The Unbreakable Two, (rewrite)

by kassidygean

Established EO: in this story Olivia and Elliot got together after fault and have been together ever sense. We'll start out in the Lewis ark and occasionally flash back to their earlier moments as a couple. elliot will help Liv through her trauma, she'll be seen helping him through his and no matter what challenges arise, nothing will ever break these two.

66. Chapter 66

A/n: sorry in advance for the crazy length of this chapter, I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

September 30th, 4:47 PM, 16th precinct.

"Okay honey while we're here I need you to be on your best behavior okay?" Olivia said as Elliot parked their truck and her phone pinged.

"Is this the police station mommy?"

"Yeah," she said as she clicked on the link she had been sent and a post came up on her screen Emy Lou, @ Emmy Lou: I'm really missing Curtiss and Travis never gives me enough attention as it is so I'm gonna pull an Olivia Benson who's with me? Winking face emoji, smirking face emoji, finger over closed lips emoji, it read as her breath hitched.

Izzabella nodded "cool," she said obliviously as her expression then grew worried "are me and sissy in trouble? Kylie said that bad people that are in trouble go to police stations."

"No baby you're not we're just eating dinner," she said distractedly as she glanced at the comments Tamara118507: You go girl just don't set up Curtiss like she did to her lover he's too sweet.

Emmy Lou: I'd never I'm gonna set up a random guy instead or maybe I'll just burn myself on my way home. You think she burned herself?

Tamara118507: maybe who knows.

Rachel B Lox, replying to Emmy Lou and Tamara118507: Do you really wanna bring yourself down to that sluts level?

Emmy Lou: yeah everybody'll feel sorry for me and that's something I can get down with Olivia read as she swallowed hard, reported the post to Twitter then shoved her phone back in her pocket and tried to focus on the sound of Elliot's voice "people go to police stations for a lot more reasons than if they did something wrong and the bad people are only in certain rooms," he was saying.

"I-I won't go in a bad room right?"

"No baby," he said as he frowned slightly "sounds like we need to talk to Kylie," he whispered to Olivia.

"H-Huh?" she asked dazed.

Elliot's frown grew deeper "I think we need to talk to Kylie," he repeated.

"Why what'd she do?"

"It seems to me like she scared Izzabella of police stations, baby you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she said as she wrapped her arm around him needing the contact "we can't just talk to her El you know that right? She's three and we're not her parents."

"Yeah I do but she must see police officers and police stations like the big bad wolf to have been able to scare Izzabella like that and if one day something happens to her and she's scared of us then..."

"I hear you El," she whispered as they sat there in silence for a minute before she sighed slightly "you ready to head inside?"

"I am I'm hungry," Lizzie said with a smile but Elliot frowned unsure "you seem off baby are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah yeah I'm fine I promise," she said not wanting to let the trolls ruin her evening as he hesitantly nodded and they all made their way inside with the food and she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Liv! Hey you're early," Rollins said with a smile as she saw Izzabella and moved from her desk "hi cutie pie!"

"Hi," Izzabella said and Carisi quickly distracted her then as Liv nodded and smiled "I know we are Cragen still had a couple things to show me and after what happened Friday..."

"You figured you'd let him do it at the tale end of the day. Gotcha," she said as she nodded then frowned deeply when she saw her black eye.

"Guy gave that to me during Friday's chaos he's probably at the tombs now on the assault charge," she said firmly.

Rollins nodded as Lizzie and Elliot came out from the break room after sitting down the food "let me just say this you guys have no idea how hard it was for me to not touch the dessert dad made over the weekend it looks sooo good," Lizzie gushed.

"I bet it does Elliot's an amazing cook," Fin said.

"Yeah I know I've begged him to go on Hell's kitchen."

"And I'm not interested in running a restaurant baby but it's sweet that you think I could."

"I know you could," Lizzie said as Elliot just smiled and Dodds walked out of Cragen's office "I'm out of here 4:54's early enough for me."

Fin, Rollins and Carisi all nodded "where's captain Cragen?" Liv asked.

"He didn't work today. Don't worry he said he'd be here at 5:01."

Olivia chuckled a bit and nodded "I can't say that I blame him I wouldn't work all day for free either," El said.

"I did, well half the day anyway," Liv said.

"Technically you didn't Sergeant because you've received checks from the NYPD all through your leave of absence," Dodds said.

"Good point," she said as Dodds looked to Elliot "and last I remember you have detective."

Elliot frowned slightly "what are you talking about?"

"Well when Sergeant Benson was kidnapped you helped work the case and you weren't compensated for it."

"That's different," El said adamantly as Liv sighed "I'd rather not talk about that today if you don't mind?"

Dodds nodded "sorry Sergeant. I erm found your purse in Cragen's office while I was in there I put it in the bottom desk drawer."

She nodded slightly "thank you chief I left so fast the other day that I didn't think about it."

"No problem," he said as Cragen walked in then and once everyone exchanged hellos him and Liv headed into his office to do the tail end of the training.

5:26 PM.

"So do you have any questions at all before we go out there?" Cragen asked when they finished.

"I think I'm good... I mean this is all a lot it really is but I'm gonna have Elliot helping me out a good bit."

Cragen nodded and chuckled slightly "should I have trained him to?"

"No no the paperwork will be my responsibility he won't be helping me with that part I just meant if I get stuck on decisions at first I'll get him to help me you know he's always been really decisive."

"Yeah to his detriment 90% of the time."

Olivia chuckled a bit "good point... But me and him will level each other out at least that's what I'm hoping anyway."

"I'm sure you will," he said as he sighed "but I've got confidence in you Olivia, I really do and I hope that one day you'll see that you don't need his help as much as you think you do."

Olivia nodded slightly touched and unsure what to say as Cragen just smiled "lets head to the break room shall we?"

She nodded, stood from her chair and flung her purse across her body as he smiled "and build the camaraderie back up in this place would you? Because there was a time when although we were seeing the worst that humanity had to offer we were tight and we smiled but in the last few years that's died down a little and I don't want it to stay that way."

"I'll... I'll do my best captain," she whispered and with that he nodded and they left the office.

When they got in the break room they found everyone in small little groups chatting amongst themselves as Elliot, Amaro and Fin were in one, Rollins and Carisi were in another and Lizzie was texting on her phone "I see what you mean," she said to Cragen before making her way over to Elliot.

"Mommy!" Izzabella said with a smile from the chair on Elliot's left as she was coloring in a coloring book.

"Hey baby," she said as she ruffled her hair with a smile "I heard there was gonna be free food here so I figured I'd come check it out," Barba said walking into the break room.

"You heard right," Fin said with a smile and Barba smiled too "it smells delicious."

"Thank you," Elliot said with a smile and Barba nodded and went over to where Rollins and Carisi were to complete their group.

Everyone chatted amongst themselves for a few more minutes as Olivia ended up pulling up another chair and sitting on Elliot's other side as he gently took her hand under the table while still talking "can I have all your attention for a minute?" Cragen ended up asking over the chatter.

Everyone quietened and he smiled "so most of you know that I don't really like parties but you planned one for me anyway..."

Rollins frowned "do you not like it captain?"

"Ohh I do it's sweet you all put a lot of work into it and I appreciate it."

She nodded relieved and he smiled "I don't want this thing to be a goodbye though after me and Ilene are through with our six month cruise I plan to still be a part of all your lives."

They all smiled "it's not a goodbye then it's a see you later," Elliot said.

"Exactly," he said as Liv looked to him "when does your cruise leave out?"

"October 13th."

"Wow... I wish me and El could get two tickets."

The room went into laughter and El squeezed her hand "you're wanting to abandon us already sarge? You haven't even ran this place for a day yet," Carisi said.

"It's tempting... So tempting but no," she said as she smiled at Izzabella "I'd miss her too much."

Everyone gave collective nods "you don't wanna know how much this trip costed either Liv trust me," Cragen said.

She chuckled a bit "what was it five grand?" Fin asked.

"Ohh more than that, a lot more," he said as he then looked back at everyone "lets scoot these two tables together while we eat and toast guys there's no need for the clicks and distance."

Carisi nodded and moved their table to where it was touching Liv and El's "do you want us to all move seats too cap?" Rollins asked.

"I feel like that'd be pushing it, to a new leader and a new squad," he said as he clinked his glass of Coca-Cola against Fin's.

Liv, El, Fin and Amaro all murmured the toast back in unison as Rollins frowned "what do you mean a new squad?"

Cragen went to say something but Olivia shook her head "may I?"

Cragen nodded and Olivia smiled "tomorrow we'll be welcoming a new member to the team although it's not really fair to call him new."

"Really? Wow that's cool who are we getting?" Carisi asked enthusiastically as Rollins had figured out where this was headed already and stayed quiet.

"Me," Elliot said with a smile and Carisi nodded "before detective Stabler retired he put in 19 years with the special victims unit, he was actually the one who trained me so I can't think of a better possible fit."

"That's amazing sarge it really is... But what about the..." he stopped and tilted his head with a shrug.

"The what?" she asked sharply.

"The conflict of interest."

"That's not gonna be a problem for us," Elliot said as Fin nodded backing him up silently.

Carisi nodded as Amaro smiled "this is a good thing now the old timers will balance out the rookies again."

"You and Rollins aren't rookies anymore," Olivia said.

"Maybe not but compared to you guys we are."

"Good point," she said as stomachs growled then and everyone began to eat.

xxxxx

"I didn't just come here to eat gourmet food," Barba said as his mouth watered slightly while he chewed a few minutes later "I have an update on our almost bomber."

"I'm really glad you like it," Elliot said slightly smiling at him "he in prison?"

"Yes he pled guilty to making a terroristic threat and disturbing the piece. He was sentenced to 15 years but he'll probably serve eight or nine if his behavior is good."

"I thought there wasn't a bomb though," Lizzie said puzzled.

"There wasn't but the law states that threatening that there is one is enough to convict someone of making a terroristic threat."

She nodded slightly "he was given the opportunity to tell me that it was a prank too and he didn't take it," Liv said.

Lizzie nodded again "it sounds like he was just a horrible person."

"He was he did it because he wanted us to give him a free pass to hurt people. It didn't work though and now he knows that the law applies to him just like it does everyone else," Rollins said.

"You don't think he knew that before?"

She shook her head "I doubt he was ever told the word no in his life when we arrested him we found him living in his mom's basement rent free and when I interrogated him he told me she did everything for him including washing his feet."

"You're not serious..." El whispered.

"As a heart attack."

"Damn... Well I doubt that'll be getting done for him in prison."

"Ohh I'm sure they'll do more than wash his feet," Fin said as Izzabella looked to Elliot "you said a bad word daddy."

He chuckled "I did didn't I," he said as they all remembered that there was a three year old in the room then and conversation became lighter as a result.

By 7 o'clock most of the food and dessert had been devoured and Cragen had given them all their individual goodbye and piece of advice to take with them going forward "would it be alright if I take a plate of this lasagna with me for my mom to try?" Barba asked as he stood to leave.

Elliot quickly glanced at the pan seeing there were around 4 or 5 servings left "yeah sure go ahead I hope she likes it," he said with a smile.

"She will I guarantee you this food was amazing I can't even tell you in words how good all of it was."

Elliot blushed slightly "thank you ADA Barba I'm really glad you liked it."

He nodded "my pleasure," he said as Carisi smiled then "me and you'll have to have a cook-off one of these days my mom is Italian so I know a lot of good Italian recipes."

Elliot smiled "I'd do one with you I've never been to Italy though and my family is Irish catholic so although I guess you could say that this meal falls under the category of Italian I don't ever try for any specific theme when I cook I just cook what Liv and the kids like to eat."

Carisi nodded as he smiled brightly "you're catholic?"

"I am, I'm not a strict one by any means but I am yes."

Carisi nodded "I'm catholic too, it seems like we have more in common than I first thought."

"Yeah it does doesn't it," he said as Izzabella looked to him "daddy where's our movie?"

"We're not watching a movie tonight baby there's no tv here and when we get home it'll be too late."

"B-But we watch a movie every night..."

"I know but tonight's special so that makes it different, I promise you we'll try to watch two movies tomorrow."

"Okay," she said as Olivia rapped up the conversation she was having with Amaro and he stood to leave "I'm out of here guys gonna take advantage of this quiet night while I can."

"Don't say the q word, never say the q word," Fin said.

"Sorry sorry," he said as Liv and El finished a quick whispered conversation "we're outa here too it's gonna be an hour drive back to Queens the way evening traffic is," El said as he and Liv stood in unison.

"Everyone's bailing on me at once huh?" Cragen said teasingly.

"Sorry," Rollins said as she stood "I've gotta feed and walk Franny before it gets any later."

"I understand," Cragen said as Elliot smiled "if anyone else wants leftovers speak now or forever hold your piece."

"I'll take a slice of cake," Rollins said as Carisi nodded "me too."

Elliot nodded his head and let them both cut a slice "cap do you want any? This party was for you."

"I think I'll take a few pieces of the garlic bread Ilene will love it."

Elliot nodded his head "Fin? Amaro? Last chance cuz the pans are leaving with us."

They both shook their heads "it was awesome but I'm good man," Fin said with a smile.

Elliot nodded as him, Olivia and Lizzie all three grabbed a container "I look forward to working with you and learning from you detective Stabler," Carisi said with a smile.

"Likewise, come on kiddo," Elliot said taking Izzabella's hand and the four of them headed for home.

10:06 PM.

Olivia laid with her head on Elliot's chest and her eyes slightly open as he had been stroking her hair steadily for several minutes but she still hadn't fallen asleep this isn't normal he thought to himself as he silently rolled on to his side slightly, wrapped his arm around her and switched hands.

Olivia burrowed herself closer to him while sighing contentedly as he kissed her head a couple times then started rubbing gentle circles on her hip with the hand which was around her waste.

She let out a yawn and he smiled slightly to himself and continued the ministrations but fifteen minutes later her eyes were still open and he frowned "baby what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"I just have a lot on my mind and it won't shut off... I'm sorry El I'm trying to get it to you should go on to sleep."

"And have a repeat of Friday morning? No way," he whispered lovingly as he shook his head "you wanna talk about it?"

She sighed "I don't know where I'd even start."

He nodded "well how about we start with tonight. How do you think that went?"

"Good for the most part it seemed like you and Carisi hit it off," she said as she moved into their pillow talk position.

Elliot chuckled slightly "he hit it off with me I still haven't forgiven him for July 4th yet."

"El it's"-

"Been three months I know baby," he said as he sighed "it's just hard for me to get past things like that."

"I know," she said as she was quiet for a minute before speaking again "for what it's worth you didn't seem mad at him at the dinner."

Elliot nodded "yeah I tried to be nice."

She nodded with a smile "you were and I look forward to watching you beat him when you guys do your cook-off."

He nodded through a sigh "I was too nice."

Olivia just chuckled slightly and he smiled "what else is on your mind baby?"

She sighed slightly "tomorrow's just such a big day for me and when we told everyone tonight Rollins was deathly quiet so I'm not sure how she feels... Not that I care how she feels about it but I don't want her to start fights with you and I feel bad that Lizzie was there tonight but kind of just left out and"-

"Lizzie went with us tonight for the food nothing else... And baby I'm not worried about Rollins if she's nice to me great if she gives me the cold shoulder great cuz I'm not gonna be there for her and I don't need her approval."

She nodded "I know you don't but I know you El and if she has an attitude you won't tolerate it forever."

"You're right I won't, Rollins isn't an idiot though from what I've been able to tell and I'm sure she'll figure out that it's best to just try and get along with me pretty quickly."

"You think she will?"

"With you in charge yeah she'll know that you have the power to throw her out of the unit if she doesn't."

"Yeah I will won't I..." she said with a slight smile.

"You will, you're gonna have the power to change a lot of things baby that's why I was so happy when Cragen suggested you take the Sergeants exam."

She sighed slightly "you've got to much faith in me."

He shook his head "I don't and once you find your stride you'll see."

Olivia nodded slightly and gripped his hand which was still rubbing her hip "a-are you sure you're okay with me going by Sergeant Benson at work El?"

"Of course I am it's your name and you went by Benson before."

"Yeah I did but that was before he made me say I"-

Elliot gasped slightly, nodded and pulled her back into his chest "what that bastard wrote down to me and made you say to me means nothing to me and you using your maiden name at work changes nothing you hear me?"

Olivia nodded as her body relaxed some and he nodded relieved "did you wanna talk about anything else?" he asked softly.

She shook her head slightly as he nodded "you want a massage baby?"

"I-I'd love one."

Elliot nodded, kissed her temple then started to get up to get the oil but she shook her head "you sure?" he asked.

"Mmhmm," she said as he nodded and once her shirt was off and she was comfortable he started the massage.

Half of the way through it she was asleep and he smiled as just then both of their phones pinged at once that's strange, he thought to himself as he grabbed them both and glanced at them worried something was wrong with the late hour and the synchronicity of the notifications.

Olivia's locked screen showed a notification from Twitter support as he expanded it Olivia, we reviewed the tweet that you reported and found that it doesn't go against any of our Community Standards. For this reason we didn't take the tweet down.

Elliot frowned slightly that's not like her to report things like that they must have gotten it wrong he thought to himself as he carefully laid her phone back on the table then checked his as the message was from his friend Leonard Betty came across a tweet tonight that you really need to see, she said You shouldn't but I disagree he read as his frown grew deeper Twitter again? What the hell is going on he wondered as once he had Liv resituated on his chest he opened the link attachment.

Emy Lou, @ Emy Lou: I'm really missing Curtiss and Travis never gives me enough attention as it is so I'm gonna pull an Olivia Benson who's with me? Winking face emoji, smirking face emoji, finger over closed lips emoji, he read as he glared What the hell is wrong with her? he thought to himself as he continued to scroll.

As he scrolled through Emmy and Tamara's conversation his anger grew you can't react, you can't react Olivia's right here he cautioned himself but when he read Rachel's comment, Do you really wanna bring yourself down to that sluts level? he lost his control as a rage filled growl came from his throat before he could help it and Olivia startled awake and rolled away.

Shit... Shit shit shit shit shit he thought to himself as his anger became second to his concern for Liv "baby I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," he whispered.

"W-What's wrong? El what's wrong?"

"Something I read just pissed me off everything's okay you can go back to sleep baby."

"S-Someone sent you the Twitter post didn't they..." she whispered knowingly as she sighed "I-I tried to report it, have it taken down."

"I know baby..." he whispered as he sighed and tentatively started to stroke her hair "I know you did."

Olivia looked surprised at that and he nodded "when you fell asleep both of our phones pinged at the same time and that seemed weird to me, like something could be up so I checked them both and your notification was just there."

She nodded slightly "I-I take it they didn't take it down?"

He shook his head "the notification on your phone said that they found that it didn't go against their community standards, I didn't read it all though honey at that point I knew nothing was wrong so I didn't wanna pry anymore, Leonard was the one who sent the tweet he sent it to me."

"So our phones dinging at the same time was just a weird coincidence?"

"Seems like it," he whispered as he sighed again "I'm sorry I scared you baby, so sorry."

"I-It's okay when I read it I wanted to growl at or punch something too," she said as she then shook her head "actually no that's a lie I wanted to cry but we were in the precinct parking lot with the kids in the car and I couldn't."

Elliot just nodded slightly, continued stroking her hair and kissed her temple "those girls are idiots baby I know it, you know it and everyone that matters knows it, remember that okay?" he murmured.

She nodded slightly "I'll try, I love you."

"Love you too baby, you wanna move back over here?" he asked as he tapped his chest lightly.

"Yeah," she whispered and only once she was back asleep did he open the reply box and begin to type.

Elliot Stabler: What the hell is wrong with you girls? The slander in this tweet is next level and publishing your plan to file a false report with the police publicly was not a very smart move. Emmy, you are clearly not the brightest bulb in the box and if this tweet isn't down by 6 AM tomorrow morning I will find out where you live and make sure that your local police station gets their hands on a copy of this, also any further attempts to slander my wife's name and reputation will result in a call from our lawyer, anyone who is willing to burn themselves to get attention needs psychological help, I hope you get it sweetheart and the next person who calls her a slut will regret it he typed through an angry glare as once he sent his response he locked his phone screen, plugged it in to charge then gave Liv one last feather light kiss on her temple before falling asleep along with her.

October 1st, 5:57 AM.

Elliot's eyes opened as he carefully stretched his limbs then turned the alarm clock on the bedside table off I'll wake her up myself in a few minutes after I've checked the phone he decided as he quietly grabbed it, opened his messages and reclicked on the link that Leonard had sent him.

A Tweet unavailable message popped up on his screen and he sighed in relief "thank god," he whispered to himself as he then continued to lay still deciding he'd give Liv five more minutes to sleep.

When 6:05 came and he was about to start stroking her hair to gently wake her her head began to thrash slightly "N-no don't do that to them Lee p-please no t-they don't deserve it no..." she cried out and his heart broke as he laid there and listened helplessly.

Her frantic murmuring continued for a couple more minutes as he was gently stroking her hair now "Liv, Liv wake up baby wake up it's just a dream you're safe, you're safe."

"No... El I love you... El, Izzabella Lizzie I-I love you," she murmured tearfully in her sleep as she then startled awake "El, El? El!" she called franticly.

Elliot pulled her closer to him "Shhhhhh I'm right here baby, right here."

She nodded several times as she took deep breaths "thank god... Ohh thank god' it felt so real..."

"What did?" he asked softly as he stroked her hair.

"M-My dream in the dream Lee called the precinct b-but he told me he put a bomb in our house and that you guys had no way out, I-I ended up on the phone with all of you guys at the same time a-and I woke up as the house was exploding."

Elliot nodded silently as he rose up and wrapped her into a bear hug then "we're safe baby, we're safe it was a nightmare, it was a nightmare I promise you we're all safe."

Olivia nodded as she wrapped her arms around him and calmed the rest of the way down "W-What time is it?" she asked while releasing her hold on him after a couple minutes.

Elliot glanced at his watch while keeping 1 arm around her "it's 6:13 I was about to wake you up if I had done it one minute sooner..."

Olivia shook her head slightly "don't do that to yourself El."

"You know I can't help it," he said as he kissed her temple.

"Yeah I do," she whispered as she kissed his lips and he returned it in kind "you wanna share a shower?" she asked once they had broken apart.

"Sure but I've gotta shave I don't think Sergeant Benson would approve of my little beard I've got going on here," he said pointing at it.

Olivia sighed "she wouldn't she can't... Not with our work and the victims we see but Mrs. Stabler loves it."

Elliot chuckled slightly and smiled "tell ya what right before our next furlough I'll grow it back."

"Deal, and leave a little stubble Sergeant Benson will look the other way."

He chuckled "you sure she will?"

"Yeah you know I've come to love running my fingers through it," she whispered as he nodded and his face sobered "you've got it baby," he murmured as he pecked her lips again then they headed to the master bathroom to shower together.

xxxxx

"How do I look?" Liv asked a little while later as she had just finished pinning her hair up and putting on her uniform.

"You look beautiful and like you're 100% ready for this," he said with a soft smile.

"Yeah?"

Elliot nodded his head with a smile "yeah, I don't think I'm gonna have time to cook breakfast this morning baby," he said while securing his duty belt to his jeans.

Olivia noticed the handcuffs protruding from it for a second but her gaze went back up to his face quickly "no probably not with Manhattan morning traffic. Why don't we stop by the diner on our way in and take breakfast to the precinct?"

"Sounds like a plan. You okay honey?"

"Mmhmm," she said as she moved to put on her own duty belt "are you sure? Because if you need me to I can take them out until we go out into the field I should have just done that to start with," he said as he started glancing around the room for something to conceal them in.

"El you don't have to do that it's fine really, I'm gonna head downstairs Lucy should be here any minute."

"Alright baby, I'm just gonna get my cologne and shoes on then I'll be right behind you."

"Okay, and El?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to try not to call me baby or honey to much at work okay? I know you just do it because you love me and you know I like it but at work it's unprofessional," she said regretfully.

"I understand," he said as he nodded his head "I'll try baby."

Olivia chuckled and Elliot did too "I did it again didn't I?"

"You did," she said through her chuckle as she left the bedroom then and Elliot smiled while he finished getting ready to go.

Olivia's prediction about Lucy was right as as she was walking down the stairs the doorbell rang and Izzabella followed her down having just woken up too "morning mommy!" she said cheerfully.

"Good morning baby, how'd you sleep?"

"Good, why do you have on your policemen's clothes?"

"Because I'm going back to work," she said as she opened the door with a smile "good morning Lucy," she said greeting her.

"Good morning Mrs. Stabler," she said with a smile as her smile then grew brighter when she saw Izzabella "good morning Izzabella!" she said shutting the door.

"Good morning Ms. Lucy!" she said greeting her enthusiastically "can we play tea party again?"

"After breakfast," she said as Olivia smiled and started making two thermoses of coffee "I didn't think you'd be such a morning person," she told Lucy lightly.

"It's part of the job plus you guys did tell me you might have to call me at random hours when I applied."

"Yes we did," she said with a smile "I'm just glad that you and Izzabella clicked as well as you did."

"Me too she's the sweetest little girl I've ever watched."

"Thank you for saying that it means a lot really," she said as Elliot came down then Ms. Huston, good morning," he said smiling at Lucy then ruffling Izzabella's hair gently.

Izzabella smiled and reached for him as he gently picked her up and kissed her head "you ready to have a fun day with Ms. Lucy?" he asked softly.

"Mmhmm," she said as she then pulled back from him slightly and noticed how he was dressed "daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you dressed like mommy?"

Elliot, Liv and Lucy all chuckled "cuz I work with her now baby that's why," he said with a soft smile.

Izzabella frowned slightly "you never worked with mommy before."

"Actually I did before you were born."

"Wow..." she said as she nodded "how will you stay here with me and work too?"

"Well," he began rubbing her back "I won't be able to do both that's why Ms. Lucy is here, she's gonna take care of you while me and mommy are working."

Izzabella nodded her head in understanding "can I touch your gun daddy?"

Elliot shook his head "no you can't touch mine just like you can't touch mommy's."

"But isn't yours pretend?"

"No why would it be pretend?"

"Well you said mommies is real and you don't need two real ones so that means yours is pretend just to scare people right?"

"No baby me and mommy are a team at work and we can never know which one of us will need a gun so our guns are always real just incase."

Izzabella nodded slightly and he smiled and put her down "we've gotta go okay? But I want you to have a fun day with Ms. Lucy."

"I will, I love you daddy."

"Love you too baby," he said as he gave her a final kiss on the temple then walked over to Olivia "you ready?" he asked softly.

"Yeah just let me give her a hug and kiss first, I made us both to go thermoses of coffee and packed our lunches yours are on the counter."

"Kay," he said with a smile as he moved to get them and a couple minutes later they were on the road.

7:57 AM, 16th precinct.

"You're clinking," Olivia whispered as they walked through the lobby together, Elliot slightly behind her as he had their bag of food from the diner and Olivia had their lunch boxes.

"Sorry," he murmured as he put his hand against his duty belt where his cuffs were to stop the sound.

"It's okay I'm okay I was just saying," she said as she pushed the button for the elevator.

"Ah," he said with a smile as since the elevator was empty when they stepped inside it he wrapped his arm around her gently and rubbed her back "I know you're a little nervous but please try not to be you're gonna do great and it's gonna go great."

She nodded slightly and leaned into him "I love you baby," he said softly.

"Love you too El," she said and once the elevator opened he moved his arm from around her and they stepped into the hall leading to their squad-room.

"Mornin, ah whatcha got there?" Fin asked clocking the bag in Elliot's hand.

"Cennamelts I didn't have time to cook this morning so we had to stop by the diner and we figured we'd bring something for everyone."

"Nice! Thanks man!"

"Your welcome, you should thank Liv though it was her idea."

Fin nodded and turned to her "thanks Liv!"

"Your welcome Fin," she said as Elliot let him take his then put one on each desk as they were all in boxes "have we got any extra desks around here?" she asked.

"Nah not that I know of."

"Dammit," she said as she nodded "why?" Fin asked.

"I was just wondering it's fine. Where's everyone else?"

"Break room."

Olivia nodded to him then looked to Elliot "why don't you go ahead and take my old desk for now, I'm gonna put our lunches in the fridge and corral everyone else."

"Kay," he said as he nodded and sat down "you can go ahead and start eating if you want too, both of you."

"Liv there are old files all over this desk."

"Yeah and you're not three I'm not worried about it, I'll be right back."

Elliot nodded with a soft smile as she left "she's gonna be pretty chill ain't she," Fin said as he dug in.

Elliot sighed "she wants to make a good first impression as CO she wants us all to like her," he said as he carefully stacked up some of the files and put them in a drawer.

"Well I don't think she's got anything to worry about on that front."

"She doesn't," he said as once he knew there was no risk of getting food on any of the remaining files he began to eat "ah what's this?" Rollins asked with a smile seeing a container on her desk.

"A cennamelt, it's delicious," Fin said through a mouth full.

"Looks like it," Amaro said as he took a seat at his desk "it's a shame I've already eaten," Carisi said.

"If you don't want it now you can always put it in the break room fridge and have it later," Liv said.

"Yeah or better yet give it to me I'll take it," Fin said.

Everyone chuckled at that and Olivia ended up pulling up a chair beside El's so she could eat hers "so I have a few announcements I need to make," she said once she had finished as just then the phone at her desk rang.

Elliot's gaze flicked between her and the phone "answer it El this can wait these phones always come first."

Elliot nodded as he wiped the corner of his mouth with his shirt sleeve "Manhattan Special Victims Unit this is detective Stabler."

He was quiet for a minute listening as Olivia smiled slightly watching him in his element "I see," he said nodding "there's no active crime though so you'll need to send this to computer crimes."

Elliot sighed a minute later "I understand that officer Bohannon but SVU only deals with active sex crimes."

He sighed again "when were the images uploaded?"

"2009, okay then that's not an active crime now is it?"

He sighed again "cold cases are different you need to contact computer crimes they have the technology to take the photos down where we don't."

Elliot sighed in relief when it seemed like the officer was finally understanding "okay great thank you sorry we couldn't help."

"You as well bye bye," he said putting down the receiver before leaning close to Liv rookies," he whispered.

She nodded "what was that about?"

"He found an illegal porn site, wanted us to check it out and take it down."

"And the photos were from 2009?"

"Yeah."

She sighed slightly and nodded "it's weird that he stumbled across it like that makes you wonder how he found it, you made the right call though."

Elliot nodded as the other detectives were just quietly doing paperwork now "okay now that that's taken care of can you all put your pens down please? I really need to make these announcements so I can get started on my work," Liv said.

They all listened and turned to face her as she stood up then and stood slightly behind Elliot's chair "so I'm sure that most of you know I was offered this position unexpectedly but what I doubt you all know is that with everything I've been through I almost didn't take it."

Everyone but Elliot looked slightly stunned "I took it though, not because I want to be in charge of you all but because I have a vision and I'm hoping that with all of your help that I can make that vision come true."

Everyone was listening to her with wracked attention "I want this to be a place where victims feel safe disclosing the horrors that happened to them, when they're here I want them to feel heard and believed and when we get a case I want us to always see it through to its end no matter what happens in between."

"What if they lied?" Rollins asked.

"Then we dig deeper into the why behind their lie and respond accordingly."

Rollins nodded and Olivia sighed "for our victims who come in and out though hostility in the work environment, hostility like I witnessed on Friday will only intimidate them and make them more afraid to be here if they see it so it can't happen here anymore."

"Liv come on me and Rollins were just arguing it happens all the time between detectives," Amaro said.

"Maybe it does but from here on out the two of you need to be adult enough to either take it behind a closed door or outside and up to the roof, this doesn't just apply to the two of you either it applies to everyone."

"You know the problem with the vics isn't with us it's with the cells being right there," Rollins said as she pointed at one of them "the vics can see the perps in them when they walk through."

"I'll agree with you that that's a big part of the problem but unfortunately I don't have the authority or a way to change it right now."

Rollins just nodded and Olivia continued on "also the victims that come through here need us at our best not burnt out like I was before everything happened so I'm gonna be putting in some measures to give us all more regular hours."

"No offense Liv but that's gonna be impossible with this job we all know what we're signing up for when we come here," Fin said.

"Yeah we do and I'm not saying we'll be working 9 to 5's, not at all but I am gonna implement an on-call schedule that way everyone will have time off that they can spend with their families and the schedule is as follows, Fin and Amaro you'll be on call on Sunday and Wednesday nights, me and Elliot will have Mondays and Thursdays and Rollins and Carisi will have Tuesdays and Fridays, before anyone asks yes these are the new partnerships and I want the desks to be moved accordingly too, no more shouting across the squad room anymore."

"Sarge who's gonna have Saturdays?" Carisi asked.

"We'll switch every week."

Carisi nodded "can we switch with people?" Rollins asked.

"I'd prefer you not but if you need to because of some sort of emergency or something then yes."

Rollins nodded and Olivia slightly smiled "does anyone else have any questions? I'm talking to you El you've been really quiet."

He shook his head "I'm good i'm just taking this all in," he said fondly.

She nodded and he smiled fondly at her "I only have a couple more things to go over and I appreciate you all sticking with me here," she said as she moved towards her bag and Elliot took the opportunity to squeeze her shoulder gently "this is our knew on call phone," she said after getting it out as she let them all pass the flip phone around.

It was back to her after a couple minutes and she sat it on the desk then retook her place behind Elliot's chair "what's the point of that thing?" Fin asked.

Olivia smiled "when we clock out every evening the precinct phones are gonna be set to call forwarding and when any calls come through they'll come through on that phone."

"Wow... Okay that's really neat," Fin said as Amaro nodded agreeing "will we be able to take the phone home with us?" Carisi asked.

"Yeah that's the hole point of this it's crazy to stay here at the precinct all night just for the possibility of a call when technology has advanced to the point where call forwarding is so widely available."

"This is awesome Liv I love this idea," Rollins said smiling brightly as Carisi followed suit but Elliot's expression grew slightly pensive "what is it El?" Liv asked.

"What if someone loses the phone? Or doesn't answer it or it breaks?"

"If they lose it then they'll have to replace it and do the on-call shifts the old fashion way until we have a knew one, same goes for if it breaks whoever broke it will have to replace it and if anyone doesn't answer calls from it on purpose during their on-call shifts then they'll be disciplined, maybe even fired that would be up to IAB."

"You would call IAB?" Rollins asked shocked.

"Yeah Amanda I would that would be a really serious violation."

She just nodded "so IAB approves of this?" Amaro asked.

"I uh... went for the ask for forgiveness instead of permission rout with this so that's all the more reason why I need you guys to not make me regret it."

They all nodded as Elliot's desk phone rang again and he gave her an apologetic look which she quickly dismissed "Special Victims Unit this is detective Stabler," he answered.

He listened to the caller as his expression became alarmed "yes sir we'll send someone right away."

"Fifteen minutes, thanks for the call," he said as he hung up then and looked to Olivia "a uni was called to battery park there was a suspicious man there."

Olivia nodded as Elliot swiveled around in his chair and touched her shoulder "he's in custody but they found a rape manifesto, ductape, a wire and a knife in his bag so they want SVU to take over."

"Okay, what was their cause to search and arrest him?"

"The uni didn't say but the full story can be gotten on scene."

"Alright," she said as she nodded slightly "did you all hear all of that?" she asked the rest of the squad.

They all nodded and she did too "Fin, Amaro I want you guys to head down to battery park and when you get there talk to the uni, find out exactly what happened and what we're dealing with, Carisi I need you over here getting Elliot up to speed on all the current cases and Rollins me and you are gonna take care of moving these desks around, everyone good with that?"

Everyone nodded and she smiled slightly as they all began their assignments.

Olivia and Rollins finished moving the desks pretty quickly and once the last computer was plugged back in Olivia sighed "well I guess I'll be in there," she said pointing at the office.

"I thought you decided you wanted to stay out here for the first little while?" Elliot asked turning his attention away from Carisi for a minute.

"I did but there's no extra desks in storage."

He nodded "I don't have any paperwork I have to do right now so I'm more than happy to stand if"-

Olivia chuckled slightly "Don't be ridiculous," she said as she then turned to face him "you know the password to my computer right?"

"No," he said as she nodded slightly and beckoned him over "it's E10206313O and the computer is yours now so once you've accessed it you can change whatever settings you want to on it," she whispered once he was beside her.

"Okay thanks baby," he whispered as she nodded to him with a soft smile then headed towards the office "let me know if you need any help!" she called out.

"Will do," he said and with that she shut the door gently and began acquainting herself with the cases as well.

45 minutes passed by as Rollins was working on her paperwork and Carisi finished going over the last case file with Elliot "what are we having a party in here?" a uni asked frustratedly entering the squad room.

"No there's no party here," Rollins said as Elliot shook his head a bit annoyed and puzzled at his attitude.

The uni frowned "you guys don't hear that?"

"Hear what?" Elliot asked as everyone grew quiet then and they all started to hear something "sounds like Celine Dion to me it's a pretty song," Elliot said as the power of love could be heard playing from Liv's office but you had to listen hard to know what it was.

The uni shook his head "there's no place for music in a squad room."

Elliot's frown turned to a glare as he stood from his chair "what brings you here officer..." he read his name tag "Landry?"

"I just needed to give the new CO my arrest report on the Brown case."

Elliot nodded "hand it to me and I'll give it to her. Did you need anything else?"

"No, you want me to go up to the crib and tell whoever's got music on up there to turn it off?"

"No and umm just for your information the way people conduct themselves in their own squad room isn't really any of your business."

Landry just nodded, handed him the paper then left quickly as Rollins sighed "he does have a point..." she said.

Elliot frowned "don't start Rollins it's not bothering anything."

"I didn't say it was I'm just saying it could be distracting that's all."

Elliot just gave her a curt nod then looked to Carisi "it bothering you?"

"No," he said smartly and Elliot nodded "why don't you join her in working on your paperwork with any luck Fin and Amaro will be back soon with an update on our new case."

"Copy that," he said as Elliot slightly smiled then walked over to the office door and lightly knocked.

"Come in," Liv called as when she saw him she muted her playlist "I wanted to let you know I'm briefed on all the open cases now Carisi just finished and I've got him working on his paperwork, I also have a file for you," he said after shutting the door.

"Okay," she said as he slightly smiled "what do you want me doing now?"

"There's really nothing you can do El not until Fin and Amaro get back unless you wanna look over old cases you're welcome to do that."

"I think I'll pass there's no point in starting that when they'll be back soon anyway, what you been up to in here?"

She sighed "I combed over all the current cases, set up Cragen's computer settings how I want them and now I'm just going through all my emails. I have hundreds of them and 90% of them are just getting deleted."

Elliot nodded "why don't you just click on delete all?"

"Because there could be one in there that's important I can't risk it."

Elliot nodded understanding how her brain worked "I dread the day when I have to look at my inbox I think I'm just putting it off as long as I can."

She nodded "as a detective you have that luxury but as the boss I don't," she said as she smiled softly at him "you can sit down if you want."

Elliot nodded, took the chair across from her then handed her the arrest report "thanks El," she said as she looked over it then signed it.

"Mmhmm," he murmured with a smile as he then sighed "tell ya what if I can remember my old email password I'll log in on my phone and we can do this boring shit together until Nick and Fin get back."

"Sounds like a plan," she said turning her playlist back on and they worked in a comfortable silence.

Fin and Amaro finally got back at a quarter after 10 and everyone reconvened back in the squad room "what have you guys got for us?" Liv asked.

"The guys name was Mark Muncy, he's 29 we let the uni on the scene take him in for evading the police and conspiracy to commit rape," Fin said.

Olivia nodded "if there was conspiracy involved then why aren't we interrogating him? Was there a rape manifesto?"

"There was it said vile things but there was no evidence that he's committed an actual rape so it seemed stupid to bring him hear when he could sit at central booking."

"Gotcha, you guys ran his DNA though right?"

"He didn't consent to that but I'm sure Barba will get a warrant and when he does I can go swab him."

She nodded "make sure you do, you're the lead on this Fin and I want you keeping a close eye on it."

"Copy that," he said and when Rollin's desk phone rang the room grew silent.

A minute later she put the phone down hurriedly "we have to go, now."

"Where? What's wrong?" Liv asked.

"We've got a missing three year old boy, Josh Givens at 115 south Hillcrest, he's been missing for three hours."

"Why are we just being notified about this now?"

"Don't know but we know now."

"Yeah we do, alright everyone up we're all on this until we know exactly what we're dealing with," she said and the six of them made their way out to the three Sedans "Lights and sirens?" Elliot asked once he was in the drivers seat.

"Yeah," she said while buckling up and he nodded and drove off, Fin and Amaro behind them and Rollins and Carisi taking the rear.

"So how does it feel?" Liv asked after a couple minutes.

"How does what feel?"

"Driving a police cruiser again."

"Ah," he said nodding as he smiled slightly "it feels good, I hate that this kids missing though you know his name sounds familiar."

"Oh?"

"Yeah I don't know from where though."

She nodded "I guess we'll find out soon enough, I can't believe the parents waited three hours to call the police."

"Yeah me either if Izzabella or any of the other kids ever went missing I'd call within the hour."

Liv chuckled slightly "you'd call within 15 minutes."

"Yeah I would wouldn't I?"

"You would," she said as when he parked the sedan she sighed "lets go get an explanation shall we?"

Elliot nodded and they stepped out to find a uni and CSU already there "you guys SVU?" the uni asked.

"Yes I'm Sergeant Benson this is my partner detective Stabler and the rest of the squad is behind us what do we have?"

The officer sighed "the missing boy's name is Josh Givens his mother Sara is inside, she said that when she woke up the house was abnormally quiet so she went to Josh's room to check on him and found him gone, she figured he'd went outside to play so she came out here, looked around in the woods for a while, waited an hour for him to come back then when he didn't she went and asked the neighbors if they had seen him, when that came up empty she walked up and down the street for a while then finally called us."

Olivia sighed and nodded her head "the golden hour is gone so if this was a kidnapping the kidnapper has a head start. Has CSU found anything inside the house?"

"No but they haven't been here for very long."

Olivia nodded "are you the one who interviewed the mother?"

"Yes ma'am," he said and she nodded "what kind of vibe do you get from her?"

He sighed "I've seen mother's more emotional and I've seen them less, never seen one wait three hours to call in though."

"Me either," she said as she nodded and turned to her squad "El go get the mother I wanna bring her in and ask her some more in-depth questions down at the station, rollins Carisi I want you guys to do a canvas with the unis , I doubt it'll do any good now but it's worth a shot and Fin, Amaro work the scene with CSU and let me know the moment you get anything."

"Copy that," Fin and Rollins said as Elliot looked to her "cuffs or no cuffs?"

"Try and avoid it if you can but if she won't come with you then," she shrugged and sighed.

Elliot nodded understanding and she sighed again "I'll be in the car."

"Alright," he said as he headed towards the house and she went to the car to wait.

A couple minutes later her phone was ringing and she sighed and glanced at it "yeah El?"

"Hey Liv I wanted to give you the heads up I had to cuff her."

"Okay what happened?"

"She wouldn't come out said she needed to wait here incase he came back."

"Like that could possibly happen how does she expect him to do that?"

"Good question, we're about to come out now I'm just grabbing a picture of him incase we decide to go to the press."

"Alright see you in a minute," she said as she hung up "why are you doing this to me I-I didn't do anything wrong..." she heard a minute later as she cringed.

"Because I care about the wellbeing of your son and I'm gonna do what I have to do in order to find him and get him home safe," Elliot said while opening the back drivers side door "watch your head," he murmured.

Sara sat down in the seat "t-this isn't right p-please don't do this to me I-I haven't done anything wrong h-he could come back you know..."

"He's not gonna come back here on his own and if he does a detective from the crime scene unit will be here," he said while buckling her in.

Sara just sniffled a bit "y-you know Josh told me how nice you were to him once at his preschool I-I'm sad to know that he was wrong about you... M-My arms are hurting me..." she cried.

Elliot just sighed, shut her door then got in on the drivers side "why did you wait three hours to call the police?" he asked as he drove off.

"W-What am I being charged with? W-What did I do wrong...?"

"Right now you're just being brought in to answer some questions since you refused to cooperate with me and come peacefully but if you don't start giving me some answers it'll be obstruction of justice and none of us want that."

Sara just closed her eyes tightly and whimpered as Olivia sighed "leave it El, leave it until we get her back to the precinct maybe once she's there and in the interview room we'll have more luck," she whispered as she touched his arm.

"We better if we wanna find that baby," he whispered as he squeezed her hand.

"We'll find him I know we will and if it's not through her then it'll be another way," she said as she turned the radio up and the sound to the back to drown out the sound of her cries which were tearing her nerves up then retook his hand.

Elliot stroked her knuckles with his thumb "how are you so calm right now?" he asked quietly.

She sighed then gave him a small soft smile "well I'm not as calm on the inside as I might look on the outside but in the first week that I started working this unit I worked with this amazing detective, he's the best and most kind detective that I've ever known and he taught me that if you stay calm in these types of situations and don't let your emotions get the best of you then you'll be able to think more logically and solve your cases easier."

Elliot nodded his head at the memory "it's a shame he can't take his own advice."

Olivia chuckled slightly and nodded "you know I've found that he never has been able to but I've also found that it's never slowed him down at all."

Elliot smiled slightly despite himself "I'm glad you think so highly of me Liv it means a lot, do you take it? The advice?"

"Ah I'd say about 40 or 50% of the time."

He chuckled slightly and nodded "sounds about right," he said and they spent the rest of the ride listening to q104.3.

When they got to the station they took Sara to the interview room "will you talk to us now?" Elliot asked while unlocking her handcuffs.

"I-I won't talk to you no you've treated me like a criminal when I haven't done anything wrong," Sara said as her body was tense and trembling.

Elliot sighed and Olivia nodded deciding to try a new tactic "you know what that's fine you don't have to talk to him you can just talk to me are you okay with that?"

Sara nodded relaxing a tiny bit and Olivia slightly smiled "Elliot why don't you check the security cams at the end of her block? Maybe they'll have something."

"Copy that how far back do you want me to go?"

"Sara what time was it when you checked Josh's bedroom and found him not there?" Liv asked.

"7 o'clock."

She nodded and looked to Elliot "start there and work your way back."

"Copy that," he said leaving the room and closing the door gently as Olivia sat down beside Sara on the couch "Sara I'm sorry that you feel like you've been treated unfairly today, I really am but we really want to find your son, the time we have left is precious and we need your help finding him. Can you help us find him by answering a few questions?"

"Yeah," she whispered and Olivia nodded "so you told the uniformed officer that you realized Josh was missing at 7 AM, what made you feel like something was wrong? Like you needed to go and check on him?"

"W-Well when I woke up the house was quiet, too quiet Josh is always up before me and when I realized he wasn't yet the hairs on the back of my neck stood up you know?"

Olivia nodded "I do it was your sixth sense, your mother's instinct telling you that something was wrong. So when you realized he was missing why did you go into the woods?"

"Because he likes to play in them a lot he has imaginary friends that he says live there."

Olivia nodded "I see, my daughter hasn't gone through that faze yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time."

Sara nodded with a warm and wistful smile "you'll love it when she does t-the stories Josh tells are so..." she stopped unable to think of the right word.

Good she cares about her son Liv thought to herself as she nodded "Sara I need you to help me understand something."

"Okay..."

Olivia sighed "I need you to help me understand why you waited so long before going to the neighbors or calling this in to the police."

"I-I thought he would come back... H-Honest to god I did his bedroom window wasn't broken, n-none of the doors were broken at all a-and I never heard him scream... Not once I- I know how cops are about false reports too m-my cousin was arrested once for filing a false report a-and I thought t-that if I called and he came back I-I'd get arrested too..."

"That wouldn't have happened..." Liv said as she sighed "Sara that wouldn't have happened..."

"B-But how could I know that? H-How could I and it turned out not to matter b-because I was thrown into the back seat of a police car like a criminal anyway..."

"He didn't throw you I watched him he was actually pretty gentle about it."

"T-That's not the point t-the point is I-I was treated like a criminal when I'm not one..."

Olivia just nodded at her then shook her head slightly with a sigh "we're gonna do everything we can to find your son okay I promise."

Sara nodded slightly "c-can I leave now?"

"I can't hold you here but I strongly urge you to stay I could end up having more questions for you and I can ask you them easier if you're already here."

She just nodded her head slightly and Olivia stood from the couch "last question for now do you know anyone who would want to hurt you or your son?"

"N-No," she whispered and Olivia nodded and walked the rest of the way to the door "dammit!" she exclaimed when it wouldn't open.

"W-What's wrong?"

"Nothing Sara, nothing I promise just make yourself comfortable okay," she said as she quickly sent Elliot a text reading need you to let me out didn't have my keycard on me before sighing and leaning against the wall to wait.

"C-Can you not get out? It looked like you were trying to leave the room."

Olivia chuckled slightly "I was then I realized I didn't have my keycard, rookie move huh?" she said trying to lighten the mood for them both.

"No h-how are you gonna get out? A-Are you gonna be able to are we trapped in here? Ohhh god a-are we trapped in here?"

"We're not sweetie, we're not everything's okay just calm down okay?"

"Okay I'll try, I-I'll try," she whispered as she started rocking back and forth and Olivia sighed again and looked straight ahead.

Come on El, come on Olivia thought to herself a couple minutes later while ringing her hands and swaying from side to side as her claustrophobia was getting to her a bit to and she sighed for a third time "w-why isn't anything happening?" Sara asked.

"I'm just waiting on him to see my message and open the door."

"Who detective Stabler?"

"Yeah," Olivia said and Sara just nodded "why doesn't this door have a doorknob?"

"For safety reasons we can't have anyone lock themselves in, the police officers out or try to escape."

"Y-Yet we're locked in..."

"Yeah but that's only because I don't have my keycard," she said as she sighed, turned to the door and banged on it.

A couple minutes of her doing that passed with no response "he must think it's you," Liv finally said.

"T-That's comforting," Sara whispered sarcastically.

Olivia just nodded "Elliot!! Elliot!! Elliot!!!!" she shouted.

"Y-You really think that'll work?" Sara asked skeptically.

Olivia nodded then waited another minute "Elliot! El!! El!! we're trapped in here Elliot help!!!"

Fast footfalls could be heard as the door was jerked open about 30 seconds later "Liv? Liv honey what's wrong? What's wrong," he asked as he only half heard her in his hurry to get to the door.

Olivia sighed in relief when the door opened but her hands stayed clasped together "I don't have my keycard I couldn't get out, I texted you, banged on the door too but nothing."

"Shit Liv I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I-I didn't check the text message cuz I figured it was Lizzie or Maureen and I thought it was her at the door," he said as he pulled her close then seeing her body language "breathe baby, breathe your safe I'm so sorry, so so sorry..."

She nodded and took a couple deep breaths while he rubbed slow circles on her back as once she was calmer she pulled back "i-it's okay El there was no harm done and it was my fault anyway, Sara why don't you follow me you can sit in the break room for a little while, it's a regular room I promise."

Elliot shook his head dismissively "it happens to the best of us," he murmured as Sara stood from the couch mutely and Liv lead her off.

A minute later Liv was back in the squad room "can I sit here?" she asked pointing at the chair beside his desk.

"Of course," he said and she nodded and sat down "good wouldn't want any complaints from HR," she teased.

"Ha-ha very funny," he said as he chuckled slightly "what'd you get from Sara?"

"Not a lot something's really off with her but I don't think she hurt her son."

He nodded "do you think she could know where he is?"

"It's possible but I doubt it."

He just nodded "did she at least tell you why she waited so long to call us?"

"Yeah she said she was afraid that if she called and he came back before we got there that she'd be arrested for making a false police report, if I'm being honest with you she seemed more upset about being arrested than about her son being missing."

"That's really strange, you're sure you don't think she could have done something to him?"

"I mean my guts saying no because I feel like she's not capable of it she just seems too scared, too scared of the wrong things I'd say but doing a deep dive on her won't hurt."

He nodded "I'll get started on that in a minute."

She nodded "did you get anything on the security cameras?"

"No the footage was too grainy, Fin called though said there was no forced entry and when they dusted the house for prints they found three sets."

"Three?"

"That's what he said."

She nodded "I'll go ask Sara about that, I'll be right back and umm El?"

"Yeah?"

"Forward the footage to Taru maybe they can get something from it."

"Kay," he said and once she was gone he started his deep dive.

"What'd she say?" he asked when Olivia came back a couple minutes later.

"That the only people who have been in the house in the last week besides you and CSU are her, Josh and her boyfriend."

Elliot's brows rose "her boyfriend that she hasn't mentioned until now. Where is he?"

"She said he's at a video game convention, when I asked her why she hasn't called him yet she said she didn't wanna bother him."

"Unbelievable, he muttered as Olivia just nodded in agreement "I think I'm gonna call him, see if I can convince him to come down here and talk to us."

"That's a good idea but we need to be smart about it, not arouse his suspicions whens the last time Sara said she saw him?"

"Last night she said they made love last night and when she woke up this morning he was gone."

"That can't be a coincidence with there having been no forced entry..."

"No and"- she gasped slightly in an ah-ha moment "she said she never heard Josh scream and he wouldn't scream or fight if the person who took him out was someone he trusted."

"That's exactly right... Yeah we're on to something Liv now we just need to figure out how we're gonna get him here."

Olivia nodded and after a few minutes of brainstorming she found herself on the desk phone while Elliot checked on the status of the canvas "yeah," a young man answered grumpily on the 4th ring.

"Hi is this Brandon OKief?"

"Yeah whose this? I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

"My name is Sergeant Olivia Benson I'm with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, I'm really sorry to bother you but we have a situation here involving your girlfriend and we need you to come down to the station as quickly as possible."

"O-Okay is Sara hurt? Did somebody hurt her?"

"No she's physically fine but her son Josh went missing early this morning I'm sure you've met him?"

"Yeah he's a sweet kid."

Olivia nodded "I'm sure he is, Sara is inconsolable as I'm sure you can imagine my partner's in with her now but he hasn't been able to calm her down at all in the hour she's been here and we really need her to answer some questions."

"Could I maybe call her? This convention I'm at doesn't end for another three hours and now's not a good time for me to duck out."

"That would work if she hadn't forgotten her phone at home, what type of convention is it? Is it work related?"

"No not exactly..." he said as he sighed heavily "this is the only way? Her mother wouldn't come?"

Olivia nodded "I'm afraid so sir she just asks for you, no one else and every minute that we waist the danger that Josh is in increases."

"Okay I'll come, I'll come just tell me where I need to go."

Olivia gave him the address and floor number then hung up with a sigh "he coming?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah but he doesn't seem all that concerned."

Elliot just sighed and shook his head "the canvas has come up empty so far I had Rollins extend it by another five block radius and put out an APB," he said as Fin and Amaro walked in.

"Good," she said as she saw them and turned to them "good you're back, anything else from CSU?"

Amaro shook his head and she nodded "you guys know what happens next, print off a list of the sex offenders in the area and split it, El have you found anything I should know yet on your deep dive?"

"No but I'm still looking."

Olivia nodded and stood from her chair to go to her office as just then Sara walked in hesitantly "yes?" she asked seeing her.

"M-May I have something to eat from the refrigerator in there? I-I never ate this morning because I was looking for Josh and I'm really hungry."

"Yeah as long as it doesn't have a name on it."

"T-Thank you, are you guys any closer to finding him yet?"

"We're working the case from several angles and we still have officers searching your neighborhood, we're doing everything we can I promise."

Sara nodded mutely and walked off as Amaro frowned "food is definitely not what she should be thinking about right now," he said when the door closed.

"Yeah I know to tell you the truth she's acted really weird all morning."

"Oh?"

Liv nodded "yeah hints El's deep dive into her I wanna know why."

Amaro nodded and just then a middle aged woman with long brown wavy hair ran into the squad room "I-I need to speak to someone... I-I really need to speak to someone please..." she said to the room.

"Yes ma'am I'm Sergeant Benson I'm in charge here how can I help you today? Are you here to report a crime?"

"No," she said as her cheeks were red from crying, her eyes were puffy and she was trying to keep from pacing back and forth "my daughter Sara called me, said that her son Josh went missing and that she's here."

"Yes ma'am that's correct she's in our break room eating and my entire squad is working to find your grandson."

"Good, okay good I told her to find herself something to eat I-I need to go be with her her PTSD must be running rampant by now the police station is the absolute worse place she could be..."

Olivia frowned deeply "what do you mean by that?"

"I-I can't get into it right now I-I just need to"- she said as just then a young man around Sara's age walked into the squad room "Connie?" he said surprised to see her.

"B-Brandon," she said as she frowned deeply "why weren't you hear already? Why haven't you been with Sara?"

"I've got something you should see Liv," Elliot said obliviously as he had been so focused on the screens that he hadn't heard anything else "one second," Olivia said looking at him then turning to Brandon "you're Brandon OKief right?"

"Yeah, it looks like you guys don't need me here anymore though."

"Actually we do I used a police tactic on you and you fell for it, Fin take him to interrogation room 1 please, Ms. Givens you can go be with your daughter for now."

"Hold on what the hell?" Brandon asked confused and a little shocked while being lead off as Connie's expression was growing dark "d-do you think Brandon is involved in this? D-Did Brandon hurt my grandson?" she demanded.

"We don't know anything for sure right now but we're following a lead, please go that way," she said motioning her to the break room.

Connie finally stepped away, her overwhelming need to check on her daughter winning out as they saw Sara crumple into her arms when she got in there "what do you have El?" Liv asked.

"A possible reason for her sketchy behavior," he said as he sighed heavily turns out her uncle Lester Givens used to be a cop and was arrested for rape of a minor when she was just ten years old and reports say he'd bring her to the police station with him quite often and watch her after school."

"So you think he... You think he raped her at the station?"

Elliot nodded his head solemnly "he was the desk Sergeant at the 18th and you know it was slow there thirteen years ago he would have been able to sneak away from the desk pretty easily."

Olivia just nodded sadly "was he charged with it?"

"No just for the other child, Daria Hanes is the name on the report detectives questioned her but she clammed up."

Olivia shook her head sadly "why am I not surprised," she whispered as she sighed "it would absolutely explain her skittish demeanor but this isn't helping us find Josh and he's the victim right now so..."

"So click out of this and head to interrogation?"

"Yeah," she said and he nodded and shut his computer down "I did find one more thing when I checked her cellphone records."

"What's that?"

"In the hour that she waited for him to come home she called her mother's cell 40 times."

"That tracks a little more with a scared young mother."

"Mmhmm a scared young mother who is scared of police officers and needs more support than she's got, god I made it so much worse cuffing her like I did I-I should have been more patient with her."

"El you didn't know, you didn't know and there was a child's life on the line, there's still a child's life on the line."

"I know," he whispered as he nodded his head several times "I know," he said as while he walked to the interrogation room he schooled his features "you guys think he did it?" Fin asked as he was walking out.

"It's possible," Elliot said as he went in and shut the door "hello Mr. OKief I'm detective Stabler it's nice to meet you."

"You too, why am I hear?" he asked as he had his phone out on the table and he was playing candy crush saga on it.

"Right now you're here on suspicion of kidnapping so I need to read you your rights alright?"

He nodded while continuing to play his game "I'll need you to put your phone in your pocket can you do that for me sir?"

Brandon ignored him and Elliot nodded sharply "alright have it your way," he said snatching the phone off the table "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney and if you can't afford one one will be provided for you, do you understand these rights as I've explained them to you?"

"Yep, I want my phone back."

"When we're finished here, I need to know your whereabouts starting from last night."

"Well I've been at a video game convention since 8 o'clock, one which I was rudely pulled from under false pretenses I might add."

Elliot frowned deeply "you really care that little about him huh?"

"Who?"

"Josh! He's missing has been for hours and all you seem to care about are your video games and your candy crush."

"Yep," he said monotonely as he popped the p.

Elliot nodded sickened "how about his mom do you care about her?"

"Yep," he said again in the same tone as before.

Elliot nodded, sighed and lowered himself into the chair across from him "where were you last night."

"Uuuummmmm," he hummed and tilted his head "uuuuummmmm."

"Stop making that noise and answer my question, where were you?"

"Give me my phone back and I'll tell you."

Elliot glared "I make the rules in here Mr. OKief not you and I already know where you were, when did you leave your girlfriends house?"

He clucked his tung a few times "hmmmmmm," he said.

Elliot banged his fist against the table hard "do you think this is a game?"

OKief was silent "we're not playing a game here a child is missing, a real child too not one in one of your games but your girlfriend's child."

"I know..."

Elliot nodded "then tell me when you left your girlfriends house."

"Uuummmmm," he said thinking about it for a minute as he then shook his head "nope," he said.

Elliot gritted his teeth hard then slowly took in a deep breath and let it out "do you know where Josh is?"

He sat there quiet for a minute "yep," he said.

"Where is he."

OKief just sat there silently with a blank expression on his face "you're gonna tell me where he is," Elliot said rolling up his sleeves and flexing his arm muscles at him.

He glanced at Elliot's arms briefly but stayed silent as just then there was a sharp tap on the window and Elliot sighed "you're officially under arrest," he said before standing from his chair and heading to Liv's office "yeah Liv?" he asked once the door was shut.

"I uh..." she swallowed I saw how you were getting with him and I can't let you do that, not yet."

He rolled his sleeves back down, sighed and nodded his head realizing how tense she looked as he walked behind her and gently began to rub her shoulder "I lost my cool in there, I know it and I'm sorry he just..."

She shook her head dismissively "he's a prick, a spoiled rotten emotionless prick you don't need to explain yourself to me but we need to try one thing that might get us our answers legally before I let you go all macho man on him."

Elliot nodded "tell me what you want me to do baby," he murmured as he continued rubbing her shoulder and sighed in relief when the tension left her.

"His car is parked here at the station so I want you to go ask Sara to show you which one it is then I want you to write down the plate and we'll all start scouring security footage for it."

"That's a pretty good idea, we'll be looking for a needle in a haystack though," he said while withdrawing his hand.

"I know but it's the best thing we can do right now," she said and he nodded, turned to the door then halted and turned back around "Liv what had you so tense when I came in here? Did I scare you?" he asked worriedly.

"No El, no you didn't it just felt wrong you know?"

He shook his head slightly "what did?"

"Telling you what you couldn't do like I did, I've touched your arm to calm you down before or cautioned you against things but I've never outright told you what you couldn't do before in a situation like this and I..." she shook her head slightly and stopped talking.

"What is it baby? You can tell me."

She nodded slightly and looked away "I didn't know how you'd take it," she whispered.

Elliot nodded and gave her a look of understanding "lets go get that cars make and model and we can talk more on our way outside okay?"

Olivia nodded and once they got the info from a now very curious and suspicious mother and daughter and were in the elevator Elliot wrapped his arm around her "I know this power imbalance thing we've got going on here between us is weird and a little hard to navigate, especially for you but you're doing good baby, damn good I want you to know that."

"I'm trying El I really am I'm just so used to being your equal and it's hard for me to treat you like your not."

"I know," he said as he rubbed her back "we're equals in our hearts and that'll never change we just have to compartmentalize it at work like we did before."

She smiled slightly and nodded "so run this place with my head not my heart?"

"Yep and when we do something that's out of line don't be afraid to call us out on it none of us are perfect and I'll be the first one to admit it."

"Ah you're pretty close El."

Elliot chuckled slightly "I'm far from it but you know who is perfect?"

"Who?"

"You," he said as the elevator door opened.

Olivia chuckled and moved slightly ahead of him "I think we're both bias can we agree on that?"

"Definitely," he said as she nodded with a smile and they stepped outside.

"I found out why it took Sara's mother 41 calls to answer her phone," Liv said as they searched the parking lot.

"Why was that? I was wondering that myself."

"Turns out her and her sisters were on a flight from a skiing trip in the Andes."

"So her phone was on airplane mode, that makes sense it sounds like it was probably fun."

"Really, really cold sounds more like it."

Elliot chuckled slightly and nodded "you ever thought about skiing Liv?"

"I can't say I have."

He nodded "would you wanna try it with me one day?"

"Maybe if it was a really really small hill."

"So no, gotcha," he said with a soft smile as his eyes then landed on a car that fit the description they were looking for "I think this is the car Liv," he said pointing at it.

"Yeah it is I see the dint in the bumper that Connie told us would be there," she said as after they wrote the license plate number down they headed inside and Olivia got every officer who was available to start checking different street cameras.

While they did that Olivia called Barba who got them a warrant to search his car rather quickly and CSU came right away but found nothing in there that would help, they had even let Amaro go in at one point and try to talk to OKief but he had remained stubbornly silent "this has gone on long enough," Elliot said after getting dead end after dead end from the security footage for two hours.

"I hear you," Olivia said as she was equally frustrated with her own camera footage that she was viewing from a spare laptop and with the lack of progress "have any of you gotten anything we can use? Anything at all?" she asked the room.

A collective chorus of no's was all she heard and she nodded resignedly "alright," she said as she stood from her chair beside Elliot, walked into the office and turned off the camera leading to interrogation room 1"lets take five everyone," she said before giving Elliot a discreet knowing nod when she was back.

"What? No we can't that little boy needs us," a young uni said.

"I know he does but we need to be at our best while we look through this footage and if we don't take our eyes off it some we'll get computer screen headaches then we could miss something really important as a result of that, it's only five minutes."

"Fine," he grumbled and she corralled them all to the break room as Elliot slipped in line then slipped out unnoticed by all but Fin and Liv "if any of you want something from the vending machine's now's your opportunity," Olivia said when the door was closed.

"I think I'll just eat my lunch," Amaro said.

"There's no time for that five minutes means five minutes."

He just nodded as Connie walked up to her then "please tell me you have something, Please?"

Olivia sighed "I'm gonna give it to you straight now Ms. Givens we've gotten a confession," she murmured.

"Oh good, good from who? Is Josh okay? W-Will he be okay?"

She sighed again "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but Brandon OKief confessed to knowing the whereabouts of your grandson, the problem is that he won't disclose those whereabouts to us so I don't know is the only honest answer I can give you to your last question."

Connie nodded slightly and went to crumple as Olivia caught her and let her cry into her arms as a scream could then be heard "w-what's that?" Sara asked from across the room as she was tapping her foot with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know," Amaro said softly as Connie moved then and went back over to Sara "don't worry about it baby," she said before kneeling beside her and relaying what Olivia had told her.

Olivia watched sadly as Connie and Sara both held onto each other through tears as she then heard a hard thud "we need to go check whatever that is out," Amaro said.

Olivia shook her head slightly "it's coming from above us," she said as they then heard a loud desperate "please no" "yeah it's definitely coming from the floor above us," Fin said agreeing.

"I don't think it is," the young uni said as Amaro looked around "where's Stabler?" he asked.

"Last I saw him he was behind me," Liv said as she shook her head at them "get yourselves some mnm's and let the fourth floor handle their interrogations sound good? If they needed help we'd get a distress call."

All the officers in the room nodded and a couple minutes later Elliot walked in sleeves down and expression calm "I got a location!" he announced to the room.

"You did?" Amaro asked shocked.

"Mmhmm he was feeling generous," he said as he sighed "Josh is in locker 553 at the storage unit on 52nd and 5th."

The uni gave him a skeptical look but Olivia just nodded "alright is he in a holding cell yet?"

"No."

She nodded "alright Fin go put him in one, Amaro call NYFD Josh is gonna need immediate medical treatment, Elliot call off the APB and the canvas, ladies," she pointed at Connie and Sara "come on, come with me lets go get Josh home safe," she said and a few minutes later they were all headed to the storage unit in two Sedans with the lights and sirens blaring.

xxxxx

They found Josh unconscious and barely alive but alive none the less and all things considered that was a good thing as Olivia and Elliot found themselves standing in the hospital corridor with Connie waiting for information while Sara sat with him in his ICU room "thank you guys so much... T-Thank you for finding him and finding him alive," she whispered.

"You don't have to thank us ma'am we're glad we could do it," Elliot said.

"Ohh I do, I do which detective are you? I'm sorry I forgot there were so many of you."

"That's alright ma'am really I'm detective Stabler," he pointed at Liv "and this is Sergeant Benson."

Connie nodded "so you're the one who brought my daughter in then?"

"Yeah," Elliot whispered apologetically as he sighed "I should have handled the situation a lot better and I'm so sorry I didn't... It's no excuse but we didn't know her situation then and she seemed"-

"Her situation?"

"Yeah we looked into her and saw her uncle was arrested back in 2000, the reason for his arrest and we put the rest together on our own using the case notes," Liv said.

Connie just nodded "she loves Josh so much, so so much she was just scared and unsure what to do and it paralyzed her you know? She did the right thing though eventually, she did the right thing and faced her fear and that was for her son."

"We know," Liv said as she was quiet for a minute "has she ever seen a therapist about what happened?"

"No she's only ever told me."

Olivia nodded "you should really try to get her to see someone because after what's just happened she's gonna need to talk to someone and the police are always gonna be a fixture in her life to some extent she can't go on thinking all police officers are bad because of one horrible one who never deserved to wear the badge in the first place."

"Y-You make a good point maybe you should tell her that."

"Connie I would but you would have more sway then I ever could the relationship you two have it's... It's beautiful," she said while nodding wistfully as she held back emotion "trust me when I say this you have a better shot at convincing her than anyone."

"O-Okay I'll try."

"Thank you Connie she needs to for herself and so she can better care for her son's needs in the future."

"Sara hasn't neglected her son."

"We know," Elliot said cutting in seeing the doctor approaching "give her my sincere apology too would you?"

"I will," she said and just then the doctor got over to them "Sergeant Benson? Detective Stabler?"

"That's us," Olivia said.

The doctor nodded "we just finished pumping Josh's stomach and we figured out what he overdosed on."

"What was it?"

He sighed "Ambien he had Ambien and what I believe to be a chocolate milkshake in his stomach."

"Do you think the two were mixed?" Elliot asked.

"I can't say for sure right now but he has a sticky substance on his shirt that we can test if you need us to."

"If you have him in a gown we'll take the shirt to our crime lab," Liv said.

"That works too, umm you should know if my theory is correct him having that cold milkshake along with the high dosage of Ambien is what saved his life, it saved it by lowering his metabolism and causing the medication to enter his bloodstream slower."

"I bet the idiot didn't know that," El said.

"Yeah I bet not," Olivia said nodding as the doctor walked over to Connie then "lets slip out, get that shirt dropped off at the crime lab then head home."

"What about our paperwork? You didn't get to show off that tutorial with the computer and email today."

"We can take the papers home."

"I won't argue with that," he said and a couple minutes later they were in their Sedan and headed towards the crime lab "Elliot," Liv said after a few minutes.

"Hmm?"

"When you get confessions from perps in the future like you did today you're gonna have to be quieter about it."

He frowned deeply "you guys heard it?"

"Not many words but we all heard a thud and some screaming so next time just uh cover his mouth okay?"

Elliot nodded but continued to frown concernedly "what words did you hear?"

"Please no," she whispered as she sighed "don't worry me and Fin told everyone it was coming from the floor above and I basically told them to mind their business and that if floor four needed help with a suspect they would send out a distress call."

He sighed heavily and nodded "I shouldn't have put you guys in that position I'm sorry baby."

She shook her head "I gave you that nod and I knew what it meant just next time please do it a little quieter."

"I promise," he murmured and they sat there quietly for a few minutes "did you get him to tell you why he did it?" she finally asked.

"Yeah," he said as he had to fight hard to not glare just thinking about it.

Olivia put her hand on his arm gently and rubbed it slightly "what'd he say?"

"H-He said..." Elliot sighed heavily and swallowed "he said he did it because he was jealous Josh had been clingy here lately and that was making Sara cancel date nights so if there was no Josh then..."

"There could be date nights," Liv said with a sad knowing nod.

"Yep and I don't understand it I mean what did he think she'd do say ah my son's missing, possibly dead so lets go out and have sex?"

"We can never know what he thought El," she sighed "we can never know but you know what I've decided?"

"Hmm?" he asked as they got close to the crime lab.

"If you still wanna talk to Kylie, the kid at Izzabella's school you can I don't ever want anybody waiting as long as Sara did to report a serious crime because of a fear of cops again."

"Liv are you sure? You took a strong stance against it last night."

"I'm sure," she said as he nodded, parked in the parking lot and when they got home that evening they hugged Izzabella tight, had their lunches they hadn't eaten that afternoon for dinner then cuddled up together on the loveseat and did their paperwork, their pins moving together in sync.