,"
Olivia nodded and focused back on the phone call once he had stepped away "did you guys find the little boy?"
"No not yet, we're still looking though."
Olivia just nodded "I hope you find him," she said as everyone came up from the basement "mommy, daddy can I sleep with you?" Izzabella asked.
"We will I have faith in it," Amaro said as Olivia nodded to Izzabella "Zara sweetie your dad's on the phone would you like to talk to him?"
"Please?" she asked eagerly running over and she handed her the phone while watching Lizzie go straight to bed.
"555:512:5212.
Yes."
Elliot sighed "no.
Yes," there was another pause "yes," as a minute later he sighed and hung up "they received my report," he told Olivia.
She nodded relieved "El what are we gonna do with Zara? Izzabella's sleeping with us and I don't know that it's right of us to make her sleep by herself in the dark."
He sighed "she can cram in with us as far as I'm concerned I'm just worried she won't be comfortable with that."
Olivia nodded that making perfect sense "we could put her beside me maybe or we could take the air mattress in there."
Elliot smiled "either one baby,- he said as Zara slowly walked over using the flashlight and gave Olivia her phone back "did you have a good talk with your dad?" she asked.
"Yeah," she said with a smile as she then frowned "why's it so dark?"
"Because the storm that came through made our house lose power, Mr. Elliot called the power company though and it should be back on in a while."
She nodded slightly "c-can I stay awake until it comes back on? I don't like the dark."
Olivia frowned "you need a little more rest sweetie and it might take a few hours for it to come back on. You can lay beside me though if that would make you feel more comfortable."
Zara nodded gratefully Olivia smiled and took her hand "come on sweetie," she said with a smile as Elliot stayed behind for a minute with Izzabella to call his mother and let her know that they were safe.
A few minutes later the four of them found themselves crammed together in the full sized bed as Izzabella was cuddled into El's left arm, Liv into his right with her head on his chest and Zara cuddled against her right side with her head on a pillow as they all ended up falling asleep quickly together.
June 8th, 10:04 AM.
"Elliot... Elliot no Elliot no..." Olivia whimpered in her sleep as she was in the middle of a nightmare.
"Shhh, shhh," he murmured soothingly and quietly as he stroked her hair and hoped the girls wouldn't hear.
"S-Stay with me stay with me d-don't go don't give up..."
"Shhh, shhh I'm right here baby, right here," he whispered as Zara laid there pretending to be asleep and listened closely.
"Y-You can't give up El w-we've made it this far w-we're almost out of here," she whispered desperately and in a panic as her expression locked in terror for a moment then her eyes shot open and she found herself in a dark room crammed in between several people "E-Elliot? Elliot where are you? A-Are you here?" she whispered.
Elliot resumed stroking her hair "I'm right here baby you had a nightmare," he whispered as he gave her a gentle kiss on the temple.
She nodded slightly "i-it felt so real, l-lewis had us a-and h-he shot you and made us go through a maize with dead ends and"- she whispered quickly not realizing in her current state that there were kids there much less that one of them was awake and listening.
"Shhh, shhh we're safe baby I promise you that. Can you take some deep breaths for me?"
Olivia did that for a minute and became a little calmer "h-he had shot you where the shoulder and neck meets then he had us walking in circles in this maze thing in a warehouse. I-It looked a lot like where the shootout with Gitanno happened t-then when we were right at the exit h-he shot you in the heart then I woke up."
"I'm so sorry baby, so so sorry we're both alive and safe though I promise he's in Rikers where he belongs."
Olivia nodded slightly and burrowed herself into him more as she then saw Izzabella and grew panicked "it's alright honey they're both sleeping they didn't hear us."
Olivia nodded slightly and sighed relieved "I love you El," she whispered.
"I love you too beautiful more than anything in the world and nothing's gonna take me away from you I promise."
She smiled a bit and kissed his chest "I'm gonna try and fall back asleep I'm sure it's still early."
Elliot nodded "me too I'm gonna stay right here."
Olivia smiled and nodded slightly as Elliot began giving her a gentle neck massage and it didn't take her long at all to fall back asleep.
12:15 PM.
"Mr. Elliot I'm really hungry," Zara whispered as she tapped his arm slightly hoping to wake him as she had just been laying there since 10.
Elliot made a small grunting noise and pulled Olivia closer to him "Mr. Elliot..." Zara whined.
His eyes finally opened slightly "what's wrong sweetie?" he asked groggily.
"I'm really hungry."
He sighed "I'm sorta squeezed in here honey can you wait a little while longer?"
"I-I guess so but it's 12:16."
"What?" he asked quietly in shock.
She just nodded slightly and pointed at his phone which somehow she could see "alright sweetheart alright I'll figure out a way to get you something okay?" he said as Izzabella's eyes opened "morning kiddo," he whispered.
"Morning daddy," she said brightly and Olivia stretched "mmmm," she moaned contentedly.
Elliot smiled down at her and gave her a couple angel kisses while Zara and Izzabella talked animatedly "I guess the power's still out?" Olivia asked quietly after giving him a kiss of her own.
Elliot nodded "I figure something happened to a transformer or our power lines during the storm."
She nodded slightly and sighed as Lizzie opened the door to their room "thank goodness you guys are okay I was getting worried."
"We are honey I promise it looks like you've been awake for a while."
She nodded "since 9:30 it hasn't stopped raining once. I fixed myself a peanutbutter and banana sandwich for breakfast I hope that was okay?"
"Of course it was honey you're always welcome to anything that's here," he said as Liv nodded in agreement "but it sounds like it would have tasted terrible."
She shook her head with a smile "it was actually really good. Do you want me to make you guys one."
"No thanks baby," he said tenderly as Olivia nodded again in agreement "I'll try one," Zara said eagerly.
Lizzie nodded with a smile "honey be careful down there we don't want you to accidentally hurt or cut yourself," Olivia said.
"I'm okay Liv I promise I have my phone as a flashlight."
Olivia nodded and slightly smiled as once she left it didn't take them very long to follow as they went to go have a cold breakfast in the dark.