A/N: I'm so glad you guys are reading this even if the stupid alerts aren't working! Thank you for the awesome reviews!! I promise to address all of your concerns in the upcoming chapters!!
Disclaimer: Only my overactive imagination is mine. And Kelli! You can't have her! Well. Okay, maybe. But ask nicely.
--
My palms are sweating. I'm holding ten grand. Ten grand in my hands. I've never held ten grand in a paper bag before. Let alone ten grand and several ink packs.
"Doin' okay?" Elliot asks in the transmitter in my ear. I glance over to the ticket counter where he's standing by. "Don't look at me, Liv. You know better than that," he hisses.
"Sorry," I mumble into my sleeve.
"Just relax. It'll be over in just a minute."
I check my watch again. 11:58. Noon. We're supposed to be here at noon. I look around the subway station, trying to see anyone I deem suspicious. Anyone I deem to be worthless enough to kidnap my daughter. My eyes land on a man in a leather jacket, sunglasses on top of his head, looking around. Just the way his eyes are darting around raises the fine hairs on the back of my neck.
What's his deal?
Then I see her. Sitting on a bench. All alone. My baby. Leather jacket man leans down and says something to her. She nods.
Be brave, baby. Mommy and Daddy love you.
The man starts walking toward me and I hear Elliot in my ear. "John. Kelli is on a bench at two o'clock. Don't let her out of your sight."
"Got it," Munch replies.
Leather jacket man walks toward me. "Olivia?" he says. I nod. "That for me?" he asks.
"That depends," I say. "Where's Kelli?" I ask, playing dumb.
He points to the bench. "Right there," he smiles and waves at her. Seeing me, she waves back excitedly, but stays put. "I told her she had to wait until I had the bag in my hands. Then she could come over. So. That for me?" he gestures to the bag. I hand it over as I watch Kelli spring up from the bench and run towards me.
"Mommy!" she cries, leaping into my arms. As I'm hugging my baby, thanking God that she's back in my arms, I see the guy take off out of the corner of my eye.
Munch and Fin stop him. "Where you off to so fast?" Munch asks.
He stutters and stammers a non-sensical response.
"We have someone here that would like to visit with you," Fin informs him, pulling Leather jacket's arms behind his back.
Elliot quickly jogs over to where the guys are holding Kelli's kidnapper.
"Hi," he says, brightly. "What's your name?" he asks.
"You a cop?" he asks stupidly.
"Sure am. What's your name? Might as well tell me, I'll find out anyway. You know. Since I'm a cop and all."
"I'll take my chances," he sneers.
"Okay then. I'll have to improvise," Elliot shrugs. "You have the right to keep your God damn mouth shut, you sick son of a bitch. If you give up that right, though I don't know why you would, any idiotic thing you could possibly think of can and trust me, it will, be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. In the event you cannot afford one, we'll find a real swell one to appoint to you. Let's go." Munch and Fin lead him away and Elliot starts walking toward us.
"Hey Kelli," I begin. "You want to meet your daddy?" I ask.
"YEAH!" she cheers just as Elliot reaches us. A spark of recognition crosses her face. She's seen so many pictures of Elliot, she could have picked her daddy out of a line up at a thousand yards.
"Hi, Kelli," he says, almost shyly.
"Hi," she replies in wonder, barely believing she is in the same room as her daddy.
"I'm your dad, Kelli," he says in the same tone of voice as his daughter.
"I know. I have lots of pictures of you," she says quietly. I blush. Yeah. I was kind of a shutterbug when we were together…
"Well maybe while you're here I can get lots of pictures of you," Elliot suggests, glancing at me.
I nod my agreement, my arms still wrapped tightly around Kelli's little body. "Let's get out of here," I suggest, heading for the stairs up to the street.
--
"Kidnapper's name is John Smith. I wish I was kidding," Munch informs me, walking out of the interrogation room. "No priors. 22 years old. First time kidnapper," he says snidely. "No juvvie record either. Where's Kelli?" he asks.
"In with Huang," I say. "Don brought him in since you three boys seemed more interested in talking to Mr. Smith," I say with an eye roll.
"Hey. Nothing but the best interrogators for our Liv," he says with a trademark smirk.
"Yeah. About that…" I glance over my shoulder through the one-way where Elliot is a millimeter from Mr. Smith's face and Fin is sitting there, twirling his thumbs as if he can't see a thing.
"Whoops. Better go calm things down," John shakes his head as he ducks back in the room and closes the door. I flip on the intercom to listen.
"So seriously. Why the hell did it seem like a good idea to steal a six-year-old from a zoo?" Elliot asks, sitting down as soon as John comes back in.
"I told you, man. I needed the money."
"And you didn't think you'd get caught?" Fin asks, suspiciously.
"Obviously not," Mr. Smith sneers sarcastically.
"Lose the attitude or I'll let Detective Stabler loose again," Munch advises. This seems to scare Mr. Smith, as well it should. I'd love to let Elliot loose on him, but then we'd have a lawsuit on our hands for excessive force.
I flip off the intercom and leave the boys to do their thing. I head across the hall to the interrogation room on the other side of Cragen's office to check on Kelli and George Huang, the department psychiatrist.
Just as I got there, George was coming out of the room. "I think we dodged a bullet, Olivia. Kelli says nothing bad happened. From what the captain told me about this guy, I'm inclined to believe her."
I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Thank God," I say with a smile. "I listened in on part of the guys' interview… he says he just needed the money," I say.
George nods. "That makes sense. Kelli said he told her he needed her to get him some money. The guys have any idea what he needed it for?"
I shake my head. "I'm waiting on his credit report to come back. I have my suspicions though," I say.
George nods again. "Yeah. Me too," he says with a smile. "Kelli's great, Liv. You've done a good job with her."
"Thanks doc," I say. "That means a lot coming from you."
He laughs. "I am saying that from the standpoint of a psychiatrist and a friend. Go see her if you want," he says.
I walk in the smaller interrogation room where Kelli's set up with a pad of paper and several pens and pencils.
"Hey babycakes," I say.
"Hi Mom," she replies, still concentrating on her drawing, barely acknowledging my existence.
"Whatcha drawing?"
"You. And me. And Daddy," she says with a grin. I glance down at her picture and see she's drawn Elliot without any hair.
"Daddy's not totally bald, honey," I tease. She shrugs as if to say close enough. "So, uh, Kelli. What do you think of Daddy?" I ask.
She shrugs again. "He's nice," she says.
"Do you want to meet some more of Mom's friends? Like Melinda? Or Casey? Or Alex?"
"Yeah!" she agrees wholeheartedly.
"Okay. Let me go tell Daddy where we're going," I say. I take her hand and we walk back into the storage room on the other side of the interrogation room the boys have Mr. Smith in. I push the button on the intercom and say, "Elliot?" His head pokes up from his heated discussion with Fin and Munch. "Can I see you a sec?"
He steps out and closes the door behind him. "Hey ladies," he says, ruffling Kelli's hair. She giggles. "Daaaaad," she whines. Like he's been doing it her whole life instead of for the first time today. He smiles. "What's up?" he asks me.
"We're going to run down to the lab to see Mel. And then over to the courthouse to meet Case and Alex," I inform him. "Do you want to have dinner later?"
"Sure. Just stop back by when you get done visiting. Have fun," he kisses me lightly on the temple and squeezes my hand. "Hey Kelli?" he asks, kneeling down to her level. "Do you think I could maybe have a hug?" he asks. She looks up at me quickly and I nod. She wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a good squeeze. "You're a great hugger," he tells her.
"That's what Mom says," she says with a big grin.
"Your mom's a pretty smart lady," he replies. He gives my hand another quick squeeze as he walks back in the interrogation room.
"Mom," Kelli whispers conspiratorially.
"What?" I ask, squatting down to her level.
"I think he likes you," she says.
I can't help but smile. "You think so?" I ask. She nods vigorously. "Let's go see Aunt Melinda, okay sillybean?"
"Mom! It's KELLIbean!" she giggles.
--
"Hey Dr. Warner," I smile as we enter the office next to the morgue. The doc has her back to me when she speaks.
"Olivia Benson, you better be standing there when I turn around and it better not be my imagination," she says, whipping around.
I laugh heartily and pull her into a hug. "What's up, Doc?" I tease.
She squeezes me tightly and smiles. "Not a darn thing. Heard you were back in town," she said smoothly.
I nod as I feel Kelli tug on my hand. "Oh, excuse me," I say, rolling my eyes at Melinda. "Mel, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Kelli Serena Benson," I introduce.
"Kelli, it is wonderful to meet you," she says.
"Nice to meet you too," Kelli says sweetly.
Melinda looks at me. "Doing okay?" she asks.
"Loaded question, doc," I reply. "But yeah. We're okay."
"Elliot?" she asks.
"Handling it like a pro," I say.
"Are you surprised?"
"A little… I kind of expected him to freak out more. And he told me that he is mad, but he hasn't really… seemed mad," I say.
"Well. Be prepared for the crap to hit the fan when the adrenaline wears off," Melinda advises.
I nod my head. "I'm kind of afraid of that," I say.
"Who all have you gotten to meet, Kelli?" Melinda asks, turning her attention back to my daughter.
"Daddy," she says importantly. "And now you!" she adds.
"We're going over to the courthouse to see Casey and Alex after this," I tell Melinda.
"Well don't let me hold you up! How long are you guys staying?" she asks.
"Maybe another few days? Depending on… things…" I say.
Melinda nods. "Well. Call if you need anything, okay?"
"Sure. Ready bean?" I ask, glancing down at my kid. She nods. "Let's go," I say.
--
When we got to the courthouse, the first person we saw out on the steps was none other than my best friend Alexandra Cabot.
"Afternoon, Judge," I say.
"Well hello Agent Benson!" Alex replies, taking the cement steps two at a time. She wraps me in a hug and looks down at Kelli. "Hi, Kelli," she says.
"Hi," Kelli replies.
"Kelli, this is your Aunt Alex, my very best friend in the whole world, and the best judge in the whole state of New York," I say.
Kelli smiles. "I've seen pictures of her too, Mom," she tells me.
"That's right babe, good job."
"So? Everything…" Alex asks nervously.
"Fine. He didn't harm a hair on her head. Thank God."
"Where is he now?" she asks.
"Being questioned by Dad, Uncle Munchy and Uncle Fin," I say with an eye roll.
"I almost feel bad for the poor bastard," Alex giggles.
I nod my head and giggle. "Case in her office?" I ask.
"Should be – we just got back from lunch at the diner. I'm actually not presiding over any of her cases for once, so we get to hang out for a few days," Alex said with a grin. "She's pretty good at my old job."
I smile, thinking back to Casey Novak's first couple cases with SVU. None of us thought she was going to hack it. "Well, eleven years of experience will do that to you."
Alex laughs and slides her glasses back up on her nose. "I have to run, but how long are you guys staying?"
I shrug, and give her the same answer I gave Melinda.
"Well. If… things… make you stay a little longer, I'd love to see you guys again. Maybe we could do pizza and movies like we used to," she suggests.
"In those big, fancy, Judge Cabot digs," I reply with a smile.
"Of course," she says, squeezing my hand. "Great to see you, Liv. You look… wonderful."
"You too, Alex. I'll call you later, okay?"
"For sure. Nice to meet you, Kelli," Alex says.
"You too, Aunt Alex. See you!" Kelli says with a wave. I laugh and wave too, jogging up the steps to the front doors of the courthouse.
--
Knocking on the wood and glass door with "A.D.A. Casey Novak" etched in the glass, I poke my head inside. "Anyone home?" I ask.
"Olivia!" the door swings open to reveal the beautiful redheaded Assistant District Attorney.
"Hey, Case," I say, hugging her.
"And this, is the infamous Kellibean," Casey runs her hand over my daughter's head.
"Kelli, can you say hi to your Aunt Casey?" I ask.
"Hi," she replies sweetly. "Mom?"
"What, honey?"
"How many aunts do I have?"
"Two more, but they're not in New York," I say, in reference to Elliot's younger sisters.
"Wow."
Casey and I both laugh. My daughter has gone from having me and her "dead" father as her only family to a whole troupe of the greatest friends a girl could ever ask for in only a day.
"They just had a news report saying that Kelli had been found and that the Amber Alert was over," Casey informs me. "I was just coming over to the station to see what the scoop was."
"Well, we'll walk back with you. We're going to have dinner with Elliot," I say.
"How's that… going?" she asks.
"So far so good. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"As anyone would with a man like Elliot," Casey agrees with a smile. "It'll all work out, Liv. It always does with you guys," she says, locking her office door and shutting it behind us.
I nod. "I hope so."
--
A/N: FLUFF-O-RAMA! But yay, they got the bastard!! Woo! R&R my darlings! XO, Kinsey Jo