I am so sorry for the delay, please accept 7,000 words as an apology x
Olivia was exhausted. She felt as though she hadn't slept in days... Maybe she hadn't. It had been two nights ago that Elliot had been in her bed, touching her...kissing her. She'd barely had a single thought that hadn't revolved around him since. She had managed to avoid him, he had been questioning families involved with trying to adopt children illegally and she had stayed at her desk. At first it had frustrated her that Elliot was cleared for duty so quickly, the man had been shot. She'd taken a hell of a beating, but she hadn't been shot. After a while she became grateful.
They had been back in New York for 5 days and she had only managed a couple of hours of sleep each night. She was still struggling with pain from her injuries, her ribs ached almost constantly. Her arm throbbed and despite asking the nurse to make sure that the medication given wouldn't make her drowsy, it did, in fact make her feel as though she could fall asleep at anytime... Although that wasn't too different to how she felt without them.
"Olivia?" Pete asked softly, placing his hand over hers. She met his stare and realised she'd done it again. This would have been the third time that she had zoned out whilst her date, Pete, was talking to her. She couldn't even remember what the man had been talking about.
"Pete, I'm so sorry. I'm exhausted..." she trailed off, unable to hide her embarrassment.
"Hey," he started, softly. "You don't have to be sorry. You've been through a lot over the past few weeks. " Although Olivia hadn't told him any of the details of the case she had been working on, he only had to look at her to see that she had been through a lot. "How's the wrist?" he asked, gesturing to the cast, covering Olivia's wrist.
"Annoying," she sighed. Since Elliot had left her apartment, in fact since she'd returned from Chicago she felt the need to shower almost constantly. Every bad dream, every thought of Elliot's hands on her... and showering was virtually impossible when one hand wasn't supposed to get wet.
"When does it come off?" Pete asked, thankful that Olivia was talking to him. She had been so distant up until this point, he was worried. When he had been out with her before she had been so vibrant, so sexy but now, as they sat in the small, intimate restaurant she looked so...troubled.
"Six weeks," again, she sighed. "I'm sorry," she offered. The poor guy was trying so hard but she couldn't get Elliot, or the past week out of her head. She had called Pete hours after Elliot had left her apartment and asked if he would like to go for dinner. She refused to be the woman that she was turning into. She needed someone, someone like Pete. She needed a man who was available, a man who she could have a future with. Having Elliot in her bed was enough to force her to try and move on, to give herself a chance. "I'm having a really nice time," she smiled.
"You're an awful liar," Pete returned the smile. God, she was so beautiful. He couldn't help but stare. "The bruises are clearing up, but even with them you look beautiful."
"Now who's a good liar?" Olivia smirked. She could be happy, Pete could make her happy.
"You know...I know you can't tell me what happened... But I'd gladly find the bastard who did that to you and kick his ass..." he cupped her face, his fingers gently caressing her bruises.
"I know." Olivia also knew that the savages would've killed Pete in an instant if he'd even looked at them the wrong way, but that wasn't the point. "You're a good man."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What?" Elliot answered his cell, half asleep. He knew it had been too good to be true. For the first time in nearly 7 days he had managed to fall asleep without waking just a few hours later sweating and reliving the hell that he and Olivia had escaped. Now, at 4am someone thought it would be a good time to wake him.
"Elliot, it's Cragen. I'm sorry to wake you."
"Yeah...what is it?" he whispered, careful not to wake his wife as she slept next to him.
"Damien Abel was found stabbed to death in his cell a few hours ago," Cragen sighed. "His throat was slashed." Elliot sat up. Damien Abel, the man who had found his and Olivia's hiding place and tried to take her back to the warehouse, was dead.
"Do we know why?" he asked, climbing out of bed.
"He made a phone call to his lawyer yesterday saying that he was in trouble, that someone knew that he was going to offer us information in return for a plea bargain."
"Someone wanted to shut him up?"
"Yeah. The lawyer swears that she didn't breath a word, she insists that the interview room must have been bugged."
"Do you believe her?" Elliot mumbled as he struggled to pull on his trousers with just one arm.
"That's what I need you and Olivia for, can you call her? Get here right away?"
"Uh, sure Cap."He hadn't said a word to Olivia since he had left her apartment two nights ago. The guilt was literally eating him from the inside out. Every time his wife touched him he felt as though he was about to burst, about to break down and confess everything.
He wasn't that man. He wasn't a man who cheated on his wife. Kathy had been nothing but good to him and he had been seconds away from cheating on her… He sighed. He had cheated on her. He had kissed Olivia, he had…touched her. He left the bedroom and dialled the number.
After a few rings he heard an unfamiliar voice answer. "Olivia's phone."
"Who's this?" Elliot practically snapped.
"Uh, Pete…Who's this?" the man sounded as though he'd just woken up. This did nothing to improve Elliot's mood.
"Where's Olivia?" he asked, willing his blood not to boil as the thought of her with another man assaulted his mind.
"She's asleep-"
"Put her on the phone." His blood was boiling, who the hell was this guy?
"Uh, sorry buddy…Who are you?"
"Put Olivia on the God damn phone-"
"Elliot?" Olivia mumbled. "What is it?"
"Abel is dead, killed in his cell. Cap wants us both in." He spoke through gritted teeth.
"Okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"Is the lawyer here?" Olivia asked, walking towards Elliot, speaking to him for the first time in two days.
"She's in there," Elliot pointed to the interview room. "Sorry to have interrupted-"
"Don't," she warned. She knew he wouldn't be able to last a minute without saying something. "We were watching a film and we fell asleep on the sofa, okay?" she hated having to explain it to him but she couldn't handle him, not after what they'd done and especially not if he was angry at her.
"It's nothing to do with me-"
"Then why did you bring it up?" she snapped, regretting it almost right away. His face dropped. She closed her eyes for a moment, opening them slowly and looking at Elliot. "I'm sorry, I… Elliot, I'm sorry-"
"Elliot, Olivia, are you ready?" Cragen asked as he exited his office. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, unable to ignore the tension surrounding the detectives.
"No Cap," Olivia answered, turning to face her boss. Elliot stood next to her, not saying a word and it killed her. She wanted to tell him that she was struggling. She wanted to explain that she didn't know how to even look at him after what they had done, what they had so nearly done. They had been through so much in such a short time and she didn't know how to react to him anymore.
The truth was, she didn't want Elliot to think that she had been intimate with another man so soon after he had been in her bed. She would have brought it up herself if he hadn't. Jesus, what the hell had they done? They had ruined one of the few good things in her life.
He had gone, he left and they had managed to keep whatever the hell was between them exactly where it belonged. He should never have come back. They should never have gone to Chicago. It changed them and now there was no going back. While they were gone she thought that perhaps they could be friends, even if he wasn't her partner but not now. How could they after what they had done?
"Well let's find out what's going on," Cragen suggested, resisting the urge to pull the two into his office and ask what the hell was going on.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What have you got?" Phil asked, two hours later as he entered the building.
"Nothing," Olivia sighed, hiding a yawn as she and Elliot sat at their desks. "The lawyer says that she doesn't know who had been threatening him because he was too scared and she was going to call someone about the threats today."
"She didn't see any immediate danger," Elliot shook his head. "He was the one link we had to these bastards."
"Cragen mentioned the possibility of bugging? Have we checked that out?" Phil asked, frustrated that they had lost a key witness.
"Munch and Fin are doing that right now," Olivia told him. "The lawyer says that he was planning on giving up info in return for a plea deal and that no one else was in the room when she spoke to him. She went straight home because it was late and was going to follow up the possibility of a bargain today. She swears she didn't mention it to anyone else."
"How do we know he didn't?" Phil asked.
"Munch is checking if Abel was close to anyone, his cell mate, anyone else but I don't think he would have been that stupid," Elliot shifted in his seat as he spoke.
"Well, this is the first sign of movement we've seen since we escaped. We know they're still out there." Phil watched as Olivia bit her lip. He didn't blame her for being uneasy, not after everything the three of them had been through. "I guess now we just wait to see what your guys found."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
She just wanted to sleep. As Olivia rested her head against the pillow she wondered if she'd even get an hour. She heard the door open and knew it was him right away.
"Olivia…"
"I'm really tired Elliot," she whispered, turning slowly to face him.
"I know I uh, I just wanted to tell you that…" he stopped and simply looked at her. He was obviously trying to tell her something that she wouldn't want to hear. "I'm going to ask Cragen if I can go back to Queens, at least until something more solid comes up… We're just getting dead ends at the moment and I-"
"Okay." She didn't want to hear the rest. She knew that it was coming, how could it not? It was for the best.
"I'm sorry," Elliot held her stare as he spoke. She had to know.
"Elliot, we knew this wouldn't last forever… It's better this way. You were happy before you came back, you weren't in danger and…and your family needs you." She needed him to leave; she needed him to go before she could no longer control the tears that threatened to fall.
"I didn't mean for…any of this to happen." It was the truth.
"I know," she nodded, breaking the stare as the pain in her chest became almost unbearable. She was about to lose him all over again and it was all her fault. "We just, we got caught up in what happened to us. It was just a mistake," she offered.
"I wanted to…" Elliot shook his head. "I don't trust myself anymore, and I can't do that to..to anyone. I can't do it to you, or my family. That place changed us. We had…boundaries and they…they took that away from us."
"I uh, is this…is this it?" she asked, unable to stop her lip from quivering.
"We just need time, we need some space… If there's any breaks in the case then I'll be back but for now I just…need time." He stopped, wondering if he could be completely honest with her. "I hate what they turned us into."
"Elliot, you don't have to explain this to me-"
"You… I don't want to go, but after what we did-"
"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I didn't ever want… I know that you would never… I'm sorry."
"It's not forever, it's…we need time to get past this."
"What if we can't?" she asked, the first tear slipping down her cheek. Was she ever going to see him again?
"I…I have to think of my family," he whispered, knowing that it would hurt them both. "I'm sorry," he walked towards her slowly, reaching out for her and placing a soft kiss on the top of her forehead. He lingered, part of him wanting to stay exactly where he was, to make sure he could remember feel her skin against his lips. Olivia closed her eyes as more tears fell. She wanted to beg, to beg him not to leave her but she knew that she couldn't. He had to think of his family.
She struggled not to cling to him as he slowly pulled away. "Be happy huh?" he asked, forcing a smile before walking away and leaving her alone.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What do you mean you're going?" Phil asked, his eyes wide as Elliot gathered up his belongings.
"You guys don't need me right now-" Elliot expected some form of pressure to stay, but not from Phil. A man he barely knew.
"Bullshit Stabler, they need all three of us here. We know them, we know their style-"
"You and Olivia can chase these leads without me."
"What the hell are you running away from?" Phil asked angrily. "You think we don't need you? You think Benson doesn't need you?"
"She's fine-"
"She's fine? Have you seen her? Have you seen her eat once this week? Have you seen the bags under her eyes? They match yours. We need to stick together on this one, believe me-"
"Listen, it's uh, it's personal okay? I can't stay." He wasn't about to confess his sins to a man he barely knew. Sure, the man had saved Olivia's life, and his, but this was something he could barely vocalise. He'd cheated on his wife with his best friend, between that and the horrific week they'd had leading up to that moment he was barely able to function. He could barely think straight, guilt accosting him at almost every turn.
"We're all…we're all fucked up. They fucked us up but that doesn't mean you walk away. She needs you Stabler, you know she does and I'll bet you need her too. There's no way you're over what those bastards did to you."
"What the hell do you know about how I feel?"
"You think I don't know what it's like? You think I don't close my eyes and see everything they did to me? You think I don't replay every moment in my head? If you leave you're cutting yourself off from the only person who really understands what you've been through. We're stronger if we stay together- What if they come here huh?"
"Then I'll be here! If there's even a chance that they're anywhere near her… here," he corrected himself. "I'll be here okay? I just…I need a little space from what happened and uh, I'm sure I can trust you to let me know if Olivia needs anything."
"You're a coward Stabler," Phil walked away leaving Elliot alone at his desk. There, in that moment he thought about changing his mind, about staying but he knew that he couldn't. For Olivia's sake, and his, and for the sake of his family he had to walk away.
And so he did.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
He could barely contain his delight. He was in her apartment. Everything smelt of her. He closed the door slowly and began his search. As soon as he'd found her address he'd wanted to go there, take her there and then and show her just how big a mistake she had made by even thinking she could fuck with him. But no, the boss said it wasn't allowed.
Kieran had travelled to the city alone while Rogers recovered after being shot by the bastard cop. They had so nearly gotten rid of Benson and Stabler when the real Phil decided to turn up and shoot Rogers. They wouldn't get away this time.
Kieran placed the small device on the phone, moving slowly towards the bedroom. He'd done what he was told to do, why couldn't he have a little fun? He grinned, reaching for what was sure to be the underwear drawer.
"Nice," he mumbled reaching for the zip of his jeans… "Not long now sweetheart."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Three weeks.
Elliot had been gone for three weeks. He had come to her, told her that he was leaving and the next day he was gone. She had lost him again. It was so much harder this time. Now she knew what his lips felt like against hers, and how his hard body moulded into hers as he lay on top of her. When Elliot quit SVU and walked away to spend more time with his family it had hurt, of course it had but she had coped. This time it wasn't so easy. After what they had done Olivia could no longer deny her feelings, not like she had done when Elliot had left the first time.
What had happened between them had cemented the true extent of her feelings, and his and there was no way to escape it. She had been lying to herself for years; she had almost done it with without trying. Elliot leaving the first time had hurt, but the blanket of not accepting just how much she cared for him had cushioned the blow. There was nothing to cushion the blow now. He was gone. Olivia couldn't help but lie awake at night, thinking of nothing but how much she missed him. She missed her partner; she missed the Elliot that she had before they had gone undercover. She missed the man who sat by her side every day for more than a decade.
But she didn't deserve him. She had instigated it. She had asked him to stay, knowing that he would. Olivia knew that he was struggling, that she was the only thing standing in the way of him committing adultery. She knew Elliot well, she suspected that his need didn't come from feelings for her, but more from a need to know that they were both okay after what had happened to them. That was how he coped. He acted out, usually with his fists, this time it was with her. She wasn't going to fool herself. While she was able to hide her feelings for years, Elliot would never have continued working with her if he felt the ay that she did. Why would he when he had so much to lose? No, Elliot's reaction had been a spur of the moment need for comfort. This only made her feel even more stupid.
Olivia had asked him to stay, knowing that he would, knowing that he didn't feel the same way about her as she did him. She didn't care. At the moment she had just wanted, no, needed him. She had never been so ashamed of herself. She had helped an honourable man commit adultery. She had allowed him into her bed when she should have stood firm and said no. But she hadn't.
Olivia had thought about changing her mind as soon as she'd asked him to stay but she couldn't speak. She could barely breathe as he walked towards her, shedding his clothes. As soon as he reached out and touched her she knew there was no going back. She only thanked god that they had stopped, she would never have been able to live with herself if they had... Olivia sighed. How could she have been so stupid?
Had he told his wife? Her heart sank as she imagined randomly bumping into Kathy Stabler, not knowing if the other woman knew. She had allowed herself to become the sort of woman she had never wanted to be, the sort of woman that other women hated. She was shaken from her thoughts by a knock at the front door.
Olivia looked up. She had felt uneasy in her apartment since Elliot had left. She didn't know if it was because he had been in her bed but she couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. She had returned to her apartment after a long day a few weeks ago and couldn't help but feel as though someone had been there while she had been out. She checked everything, every window, every door, nothing was out of place. She had put it down to being tired but she couldn't help but still feel uncomfortable.
"Olivia?" she heard as she stood simply staring at the front door.
"Uh, sorry..." she walked forwards and opened the door. Phil walked in slowly, he looked at Olivia with a slight frown. "You okay?" he asked.
"Sure, yeah. What's up?" She ran her hands through her hair. She needed some sleep. Paranoia was never a good trait.
"Just wanted to check if you were okay, you seemed... off today." Phil cocked his head to the side.
"I'm just tired," she sighed, sitting on the sofa, inviting Phil to do the same.
"Not sleeping? Still?" In the few weeks that Phil had been working with Olivia he had seen just how dedicated she was to the victims she was trying to help. He had carried on investigating the death of Abel while Olivia went back to her day job. He had paid close attention to her, noting how little she ate, how late she stayed in the cribs, working, not sleeping.
Phil didn't know Olivia as she used to be, he knew that what he was seeing was a result of the ordeal she had been put through. He didn't know the extent of what had happened while she and Stabler had been trapped but he knew it was bad, and that she was struggling. "When does the cast come off?"
"Three weeks, I can't wait…" she sighed, staring at the cast covering her wrist and lower arm.
"I bet…" there was an uncomfortable silence.
"I'm fine," Olivia answered, avoiding all eye contact. Between everything that had happened whilst they were undercover and since, she was barely functioning. "How are you? You were there too." Shifting the focus, that always worked.
"I was but..."
"But I'm a woman?"
"No," Phil almost laughed. "No, Benson you think I'd dare say that kind of shit to you? You'd kick my ass." And then he saw it, a smile. "You think you need to talk to someone?"
"Do you?" Olivia asked, a little too quickly. She didn't want to talk about it. She'd thought about it but what was there to say? She was safe. They escaped. They got lucky.
"Probably." Phil shook his head. "I uh, I was thinking about talking to your guys...Huang? But uh, I talked myself out of it every time. Know what I mean?" he asked.
"Yeah, maybe..."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Elliot lay, wide awake, with his wife curled into his side, fast asleep. He didn't sleep much at all anymore. When the guilt wasn't crushing him, regret was slowly seeping into every inch of his body. Just a few weeks ago he was in Olivia's bed, seconds away from having sex with her. He had kissed her, touched her and God help him, he had wanted to sleep with her. He had been more than willing; it was only the voice of his wife on an answering machine that stopped them.
Phil had called him a coward, a man that didn't even know him. And he was right. He couldn't face Olivia all day and then go home to his wife, the guilt had nearly killed him. He made a choice, he left SVU again. It was for the best. He had thought about confessing all to his wife, he'd come close on more than one occasion but the words simply wouldn't form. He hated himself. He hated what he had done. He had never wanted to be that man. Elliot hadn't meant to fall for Olivia, he still wasn't sure if he actually had. The situation that they had been put in, nearly dying together at the hands of complete savages was more than most people could handle. Olivia had very nearly been raped in front of him, something that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not forget. Almost every nightmare had been about that moment, the moment that she stopped screaming. He knew then that she had accepted her fate. She must have been so scared, but for him, for his sake, she fought not to show it. He would never have been able to listen to them hurting her like that, he would have sooner died.
Olivia was struggling, that much he could tell. She had her guard up, she was "fine" as far as everyone else was concerned but he knew that she was just as traumatised as him, if not more. What they had done, nearly done, had been down to the trauma of what had happened. They had nearly lost each other. He wasn't sure anyone else would understand. He'd thought about going to confession, but he'd changed his mind just a few meters away from the church. He couldn't talk about it, he couldn't take the look of disappointment that he was sure to face.
Elliot had wanted to stay with Olivia, to help her with the case, to make sure that she was okay. He only hoped that she understood that it was just too hard. He couldn't be next to her every day, be reminded of what they had done and then go home to his wife and children. It was hard enough to face them without being reminded of every single touch, or every sound she had made as he touched her. There were no leads with the case, when there was, maybe then he could return, maybe by then he would have forgotten what it felt like to be on top of her.
"Daddy?"
Elliot sat up, his youngest child stood in the doorway clutching a teddy and rubbing his eyes. "Daddy," he repeated softly.
"What is it son?" Elliot asked, quietly, holding out his hand, urging his son to come closer. The little boy padded towards his father slowly. As soon as he was within reach Elliot swooped him into his arms and pulled him into the bed next to him. "What's the matter?" he asked, pressing a soft kiss into the top of Eli's head.
"Bad dream," Eli pressed his cheek against his fathers' chest, snuggling as closely as he could.
"You had a bad dream?" Elliot asked, gently rubbing his sons back. "What happened?"
"Monsters," the four year old mumbled, feeling safe enough in his fathers' arms to forget about the dream that had woken him.
"You know monsters aren't real, don't you?" Elliot asked, wishing to god it was true. What he had seen day in and day out had proved the complete opposite. The monsters in his sons nightmares were animals, with fangs and sharp claws. The monsters Elliot had seen were much worse. He held his son tightly, just like he always did when he struggled to grasp the concept of anyone hurting a child. He silently prayed that his son, and other children would be safe and would never have to face the monsters that he had.
"Love you daddy," Eli whispered as he closed his eyes falling asleep in his fathers' safe arms.
"I love you."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"Detective Benson?"
Olivia had been at the precinct at least three hours longer than she was supposed to have been. After cancelling a date with Pete and ignoring strict orders from Cragen to go home Olivia was sat at her desk desperately searching for any link that she could find. She wanted to badly to find anything that would help her to find the children who had been practically sold to Americans and to jail each and every son of a bitch who had helped.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Detective Benson, how can I help you?" Olivia asked, quickly glancing at the clock. IT was nearly 11.
"I uh, I didn't expect anyone to be here. I was going to leave a note…" the woman looked flustered.
"Would you like to take a seat?"
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Ten minutes later, the woman was sat across from Olivia, tissue in hand explaining just why she was there.
"We uh, we couldn't have children you see. I mean, we were told we couldn't. And then I got pregnant with John and it was…" she paused, struggling to compose herself. "It was the best day of our lives," she gave a soft smile. Olivia knew that the woman had come to her for a reason, but she also knew that this part of the story was something that the woman, Elaine Bamford, needed to explain.
"Are you okay? I can get you some water-"
"No, no thank you." Mrs Bamford quickly wiped her tears. "When John was one, he got sick, he was constantly crying and I knew that he wasn't well. The doctors tried to tell me that it was just a cold but I knew otherwise and I fought for second opinions. They diagnosed him with leukaemia two days after his second birthday." The woman looked up at Olivia, tears slipping along her cheeks as she continued. "He died two months later, he uh, he died in my arms."
"I'm so sorry," Olivia offered. She wasn't quite sure what to say, unable to even begin to understand just how devastating losing a child was to a mother.
"That was two years ago, and uh, we've been trying but nothing's been happening. We think John was our miracle, and when they approached us about adoption I wasn't sure but my husband was, he knew one of the men and they said it would be okay. When your colleague came to our house I lied, I was so scared that we wouldn't get our baby… I told them we hadn't heard anything after our first enquiry. I lied."
"You were offered a child from another country?" Olivia asked, knowing exactly what the lady was trying to say. She had been a victim of the adoption scam.
"No, from America. They said that they have children just crying out to be adopted and… and we're supposed to be getting our little girl…tomorrow."
"What?" Olivia asked, her eyes widening. "How are they getting the baby to you?"
"I need… I need you to promise me that we can keep the baby. If I tell you, you have to let us keep her? We love her already-"
"I…I can't do that. She may have been taken from her mother against her wishes?"
"But if she wasn't, if there was no one that wanted her? If no one from her real family wanted her could we keep her?"
"I…I really don't know-"
"This is our only chance, she's our daughter. We've seen photos, we've bought her clothes-" Elaine reached into her pocket, pulling out a photo of a tiny baby. "We've called her Sophie."
"Elaine, if you can help us to catch these men, I will do everything I can. If she has no family, then I will do whatever I can to make sure that you keep her."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What time is this supposed to go down?"Cragen asked.
"Mid day," Olivia answered. "That gives us eleven hours to try and formulate some kind of plan, to get undercover officers in there. Elaine said she's never met any of the men involved, they wouldn't know if it's her or me."
"You can't go in Liv," Cragen told her, watching as her eyes widened. "They know what you look like,"
"But-"
"I know what you're going to say, the chances of it being the people you encountered are slim but I don't like those odds. I'm not putting you in harm's way again. We need to get everyone in here, we need to make a solid plan and we need to get these bastards."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
An hour later Munch, Phil and Fin sat across from Cragen and Olivia as they explained exactly what had happened.
"So we put an undercover officer in there and then we pounce?" Fin asked.
"What are the chances that the baby stork is going to give up any information?" Munch asked.
"It's the only lead we've had for weeks. It's our chance at getting to them-"
"Detectives," five heads turned as a uniformed officer walked into the squad room. "Homicide just called in a double murder."
"Is there a special victim?" Cragen asked.
"Uh, no." The young man started. "One of the victims had your card in her hand…"
"No," Olivia felt sick almost immediately. "Elaine Bamford?"
"And her husband, both shot in the head."
"No, no, no." Olivia stood up. "They followed her." Olivia brought her hands to her face.
"You couldn't have known Olivia," Phil started. "This isn't your fault."
"Uh, there's something else?" the uniformed officer spoke. "The killer… we have him."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What's your name?" Olivia asked the man sat across from her. He was over six foot, well built with short brown hair. Phil sat next to her as Fin, Munch and Cragen watched outside.
"Michael Jackson." The man smirked, not keeping his eyes off of Olivia. "Mickey Mouse," he offered when he got no response. "You're beautiful Olivia. I was told that you were something but I wasn't expecting this."
Olivia didn't flinch. "You're friend Kieran tell you that?"
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"Why the hell didn't anyone call me?" Elliot asked, practically storming into the office five hours later.
"Elliot, what are you doing here?" Cragen asked.
"Phil called me, he told me what happened. Why didn't anyone call me?"
"You're off the case Elliot-"
"No, I said I would come back when we made any developments-"
"What makes you think that you have the right to decide if and when you come back into this squad?" Cragen asked, having been called by Olivia at midnight and having had no sleep he didn't have the energy for Elliot's attitude.
"Elliot?" Phil walked towards the two men. "You made it."
"Captain," Elliot started again. "I'm sorry I just…I want to be a part of this case. Please?"
"Olivia and Fin are interviewing him now. Olivia has been in there for hours and we've got nothing."
"I wanna go in-"
"Elliot, you haven't even been briefed. I know how you feel about this-"
"No, no you don't. You don't know what they did to us. I need to be in there."
Cragen turned towards Phil. "Brief him."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Olivia was starting to struggle. She had been awake for twenty four hours, in the interview room for five hours. Most of the time had been spent in silence.
"Where's the baby?" Olivia asked, for the third time.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mickey, or Michael or whoever he'd decided to be in that hour simply smiled. "Maybe she's dead as well."
"You killed her too?" Olivia shot quickly, all she needed was for him to admit it and then they could take the next step.
"Detectives, mind if I step in?"
Olivia heard his voice and froze. What was he doing?
"Be my guest," Fin stood up, walking towards the exit. Elliot sat next to Olivia.
"Are you not allowed in here with me on your own Olivia?" he mocked. "I heard about what happened to you, I heard about what they did."
Fin stopped with his hand on the door knob. He had yet to hear about had happened when Olivia and Elliot had been undercover but he knew that it wasn't good.
"They did nothing," Olivia spoke slowly, her voice not wavering even once. She stared the bastard right in the eye as she spoke.
"So you weren't screaming out for help? You weren't clawing an Kieran as he stripped you of your clothes? I've seen the video."
For the first time Olivia's composure slipped. Her eyes widened. She quickly placed her hand on Elliot's leg, aware that he was about to pounce. "You're bluffing," she smiled, despite her heart racing.
"There's no sound, but I have seen it several times. Rogers knocked you to the floor, you cry for a little while and then he says something and you stop struggling. You play dead. You don't even try to fight back. Don't believe me? Check my bag."
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Olivia pressed play, in the dark room, alone. Her heart was racing. She'd found the tape in the bastards bag, the tape and nothing else.
"Olivia?" Fin walked in and stopped as he saw what she was doing. "Do you really need to see this?"
"Better me than anyone else. He's bluffing, I'm sure of it. There were no cameras in that room." She reached to press the pause button, just in case but stopped as the images appeared. Images of her and Elliot, pressed against each other.
"Uh, what the…"
"This isn't what it looks like-"Olivia quickly stopped the tape. The images were of the night that she and Elliot had had to pretend to have sex so that the others would believe that they were lovers.
"It looks like… You and Stabler…having sex."
"It's not, it's not real."
"You wanna explain-"
"Right now? Not really, just… trust me." She pressed the fast forward button eager to see if anything else was on the tape. They really had put on a good show. If she hadn't known better even she would have believed the video was of two people having sex.
"Olivia are you…" Cragen stopped almost immediately, staring at the screen. Even with the forward button it was clear what was supposed to be happening in the video.
"Captain this is not what it looks like," she started.
"I want you and Sabler in my office right now-"
"Captian-"
"Now!"
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"What the hell did I just see?" Cragen asked as Elliot and oLivia stood in front of him.
"What was on the tape?" Elliot asked, having yet to see it.
"Cap-" Olivia started.
"It was you two Elliot. It was you two doing something that's cost you both your badges. I should hve split you two up years ago."
"Captain-" Olivia tried to interrupt again. She was dying a slow and painful death. They didn't have time for this when there was a member of the child smuggling ring in their custody.
"I don't want to hear it. A suspect has a video of you two… "
"Of us two what-"
"Captain, the video is of us pretending. We got caught looking around and Rogers said that if we wanted people to believe us then that was what we had to do. We believed him and… he was playing with us then as well. It's not real-"
"Captain, it's not real. We did what we had to do to stay alive."
"You guys need to see this!" Fin didn't even bother knocking.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Kathy opened the package that had been left on her doorstep. A dvd with "For Elliot and family". She thought about waiting for Eliot to get home but her curiosity got the better of her. She stepped towards the DVD player wondering what she was about to see.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"I wanted to see what else was on the tape," Fin told Cragen, Olivia, Elliot, Munch and Phil.
"And? What did you find?" Cragen asked.
"This." He pressed play. The scene changed from the warehouse to a park, a park familiar to all of the detectives. Suddenly the scene changed. They could clearly hear the voice of the man in custody, but the camera was facing the ground.
"What's your name buddy?"
The camera angle changed. Elliot's heart stopped as everyone in the room froze.
"My name is Eli…"
Thank you SO much to everyone who is sticking by this, I hope the super long update makes up for the ridiculous time it's taken me to update. Thank you all for your reviews and comments, it's so lovely to read. X