Eighty-two. (Taking some liberties with timing of the traffic stop flashback but hey, it's fic!)

Halloween was complicated by another kidnapping with the same circumstances as the previous two. After a two-week lull, the "Missing Moms" case was again thrust front and center in every newspaper and news broadcast and it shot to the top of SVU's priority list. People whispered about it in coffee shops, women fitting the perp's targeted profile traveled around the city in groups, and social media speculation ran rampant. Some believed the women, tired of family life, simply vanished of their own accord; most people, though, were convinced there were more nefarious elements at play and the fear quickly manifested as harsh criticism of the police department. Though concerned, Olivia reluctantly admitted she was a tiny bit glad this wasn't her case. Everything about it was perplexing.

With Sonny working night and day and considering Sofia wasn't yet walking, Brooke was going to skip trick-or-treating until Olivia demanded she and the baby join them for the evening. Ed picked them up in the SUV, they had an early pizza dinner, and then set out on the annual quest for candy.

Olivia managed to shove the case to the back of her mind and enjoyed the evening. She snapped dozens of photos of her trio lumbering down the street, their disc-shaped costumes taking up too much space and forcing many passersby to step off the sidewalk to let them pass. Orange plastic pumpkins purchased from CVS dangled from their fingers. Maggie and Wyatt, buoyed by their brother's lead and experiencing a newfound sense of independence, crawled up stoops on their own and jubilantly shouted "TICKORTEET!" Noah would hold their hands on the way down. Once back on the sidewalk, the twins would make a break for the next house. Olivia, and sometimes Brooke, chased after them.

The whole time, Ed remained a step or two behind his family. He participated in the fun. He smiled. He made jokes and reacted with amazement when one of the kids showed him how much candy they had. But he didn't relax until everyone was safely home. That included Brooke. After they called it quits, he drove her and Sofia back to Brooklyn, parked, walked them into the apartment, and didn't leave until he was confident they were secure. By the time he got home, Noah, Maggie, and Wyatt were all asleep and Olivia was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand. A glass of bourbon was sitting on the coffee table, ready for Ed.

"Thank you and cheers," he sat so close to Olivia he clipped her leg as he flopped onto the cushions. He kissed her cheek before taking a sip. "Traffic was hell getting back."

"I figured it would take you a while."

"And I figured it would take a miracle to get the kids to sleep, but I was wrong. Good work, Mommy."

"Thank you," Olivia took a long drink of the wine, "The candy is in the pantry on the top shelf. Oh, look at this!" Olivia grabbed her phone and played a video. Maggie and Wyatt were sitting in the middle of the living room floor. Noah was counting his pieces and separating them into sweet/sour and chocolatey. Maggie tore open a wrapper.

"SweeTAR! SWEETAR!" She popped the tablets into her mouth one at a time. When the sour taste hit her she flinched, froze, then burst into giggles. "SWEETAR!"

Ed laughed and replayed the video a few times, "That's hilarious," he said between chuckles, "And Wyatt and Noah are just sittin' there laughing at her."

"I probably let her have too many," Olivia said, "But her reaction was so funny."

The pile of costumes in the corner of the room caught Ed's eye. "Whadda we do with those?" He asked.

"Brooke may want one...but if not, we'll donate them somewhere."

"Oh, that's easy."

Olivia played with his short hair, "What'd you think we'd have to do?"

"I dunno," Ed shrugged and let his eyes droop, "I remember my mom having a closet full of costumes that were never worn more than once...maybe I was worried about storage."

"Don't worry, Captain," Olivia said, "I got it under control."

"Speaking of worrying," Ed tilted his head into her hand and relished the feel of her fingers against his cheek. "What are ya thinkin' about these women?"

"I'm trying not to think about it."

Not convinced his wife could completely block the case from her mind, Ed gazed at her with skepticism etched in his features. "Trying but not succeeding?"

"Right."

"What's worse? Worrying about yourself and Sarah and Brooke or not bein' there to investigate it."

"It's more like...this is terrible, and I'm thinking about how I would handle it but when I do that I'm so thrilled not to be there, and then I feel guilty because...shouldn't I want to be in the mix? There in the squad room trying to piece everything together?"

"The only place you should be is where it feels right," Ed replied, "And I know you don't quite feel right yet, bein' gone."

"I remember cases like this, so many of them, that didn't make sense, that went against the grain, that challenged everything we thought was true or expected from perps. I'd stay up, toss and turn all night trying to crack it," Olivia sighed and glanced out into the clear Manhattan night. "I guess, where am I going with this? I don't know...but I do know I'm not wishing those days were here again."

Ed cradled the side of her face. "Nobody's ever gonna be able to replace you, Liv. Nobody. But. Selfishly? I'm thrilled you don't have those nights anymore. But even if ya did...I'd still wanna be right there. I love every single version of you."

Being loved and adored by Ed made Olivia feel weightless. There were times when a declaration like this would have made her burst into tears, but all Olivia wanted at this moment was to be in his arms and kiss him until they were both breathless.

…

Noah confidently boarded the NYPD patrol boat and paused for a few seconds to slowly turn around and take in his surroundings. On the west side of the East River, Manhattan towered overhead, its buildings glistening in the early evening sunlight. Ahead of him, in the booth, a variety of screens and communication systems blinked red and yellow. The boat's operator welcomed him aboard, as did the four-member crew. Ed shook their hands and thanked them for allowing him and Noah to tag along as they escorted one of the four fireworks barges from New Jersey, through the harbor, and to its spot south of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The officers peppered Noah with questions. First came the basics-his age, the grade he had recently completed, and how he was planning to spend his summer. Noah proudly told the men he was seven, recently finished first grade, and was going to go to "Del'ware" for the rest of the summer until it was time to go to second grade.

"Ever been on the water here before?" One officer asked.

"Yep! I went on da tour boat with my Sare Bear! And on a sailboat with Daddy. And, at the beach, we're gonna ride da jet skis and da pontoon," Catching his mistake he added with a giggle, "But that's not New York!"

"Excellent," he replied, "You're experienced then. Why don't ya come in here and help me take her out to sea."

Noah gawked at the steering wheel. "Whoa…"

"C'mon."

While Noah and the boat's operator steered the vessel away from the dock, Ed chatted with the others. He explained that his family was on the Brooklyn side and asked if they could drive by the pier where they were camped out on the lawn. "No problem," one of them replied. "We usually make a few laps anyway. Which pier?"

"One."

"Good spot. We probably coulda got ya all out here on the water."

Ed chuckled, "I don't think so. My whole family's there. Eleven of us."

"Daddy!" Noah skipped out of the navigation room. He was wearing the captain's hat. "We're on the way to New Jersey! I got her outta da parking spot!"

"Great job, pal. That was pretty smooth!"

"Yep! Cap'n Dill said I was really good and when I get big I can have his job!"

"That's great news!"

It took about thirty minutes to travel from New Jersey since the barges moved only slightly faster than idle speed. Ed picked Noah up so he could see the pyrotechnic tubes arranged on board. He explained the best he could how the whole production worked. He and Olivia hadn't taken Noah to the New York fireworks since he was a toddler because they'd been at the beach for the past few Independence Days.

"There's one, two, three, four barges," Noah said, "They all shoot diff'rent fireworks?"

"Nope. They'll be the same. And some will come from the bridge."

"Da bridge?" Noah asked, "What 'bout da people?"

"Nobody's allowed up there."

"Oh...that's good 'cause the people might go BOOM and fall right off!" Noah kept his eyes glued to the barge as it made a U-turn under the bridge and came to its resting spot. "Okay," he said, "All set!"

"Yep, all set. Now we're gonna cruise around for a little bit. Lemme text Mommy and tell her to look for us."

Noah gazed in the direction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park piers, "Lotsa people over there," he murmured doubtfully.

"Don't worry pal, we'll find 'em."

…..

Carisi wasn't much of a drinker, but he swilled two beers in less than an hour. No stranger to dulling job-related stress with alcohol, Olivia bit her tongue but wondered at what point she should advise him to slow down.

"Lieu, we keep bangin' our heads against the wall," he griped. "I keep waiting for the break, for the one thread we overlooked or hadn't properly considered, and we just can't find it. Meanwhile we have three men at home with little kids and those little kids don't have their moms."

Olivia paged through evidence she technically wasn't supposed to be viewing. Out of desperation, Sonny had called her earlier that day and offered to treat her to a drink or two in exchange for him being able to pick her brain. She didn't know he'd bring the folder or show her the electronic files. As she perused the information, she wondered if the pit in her stomach was what relapsing alcoholics or drug addicts felt when they gave into temptation.

"Nothing on their financials...no marital problems?"

"Nope."

"Of course the husbands are the ones who gave you that information."

"Right."

"They all look so similar," Olivia scrolled through the women's photos. They were all mid-thirties with shoulder-length brown hair, pretty but not overly attractive; they reminded Olivia of people who would be cast in a housewares commercial.

"Yeah so there's that," Sonny said, "And then there's the neighborhoods. Whoever's doin' this knows the areas so well he knows where there are cameras, how they're angled, and somehow lured them away without calling attention to himself. But it's the why that's killing me. Is this some sort of weird housewife trafficking ring?"

Carisi meant the question to have a bit of levity, but Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Anything's possible...have you been looking at known trafficking sites? Ads? Craig's List?"

"Maybe not as much as we should be doing."

"That could be your thread," Olivia said, "We saw countless fetishes...why wouldn't the sweet housewife type be one of them?"

"I gotta text Rollins," Carisi pulled out his phone and signaled for another beer. "You want another one?"

"One more," Olivia said, "And then that's it."

"I'll walk you home."

"Carisi, I'm fine."

"Uh-uh," he retorted, "If I let you go alone Captain Tucker'll kill me."

…

One more round turned into two more, and Carisi waited for Olivia to disappear into the building's elevator before he caught an Uber back to Brooklyn. He had only a few hours to sleep, realized he hadn't eaten, and made the car stop outside a pizza place before continuing the trip. Carisi shoveled the slices into his mouth and his shirt was streaked with sauce and grease before they left Manhattan. Olivia took deep breaths in the elevator. She had eaten dinner but the final two drinks went straight to her head. The alcohol made her feel pleasantly unsteady on her feet, warm, and eager to see Ed. Every light was on in the main living area when she got home and Ed was hard at work tossing items in the toy boxes. He stopped tidying up and collected Olivia into his arms.

"How'd it go?"

"I gave him a lead, well, more of a theory," Olivia said.

"Yeah?"

She gave him a quick summary of what she and Carisi discussed. "It's a little far-fetched, but, they're at the point when they need far-fetched."

"Sounds like it."

"And I need you…" Olivia slid her hands under his shirt. She put her palms on his pecs and kissed along his jaw. "Mmmmm," she droned.

"Liv?"

"Hmmm?"

"Not that-" he took a sharp breath when she bit his earlobe and almost kept his concerns to himself. "Not that I'm not likin' this-" another gasp, "-a lot...it's, uh, are you alright?"

Olivia took a step back and let her arms fall to her sides. "Why are you asking me if I'm alright?"

"Baby, I love you," he finger-combed a few strands of hair away from her face, "But I get the feeling, somethin's off, you've been out...you seem a little keyed up-"

"-I am keyed up, Ed," Olivia took another step away from him. "And yes, I've had a few drinks. And I was looking forward to coming home to you, but…" she trailed off and went to pour herself a glass of water.

"But what?"

Frustrated she couldn't find the words to express herself, Olivia waved him away. She stalked to the bedroom, put the glass on her nightstand, and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. It was an unusual move, shutting him out like that, and she stared at herself in the mirror wondering if she'd been too hard on him. The only reason for Ed's hesitation was that he never, ever wanted to make love to her if she was in the wrong head space. While brushing her teeth and washing her face she assumed, at some point, Ed would knock, but he didn't. When she opened the door, the bedroom was dark save for the lamp on her side of the bed and Ed was either sound asleep or pretending to be.

Her body was heavy with regret and booze-induced fog. She slid under the covers and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly, yet fitfully. During the night she frequently woke up, each time she expected to feel Ed's arm around her or at least the close proximity of his body, but each time she was disappointed. More distressing was that, sleep wise, he was unflappable in the wake of their fight. His face, his body...he was completely relaxed and at ease.

I shouldn't be surprised, she thought. He'd spent the bulk of his career walking in and out of tense situations and he never gave off the impression that he was jaded or exhausted. Maybe he was simply drawing on old experience and compartmentalizing so he could get some much needed rest.

Olivia sighed. She watched the ceiling fan blades circulate on the low setting. Ed knew that's how she preferred to sleep, no matter the season. The fan wasn't moving when she entered the room earlier, so he must have turned it on.

The small gesture temporarily quelled her anxieties and Olivia willed herself to sleep.

…..

The news of the traffic stop reached Captain Ed Tucker less than twenty-four hours after the Lieutenant had been patted down and forced to take the DUI field test with her terrified son looking on from the back seat. Tales of Rob Miller's vile, self-serving tactics were old news by now, but this latest move crossed a line, at least as far as Ed was concerned. He shook his head at the allegations of witness intimidation, bribery, and even murder, but when he heard Miller's goons had state troopers in their pocket he almost lost his mind. He and Olivia hadn't spoken in a while, but Ed had made sure to send a text message every now and then. She always responded, but never with any type of indication she wanted to see him.

It didn't take much digging to locate Miller and track his movements. Ed was loathed in many NYPD circles, but he still had a lot of friends and even more connections around the city. Never one to ask for many favors, when he did ask, most of the time, people delivered. Miller regularly ate dinner at a certain Midtown restaurant not far from his residence. On one balmy night, Ed took a chance and waited outside, hoping he would walk home. As luck would have it, Miller exited the posh establishment and strolled down the block as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Ed had been smoking a cigarette between a defunct Chinese restaurant and a retail store closed for the night. He grabbed the lapels of Miller's jacket and shoved him against the side of the restaurant's thick metal stoop. Stunned, Miller stared at Ed and said nothing. Not at first.

"You think you've got the world by the balls, dontcha?"

"Who the hell are you?" Miller's thick beard rustled in the wind.

Not only was Ed pissed, he thought the facial hair looked ridiculous which only heightened his fury. "I'm the guy who's gonna make your life hell if you or anyone else goes near the Lieutenant or her son again." Ed still had Miller pinned. "Anything else happens, like that stunt you pulled with the trooper, your trial's gonna be the least of your worries." Ed started to release Miller's coat but shoved him back against the wall for good measure before stalking away and disappearing into the night.

Ed had not intended for Olivia to learn about what he'd done and he didn't think there was much of a chance she'd find out. He hadn't identified himself. As far as he knew, nobody had taken photos or recorded the encounter, and Ed believed Miller's ego and machismo would prevent him from revealing the details to his legal team.

Apparently, his reasoning was way off because Olivia called Ed the next day. "I need to see you now," she said curtly.

"Where?" Ed glanced at his watch. It was getting late and he hoped she would name a bar instead of a coffee shop. He got his wish. Olivia selected one of his favorite dive bars, and he tried not to read too much into her decision. Mostly, he couldn't wait to see her, even if she was going to upbraid him for taking it upon himself to rush to her and Noah's defense.

Olivia was dressed in work clothes, entirely in black except for the white stripes on her blouse. Despite the relative warmth of the bar, she had not removed her black trench.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he pulled up a barstool and fought the urge to hug her.

"I didn't give you a specific time," Olivia said, "And I've only been here for a few minutes. Not even long enough," she impatiently glanced at the bartender, "to order anything."

"Done for the day?" Ed asked innocently. He flagged down the man, ordered his usual bourbon, and glanced at Olivia.

"Same thing," she said, "With a little ice."

Ed remembered giving this same bartender the same order when they were together and his heart sank.

"To answer your question," she said, "I wasn't done for the day, but Stone has me on hold while he decides whether or not I can still lead the investigation after someone I have a personal history with threatened Miller last night."

Ed sipped through clenched teeth. "Sorr-"

Olivia interrupted the apology by touching his wrist. She fixed her eyes on the sights of her fingers touching his skin. Then, her gaze gradually drifted to his eyes. "Thank you," she said in a shaky voice. "Thank you for...doing that...it, I…"

"Hey," he dared to roll his arm toward her so her hand fell into his. "He might get away with murder but he's not gonna terrorize you and Noah. Someone had to remind him he's not the most powerful guy in the city. He doesn't call the shots."

"At first I was so mad," Olivia said, "Then I didn't believe it. Because why would you? And then, after Peter assured me they knew it was you and they knew about us...I don't know, this has been a hell of an investigation and it was a huge relief...to know someone was going to fight for me and Noah."

"Why would I?" Ed screwed up his face. He'd barely heard anything else she'd said. "Liv, just because we're not seein' each other anymore doesn't mean I stopped…" Ed swallowed hard. The words couldn't be taken back; he had to finish the sentence. "It doesn't mean I stopped caring about you and Noah. If this ends up makin' things worse for you I'm sorry and I'll fix it...but when I heard about you gettin' stopped and all...I couldn't let that go."

Olivia folded a corner of the coaster upwards. "Ed, I shouldn't have said that. I know you'll always be there for us." He was staring blankly into his glass. "Ed?"

"You know that's the first time you've ever said you believed me?"

The question hit Olivia like a gut punch. She ducked her head. Strands of her hair narrowly missed falling into the bourbon. "Ed, I can't do this right now. There's too much going on. I need this to be over. I need to feel in control again."

"I only came here because you asked me to, Liv," Ed said softly, "I was expecting to have to explain what I did...nothing else."

"There's more to it than that."

"No," he gently objected, "There's not. No matter what happened between us, I'm not going to sit around on my hands when some creep with ungodly amounts of money is willing to do anything to get out of goin' to prison."

"So that's what it's about? You versus evil?"

"No. It's about me not wantin' that evil anywhere near you and Noah."

"See, that's where we're not seeing eye-to-eye," Olivia said. "There's more to this than you think, Ed. You know Miller could damn well come after you now, and you risked that...for us."

"It's worth knowing you're safe. That's what this is about."

Olivia rubbed her temples. "Can we...maybe...talk about something else for a while?"

"Sure. You wanna take that coat off?"

Her lips curled into a tiny smile, "It is hot in here."

Ed stood up, gallantly helped her out of the coat, and hung it on a nearby hook. When he sat down again he subtly inched closer to Olivia and ordered another round.

….

The kids awoke early and gave Olivia and Ed no chance to talk about the previous night. They were cordial to one another as they readied themselves and the kids for the day. Olivia was headed to the Center after she dropped Noah off at school, and she and Wyatt were due on set that afternoon. As she applied her makeup and fixed her hair, Maggie sat on the vanity playing with the bottles of hair and skin products.

"Nee 'dis Mama?" She'd ask, holding up one of the containers. Olivia would take it, pretend to use the contents, and thank her.

Maggie tried to use Olivia's brush, but the size made it unwieldy. Olivia found one of Maggie's baby brushes in a drawer and handed it to her. "Here sweetie. Use this one."

"Pitty, Mama!" Maggie cooed as she brushed her hair.

"You are so, so pretty Maggie Tucker."

Maggie reached over and touched the brush to Olivia's locks. "Ma pitty!"

"Thank you, sweetheart."

Olivia dawdled a bit. It was comforting being in the presence of a person who saw only good in her. However, Noah had to get to school, so Olivia put on her lipstick, pretended to put some on Maggie, grabbed a cardigan, and called to Noah that it was time to go.

Before leaving, she hugged and kissed the twins. "I love you sweethearts," she said. "I'll see you later." Then she turned her attention to Ed. "I'll be back here around noon to get Wyatt. Can you feed him before that?"

"Sure, we'll do an early lunch," Ed replied.

He sounded normal. Olivia breathed a little easier. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem." Ed handed Noah his backpack, "Have a good day, bud. Love you."

"Love you, Daddy!" Noah gave Ed a hug. "Kay Mommy! Kiss Daddy and lessgo!"

Ed smirked. Leave it to Noah to cut through the tension.

Olivia sidled up to Ed and kissed his cheek. "Bye."

Noah was already in the foyer and she started to follow him, but Ed grabbed her elbow. He kissed her on the lips. "Noon, right?"

She smiled and pressed her forehead to his. "Right."

….

#Tuckson