A/N: Hey everyone. It's been a while since I updated this story. I have a lot of material lined up, have five more chapters written already, and although this chapter might be a little slow paced, things are really going to start to unravel and I'm really excited. On another note, I REALLY, REALLY loved At Loss for Words, and I know a lot of you wanted to see it end up O/E, but it wouldn't be rational for it to be like that if Elliot just had a baby with Kathy. One more thing, I'm going in different directions, so lets just say anything is possible at this point. Enjoy, And Don't forget to review! Thanks again!

"Hi daddy…" Dickey said with a somber tone as he entered the house.

"Hey buddy…" Elliot replied giving his son a tight hug. He saw his tear jerked daughters emerging from the family minivan. Kathy was last to get out of the van. Elliot felt his heartbeat thrash inside his chest at the sight of her, he bit his lips at the way she put her hair back before, how attractive she looked; he hated her. Elizabeth and Kathleen sobbed as they kissed their father.

"Is it our fault, daddy?" Elizabeth asked ingenuously.

"No, sweetheart." he replied kissing the top of head. Kathleen was unable to speak to her father. She was confined to tears. "Don't cry…" Elliot told her as he felt tears coming himself. Kathy smiled at Elliot, only making eye contact for a half a second or so. Closing the door, Elliot tried to control the overflow of emotions.

"Why are you doing this?" Kathleen sobbed even more than ever.

"Kathleen…" Kathy began.

"Your mom…" Elliot interrupted. He thought about saying "…is fucking another man." but he realized that wouldn't be appropriate. Instead he decided to take the more subtle approach. "Your mom has…Your mom and I have decided to take a break."

Kathleen saw what Elliot was hinting at. "You're seeing someone?" she yelled.

"Kathleen…" Kathy consoled. Dickey and Elizabeth watched in confusion as Kathleen tore Kathy apart.

"How could you do that! We're a family! This isn't supposed to happen."

"Elliot…" Kathy murmured. Elliot agreed it was going too far.

"It was a consensual decision…" Elliot intervened.

"Yea, of course it was. I wouldn't expect you to stay with someone who promised to spend the rest of their life with you and then decides they want someone else."

"Kathleen…stop." Elliot ordered. "Kathy get your stuff…" Kathy nodded in discontent and headed upstairs to get her clothes and belongings.

"We're still gonna live here, right?" Dickey asked.

"Of course. Maybe not all the time, but there will always be a room for you guys."

"I want to stay here." Kathleen stated angrily.

"You have to stay with your mom for a while until we work things out."

"I'm almost seventeen, Dad. I go to school here, I can drive, it makes more sense. Please."

"I think you need to stay with your brother and sister. You need to help them get

through this."

"They want to stay here too, right guys?" she asked her siblings who looked up

at her with guilt. They didn't know whether to say yes or no. They were too young to understand Kathleen's motives for not wanting to stay with Kathy. "Look, I don't want to be with her…"

"Kathleen…this is tough. Especially on you, Dickey, and Elizabeth. But once your mom and I get things sorted out for definite, I'll definitely consider it." Elliot told her.

"Fine…" she agreed. Kathy descended down the stairs, and pretended she

didn't know what was going on.

"Mommy, are we gonna stay here tonight?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, sweetie, not tonight." Kathy replied as she lugged a load of baggage down the stairs. "Get what you want, we're staying at grandma's for a while." Dickey and Elizabeth ran up the stairs, Kathleen took a little longer giving her parents a callous stare.

"Do you need help?" Elliot asked Kathy, still not looking into her eyes.

"Don't try to be a gentleman…" Kathy snickered.

"When was I not?"

"You always seemed to have a smile on your face when you saw Olivia…"

"Oh, please Kath, don't give me that bullshit…"

"Don't lie to me…."

"You're the one lying to me, to the kids, and to yourself. You cheated on me! I never touched anyone while I was with you. You broke the rules, you're the liar!" Elliot yelled directly at Kathy. Elizabeth, Kathleen, and Dickey watched from the stairs.

"Can we leave?" Kathleen asked.

"We just were…" Kathy replied opening the door. The kids said goodbye to Elliot and they were gone. They weren't there a half hour and their situation became more complicated. Elliot went to bed, but he wasn't able to sleep.

"Benson, Stabler…downtown we got a reported sexual assault. Check it out, Munch and Fin are already there." Cragen stated. Elliot and Olivia headed out together and Olivia could see something was up with Elliot.

"Are you alright?" Olivia asked Elliot as he sat in the driver's seat.

"Just fine…" he replied, adding a yawn. "Are you?"

"Never been better…" Olivia answered ardently as Elliot revved the engine and headed downtown. When they got to the crime scene, they saw a young woman wrapped in a dirty blanket, hair disheveled, and looked as if she was beaten up pretty bad.

"What's her name and how old is she?" Elliot asked the woman police officer who was keeping an eye on the girl.

"Laura Hughes, she's twenty eight…" the cop replied. Olivia followed Elliot over to the battered girl who looked at Elliot with frightened eyes.

"Hi Laura , I'm Detective St…." Elliot began but was interrupted by her flailing kicks and screams.

"Get away from me!" She yelled at Elliot who immediately stood back and but his hand to his revolver.

"Jesus…" he muttered. Olivia made sure Elliot didn't pull out his gun, pushing him to the side.

"Laura …Laura …" Olivia took her by the shoulders and tried to calm her down. Elliot walked over to Fin and Munch who were interviewing the accused abuser.

"Look, we hung out, but I never beat that bitch."

"Hey, you're the punk who has her like that." Munch yelled at the man while

showing him the girl bawling in Olivia's arms.

"She told me to get out of the house. We had sex, I never touched her, otherwise."

"Mr. Anderson, she's accusing you of rape…"

"Hey, it was consensual…we like it rough." the man laughed.

"Daniel Anderson, you're under arrest for the assault and rape of Laura Hughes." Munch informed him.

"Get in the car, son." Fin ordered him. Elliot looked over at Olivia and Laura, who was now tranquil and recanting what happened to Olivia. He stayed and waited for Olivia to approach him.

"She's pretty shaken…" Olivia confirmed. "She says this guy, Daniel told her to perform oral sex on him, and when she refused he beat and raped her." Elliot, pretty grossed by it all, asked where the girl was going.

"She's gonna get dressed, and start pressing charges. Oh, before I forget, I ran out of business cards, can I give her yours?"

"Sure." Elliot yawned again handing Olivia his card. "I just don't want her to kill me over the phone in case she does call."

"I'll write my number at the bottom…" Olivia smiled in an annoyed way. Elliot watched as Olivia walked back over to the girl. Munch came over with cups of coffee.

"Thanks, man." Elliot said as Munch gave him the coffee. Munch purposely taunted the suspect in the car with the coffee. "Prick" he sneered.

"So we gonna take this s.o.b. down to the precinct or what?" Fin asked Munch.

"Yea, partner." Munch replied. "Later Elliot." Elliot smiled as Munch and Fin got into the car and drove off. Olivia came back; Elliot noticed how the wind made waves through her hair. She was as beautiful as ever, and now that he and Kathy were separated, maybe something would come about of it.

"They're gonna take her to the ER and conduct a rape kit."

"Munch and Fin are already gone back with the suspect for booking."

"Great, so we're left with the paperwork…"

HOURS LATER….

After Olivia and Elliot had completed the work, it was late in the evening. Elliot had planned on asking Olivia out for a drink, not her asking him.

"Hey, El, I was thinking…you wanna go for a drink?" Olivia proposed.

"Um, I better be going home." Elliot tried to play hard to get. "What are you doing?" he thought to himself. "This is your chance!"

"Alright, I guess I'll catch you later." she replied sounding disappointed. Elliot watched in horror as she walked away.

"Nice Job" he told himself. Ten minutes after Olivia left, Elliot decided it was time to go. Once he stepped outside of the precinct, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Detective Stabler?…"

"Yes, who's this?"

"It's Laura Hughes…".