Mini-crossover with Law and Order: SVU, can't have a missing child case without Liv and Elliot popping up!

Chapter 4: Slow Motion

"Right there," Abby pointed to the slide for the millionth time as a kind police officer who had introduced herself as Detective Olivia Benson asked Abby once again where she had last seen her niece.

Olivia made a note on her notepad and kept her voice calm. "And her parents are out of town?"

Abby nodded. "In Maine until Monday night."

"Ok," Olivia smiled kindly. "Have you called them to-"

"No!" Abby cut her off. "I will not call them and tell them I lost their child." Nearby her she could hear Tommy fussing in his stroller as a young policewoman tried to entertain him with one of his toys. "I have to find her, I have to find her,"

Olivia placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "The best thing you can do right now is stay calm for your nephew," she said.

"Abby?"

"Bobby!" Abby rushed towards him as he climbed out of his car. "I lost her," she gasped as he took her by her shoulders. "I lost Megan, I lost her!"

"It's okay," Bobby folded her into his body and held her tight.

"I was just sitting there," Abby kept one arm clung around his waist and pointed to the sandpit with the other. "I was there with Tommy and she was behind me, I know she was."

Detective Benson shook hands and swapped identification with Bobby. "Maybe you could take your nephew home?" Olivia suggested.

"Home?" Abby repeated. The thought horrified her. "No, I'm not going home with Megan."

"Abby-" Bobby started.

"No!" Abby snapped. "No, I'm not leaving." She knew her expression was shaky at best, but she tried to look firm and not back down.

"Ok, then just come sit here for a minute," Bobby lead her to the park bench beside the policewoman watching Tommy. "Just sit and breathe alright?"

Breathing was the last thing Abby could control; she was hyperventilating so fast her head spun. "How could I lose her?" she mumbled to herself eyes darting all over the playground as if Megan would just pop up out of the grass. "I wasn't watching her, I should have been watching her better."

"It was an accident," Bobby said rubbing her back between her shoulder blades. "And she's going to be fine."

Tears welled in Abby's eyes. The policewoman who was keeping an eye Tommy began to walk passed her with the stroller, but Abby stopped her. "No, I'll watch him now. It's okay." she pulled her nephew closer to her even though the policewoman was obviously concerned, but Abby saw Bobby nod to her that it was alright that they be left alone. "Hey, buddy," Abby sniffled and rearranged Tommy's hat and coat so he was warm.

"Abby, I could take you both home-" Bobby started to say.

"No, Megan doesn't know you," Abby said firmly. "She doesn't know any of these people. She'll be scared. If someone goes up to her, she'll be scared. I have to be there, I have to be here when they find her." Her mind played horrible images to her, the worst that could happen to her niece, the sick people in the world who stole children her age. "Dammit, I should have been watching her!" She slammed her palm against her forehead.

Bobby moved his hand to her shoulder and pulled her against him. She settled in the warmth of his chest; if she weren't petrified she'd find it to be calming. But all she wanted to do was run all over the city screaming Megan's name.

"Excuse me, Ms Mackenzie?" A handsome detective with sharp, piercing eyes came over and sat on Abby's other side. "I'm Detective Elliot Stabler," he nodded a hello to Bobby. "Can you tell me, did you see anyone around?"

"Of course, it's a park," Abby wiped her eyes and sniffled. "There were people everywhere."

"Can you be specific?" Detective Stabler pressed. "Men, women? Anyone acting suspiciously?"

"Ah, there were a bunch of kids in the sandpit with us," Abby said pinching the bridge of her nose. "And a bunch of kids on the playground. And nannies and parents," her nephew started yawning and fussing, so she leant forwards and started looking in the baby bag hanging off the stroller handle for Tommy's pacifier. "Couples, people jogging, usual stuff." Suddenly, Abby remembered the balloons that had distracted Tommy while they were in the sandpit. "Oh, and a class on a field trip."

Detective Stabler looked up at her, eyes narrowing. "A field trip?" He repeated.

"Yeah," Abby nodded and popped the blue pacifier in Tommy's mouth. He closed his eyes immediately, oblivious to the stress around him. "Whole bunch of kids following a teacher around in two lines. A field trip."

"On a Saturday?"

A cold rush ran over Abby's back. The significance of the day hadn't even occurred to her.

xxx

An hour later, Megan was found perfectly happy and well at the Holy Family church just two blocks from Central Park. During a busy day out that volunteers had organized for the children of its partitioners, Megan had just blended in with the thirty or so other children on the walk back to the church. She even acquired herself a balloon and was completely bewildered as to why her Aunt Abby was in such a frantic state when she came to get her.

It felt like days or weeks later, but it was only eight in the evening when Abby arrived home with both children. She'd only been out for a few hours, but she was exhausted. Bobby had walked home with them pushing Tommy's stroller so Abby could keep a tight grasp on Megan's hand.

Even after she fed the children and put them both to bed after a long day, Abby was still tense. "She doesn't even know," Abby said quietly from Megan's doorway. Her niece was sound asleep, curled up in a ball surrounded by her stuffed animal collection. "She has no idea what happened. For her it was just a fun day out."

"Kids are like that," Bobby said, he'd stayed with her perhaps sensing her anxiety and stress.

Across the hall, Abby peered into the nursery. Tommy was asleep, too, sucking contentedly on his pacifier as the mobile above him circled miniature stars and planets to the hum of a soft lullaby. Pulling the door half-closed, Abby walked out of earshot of the children's rooms down the hall with Bobby behind her. "God," she sighed and ran her hands through her hair, resting her head back against the wall. "I'll have to tell Ben, won't I? That I lost his first born?"

"Or that you found his first born," Bobby suggested leaning against the wall opposite her. "And pretty damn fast."

"Thanks to you," Abby pointed out. "No way I would have had two detectives out there so fast if I didn't know you," her brow furrowed and she pursed her lips together. "I think I'll leave the multiple-detective part out when I tell Ben and Kayla, though..."

"Yeah, good idea."

"He lost me once when we were kids," Abby recalled. "I don't remember, but he does. He said it makes him more diligent with his own kids now; always has to be able to see them," she stared down at her feet. "I thought I was the same. I mean, I used to do this for a living. Kids aren't new to me, babysitting isn't something I just picked up for fun," she rolled her eyes to herself. "I should have been paying more attention."

"It was an accident," Bobby told her. "Happens to everyone. And it's over. Megan's safe. Tommy's safe. And you still have your sanity."

"Doubtful." Abby smirked, and her eyes caught Bobby's. And held his gaze. "Again, thank you. For coming when I called, and keeping so calm, and keeping me calm. Well, calmer," she added. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Pushing up off the wall, Abby hugged him. Even without his jacket he was still as cosy as he had been on the park bench, and his warmth cascaded over Abby as his arms enveloped her. She leant into his chest, and he was tall enough that his cheek rested against the top of her head. And now, as she had thought she might have earlier, she did feel calm.

A spark of electricity rippled through the heat across Abby's body as their lips met. Bobby's mouth was warm, his lips were soft, and as she moved her hands to his face she felt the slight stubble of his chin. Abby held her mouth to his for a moment, then tilted her head and deepened their kiss, moving her hands around his neck. She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him and even then he was almost lifting her off the ground, but not once did he stop her.

Then he did lift her up and held her as she cinched her legs around his waist. His hands held the small of her back, his fingers roaming underneath her shirt and sending shivers up her spine. Abby kissed him harder and he responded by leaning her against the wall and pressing himself completely against her. His hands were sliding across the outside of her thighs when the phone started to ring, abruptly waking Tommy in the process.

Breaking their embrace, Abby reluctantly let Bobby set her down and, flushed and distracted, she answered the normal call she would expect from her brother at that time of night. After she told him the kids were fine but Tommy had awakened, she hung up and went to tend to her nephew. He was tired enough that just some gentle rubbing on his tummy put him back to sleep. By the time Abby found Bobby in the kitchen, the heat from their encounter was long gone and replaced with the weariness of the day.

"Saturday," Bobby said, slipping his jacket back on.

"Saturday," Abby nodded and smiled and followed him to the front door. She pecked a kiss to his cheek just before he left and then kept grinning to herself long after she'd locked up. Saturday was their date, and Abby knew it was going to be a good one.

xxx