Chapter 25

AN: Sorry for the delay. I am trying to get used to Lockdown. I really hope you like this chapter. Sorry the next few chapters are going to to be painful.


"What do you mean, Sweetheart? What makes you think something's happened to Alex?" Olivia asks, feeling terrified as she knows that Liz would not be this freaked without a good reason.

"Alex left to do that part of her job that she let me be apart of," Liz tells Olivia. "You know what I'm talking about?" Liz asks as she knows not going into details around a squad room of police offices would be best.

"Yeah," Olivia says with a sigh.

"Well before she left Alex told me what she always tells me, which is if I haven't heard from her in ninety minutes that I know what to do, which is tell you," Liz explains, as Alex drilled that procedure into her when they first started to work together. "It's been one hundred and five minutes," Liz explains, sounding worried.

"What about Barba? And Antonio? Have they heard from her?" Olivia asks worried.

"Rafael's in court and Antonio and Dickie have gone on one of their long lunches," Liz explains, causing Olivia's concern to grow and so she pulls out her phone and calls Alex and to Oliva's horror the call goes straight to voicemail.

"Voicemail," Olivia says, before hanging up. "Liz, do you know anything about who Alex went to help?" Olivia asks worried.

"No, ever since we started to work together Alex made sure to keep everything about that part of what she does from me," Liz explains, knowing what Olivia knows but she was hoping that Liz might just know something.

"She wants to protect you," Olivia says, knowing that. "Can you think of anything we can use to find out where she would have gone? Who she went to help?" Olivia asks, and Liz quickly searches her brain.

"Yes! Her personal files, back at Vita Nova," Liz explains.

"Okay," Olivia says, as she makes another call on her phone. "Richard, It's Liv, I need you and Antonio to meet me at Vita Nova, as soon as possible, and be careful, I'll explain why when I see you," Olivia says, speaking quickly, and after she gets Richard's conformation she hangs up and makes another call. "Rafael, it's Liv, I need you to call me back as soon as possible," Olivia says before hanging up.

"I can my hacker, she can help figure out what is going on," Elliot offers, as while he is incredibly confused about a lot of things he knows that considering both Liz and Olivia are freaked, and Richard is involved, then he needs to do whatever he can to help.

"Thank you," Olivia says, gratefully.

"Where are we going?" Elliot asks.

"Just tell her Vita Nova, we're easy to find," Liz tells her father, as that was by design, who nods.

"Let's go," Olivia says, looking at her squad, and everyone goes running out of the squad room.


A little while later Olivia, Liz, Elliot, Fin, Rollins, Carisi and Kat have arrived at Vita Nova, and after filling Jet Slootmaekers in on what is going on in the lobby of the building, the group are stepping off the elevator on the Vita Nova floor.

Walking into the floor Jet hurries over to Liz's computer, while everyone else sees someone who only Liz recognizes.

"Brianne, what's going on?" Liz asks, walking over to her, and she sees Brianne look hesitant. "It's okay, this is Olivia," Liz says, gesturing to Olivia, knowing that Brianne is one of the clients that Alex is particularly close to so she will know who Olivia is.

"Alex's Olivia," Brianne realizes, looking amazed.

"Yes," Olivia confirms, taking a few steps forward.

"Something's happened to Alex, hasn't it?" Brianne asks, looking worried.

"What makes you ask that?" Olivia asks.

"Alex was going to help me leave the city, but when she didn't show up, I thought maybe we were meant to meet here, so I brough the kids here," Brianne says and everyone notices the two young kids in the playroom.

"Brianne, why don't you go and be with your kids, we'll figure out what's going on," Liz says in a comforting voice and Brianne nods and heads into the playroom. "This is bad," Liz says, turning to look Olivia. "Alex is protective off all her clients, wants to help them all, but Brianne's been a client for as long as Alex and I have been working together," Liz explains. "If Brianne was finally ready to leave there was no way that Alex wouldn't show up," Liz tells Olivia.

"I know," Olivia says, feeling her worry rise as the elevator opens and Dickie and Antonio hurry out.

"Liv! What's going on?" Antonio asks worried. "Is Mami okay?" Antonio asks, shocking Elliot but no one else, and Olivia hurries forward and hugs him, while Dickie just gives his father a questioning look.

"I don't know, Antonio," Olivia admits, as the two of them break apart.

"I have something," Jet says, causing everyone to look at her. "So, there are a lot of cameras around here, so I got an image of Alex leaving, and was able to track her on street cams," Jet explains.

"Where is she? What happened?" Olivia asks, sounding panicked.

"That's where things get complicated," Jet admits. "Between two cameras I lost sight of her, but I realized that there was a van following her in the last couple of cameras," Jet explains.

"Did you get a plate match?" Elliot asks.

"No plates, but using a program none of you know exist, I was able to enhance the front of the van and get an image of the driver," Jet explains.

"Run it through facial rec," Rollins says.

"Already have," Jet says. "I got a match to a Patrick Connors," Jet explains.

"Connors?" Oliva asks, her voice shaking as she feels like the worst-case scenario has happened. "Fin…" Olivia says, not being able to say much more than that.

"I'm checking, I'm checking…." Fin assures Olivia, as he takes Jet's tablet from her, as he knows exactly what this could mean.

"It can't be," Antonio says, feeling horror rise up inside of him, and Olivia puts her arm around Antonio.

"Fin?" Olivia asks again, needing him to confirm that her worst fears aren't coming true.

"It's his son," Fin reveals, looking at Olivia and knowing how bad this is.

"Oh god," Olivia says, feeling like she can't breathe.

"Who's son?" Rollins asks, knowing the answer must be bad.

"Liam Connors the man who caused Alex to be forced into Witness Protection, who killed Antonio's birth parents and almost killed him," Olivia explains, and the pieces fall into place for Elliot about who Antonio is. "Liz, is there somewhere safe Brianne can go? A safe house?" Olivia asks.

"Give me a sec," Liz says, hurrying into Alex's office.

"I'll call Sergeant Bell, Liam Connors was IRA and worked with the Cartels, Patrick might have followed in his father's footsteps and if he did, she might have some idea where we could start," Elliot offers.

"Thank you," Olivia says gratefully as Liz walks back out of Alex's office, and Elliot calls Bell.

"Alex has a deal with a hotel, Brianne and her kids will be safe," Liz explains, holding an envelope.

"Good," Olivia says, knowing that she owes it to Alex to make sure her client will be safe. "Kat, take Brianne and her family to the hotel then meet us at the precinct," Olivia instructs.

"Yes Captain," Kat says, heading into the playroom, with Liz, as Oliva's phone rings.

"Rafael," Olivia answers. "Are you finished with Court?" Olivia asks, as she doesn't want to tell him the bad news until she knows that he doesn't have to go straight to court. "Good, then I need you to meet me at the Precinct, something's happened to Alex," Olivia explains. "Yeah Rafa, something bad," Olivia says, before hanging up. "Do you have everything you need off the system?" Olivia asks Jet.

"Yeah, I've mirrored it, anything I need I can access remotely," Jet explains.

"Good, let's go," Olivia says, making another call, as everyone heads to the elevator. "Chief, I need to talk to you," Olivia says, and as the elevator doors close she explains to Garland what is going on.


Not long after they left Vita Nova Oliva, Elliot, Antonio, Liz, Rollins, Carisi, Fin, Jet, and Dickie arrive at the 16 as they walk into the squad room Olivia sees Garland waiting in her office and so Olivia walks straight there.

"Chief before you say it, don't take me off this," Olivia says as she closes the door.

"Olivia, Alex is your girlfriend, your family, you cannot work this case," Garland tells Olivia, having sympathy for what she is going through but needing to do what's right.

"I have to!" Olivia exclaims. "Chief, this case is connected to the cases we worked in 2003 and 2005, and no one knows those cases like Fin, Elliot and I," Olivia reveals. "If we want a chance of finding Alex before it's too late, we need to work fast, we don't have time to catch anyone else up in details," Olivia explains, as while they can fill in some details, she knows that every minute counts, so they don't have time to fill in all the nuances of the cases. "You can oversea everything, Sergeant Bell is on her way here, you can put her in charge if you really want, I don't care, I just need to work this; I need to do everything I can to find her," Olivia says, her voice basically begging as she cannot do nothing. "Please Chief, don't take me off this," Olivia requests.

"Okay," Garland says, with a nod. "But if I think you're losing perspective, that you're spiraling, I'm sending you home," Garland informs Olivia.

"Okay," Olivia says, as she can handle that, and the two of them head back into the squad room.

Walking into the squad room Olivia sees that Sergeant Bell has arrived, and Antonio being hugged by Barba.

"Liv," Barba says as he and Antonio break apart and he walks straight to Olivia and hugs her. "We'll find her," Barba says, in a quiet voice, needing desperately to believe that, as he knows he cannot handle losing Alex.

"We need to," Olivia says as the two of them break apart. "Thank you, Ayanna," Olivia says, looking grateful.

"Whatever you need, Liv," Ayanna says, as Kat arrives.

"Okay, for those of us who weren't around eighteen years ago fill in the details," Garland requests, as there are a lot of the people in the squad room don't know the details about what they are dealing with.

"In September of 2003 we were working a case where an undercover NYPD officer, Livia Sandoval going by Livia Tellez, who had been working with the DEA, had been raped and killed by a man named Rafael Zapata who worked for Cesar Velez," Olivia explains.

"A DEA Agent, Tim Donovan gave us intel, but wouldn't Alex use it in court," Elliot explains. "To protect the DEA investigation were investigating Livia's cover identity rather than her real one," Elliot explains.

"After some trouble Alex was able to get a search warrant and we found out Zapata killed Livia on his yacht, so he was arrested," Fin explains. "During a meeting with Zapata and his lawyer Alex told him that a women can say whatever she wants about his performance in the bedroom, and he isn't actually allowed to kill them," Fin explains, knowing the exact words Alex used as it is something they all dwelled on for a long time.

"Not long after that Alex, Elliot and I were called to the DEA where we listened to a phone recording where the person knew personal details about Alex, including where she lived, where she ran, and her mother's address," Olivia explains.

"When we were leaving Tim Donovan's car blew up with him inside. Alex and Liv were thrown to the ground, I was in shock," Elliot explains. "After that, a lot of people tried to get Alex to drop the case, but she wouldn't," Elliot explains.

"She gave the rest of us an out but none of us took the out," Fin explains. "But before long the feds took over and our case was dismissed," Fin explains. "One night we all went out for drinks and Me, Munch, and Cragen left early, leaving Alex, Olivia and Elliot,"

"We left the bar together, and as we left a SVU came around the corner and there were gunshots," Olivia explains, it being hard for her to talk about this, and so Barba reaches out and takes her hand. "Alex was shot, by Liam Connors," Olivia explains. "I did what I could to control the bleeding," Olivia reveals.

"At the hospital we were told that Alex was killed, but she was actually taken into WITSEC," Elliot explains. "The day before Alex's funeral Zapata was found dead, and Olivia and I were called to a meeting with DEA Agent Hammond, who was Agent Donavan's boss. During the meeting we saw Alex but were told we weren't allowed to tell anyone else," Elliot explains.

"In January of 2005, at which point only Olivia and Elliot knew Alex was alive, a couple, the heads of an investment firm were killed; the wife had been assaulted," Fin explains. "The case led us to Antonio's parents," Fin explains, looking worriedly at Antonio, as he isn't sure how to explain what happened in a gentle way.

"My mother and father had been shot, and killed, by Liam Connors. He tried to kill me but he covered my face in a pillow and because of that he missed the shot; the bullet just grazed me," Antonio explains, and both Liz and Richard are worried about their friend, Richard even reaches out and puts a comforting hand on Antonio's shoulder.

"We caught Connors and to make sure he wouldn't be released our ADA at the time Casey Novak, had us arrest Connors for Alex's murder," Olivia explains, pain in her voice. "Because of that DEA Agent Hammond went to Cragen and told him that Alex was alive," Olivia explains.

"The two of them went to Alex and told her what was going on, she insisted on coming back to testify," Elliot explains. "During her testimony Alex somehow knew just the buttons to push, those buttons were his family, and Liam lost it in the courtroom," Elliot explains, and everyone notices Olivia look down at the mention of 'somehow,' which tells them exactly how Alex knew.

"Connors was found guilty of four murders, and two attempted murders; because of Alex and Antonio," Fin explains.

"As soon as the trial ended Mami, and I were taken into the program. We were kept together because the marshals thought it would be safer; I really grateful for that Mami because my mom," Antonio explains. "In September off 2006 Liam Connors was extradited and Velez was killed, Mami and I came back to New York," Antonio explains.

"Any questions?" Elliot asks.

"It's been so long; do you really think Connors's son would seek revenge now?" Carisi asks, as it has been a very long time.

"Connors abandoned his family, Patrick could have felt that it was Alex's fault he could never come back," Olivia explains. "Antonio, until we know more, I don't want you to leave the station. You could be a target," Olivia tells him, as she wasn't able to protect Alex and so why she is trying to find Alex she will do everything she can to protect Alex's son.

"Okay," Antonio says, with a nod, as he was expecting that.

"Fin, Kat, I want you to go to the location where Alex was last seen, canvas the area," Olivia instructs.

"I'll send you the address," Jet says.

"Yes Cap," Kat says as she and Fin leave, Fin giving Olivia's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Rollins, Jet, see what you can find about Liam Connor's, I wouldn't be surprised if he is pulling the strings," Olivia instructs.

"Yes Boss," Rollins says, heading to her computer.

"I have a few old connections among the old IRA crowed, know where they hang, Elliot and I could go see if Patrick's called on the old family connections," Bell offers.

"Thank you," Olivia says gratefully.

"Don't leave the station," Elliot says, looking between the twins, both of whom nod, as neither had any intention of going anywhere, and he and Bell head out.

"How about we go to your office," Barba says to Olivia, in a gentle voice, as he knows she could use some space from everyone, and Olivia nods.

"Let me know the second you find anything," Olivia says, before heading to her office with Barba.

As Barba and Olivia head to Oliva's office Richard notices that Antonio has headed into the breakroom alone and so he heads there while Liz, Garland and Carisi talk about whether Liz has seen anything odd lately.

"I'm not going to ask if you're okay, but I am going to ask what you need," Richard says as he pulls a chair over and sits down near where Antonio is sitting.

"I don't even know," Antonio admits. "He was the cause of my nightmares, El Fantesma, for so long," Antonio reveals. "But Mami made me feel safe," Antonio explains. "I never forgot what Liam Connors did, but I haven't thought about him as a person in years," Antonio reveals. "He stopped being his nightmare, and now his son…" Antonio starts to say, before trailing off, tears coming to his eyes as he looks devastated.

"I know," Richard says, having no idea what else he can say to comfort his friend, the person who means so much to him.

"I can't lose my Mami Rich," Antonio says, and because he has no idea what to say, even with what he has been through recently, Richard just hugs Antonio, wanting to help him feel better.


While Antonio and Richard are in the breakroom Olivia and Barba are in Olivia's office, while Barba, who is doing his best not to think about the worse, is sitting on the couch Olivia is pacing back and forth.

"I should have seen this coming," Olivia says, guilt in her voice.

"Liv…" Barba starts to say.

"I knew Connors had a family, I should have considered revenge," Olivia admits.

"With how long has passed no one could have seen this coming, not even you," Barba tells Olivia.

"I can't lose Alex, Rafa," Olivia says, looking at Barba with a look of complete desperation on her face.

"I know," Barba says, as he knows that he cannot either. He though he lost his best friend once and he is sure that he will not know how to get through it if he loses her for real. "Who were the lawyers involved back in the day?" Barba asks.

"Um, Granger for Zapata, Kessler for Connors," Olivia says, and once she does, Barba stands up. "Why?" Olivia asks.

"I can't just sit here and wait for news," Barba reveals, as he thinks he will lose it if he does. "There might not be a whole lot I can do, but what I can do is talk to a couple of scum lawyers and see if they've taken up family business," Barba says, before storming out of Olivia's office, very much looking like he is on a man on a mission.

As Olivia watches Barba go, she knows that like Barba she can't just do nothing. Eighteen years have passed since Alex was threatened last time, and in that time, Olivia has made a lot of friends. It's time she uses those friendships to find out something to help find out what happened to Alex and so she heads over to her phone, and computer, and gets to work.