Hi, so here is another chapter, I hope you enjoy this one, I think maybe two more of the New York stuff and then we are back in Chicago. I hope you enjoy this chapter and stand by for the next one.

Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer-Nothing more is mine.

I am thinking one more if not two more chapters before I pause before Christmas. As always with Christmas I tend to do a double update.

And again Massive TRIGGER WARNINGS for this chapter and this story as a whole.


Stand And Unfold Yourself

Chapter 15-For She's Only A Bird In A Gilded Cage

Bridget and Hank share a moment, Olivia arrives and the case inevitably has to be discussed. Erin also arrives.


21st November 2014


"Why do you want to catch them?"

It was a question that was thrown into the room like a hand grenade with the pin pulled out.

Bridget had gotten up and gone downstairs. Jay had gone first and it had been him Hank suspected that had told the nurses to do one so that when Bridget went back to her room she was alone.

She was lying on the bed now her hands on her stomach gripping the fabric of her dress and Hank wanted to reach out and take one of her hands in his own but he didn't want to touch her without her consent. Everything that he had taken for granted was gone now, the easy touching that happened between families was gone and everything was being done at a snail's pace. Bridget was staring at the ceiling. It was the first words she had spoken since she had come downstairs and it threw him into honesty.

"Because I want to stop them"

"Why?"

"Because they hurt you. They hurt a lot of other children. Children who did nothing wrong. Because they beat you and…raped you and…because I am a cop"

Bridget stared at the ceiling a little and…

"I thought you were dead"

"I know"

"They told me you were dead"

"I know"

"Should have figured you'd never die"

He smiled at that though she didn't.

"I don't know how much use I can be to you" she said staring at the ceiling again. "I don't know how much I can tell and there's stuff I don't…I don't want to remember"

"I know about George"

That did shock her. She turned to look at him then pushing herself of the bed. Hank went to help her and then pulled back suddenly unsure of what was acceptable and what wasn't.

"How the fuck do you know about him?"

"Because I'm that fucking good at my job" he said swearing right back at her. "And because I told you, I never ever stopped looking for you. And so it was easy to find George. Once I had that photo—"

"What photo"

Oh shit.

"We…a firehouse in Chicago responded to a fire and found a man with a box of photo's of…children…you were one of them. Does the name Andrew Llewellyn mean anything to you?"

She shook her head.

"He had your photo, we knew he had connections here, then I found the youth centre, then I found George and he…he told me. About…about what happened, even before you left the city."

"Where is he now?"

"County lockup"

"You didn't kill him"

"I tried"

This time her face spasmed and it really did look like a smile, something that had cracked through the mask and it was proof, living proof that his girl was somewhere buried down there perhaps beaten, perhaps a little bit broken but never, ever gone even though the smile disappeared as soon as it hit her face.

"I was heading home you know" she said quietly. "Before…hot fucking chocolate that was all it was. I didn't even see him slip anything in…just…juts remember afterwards. But I know that I was on my way home. Too cold to be dramatic"

Well that was something anyway.

He didn't know what it meant, that she had been on her way home and all it had taken was one guy with an offer to a cold upset eleven year old. One monster who had stood in the way. But he knew it was something that he would unpiece later when he was alone. When he was riddled with enough self-loathing to deal with it in private. Then he would process that.

She was on her way home.

Hell was too good a place for guys like George.

"I was working with Manhattan SVU. They have a boss too, she's gonna want to ask you some questions. She wants these guys as bad as I do."

"Just for different reasons"

"Yeah well…they have another kid"

"There's always another kid"

And Hank couldn't argue with that armchair philosophy.

"Yeah, I suppose there is. And I don't pretend to believe that shutting down this group magically fixes anything but these guys, they have been operating for nearly twenty years and if there is a chance we can stop them—"

"I am on the internet?" she asked suddenly and Hank felt a swooping feeling in his stomach. He thought he was going to be sick but he had ate so little in the past couple of days that he didn't think there was anything left in him to throw up.

"No" Hank said vehemently. "No you are not…they…they didn't film you did they?"

He didn't know what was worse, the fact that he was asking these questions or the fact that she was thinking while she had to answer them.

"No" she said shaking her head and the limp dark hair fell onto her shoulder.

"I didn't think so"

"Yeah well…I didn't exactly play nice down there"

"That's my girl"

She flashed him another look and then…

"What happens afterwards"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…what? I just come home and we forget it happened and we just…we just what?"

"What do you mean?" he asked again. And here he was aware he had to be blindingly careful because if there was ever an opportunity to get this completely wrong then this was it.

"I mean" she said as if she was choosing her words carefully. "I mean do you even want me back home? I mean…I…It's not like I'm the same person I was before I left you know?"

It floored him a little because of all the things he had been expecting that had not been one of them however experience with Bridget before all of this had started and certainly experience with Erin afterwards had taught him to not show on his face that his heart was at his feet.

"I know that"

"I mean what do you want to know…about how many men raped me?"

Hank tried very hard not to flinch.

He was not entirely sure he was successful.

"Bridget—"

"I mean—"

"BRIDGET"

He didn't shout. It was more of a forceful use of her name but it shut her up on the spot.

"Bridget I thought you were dead"

"So—"

So?

Was she for real?

"Bridget…Justin and I and Erin and…we thought you were dead. And for me it was the worst feeling in the world because I had no idea what had happened to you. I didn't…I told you to go"

"Yeah you did, and I went"

But Hank was already shaking his head.

"I was a drunken mess back then" he said needing her to understand that this was his fault in it's entirety. "I was a drunken mess that didn't…I didn't see you, I didn't see that you were suffering, everyone else did and I was so wrapped up in my own process and my own problems that I didn't see that I had a child at home. You were a child Bridget, a child and I let you down and…it should have never gotten to the point where I told you to go and it should have never have gotten to the point where you thought it was okay. And that…and everything else that follows is on me"

She watched him for a second and then…

"You really never stopped?"

"Bridge—" and here he stepped forwards and he saw that though she white-knuckled the bed she didn't look away.

"Bridgey, I…I never ever stopped. I was prepared to keep looking for you until I was dead. I admit I didn't think you were alive. And I admit I should have branched out more but I just…I just…your my baby Bridget, how could I ever stop looking for you?"

"But…but I'm ruined" she said as it was a long plea and yeah no…no he couldn't…he couldn't do it anymore.

He crossed the room and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Jesus, you don't really think I care about that do you? And your not…your not your still Bridget, you are still Bridget. You are still the girl that I love, the girl Justin loves, the girl Erin loves. And you are not some ruined victim you are a fucking survivor and I am so fucking proud of you"

She looked at him for a long moment and then her face crumpled and he hugged her. He tried to say a lot in that hug that he couldn't say out loud as she cried herself out for the second time. It had never been easy for him, he had never been the guy for big emotional crying jags but here he was sobbing his heart out with her because it was relief, sheer bone aching relief.

"Hank?"

Jay standing behind the door playing deaf wonderfully and having dealt with Justin was there. His eyes were fixed on the monitor and Hank had never loved a guy for giving another guy some privacy more.

"Yeah Jay?"

"Justin's gone to pick Erin up at the airport. Benson is here"

"Okay"

Olivia Benson came into the room her hair windswept but looking professional as ever. She took in the room, him, his daughter and seemed to understand.

"Hi Hank" she said her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "Hey Bridget, my name's Olivia. It's really good to meet you"

Bridget nodded eyeing her with tired eyes.

"Has your Dad filled you in?"

"Yeah"

Olivia nodded. "Anything you know that can stop these guys could help" she said gently. "We…I know you want to go at your own pace but they are going to sell this boy…Henry…in a few hours so anything—"

"Bob Clinton"

The name dropped into the room like a bomb about to go off. Hank was aware that both Jay and Olivia were sending him side-eyes but he had no idea where that had come from. Bridget was staring at her knees and then with a superhuman effort she forced herself to look them all dead in the eye and Hank had thought he was proud of her before but he had never been so fucking proud of anyone as he had of her because he knew what that look meant. That was the fighting look of his wife. That was the look she had given him when she had taken cancer dead on and his daughter had inherited when she had taken these monsters dead on and they might have put her in a cage but his baby girl was breaking free.

Shit he was losing it here.

"Whose Bob Clinton?"

That was Olivia. Jay he knew was already on his phone.

"He's…I don't know…second in command I guess. Don't ask me who runs it because I don't know his face. I only met him a handle of times and God knows he just…he liked to watch mostly. Until…"

She trailed off for a second and then—

"Until?"

Because he needed to know, he had to know. He had to know everything so he could take on this pain so she didn't have to.

Because he was her Dad and that was his job.

She looked him dead in the eye then and her resemblance to her mother was stark and shocking.

"Until he told me you were dead. Bob was supposed to break me, did a terrible job of it to. And then he came and he told me that you and Justin were dead and then he just…well…I kinda blocked it out really, what was one more man on top of me at that point" she said it with a little shrug and oh he was going to be sick.

Tempering down his vomit with a great deal of skill he nodded.

Bridget just shrugged again.

"I know Bob" was all she said. "I don't know how it works though, they…Bob kinda kept me to himself after that, a victory prize or something and then he rented me out to whomever was willing to pay for it. Should have known he was always gonna go for the cheaper option" she said with a little smirk. "Couldn't let the cop's daughter go free. I might accidently figure out you were alive"

So she had killed the man who was going to murder her then.

That shouldn't make him quite the proud father but it did, oh how it did.

"Bridget do you remember anything about how long it would take you or—"

"No" Bridget said flatly. "You could ask Jocelyn if you wanted though I doubt she's gonna do me a favour. I did make it so she got punishment with me at the end…I don't know what you know or what happened or what didn't happen but I know enough to know that if you find Bob Clinton he will flip on the head of your snake or whatever"

There was the sound of running feat then and the curtain ripped open. Erin out of breath her hair in a loose pony and Justin behind her.

Erin took one look at Bridget and went white around the mouth. Justin shot Hank a look and Hank couldn't…he just…

"I'm gonna go get my guys looking on that" he said quietly. "Justin can stay with you if you want. Or I can stay…"

If she asked him to stay he would, if she asked him to go to Africa he would.

Bridget was watching Erin however. She gave another little shrug and Hank took that to mean she was okay and he walked out of the hospital room, down the corridor outside to the fresh air and threw up on the street.

Gently he felt someone touch his shoulder.

"What?"

"Bob Clinton" Jay said grimly. "SVU found him"

"What?"

"He's not hiding Hank, my guess is they think Bridget is dead so why would they hide? They've been doing this for twenty years and that kind of arrogance—"

"That leads to mistakes" Hank said standing up and wiping his mouth. Jay shot him another one of those pained looks and then…

"She's doing really well Sarge. I don't know what I'd be doing and—"

"You have an address?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me get Justin and Bridget back to SVU and then…"

"Then what? Sarge what are you going to do because…I can pretend I am deaf, dumb and blind and Erin will dig the hole and Al will set the body on fire but Olivia Benson and her team won't. And that means a trial"

He knew that but he couldn't, he couldn't think about that now.

Not when the monster was so close to destroying.

"I don't know" he said truthfully. "I guess…we gotta save the boy haven't we? That's the most important thing. Andrew Llewellyn will at some point have to wake up and then we can poke and prod him"

Jay carefully didn't mention that there was a very good chance that Andrew Llewellyn would not wake up but Hank heard the thought all the same. But that was a problem for another day. Right now all knew was that the man who had raped his daughter, who had sold her like a fucking animal, who had told her he and Justin were dead, who had broken her for the sheer pleasure of it was in his line of sight.

And God help him if he so much as moved for a pencil Hank was going to light him up like a Christmas tree.

"Sarge, if Olivia Benson sees you looking like that—"

"Fuck what she sees. We'll go rogue if we have to"

"This the Royal We Sarge?"

Hank shot him a look and Jay just grinned.

"I aint digging the fucking hole" was all he said. "I've dug enough graves for one lifetime"

Pushing aside that for another day (because there was nothing like hearing a Detective with Jay's specific skill set had a past—not that Hank didn't already know that because Jay, Erin, Al and Antonio had been the only ones who had come up to his Unit with gold shields and Jay had been the only one that he didn't know personally) he carried on regardless.

"I want this prick alive"

"Sure you do" Jay said but it was with a world weary kind of fondness to it and Hank knew that he was winning the kid over the same way he knew that the case that had taken him four years to solve was coming to an end.

What his family would do when it did though? That was entirely different problem.

And Hank wasn't sure he knew what the answer was going to be.


And there you are, I hope you enjoy. Next Chapter won't be filled with too much action it's mostly dialogue but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I will post it as soon as it is written.

Next Chapter-As Intelligence and SVU hunts down the man who hurt their sister, Erin and Justin share complicated moments with Bridget who is beginning to realise the depths of how badly she was lied to. And then Bob Clinton walks in.