A/N: Hey guys, thanks so much for reviewing! I love you all.

Anyway, here's the deal: tomorrow I'm going to California and so I wanted to write a chapter before I left. I know it's not Sunday, but I won't be back until next Tuesday. This chapter is wayyyyyy shorter than normal, but I didn't have much time, so I'm sorry!

Here's the second deal: As of right now (I might change my mind) I am not going to write another chapter until I get 80 reviews. I have 68 right now, so I think 12 more won't be too hard, right? :D

Okay… well review! LOVE YOU!

XXX KATE XXX

"Are you sleepy Natalie?" Olivia asked.

The little girl nodded.

"Does anything hurt?" she asked.

The little girl nodded again.

"What?"

She pointed down and Olivia understood – her blood boiled at the thought.

"You're never going to hurt down there again, okay? I promise."

The little girl shut her eyes tight and her little body shook with panic.

Olivia smoothed back her hair, "It's going to be okay now."

The little girl grabbed Olivia's arm and clung to it. Olivia pulled her into her arms, careful not to pull any of her tubing. The little girl needed comfort and this was the only thing she could think to do.

Elliot felt like his world was being turned upside down… nothing made sense. His feelings towards Olivia were as heightened as ever and everything seemed different now that he could admit it to himself. He was trying to clear his head in the waiting room of Mercy Hospital when Captain Cragen appeared through the double doors.

"Elliot," he called causing Elliot to startle, "How are the children?"

Elliot stood. "The boy just got out of surgery and is doing fine and the two girls are resting."

"Good, good, well Munch and Finn still can't get anything out of the sleezeball…all we know is that Torrez and the father used to work together in a furniture restoration company, but apparently the company employer hasn't heard from Mr. Fort in a few months, we have no leads on how to track this guy down."

Elliot sighed, "This is a tough case…Olivia's a mess, she's worried about the kids," he said massaging the back of his neck with concern.

"Well she should be…they have been through hell and back and now will probably have to be placed in the state's care until we find their father," he said honestly.

Elliot thought for a moment, "Cap, is there any way the children could come home with Olivia or me…just like until a stable home environment is established for them?"

Cragen cleared his throat, "Elliot, you really think that you or Olivia would make a stable home environment? I mean I'm sorry El, but neither of you are prepared for that kind of responsibility right now. Taking care of three children is difficult, I don't need to tell you that, and trying to care for three victim children is even harder…especially alone," he sighed, "besides, I don't even know if that would legal."

"Captain, to be honest, I think Olivia can handle this. In fact, I think she'd be the best person for the job…it would be a win win for everyone involved," he said.

Don furrowed his eye brows in deep thought.

"I'll see what I can do Elliot, but I'm not promising anything," he sighed as he turned and left.

Elliot smiled with satisfaction and went in search for Olivia. He found her in Noah Fort's room – the little boy who was nearly five years old. She looked up when Elliot came through the doors.

"Hey El."

"Hey, how's the little guy doing?"

"He's a fighter… he's out for now but the doctors said he should wake up soon," she said quietly, looking at the boy.

He was small for his age; you could almost miss him if you took only a glance at the bed.

"Good."

"Yeah…"

"So Liv…"

"Yeah?" she glanced up.

He pulled up a chair and sat down directly in front of her, close enough for their knees to be touching.

"What do you think of…having the children…come and stay with you…for a while?" he asked hesitantly. The last thing he wanted to do was to get her hopes up in case something didn't work out…but he also wanted to make sure it was okay with her before Cragen got too far into working around the law.

Elliot held his breath. Olivia just stared at him for a moment.

She suddenly, ever so slightly, leaned towards Elliot and pressed her lips gently against his, "Thank you," she said lingering there for a moment. A surprised Elliot smiled against her kiss and then reluctantly pulled back.

He sat stunned for just a moment and then recovered.

"So you're okay with it? I mean it's not for sure yet, but I wanted to check with you" –

He then got cut off as Olivia thrust her lips upon his again. This kiss was long and slow and contained much more feeling than the first. Elliot's heart was racing. He wasn't quite sure what was happening…but that was okay with him.

Olivia pulled apart first, "Sorry, I wanted to do it again before I lost the nerve," she explained.

Elliot grinned uncontrollably, "Don't apologize," he said.

"Was that weird?" she asked.

"Yeah," he blurted out, Olivia blushed furiously in embarrassment.

"No, no, no, yeah, I mean, yes, it was weird…but a good weird…and amazing weird," Elliot tried to clarify, stumbling over his words like an idiot.

This seemed to satisfy Olivia though, she smiled back, "okay, amazing weird is good."