Chapter Three

The next few months passed by quickly. Elliot had permanently moved back to the city with Eli and Aaliyah, but he was having a hard time parenting two kids by himself. Liv had offered to help when needed, but of course, he was too stubborn to ask for it.

Working with Organized Crime, they found out that Richard Wheatley was the man who had paid the Sedan drivers to kill Kathy. And if a targeted hit on Elliot's wife wasn't bad enough, Barba had decided to defend Wheatley. Liv was shocked to hear that her friend was taking the case. He was a skilled Defense Attorney and Liv didn't know what this would mean for the Stablers. The first day of opening arguments was tough but it was a start to get justice for Kathy, and closure for Elliot.

Since his return to New York, Elliot's life had taken twists and turns rapidly. He had been diagnosed with PTSD, he kissed the woman who had put the hit out on Kathy, and he might have accidentally told Liv he loved her.

Elliot had taken the stand first and Carisi had questioned him competently and fair. Barba's cross-examine on the other side, was hard. He brought up Elliot's past, why he left SVU, and why he kissed Angela Wheatley. He also brought up the meeting he had with Wheatley and Angela where Wheatley mentioned Kathy wasn't the love of his life.

After he was done testifying, Liv was quite upset with Elliot. Not that he had feelings for her, that was obvious, but the fact that Elliot kissed Angela and didn't tell her.

And on top of that, not only was she involved in this case, she also had her own big cases that involved Nick coming back and her old friend Burt.

~oOo~

Back at the precinct, Amanda followed Liv back into her office while Elliot stayed in the bullpen, talked to Carisi about their next moves.

"Hey Liv, another girl came forward about Burt," Amanda told her Captain.

Olivia sighed. "Credible?"

"Yeah," the blonde confirmed.

"Alright then." Liv looked out her office window and saw Elliot talking to Nick. She was a little worried that a fight would break out, but to her surprise, they were getting along quite well. "I guess our next step is to interview the women."

"Yeah about that, they're all past the statue."

"Interview them anyways, maybe some other girls will come forward that haven't passed the statue yet," Liv ordered, walking out of her office and greeting Nick.

Elliot left them and made himself a coffee. Amanda followed him.

"You know, you may think you know her, but she's changed a lot," Amanda said.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, you can't just walk back into her life and expect everything to be back to normal."

"With all due respect, you don't know me at all."

"I do know that you had a lot of IAB reports, and you had a lot of anger management issues."

"Look, Liv and I have a complicated relationship, yes, and I have some issues to sort out. But I'd trust her with my life, and I know she trusts me too. Now if you excuse me, I have children to pick up," he said, walking away.

Having grabbed her own coffee, Amanda walked back into Olivia's office. "Liv, one of the girls talked about her assault. She said that he groomed her throughout the summer and then gave her some sort of cassette tape." Liv looked at her in shock. "Liv, you were 16—"

"Amanda, I wanted it to happen. Everything we did, I wanted."

"How many times have you heard that from a victim and had to make them see the reality of it?"

"Yes, but Amanda, this is different. I wanted it to happen. I had no complaints."

"Yes, Liv, but you were 16 and he was what, 21? Liv that's assault."

"Amanda, I know you mean well, but let it go. Go home, go see your kids."

Amanda got the message. She went to her desk, grabbed her things, and searched for a contact in her phone.

"Hey Stabler, it's me," Amanda said, getting on the elevator.

~oOo~

"Det här är Amanda" (This is Amanda), Elliot said to Aaliyah as the blonde detective entered the house. "I was just about to put her to bed," he explained.

"Oh, sure go ahead, I'll wait here," Amanda said.

"Hey, Dad?" Eli said walking into the room. "Oh, hi," he added upon seeing a guest standing in their hallway.

"Hi, you must be Eli. I'm Amanda. I work with Liv."

"Hi, have you seen my dad?"

"Oh yeah, he's putting Aaliyah down."

"Alright," the teenager said and walked away.

Elliot walked back out. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," she replied. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." Elliot didn't answer. "You said you were, are, close with Liv."

"Yeah, why?"

"I need you to talk to her."

"Alright, about what?"

"We have this case, Liv's old partner Nick is involved with. He has a journalist with him, Burton. He's been accused of assaulting women in his office. Liv is blindsided by this. She was 16 and he was 21—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, is this the guy she almost married?"

"I guess. Look, she won't listen to me—"

"But you think she'll listen to me," he finished for her. " I'll try talking to her."