A/N: well i've had almost 1500 hits on this story, andi thank all of you who have read the story and reviewed whether or not the review was good or bad! And for those of you that haven't left a review, please, please, please, leave one! Even it's 'I hated your story' i live for feedback and i enjoying reading your POV on my writing. Without feedback, i have no desire to write, and it's very important that i hear what you guys think, so please leave a review!

Chapter 7: Vengeance

Saturday January 2

1030 Hours

OLIVIA'S POV

My head pounded in unceasing pain as Elliot and I drove silently to the scene of the crime. Thoughts of a teenage girl in a body bag, beaten, bloody, and broken flashed across my mind as the tires screeched to a halt, leaving behind curved black skid marks. Kristin was the first to jump out of the car, but I forced her to stay with Casey as Elliot and I ducked under the yellow crime scene tape. Just because I was afraid to leave her at home, didn't mean that I was going to let her witness what could possibly be a horrific crime.

The first thing I saw was the body of Natalie Yei lying face down in the sidewalk right outside the door of their house. I watched immobilized until I saw her chest rise and fall, thanking God that she was still breathing.

"One shot to the head… if it was just a millimeter to the right, she'd be dead…" the M.E. Warner told us, snapping me out of my zombie state of mind.

"Well what are we waiting for? This girl needs to go to a hospital now!" I yelled, waving towards the ambulance on scene and those who were clearly not doing their jobs.

It was then that I saw the captain talking to Dr. Yei behind one of the police cars. Her body was shaking in fear as she struggled to answer Cragen's questions without letting tears fall from her eyes.

"Elliot… I'll be right back ok?" I got up off the ground and silently walked over to Dr. Yei.

"Olivia…"

"Captain, I need to talk to Dr. Yei if you don't mind…" he nodded, and walked over to help Elliot with the scene.

"Margie…"

"Olivia how could this happen?" she asked, finally allowing her tears to fall down from her eyes. I pulled her towards me and rubbed her back trying to reassure her, but I knew the damage was already done. Behind me I heard the sound of a stretcher being pulled into the ambulance.

"You better ride with her… I'll meet up with you later… it's going to be alright Margie…" I watched as the blinking red ambulance lights disappeared around the corner.

Quietly I walked back over to the scene where Elliot and Cragen were crouching on the ground. They were helping a CSI lift prints from the sidewalk where Natalie was found. Another woman was taking pictures of the blood spatter to determine where the shooter was standing. I sighed wearily before joining them.

"Anything?"

"A few partials prints, but by the position of them, they're most likely Natalie's…" Elliot stated in almost a whisper.

"Yeah… anything else?" I asked somewhat distractedly.

"Well, by the looks of the blood spatter the shooter shot from about the mailbox…" Cragen said, pointing down the driveway to the mailbox.

"A hit and run?"

"Looks like it…"

"Hey Liv…" Elliot said.

"What do ya got?" I questioned, squatting down beside him.

"A note…"

"Let me see that… I've been waiting for the day when I'd at last see little Kristin's body motionless on the floor… too bad her poor friend got in the way… you have 24 hours to find me Miss Benson, or your little daughter will be mine… What the hell is that?"

"I dunno, but we're sending it to the lab for prints…"

"I doubt whoever this person is would be stupid enough to leave his prints on a note that somebody would clearly find."

"Let's go to the hospital Liv… I'm sure Natalie will want Kristin to be there…"

HOSPITAL 1115 Hours

Elliot and I watched as Kristin disappeared into Natalie's room after hearing that she was once again conscious. We turned down the hallway in the opposite direction and stopped at room 257. The big gold letters displaying the number two hundred fifty-seven, seemed like a wall to me. On our side of the door was the man I loved more than any other person in the world, but inside was a woman that I had been friends with for eight years. She was the mother of my daughter's best friend, and the woman who helped my daughter after her attack. Once we opened that door, we would be greeted by a woman engulfed in fear, pain, and rage. I wished that I didn't have to go inside, but nonetheless she was the only witness to her daughter's shooting, and we had to talk to her.

His eyes lingered over me, and I knew that he could sense my fear, the pang of guilt twisting inside my stomach, and the look in my eyes that wondered why this would never stop happening. I was almost surprised when his hand grasped mine. Squeezing his hand tighter, I tried to prove that I was going to be ok, but we both knew that I needed him.

Quietly, I opened the door with the hand that wasn't enveloped in Elliot's. "Margie… Margie… it's me…" she was sitting on a hospital bed, her back turned to the two of us. I nodded to Elliot and silently released his hand, sitting down on the edge of Margie's bed. Her eyes were focused out the window, but I knew what she was looking at wasn't the snow covered trees out the window. She sighed allowing her shoulders to drop. For the first time I noticed that her wrist was closed in a white plaster cast.

"I'm in the hospital everyday… but I never imagined it would be like this…" she told me, her eyes still out the window. I think that she figured that looking me in the eye would make her cry, so I too found something else to look at.

"Margie… I feel so guilty about this… your daughter wasn't supposed to be the one in the hospital… my daughter was the target, and yet here you are… I'm so sorry about this Margie…"

"Oh damn it Olivia! Don't forget what I told you yesterday… none of this is your fault… you can't make someone shot my daughter, just like you couldn't make someone attack yours…" her eyes reverted to mine and I admired how quickly she found her courage.

"Margie… we have evidence suggesting that the person that shot your daughter could be one of Jose's partners who wanted Kristin dead for putting Jose in jail…"

"I thought the situation with Jose was taken care of…"

"So did we…"

"What can I do?"

"The hardest thing you could possibly imagine…"

"What's that?"

"Nothing…"

A/N: sorry that this chapter was rather short, but i have written the next part already and just need to do a little revision! I need to warn you that i'm going to the beach from the 13-21, so i'm going to try really hard to get thisstory wrappedup before then because i can't bring my laptop along. If i don'tfinish before then, for whatever reason, i promise to update as soon as i get back! pleasereview! all you readers are absolutely wonderful!

333 evelien