Chapter 20

"The nationwide manhunt for Kenneth Smith ended this evening in a hail of gunfire which was perhaps the way that Smith wanted it. Despite multiple attempts to get him to lower his weapon, the NYPD and FBI agents were forced to fire on Smith when he began shooting at them. One police officer who was interviewed called it "suicide by cop". His death means that Smith will never see the inside of a jail cell and the victims and their families are left with no justice. Though there are some who are calling his death, and the death of his partner, Charles Cray, to be its own form of justice. Neither man will be harming anyone ever again and that seems to be enough. Still in this reporter's opinion, the answer to the big question "Why?" will always remain. This is Emily Price reporting from the scene in Lower Manhattan. Back to you Chet," the TV blared the news at the bar.

"Another one for the good guys, I'd say," the bartender, Mickey, nodded before turning the sound down again.

"I suppose it is but I think the reporter had a point. I know we're all asking why," Olivia smiled slightly at him. It had been a long day and a week since she'd gotten out of the hospital. The guys were supposed to be meeting her for a drink after they wrapped up their reports. When the call had come in, Cragen had alerted her that Fin, Munch, Kenny, and Elliot were heading to the scene.

"Sometimes the reason why will make your head spin. Another round?" Mickey asked her.

"That'd be great," she nodded. Smith had been hiding out in an old abandoned building down on the docks, presumably waiting to steal aboard a ship, when a few dock workers realized that the lock on the door had been busted.

The space in front of the building was being used as a loading and unloading area so it was busier than usual. Bad luck for Smith but good luck for the rest of humanity. When a dock worker backed the forklift he was driving too close to the building, the front door had moved, even though it shouldn't have. They told the supervisor, who probably figured it was just homeless people but then decided he'd better call the police upon hearing about the manhunt on for the serial rapist and killer.

Once the building had been surveilled to see if it was in fact Smith using the building, backup was called in and the showdown began. Now all that was left was a mess to clean up and the final reports from the FBI and NYPD. Olivia wished she could have been there but she wouldn't be cleared for anything more than desk duty for a few more weeks.

"There she is," Elliot's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"You guys made it. How much camera time did Munch hog up?" Olivia teased as she left her seat at the bar and the group picked an empty table in the back corner.

"All of mine," Kenny joked.

"He'd have kept going if the reporter hadn't moved the mike to the Captain," Fin chuckled.

"I'm just glad this is over, despite how photogenic I am," Munch smirked.

"Amen to that," Elliot said. One of the barmaids came over and took their food and drink order before Olivia asked,

"Where's the Captain anyway?"

"The Feds wanted to talk to him. Probably just to make sure this all gets wrapped up with a neat little bow. Tucker has already cleared everyone and whoever is trying to screw us over seems to have gone silent. Hard to dismantle our unit when we stopped a serial killer on TV," Kenny explained.

"A very good point, young man," Cragen had come up behind them. The cab had just dropped him off.

"We were just talking about you. Your ears ringing?" Munch joked. The Captain laughed and then sat down. They had a good time, thankful that the case was over but knowing that there was another lurking around the corner.

Later, at Olivia's apartment, she and Elliot were getting ready for bed. He refused to let her recover on her own, despite how many times she'd told him that she could. However, she suspected it had something to do with what the doctor's had discovered during her tests.
"How are you feeling?" He asked as he helped her get into bed. With her arm in a sling, she had to practically sleep in a seated position. Olivia had enough pillows to prop herself up but it wasn't very comfortable. Elliot had suggested an adjustable bed might be in order.

"Better. Still a little pain but nothing I can't handle," She said. The tests had found polyps in her uterus but nothing that was cancerous. They were removed and a tissue sample of cyst on one of her ovaries was taken. The tests on the cyst had come back negative as well and the doctors had recommended she see her OB/GYN about them, in case that was just something her body did. It wasn't uncommon for older women to develop cysts that would break every time they started their cycle. The cysts were usually benign and nothing to worry about unless pain or other symptoms developed.

"Well you can't mix your pain medication with alcohol so I hope you can wait until the morning to take some more pills," he told her.

"Aye aye sir," Olivia chuckled. She was a little drunk but then again so was he when he started laughing at her joke. Both of them were right on the edge of being sober enough that they knew they needed to call a cab and drunk enough to have fun without being stupid.

"I'm just glad that you're going to be ok," Elliot said when he stopped laughing.

"Me too," Olivia smiled. She watched him manage to get out of his own clothes and climb into bed next to her with only his boxers on. They both knew that she wouldn't be able to do any extracurricular activities in the bedroom for at least a week but she was wishing it wasn't so. There was an urge to feel connected to him that she'd never had with anyone else.

"Dream dirty dreams," he chuckled before kissing her on her cheek. They both snuggled down into the bed and fell asleep, glad for each other's company.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Only an epilogue to go...