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.

67. Chapter 67

October 4th, 2:27 AM, Stabler residence.

A calm and peaceful aura surrounded Olivia and Elliot's bed as they slept. They slept in a different position tonight, a spooning position with Elliot behind her but considering the activities they had engaged in right before falling asleep neither one of them had complained ugh Olivia thought to herself when she heard a shrill noise as her eyes slightly opened, her peaceful sleep disturbed.

The shrill noise continued to sound into the room and she eventually identified it as the on-call phone and carefully rose up and reached to get it "Manhattan Special Victims Unit how can I help you?" she mumbled quietly into the receiver.

"Yes hi my name is officer Burks who am I speaking with?"

"Sergeant Benson, what can I help you with?"

"I responded to a noise complaint at the residence of a mother and daughter Jessalyn and Kara Jones, there was an attempted rape of the little girl the perp got in through an unlocked window apparently, almost did it but the kid screamed, the mom beat the living shit out of him and now they're both in custody."

"Okay," she said as she sighed and yawned groggily "you should let the mother go it would be classified as self defense."

"Sergeant this passed the line of self defense she almost killed him, hit him over and over in the head with a baseball bat he had to be rushed to the ER, there's one more thing you should know too."

"What's that?"

"The kid's 10 and can't see."

"My god... Okay me and my partner will be there as soon as we can can you give me the address?"

"Yeah it's 231 west 22nd street, the kids not hurt besides a gash on her head but she's scared to death, wants her mom and won't let me touch her."

"That reaction is completely understandable, let her mother comfort her it'll be the best thing for her trust me."

"I can't do that my partners already hauled her off to Rikers."

"Of course he has," she whispered through a sigh as she shook her head "we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Okay great, don't be ill with me though it's standard procedure."

Olivia just shook her head again "we'll talk more when I get there," she said as she hung up then and leaned to whisper in Elliot's ear "honey we have to go we have a case."

He groaned slightly, yawned and stretched his arms "what've we got?"

"An attempted rape of a blind 10 year old girl on 22nd street, unis have both the mom and perp in custody but we're gonna need to get all their statements and she's scared to death."

"Of course she is," he murmured sympathetically as he sat up "I can't imagine what she must be going through."

"Me either," she whispered as she stood from the bed and winced in slight pain "baby what's wrong?" El asked worriedly.

"It's nothing El we just haven't gone three rounds in a while is all and I think I'm starting perimenopause."

He nodded slightly and touched her shoulder "I-I wasn't too rough was I? We haven't done it with me on top in a while."

"No not at all," she said reassuringly as she leaned down and they kissed tenderly "looks like I gave you a pretty bad hickey there," he said pointing at the spot between her neck and collar bone apologetically.

"It's nothing a little makeup won't cover up," she said while stepping away slightly "why don't you get dressed while I sort myself out?"

"Alright, you want a caramel mocha?"

"No time grab the stuff you'll need for both of our coffees and you can make them at the precinct."

"Kay," he said and she made her way into the master bathroom then.

Ten minutes later they were both dressed and ready to go as Olivia had taken two Aleve's for her soreness "does Lizzie know we're leaving?" Liv asked.

"Yeah," he said as she nodded and they walked out the front door "Liv why was the little girl's mom arrested?" El asked.

She sighed "apparently she hit the perp in the head over and over with a baseball bat."

"Sounds like he deserved it to me."

"Agreed," she said as they both got into the Sedan "lets use the lights and sirens El."

"Copy that," he said and another thirty minutes later they were at the scene.

When he pulled into the driveway they both yawned in unison "we should have saved last nights activities for tonight," Liv said through hers.

Elliot nodded agreeing "I don't know what came over us," he murmured.

"I do Lucy had Izzabella so tired that she was asleep before 7 o'clock, El that's never happened before."

"No it hasn't and Lizzie had a late practice."

Olivia nodded "wasn't it her last practice?" she asked while stepping out.

"I think so," he said as they walked up to the front door and when they got to it he knocked on it "police!" he called.

Only about a half a minute passed before officer Burks opened the door "I'm so glad you're here," he said voice full of relief.

Olivia and Elliot both nodded "where's the little girl?" Liv asked.

"In her mom's bedroom she ran in there when my partner left and hasn't been willing to come out so far. It's this way," he said pointing and they nodded and followed him to it.

"Sweetheart some detectives are here to get you I really need you to come out now," Burks said gently when they stepped into the bedroom.

"N-NO I-I need my mom back... P-Please bring my mama home..." she cried hysterically.

"I've told you already I can't do that, please don't make these detectives wait it isn't nice," he said as he sighed then looked to Elliot "that's all she'll say."

Elliot frowned at him deeply "we've got time we can be as patient as she needs us to be," he said as Olivia nodded in agreement "yeah we've got it from here officer, what hospital was the perp sent to?"

"Bellevue."

Olivia nodded then quietly walked over to the bed "you've got a nice little fortress built up there, it looks really cozy," she murmured as the child, Kara had surrounded herself with her mom's blankets and pillows.

Kara didn't respond to that as tears just kept streaming down her cheeks and she scooted away further "my name's Olivia and I brought a friend here with me, his name's Elliot and we're both here to help you."

"I-I need my mama back..."

"I promise you I'm gonna do everything I can to make that happen but in the meantime would it be okay if we sit together and talk?"

Kara was quiet for a minute before hesitantly nodding and Olivia slightly smiled and sat down on the bed "can Elliot join us too?" she asked then.

She tensed and he saw it as he was standing a few feet away "it's okay I don't have to," he murmured as he looked to Olivia "I'm gonna step out into the hall and get the status on our perp."

"That's gonna be hard to do with no name."

"I'll figure it out," he murmured and when he stepped out she turned back to Kara "your name is Kara right?"

"Y-Yeah."

Olivia nodded "I heard that someone tried to hurt you tonight is that true?" she asked softly.

"Mmhmm h-he hurt me here," she said as she pointed at something slightly but the fort she had built obstructed Olivia's view.

Olivia nodded sympathetically "I can't see what you're pointing at because one of the pillows are in the way. Is it okay if I move it so I can tell? I'll put it right back I promise."

She gave her another slight nod and Olivia moved it slightly to see her left hand pointing at the fingers of her right hand which were lightly resting against her right temple "can you move your hand sweetie?" she asked pointing at her right hand.

She moved her left hand to her side "no your other one, can you move your other one for me? Just for a second so I can see?"

Kara began to tremble slightly "I won't touch you I promise I just need to see so I'll know how badly you're hurt and if you'll need a doctor or not."

"I-I don't need a doctor," she whispered as she moved her hand slowly revealing a small cut with crusted blood on it "you know what I think you're right that you won't need a doctor but can you tell me how this happened?"

"T-The bad man did it."

Olivia nodded as she glanced around the room, saw a pack of wet wipes and moved to get off the bed "p-please don't leave Ms. Olivia please," Kara cried.

"I'm not going far honey I promise," she said as while she got a few wet wipes from the bag Elliot hovered at the door "what'd you get El?" she asked noticing him.

He sighed "they found an ID in his pocket his name is Darnell Kelly and he's in a medically induced coma his skull was fractured in three different places."

She nodded grimly "do they think he'll live?"

"They told me it's 50 50, how's she doing?"

"Scared but she'll be alright she's got a small gash near her right temple but I think that's all, come on in here El."

"You sure?"

"Yeah it's not bad enough to make her go to the hospital over but it's too bad to just leave it alone and you've patched up ten times more owies than me so."

"Liv I don't know if that's a good idea when I was temporarily blind after Picard I remember I only wanted you touching me."

She sighed "I know you did El but her mom's not here, this needs to be tended to right and it's not just a skinned knee Elliot I don't know how to tend to it."

"Okay, okay I'll do it," he whispered as they stepped back into the room together and Olivia climbed back onto the bed "here sweetie lets get this blood off your hand," she said handing her three wet wipes.

Kara took them as Elliot hovered slightly to glance at her temple and she whimpered slightly and backed away "honey what's wrong?" Liv asked.

"S-Someone's here..."

Olivia and Elliot shared a look "I'm sorry sweetheart I wasn't trying to scare you... I'm not gonna hurt you I was just looking at your head," he murmured.

At the sound of his soothing voice she relaxed slightly and nodded "y-you're Elliot right? Olivia's friend?"

"Mmhmm," he said with a soft smile as he then looked to Liv "I'm gonna go wash my hands, wet a couple rags and find a bandaid."

"Kay," she said as she then looked back to Kara "how did you know he was there?" she asked softly as she couldn't help but be curious.

"I-I could feel it it was like the air was different Mrs. Miller says it's a sense."

"That's really neat," she said as she sighed when she realized the wet wipes were doing very little good "okay what's gonna happen now is Elliot is gonna make the cut on your head all better, your mom's done that for you before right?"

"Mmhmm I-I want her to do it."

"I know you do sweetie..." she said sympathetically "you wanna know a secret?"

"H-Hmm?"

"Elliot has made hundreds of cuts all better."

"H-Hundreds?"

"Yeah," she said as she swallowed slightly "I had a lot of cuts once and he made them all better."

"W-Wow," Kara whispered as he walked back in then "Olivia gives me too much credit, I do have five kids though so I know what I'm doing I promise."

"T-That's a lot of kids..."

He smiled a bit "yeah it is isn't it, may I sit down in front of you? If I sit there then I can reach over your fort, it's really cool by the way."

She nodded slightly "I-I made it cuz I was scared."

"I know honey," he said softly as he eased down onto the bed in front of her "I'm gonna clean this blood off okay? Liv can you move her hair back?"

Olivia nodded as Kara closed her eyes tightly and tensed back up "hey hey it's okay remember he's made hundreds of cuts all better," Liv soothed.

She gave a small nod "d-does he have magical powers too?"

They both chuckled as he started to ever so gently clean the cut "I don't but do you like magic?"

"Mmhmm a magician comes to my school sometimes and my helper, Mrs. Morris tells me everything he's doing."

"Wow... Whats your favorite trick that he does?"

"The one where he makes a quarter disappear."

"That sounds really cool, where do you think it goes?"

"Into the stratosphere."

"That's very possible," Liv said with a soft smile "you're being very brave."

"Thank you."

Olivia nodded with a soft smile "do you know the name of your school?"

"It doesn't have a name it has a number."

"Okay can you tell me that number sweetie?"

"121." she said while trying to ease her head back slightly.

Olivia nodded "I'm almost done sweetie I just have to rinse it now it's not hurting is it?" El asked.

"N-Not too bad."

He nodded and tried to be even gentler "you guys are still here?" a CSU tech asked surprised walking into the bedroom.

Kara jumped slightly startled and Olivia frowned slightly "it's okay sweetie," she said as she then looked to Elliot "I'm gonna go see if he has anything are you guys good here?"

"If Kara is then I am."

Olivia nodded and looked to her "sweetie will you be okay if I go and talk to the other police officer? I'll only be a couple minutes."

"I-I think so," she whispered as her eyes welled up again "w-will you get him to bring my mom home?"

"Me and Elliot are gonna do everything we can to get her back with you honey I promise."

"O-Okay," she whispered and Olivia slightly smiled and stepped out "sorry I scared her it's just you guys don't usually stick around at the crime scene with a vic for this long, what's going on in there?" CSU tech Holms asked.

"We're trying to take things at her pace since there's not a hole lot of urgency and she was terrified when we got here," Liv explained.

"What do you mean there's not a lot of urgency?"

"The man who broke in and attacked her is in the hospital in a medically induced coma so although we do need her statement we don't have to have it right now and we aren't forcing her to come out of the fort she built just yet."

"Gotcha," he said nodding "the blanket and sheets on the bed in her room are scattered every direction but I'm sure that's not surprising to you, there's blood in the floor, most likely your perps but we'll be testing it for DNA, we also found a couple fingerprints on the windowsill which we'll be testing as well."

"That's great, we do have a name already, Darnell Kelly but if he's in the system already that'll help us a lot and if he recovers when he gets to Rikers they'll take them there and we can get a match."

Holmes nodded and Olivia managed a small smile "I need to get back in there but we should be leaving soon and if you find anything else call the precinct number."

"Will do," he said and Olivia stepped back into the room then "you're so brave sweetheart you know that?" Elliot was murmuring while taking an evidence picture of the now clean cut with his phone.

"Thank you," Kara whispered and he nodded with a soft smile "anything?" he asked Liv quietly.

She nodded "they found prints on the window and blood on the floor, this one should be a slam dunk."

"Good," he said as he then looked back to Kara "I'm just gonna put a bandaid on this then I'll be all done okay?"

"Okay," she said and when he finished Olivia smiled "so Kara we're gonna need to take you down to the police station where we work so we can record you answering some questions, do you think you can come with us to do that?"

"Y-Yes, is mama at the police station?"

"She's not honey no," Liv said shaking her head sadly "tell you what we'll take you to see her first then we'll ask you the questions does that sound good?"

"Y-Yes thank you Ms. Olivia," Kara said gratefully as she started to move the pillows away and accidentally hit Elliot with one "I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"It's okay honey, here I'll help you," he said as he began helping her move the pillows "is there anything you wanna bring with you?"

She didn't respond, just moved off the bed and started to make her way towards the dresser "whoa be careful you're gonna hit the seater chest," she walked a little further "there's a table in front of you, whoa careful honey!" Elliot exclaimed worriedly.

Kara ignored him and kept walking as she missed all the obstacles "I think she's got it El," Liv whispered watching her entranced.

"W-When I couldn't see you had to help me everywhere I ran into things if you didn't."

"Yeah but you had never gone without your sight before so you didn't have time to adapt she has."

"I can never imagine myself being able to adapt to that," he whispered.

"People do all the time."

"How do you know that?"

"You don't think I researched the hell out of blindness when you went temporarily blind?"

Elliot's mouth opened slightly in shock as he shook his head "I did El I was afraid it was gonna be permanent."

"Ohh baby..." he whispered wrapping his arm around her.

She nodded and leaned into him "I had hope believe me I did but I was still preparing myself for the worse."

He nodded "I get it I probably would have too if our positions had been in reverse god forbid..."

She nodded and went to respond but before she could Kara was standing in front of them with a scarf in her hand "c-can I wear this? My mom lets me wear it sometimes when it's cold outside and her perfume is on it."

"Yeah of course sweetie, do you need help getting it on?" Liv asked.

She nodded slightly and Olivia stood and helped her "so Kara is your dad around at all?"

"I don't see him much he lives two hours away."

Olivia nodded sadly "are you close with any of your other family?"

"J-Just mammie and paw. I-I want mama though."

"We're still taking you to see her I promise," Elliot murmured comfortingly.

She nodded relieved and he smiled softly "honey this house is gonna be a crime scene for a couple days because of what happened so I'm gonna go into your room and pack you a couple outfits from it so you'll have clothes, do you have any favorites that you want me to get?" Liv asked.

She shook her head slightly and Olivia nodded "alright unless there's anything else you wanna get Elliot's gonna take you on out to our police car and I'll meet you both out there okay?"

"Okay," she whispered and Olivia watched him gently take her by the wrist and lead her out with a slight smile.

xxxxx

"Mr. Elliot?" Kara asked as they approached the front door.

"Hmm?" he asked softly.

"Are you and Ms. Olivia boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"No but we're husband and wife."

"Wow... Do you have rings like mammie and paw?"

"Yes we do, when we get to the car you can feel mine if you want."

Kara didn't give a response either way and he nodded to himself as he opened the front door "so what kinds of fun things do you like to do?"

"Mama takes me swimming a lot when it's warm and we do jamming sessions together."

"Jamming sessions?"

"Mmhmm she'll turn the radio up really loud and we sing together."

"That sounds really fun. What do you guys do when it's cold out? It's about to start being really cold out."

"When it snows we build snow men together and when it's really, really cold we snuggle together or play games."

"She sounds like she's a really good mom."

"S-She's the best mom in the hole world," Kara whispered as a tear fell "s-she saved me from getting really bad hurt."

"I know she did honey," he murmured as he opened the back drivers side door "can you hop in there for me sweetie?"

Kara got in and Elliot smiled impressed when she buckled her seatbelt and shut her own door "so what station do you and your mom listen to?" he asked once he had the Sedan cranked.

"Z100."

"Okay," Elliot said as he turned the radio to it and safe and sound by Capital Cities started playing over the speakers "is this the right station?" he asked Kara softly.

"Yes sir."

"Alright good, I need to step out for a minute and make a quick phone call okay? I won't go far I'll stand right beside the car."

"Okay," she whispered and once he was out of the Sedan he called Rikers with a determined look in his eyes.

"Rikers Island this is Ariel," a woman answered on the third ring.

"Yes hi my name is detective Elliot Stabler with the Special Victims Unit in Manhattan and I'd like to speak with you about taking an inmate into my custody."

"Okay is he or she a material witness to a crime?"

"She's not a material witness no but I do need to interview her and I'd like to do it at our precinct."

"Detective you know we don't do that that's why we have interview rooms here."

"Last I checked those interview rooms don't have cameras."

"They don't but that's what your old fashion notepad and pin are for, which inmate is this about anyway?"

"Jessalyn Jones."

Typing could be heard over the phone line as Liv walked over then too "yeah she's in on assault in the second degree she won't be going anywhere until she's arraigned."

Elliot sighed "do you know why she was charged with that?"

"My computer says that she hit a man over and over in the head with a baseball bat causing him serious physical injury."

"That's right she did but that same man also broke into her home and attempted to rape her daughter. Did you know that?"

"I didn't but we treat everyone who has been charged with a serious felony the same at Rikers."

Elliot sighed "I understand that, I'm not asking you to do her any favors though I'm just asking you to release her into my custody that's it."

Ariel chuckled slightly "that would be the equivalent of special treatment detective and if I do this for you and your perp I'm gonna have other officers calling here all the time wanting me to do it for them and their sympathetic perps."

"You wouldn't be doing it for me you'd be doing it for her daughter."

"That was a low blow detective," Ariel said as even Liv frowned slightly.

"Maybe it was but it's true she was almost raped and she's blind you can't imagine how traumatizing that was and her mom saved her from it."

"You're right I can't and I'm sad that the child had to go through that but without something from a judge saying it's okay I can't release Ms. Jones into your custody, I'm sorry detective."

Elliot just sighed and shook his head angrily "me and my partner will be there shortly to take her statement," he said and when he hung up he was met with Olivia frowning in front of him "what is it?" he asked.

"You didn't ask me before you called Rikers and tried to approve that."

"I figured you'd be fine with it and you were inside the house."

"You thought I'd be fine with you taking her from Rikers with out clearance from an ADA or the courts? What were you planning on doing with her Elliot just letting her escape because you sympathize with her?"

"No of course not I was gonna let her sit in the break room with her daughter."

Olivia sighed, nodded and relaxed her stance a little feeling like she had been a bitch "I don't like that she's there any more than you do but there isn't anything we can do about it until both 1PP and the DA's office open."

Elliot just nodded "it's wrong what those unis did to them, it's wrong that she's in there."

"I know El and I'll be calling IAB as soon as 1pp opens," she said as she touched his shoulder "when we get to Rikers do you wanna take her statement or stay in the car with Kara?"

"We all have to go in there remember you told her she'd get to see her mother."

She sighed "I know I did but she can't go in Rikers," she said regretfully.

"We can't break our promise to that little girl."

"Elliot Rikers is a bad place for kids who can see to be with her being blind it's gonna be 100 times worse with all of the loud noise and locking sounds."

"Then why did you tell her she was gonna get to see her mother if you knew it would be bad for her? You knew where she was when you said that Olivia and you didn't know I was making that call."

Liv opened and closed her mouth several times and Elliot just shook his head "the beds been made so now we have to lie in it we don't lie to little girls."

"Elliot it'll traumatize her, her being in that environment will traumatize her."

"No it won't we won't let it and she'll get to hug her mother."

"You can't know that for sure El."

He sighed and nodded conceding to her point "alright you're right about that but tell me something if I would've killed Lewis back in May and ended up in prison for it would you have taken Izzabella to see me?"

"Of course I would've but this is different..."

"How's it different? Because in that scenario the dad's in jail and in this one the mom's in jail there's no difference except for the parents gender."

"Well we're not her parents or legal guardians for all we know her mother won't want her seeing her that way."

"She wouldn't be seeing her in any way."

Olivia took a deep breath in then slowly let it out "Jessalyn may not want her to be around her in that environment."

Elliot was quiet for a minute before finally nodding in defeat "fine but I'm not gonna be the one breaking this news to Kara."

"I don't expect you to besides we both have phones it's not like which ever one of us goes in there can't let her call Kara and talk to her."

"Good point," he said through a sigh "it's not seeing her but it'll be better than nothing for her, how the hell did I not think of that?"

"Because when you get an idea in your head it stays there no matter what."

"Yeah it does doesn't it?"

"Yeah it does," she whispered as she sighed "we have to go El we're wasting our time and the Sedans gas but I wanna hug this out first c-can we do that?"

"Of course we can baby," he murmured as he pulled her into a tight hug and she wrapped her arms around him as well "I hate arguing with you El," she whispered.

"It never bothered you before," he murmured as he stroked her hair.

"Yeah well things change I rely on you more now than I used to."

He nodded in acknowledgment then kissed her temple "I'm always gonna love you and I'm always gonna be here for you weather we agree on everything every day or not."

"I know."

"I hope so," he whispered as he pecked her lips once then eased himself away "lets go get this statement okay?"

"Copy that," she said as she went to go to the passengers side "you wanna drive?" he asked softly.

"Yeah I'd like that," she said as he nodded with a soft smile and a minute later they were on the road.

Five minutes into the drive all three of them were yawning "I think we should stop at a bodega for some coffee," Olivia said after her second yawn.

"Yeah I agree what's a couple more minutes, we can put some more gas in while we're there too," he said as he gently rubbed her knee.

"Good idea, maybe we could start filling it up at the end of the day though?"

"That's a good idea it'll save us time in the field," he said as he turned his head slightly "Kara do you want anything from the bodega?"

"I-I don't have any money."

"We'll pay for it sweetie," Liv said.

She nodded slightly "may I have a grape juice please?"

"Yeah of course."

"Thank you Mrs. Olivia."

"You're very welcome," she said and five minutes later they were at the bodega.

When they got there Olivia went inside and Elliot stood outside of the car and pumped the gas "here's your grape juice," Liv said handing it to Kara once she was back in the car.

"Thank you Mrs. Olivia."

"You're welcome," she said as she took a sip of her small Frappuccino then ate her chocolate chip muffin as when Elliot hopped back into the passengers seat she smiled "I got you your favorite," she said.

"Yeah?"

She smiled, nodded and handed him a banana nut muffin "mmmmm thank you Liv," he murmured with a smile.

She nodded and drove off "your coffee's in the cup holder closest to you, they didn't have any creamer though."

"'s okay it just needs to tide me over until we get to the precinct," he said as Kara leaned forward in her seat "I smell chocolate and bananas," she said.

"You got that exactly right me and Elliot are both eating muffins, mine is chocolate chip and his is banana nut."

Kara nodded and slightly smiled "my mama makes really good blueberry muffins, she makes s'more bars too."

"What are s'more bars? I've never heard of them before."

"I don't know for sure I just know she uses gram crackers, marshmallows and a few other things. Maybe you can ask her?"

"That's a good idea sweetie I might do that."

She nodded with a smile as Elliot noticed her leaning forward then "Kara I need you to lean back against your seat please," he said softly.

She did it quickly "thank you sweetie I wouldn't mind but if we happened to get into a car accident you would be more likely to get hurt that way."

She nodded understanding and the car became comfortably silent again as when Next to Me by Emili Sondaé started to play over the radio Liv and El silently began holding hands.

xxxxx

"Who's going in?" Elliot asked once Olivia had parked the Sedan.

"Doesn't matter to me," she said as she shrugged slightly.

Elliot frowned slightly but nodded anyway "alright I'll go, lock the doors?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," she said and a minute later Elliot was out of the car "so how'd you do it?" Liv asked softly while locking the doors.

"Do what?" Kara asked confused as she leaned forward again.

"Get Elliot to listen to pop music."

Kara frowned slightly "doesn't everybody listen to pop music?"

"Well a lot of people do but not everyone no me and Elliot usually listen to classic rock."

Kara nodded understanding "me and my mom love pop music, I told Mr. Elliot that we sing together and when he helped me into the car he asked me what station."

"Gotcha," Liv said as she nodded "who's your favorite singer?"

"I think it's Katy Perry but I really like lady Gaga and Rihanna too."

Olivia nodded with a soft smile "my favorite band is the Beatles but a few years ago I used to eat lunch once a month with my stepdaughter Kathleen and she was always listening to either Katy Perry or Eminem."

"Mama loooves Eminem, my favorite song he sings is the one he sings with Rihanna."

"I don't think I've ever heard that one before."

Kara nodded "it's called Love the Way You Lie it's a really good song."

"I'll have to look it up one day," she said as Kara nodded "who is Mr. Elliot's favorite singer?"

Olivia smiled "he's got a lot of favorites, ask him who it is when he comes back he'll tell you."

"Okay but I wanna ask you too, see if you get it right that would be fun."

Olivia chuckled "so you wanna play the newlywed game with us huh?"

"What's that?"

"It's a game that couples play sometimes, I'll answer it's either Elvis or Billie Joel."

"You can only pick one."

"Darnit," she said as she thought silently on it for a minute "I'll go with Elvis."

Kara nodded with a slight smile "Mrs. Olivia?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be okay if I lean my head against the door?" she asked as her face was growing slightly pale.

"Yeah of course, I'll warn you though it's not very comfortable," she said as she then frowned noticing her cheeks "you okay sweetie?"

"My belly just feels bad."

"Does it hurt?"

"No it's the other kind of bad."

Olivia nodded understanding "so like you might throw up?"

"Mmhmm."

"There's not much I can do about it right now but tell me if you think you need to throw up and I'll hand you a paper bag okay?"

"Okay," she whispered and the car became quiet then as they just both listened to the radio on low and waited.

xxxxx

"It's about time," Elliot said from a Rikers interview room as a guard finally walked in with a woman who he presumed was Jessalyn as she was of average hight and had short dark hair.

"Sorry detective this has been one of those mornings do you want her cuffed to the table?"

"No that's not necessary," he said as just then the guards radio came to life "all available officers please respond to an assault with multiple aggressors in men's dormitory three, inmate William Lewis, 445410 is being transported to the infirmary and we need multiple transports to solitary confinement."

"Again?!" the guard barked sharply into his radio "this is the third time this has happened in two weeks isn't it time to put him in protective custody?"

"I'll file the order but I'm sure Mccutcheon'll quash it like he has all the other ones when he comes in at 8 o'clock."

"What the hell does he have against that guy?" he asked as he then looked to Elliot "as you can clearly hear I need to go hit the buzzer when you want out."

Elliot nodded while doing everything in his power to hide a smirk as when the door shut he schooled his features "Ms. Jones, hi I'm detective Stabler I'm here to ask you a few questions about what happened this morning."

Jessalyn nodded her head slightly "i-is my daughter okay? P-Please tell me that first t-they didn't let me tell her what was happening... T-They didn't let me say goodbye..."

"She is ma'am I promise my partner's outside in the car with her we thought about bringing her in here to see you but ended up agreeing that it wasn't a good idea."

"You made the right choice some of the women here are horrible I met one that told me she banged her granddaughters head against a table in McDonalds and killed her."

"I can't say that surprises me, her first name didn't happen to be Dorthy did it?"

"It actually was, she had no soul detective I protected my daughter."

"I know you did," he said as he laid his notepad and pin on the table "do you remember your rights?"

"Yes," she said and he nodded "okay can you tell me more about how you protected her?"

Jessalyn nodded "I was sleeping then at about 1:45 I heard Kara scream so I grabbed my baseball bat and ran to her room.

"Why did you grab the baseball bat right away?"

"Because it's always better to be safe than sorry and if I hadn't needed it then I could have just put it down."

Elliot nodded understanding as he transcribed "can you tell me what you found when you entered her room?"

"Her window was open and there was a man straddling her on her bed, he had a knife in one hand and his hand over her mouth with his other one."

Elliot nodded sadly "had she been stabbed yet at that point?"

"I-I saw a little blood on her head yeah... I-It didn't look really bad though p-please tell me it wasn't bad?"

"It was nothing cleaning it out and putting a bandaid on it didn't fix I promise."

Jessalyn nodded relieved "s-she must have been so scared s-she doesn't like it when strangers touch her."

"I won't lie to you she was at first but she was very brave and I talked her through it."

She nodded slightly "t-thank you for being patient with her."

He nodded "I couldn't have gone about it any other way, did you get a look at the man's face? We know his name now but if we get a description from you which matches him it'll make our case against him even more bulletproof if he wakes up."

She nodded "he had blue eyes, cold blue eyes, short blonde hair and he was as skinny as a beanpole."

Elliot nodded and wrote that down "how tall do you think he was?"

"About average hight maybe? He had his fly open too and his package was hanging out I thought you should know that."

"Yeah that's definitely good to know," he said as he nodded "me and my partner are gonna try our best to get you out of here so you can be with your daughter if we had been the first officers on scene things would have been handled a lot differently... I do need to ask you though why did you continue to beat him in the head even when he was no longer moving on the ground?"

"Detective all that was going through my head in that moment was my rage at him for having the audacity to try to break into my house and hurt my daughter and the overwhelming need to protect her I felt like if I stopped then he'd move again and I couldn't let him move again..."

Elliot nodded then looked directly into her eyes "were you afraid that he would hurt or kill Kara if he moved again?" he asked while nodding his head several times.

"Y-Yeah... Yeah I was," she said catching the suggestive movement of his head.

Elliot nodded and wrote it down "that's all the questions I have for you regarding the case at this time, umm is there any family that we can get in touch with to pick up your daughter until you're released? Kara said she isn't close with her dad but we probably won't be able to get the paperwork through until early afternoon."

"Yeah he's a druggie and has no clue how to take care of her she hasn't seen him in over a year, she's close with my sister Mary and my mom and dad but Mary doesn't have a phone and my parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary in the Adirondacks."

Elliot nodded understanding "can you tell me where your sister lives?"

She nodded "she lives in a mennonite community about four hours away from here I take Kara there sometimes because she likes the horses."

"We'll try your parents then do you know their numbers?"

"I know my mom's I tried calling her when I got here and she didn't answer but I was only allowed to call once so I'll give it to you, I don't remember my dads off the top of my head but Kara knows them both by heart."

"Alright I'll ask her then," he said as once he had the grandmother's number written down he looked to her again "last question I have for you do we have permission to question Kara about what happened this morning with out a parent or guardian present?"

"Yeah as long as she won't be in an interrogation room."

"She'll be in a child friendly interview room I give you my word."

"Okay you have my permission then," she said and Elliot nodded "do you wanna talk to her on the phone before I leave?"

"Please I think that would be good for both of us," she said and he nodded and made the call putting his phone on speaker.

"El, hey I was just about to call you myself," Liv said answering on the first ring.

"Sorry Liv it took the guard fifteen minutes to get her in here I just finished taking her statement now."

"It's alright I know how they are, we still gonna...?" she asked as her voice lowered.

"Yeah," he said and a few seconds later they heard the phone be passed off "hello?" Kara said quietly.

"Hey sweetie it's Elliot, I have someone here who wants to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he murmured as Jessalyn leaned closer to the phone "I'm here baby, mama's here."

"Mama..." Kara whispered as her voice was full of relief "are me and you gonna go to mammie and paw's now?"

"We probably will later today but we can't right now right now I need you to keep being brave and go to the police station with the detectives they're gonna talk to you then call mammie and paw to come and get you."

"W-Why can't you come with Mr. Elliot and ride with us to the police station?" she asked as she then lowered her voice "I-It's scary not having you with me, my shirt has blood on it, I'm starting to feel sick and I need to use the bathroom."

"Baby you're gonna have to tell the female detective what you need and let her help you until mammie and paw can get you I'm not able to leave right now," Jessalyn said as Elliot's face painted the picture of sympathy.

"B-But I don't know her well mama... P-Please just come you don't have to tell anybody..."

"T-That's not how this works honey, these detectives are good people though they can be trusted I promise."

"H-How can you know that for sure mama?"

"Because mother's know things like that."

"O-Okay I-I trust you... You promise you'll come back soon?"

"As soon as I can baby and you'll just have to be brave for a little while longer then you can pretend that you're having an early visit with mammie and paw okay?"

"O-Okay, d-do I have to go to school today?"

"No honey, listen to me when the detectives ask you their questions I need you to make sure you tell them the 100% truth okay?"

"I-I promise, I love you mama."

"I love you too kiddo, I'll see you as soon as I can," she said as Elliot ended the call then and pressed the buzzer.

"T-Thank you for letting me talk to her," Jessalyn whispered while they waited on a guard.

"It was the least I could do really I've got five kids of my own and if I had been in your shoes I would have done the exact same thing if not worse."

She nodded knowingly "it's a parental instinct to protect our kids."

"Primal is more like it," he said as he sighed and fought a yawn "can Kara take over the counters? I heard her say she's feeling sick."

"She can take liquid and chewables but she can't swallow pills yet, by the way she talked about it I think she's nauseated I usually buy her over the counter chewable dramamine or liquid Phenergan."

"Okay we'll find one of them, do they make her drowsy?"

"Yeah very."

"Okay good to know," he said and the interview room door opened "you guys done?" the guard asked.

"We are," Elliot said and once he got his gun back he headed to the Sedan.

xxxxx

"How'd it go?" Liv whispered as she drove off.

"Fine you shouldn't call IAB though."

"Why not?" she asked as she frowned deeply.

"Because it'll make things messy and we don't need messy."

"But they were wrong arresting her... Weren't they?" she asked as she was becoming a little skeptical now.

"It's not black and white anymore Liv her statement could be interpreted multiple ways so the less attention that ends up on this now the better it'll be for everybody."

"Are you telling me it wasn't self defense?"

"No but I'm telling you that if the wrong person reads her statement they'll focus on the wrong parts and spin it that way."

"Okay," she whispered as she sighed and nodded her head "okay I won't call them but you do know that Barba will insist on reading her statement right?"

"Yeah but I'll have a better shot at convincing one man to do the right thing than I will 5 or 6."

"Good point," she said before nodding again "okay," she said as he smiled softly and took her hand "so Kara your mom says that you know both of your grandparents numbers by heart is that true?"

"Yes sir."

Elliot nodded "can you tell me your grandpa's number?"

"Mmhmm it's 212:555:0114."

"Thank you sweetie."

"You're welcome," she said as Elliot began trying both numbers and when he got the grandfather on the third attempt he notified him then the car became comfortably silent as they crossed back into Manhattan.

xxxxx

"Mr. Elliot?" Kara asked when they were about five minutes away from the station.

"Yeah?"

"Who's your favorite singer?"

"That's a tough question I like a lot of different rock singers, do I have to only pick one?"

"Yeah."

Elliot nodded "it's a tough choice but I'm gonna go with Elvis Presley he's the king of rocking roll you know."

Kara cracked a small smile from her seat "you got it right Mrs. Olivia."

"I did didn't I," she said as she smiled at her softly through the rearview mirror "I've known him for a really long time, longer than you've been alive even."

"Wow..." she said amazed as she was quiet again for a minute before speaking "Mr. Elliot who's Mrs. Olivia's favorite singer?"

"Definitely the Beatles, that was an easy one," he said softly as he smiled "who's yours?"

"I think it's Katy Perry."

"Who's that?"

"She's a pop singer."

"Gotcha," he said and they grew quiet again "well we're here," Liv said as she parked the Sedan in a parking spot at the precinct.

Kara and Elliot both took off their seatbelts in unison "we've still got anti nausea medicine in the truck right?" Liv asked.

"I think so, I hope so I can check it you wanna take her on inside?" El asked as Kara was feeling all over the door for the door handle.

"Sounds good," she said as she then noticed what Kara was doing "this car doesn't have handles on the inside of the doors in the back give me one second and I'll open your door for you okay?"

"Okay," she whispered putting her hands in her lap and a minute later she was out of the car and holding Olivia's hand as they walked "why aren't there handles?" she asked.

"It's for safety so people can't escape from the police car."

"Has anybody ever done that to you before?"

"I've had people try and run from me, that happens quite a bit but me and Elliot almost always catch them."

Kara nodded understanding "I'm not gonna run I promise."

"I know sweetie," she murmured before sighing "I know you're nervous but you have no reason to be okay? All that's gonna happen is I'm gonna ask you a few questions, we're gonna get you something for your nausea then we're gonna wait together for your grandparents."

"Okay," she whispered as Olivia lead her into the building , waved at the overnight desk Sergeant then they got into the elevator and rode up to the third floor.

xxxxx

"That's a cute lil lovebug you got there," the perp in holding cell one said seeing them as he walked over to the bars and leered.

Kara's face paled even further and Olivia pulled her into her side protectively "how about you shut up and sit back down," she said flatly.

"Nah, nah I don't need too. Hey where's your bodyguard?"

"I don't have a bodyguard."

"Ohh yeah you do you wouldn't get near me yesterday, you recoiled from me in fact."

"You're delusional, I suggest that you sit back down on the bench and keep your mouth shut before I stick you with more charges."

He shook his head, smirked then started banging on the bars and door as Kara began trembling and Elliot walked in then "ENOUGH!!" he boomed and Liv took that chance to lead her away "I-I'm gonna be sick, I-I'm gonna be sick," Kara whispered.

Olivia nodded and quickly grabbed the first garbage can she saw, Amaro's and held it steady for Kara as she vomited "I knew your bodyguard wasn't far away..." the perp sneered.

Elliot shook his head refusing to dignify that with a response and walked away as he immediately started the pounding up again "she okay? You guys okay?" he asked Liv after stepping over to them.

"I'm fine I know he can't get out no matter how hard he tries but Kara can't handle any more traumatic events today Elliot," Liv whispered as Kara was crying and vomiting too as her breaths were quick and shallow.

"I know," he murmured as Kara finished then and they both sighed in relief "he's scary I know he is but he's inside the cell he can't hurt you I promise," Olivia murmured while making sure that no vomit got in her hair.

"B-But what if he breaks it? H-He sounds really strong..."

"That's not gonna happen honey I promise, can you try and take some deep breaths for us?" El asked softly.

She nodded slightly and tried but just as she'd start to calm down a little the banging would get louder and her breaths would increase again "unless you wanna get tased or handcuffed again I suggest you stop that!!" El shouted.

Kara tensed and flinched in fear "honey lets get you somewhere else okay? Somewhere quieter," Liv whispered as she then handed Elliot her handcuffs "why don't you handcuff his hands behind his back and his leg to the bench, he shouldn't be able to do that any more then."

Kara nodded and gripped her hand tightly "I can do that but how do we stop him from banging his head against the wall?"

She rubbed Kara's hand gently "I don't know maybe he'll knock himself out?"

"Or he'll just keep banging it against the wall... He's just trying to scare her and piss us off not hurt himself."

"Yeah I know," she said as she sighed "c-can you just take him on to the tombs then? If we can't control him then he shouldn't be here any more."

"Yeah I can do that," he murmured as he reached into his shirt pocket and handed her the bottle of Phenergan "there's not much in there but it'll be enough for her to have a dose."

"Okay good thank you El, you think you'll need backup?"

"No I'll be fine baby I promise."

She nodded and he kissed her temple then "you want me to grab breakfast from the diner on my way back? It's 5:30."

"Yeah that'd be good. Will you get me a sausage egg and cheese burrito please? I wanna change it up."

"Yeah of course, we buying for everyone else too?"

"I don't think we should we can't afford to keep doing that but maybe call when your on your way and I can tell you if Kara wants something?"

"That works," he said as he kissed her temple one more time, carefully handed her her handcuffs back then made his way towards the cell and Olivia gently led Kara to the interview room, making double sure that she had her keycard as she walked.

xxxxx

"Do you feel safer in here honey?" Liv asked Kara softly a few minutes later as they were sitting side by side on the couch and the banging had thankfully stopped.

"Y-Yeah, the couch is comfortable too. Thank you for bringing me in here."

"You're welcome honey, are you still feeling nauseous?"

"A little."

Olivia nodded "I have some Phenergan here you can take that right?"

"Yeah mama gives it to me a lot."

Olivia nodded, found a paper cup and started measuring out her dose "Mrs. Olivia?" Kara whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Will mammie and paw be here soon?"

"It'll probably be about three and a half more hours or so," she said as she sat back down beside her on the couch "can you take this medicine yourself?"

"Yes ma'am," Kara said and Liv nodded and handed the cup to her "do you need a cool washcloth or anything?"

"No ma'am," she said while taking it and Olivia nodded "alright I'm gonna ask you these questions before the medicine kicks in and makes you sleepy okay?"

Kara nodded and Olivia slightly smiled "if you need to stop just let me know okay?"

She nodded again and Olivia did too "so was anything different in you and your mom's routine last night?"

"Nnhnn mama made us SpaghettiOs, we ate them together in the living room while we watched a cop show together then she helped me with my homework and tucked me into bed."

"That sounds like a really cool routine, you guys watch cop shows together?"

"Mmhmm she really likes Morgan and Garcia, she says she wants them to get together."

Olivia chuckled slightly and nodded "that's Criminal minds right?"

"I think so."

Olivia nodded "I think me and Elliot have watched that once or twice, so sweetie when your window opened did you hear it?"

"Nnhnn I-I woke up when I sensed him over me."

"Okay how did you know he was a man?"

"I-I heard his voice, h-he put something cold and metal to my neck a-and told me that if I screamed he would cut me with it, I-I think it was a knife."

"It was sweetie, can you tell me how your mom figured out he was there?"

"I-I screamed and grabbed his arm and that was how he cut my head, I-I know he told me not to scream but he seemed like a bad person and I thought he would hurt me even if I stayed quiet so I did."

"You did the right thing, so after you screamed is that when you're mom went in and got him off you?"

"Mmhmm he had his hand on my mouth t-then it was gone and I heard him scream then a few cracking sounds and a few minutes later I heard sirens then the mean police officers came in and took mama away and I made the fort in her bedroom."

Olivia nodded slightly "alright thank you for answering my questions sweetie," she murmured.

"That's all of them?" Kara asked as she was slightly shocked.

"It is I told you you had no need to be nervous," she said softly as she rubbed her shoulder "you wanna come to my office with me and lay on the couch in there? It's just as comfy as this one."

"Yeah," Kara whispered and Olivia smiled, unlocked the interview room then led her to it "do you like cartoons?" Liv asked softly once she had her sat down.

"Mmhmm my favorite cartoon is the flintstones."

"Do you wanna listen to that until either you fall asleep or your grandparents come?"

"Can I?" she asked eagerly.

"Absolutely," Liv said with a soft smile as she pulled up their My Spectrum app on her phone, found an episode and turned it on "I'm gonna go get you a pillow and blanket okay? I'll be right back," she said after laying her phone on the arm of the couch.

"Okay," Kara said as once Liv had the blinds to her office closed she stepped out and made her way to the cribs.

When Liv was back a couple minutes later Kara turned her head slightly to face her "your phone rang Mrs. Olivia," she said.

Olivia nodded "thank you for telling me sweetie it was probably Elliot, are you hungry?"

She shook her head and Liv nodded picking up the desk phone to call him back after putting the blanket and pillow down "Stabler," he answered on the second ring.

"Hey it's just me I was in the cribs when you called and Kara's watching cartoons on my phone," Liv explained.

"Ah okay," he said nodding in understanding "Mr. scumbag rapist is in a holding cell in the tombs and I'm on my way to the diner as we speak."

"Okay good thank you, I asked Kara and she doesn't want anything."

"Alright I'll just get ours then, how'd getting her statement go?"

"Okay she was really brave."

"I bet," he murmured as she nodded "I'm gonna get off here and make our coffees so we can eat when you get here. Can we eat at your desk? I'd rather not eat in front of Kara since she's still nauseous."

"Yeah of course we can baby, I thought you wanted a caramel mocha though? I haven't taught you that recipe yet."

"Yeah I did... Okay I'll just make yours you want it with two creamers and one sugar right?"

"That sounds good, Liv what's wrong?"

"Nothing I'm fine I promise."

"Alright," he murmured skeptically while shaking his head with a frown "I'll see you in a few minutes baby, I love you."

"Love you too, drive safe," she said and after she put the phone back on it's receiver she helped Kara get comfortable "if you need anything yell out okay? Me and Elliot won't be far."

"Okay," she said through a yawn and with that Olivia smiled, turned her offices light off and went out into the squad room.

6:11 AM.

"Breakfast has arrived," Elliot said with a smile as he sat the bag down on his desk then took a long drink of the large warm cup of coffee Liv had made him.

"It smells amazing thanks El," Liv said looking up from the paper she was filling out briefly.

"Quit thanking me, whatcha doing?"

"Filling out a dd5."

"A dd5?" He asked confused as he then frowned deeply "no Liv."

She said nothing to that, just signed his name then hers "how's the coffee?"

"It's great but Liv why are you doing my paperwork for? What's going on?"

She sighed "I'm trying to make up for earlier this morning I was too bossy and too hard on you."

"No you weren't you were doing your job."

"Maybe I was but I still feel bad if I hadn't acted like your boss this morning then maybe you would have ran that plan to call Rikers by me and our argument wouldn't have started."

"Yeah maybe but baby while we're on the clock you are my boss," he murmured as he started mixing the ingredients for her mocha.

"Maybe I shouldn't be."

"Liv..."

She shook her head slightly "at first I thought I could do it, I-I thought I could compartmentalize but I'm finding I can't, I-I can't Elliot."

"Why can't you honey? What's happened?"

She sighed "when I had to put my foot down with you earlier about Kara not going in Rikers you got upset with me and"-

"Yeah I did but that wasn't because you were in charge, I was upset because you were making us break the promise that we had made to Kara and baby I would have felt the same exact way as just your partner until you came up with the compromise that you did."

"M-Maybe so but if you were the one in charge then I wouldn't have questioned your decision and we wouldn't have argued about it at all."

"That's not true Liv for all the time I was your senior officer you never shied away from telling me how you felt about my plans or giving me your ideas."

"Yeah that's true, that was then though and this is now."

Elliot sighed and nodded and that's what it comes down to isn't it? That fucking bastard he thought to himself as he put her now mixed coffee down , walked over to her and rested his hand gently on her shoulder "you remember the Valerie Sennet case don't you?" he asked as his thumb stroked it lightly.

"Yeah we were at about seven months into dating, that case was a tough one for us."

"Yeah it was, if you'll remember though at the end of it we had a talk on my apartment steps."

"Mmhmm and we had an amazing breakfast together afterwords."

"Yeah we did and a nice date night that evening," he murmured as he kissed her temple "baby do you remember what I asked you for on the steps?"

She nodded "you wanted space to disagree with me on cases so you wouldn't have to worry about it costing you our partnership or r-relationship."

Elliot nodded "that's right and you deserve the same grace baby, you have it too I'm not going anywhere you're not on some kind of slippery slope last strike thing with me you did nothing wrong in May, nothing baby."

"T-The minute he said what he said to me in interrogation I-I should have told Cragen and gotten taken off the case... W-When he kidnapped me I-I shouldn't have told him you and the squad would save me, I-I shouldn't have done any of it..."

"Baby you didn't know he was gonna abduct you, you didn't you couldn't have and as for what you said to him you were scared and clinging to that hope, y-you didn't know he was gonna make you make that phone call either," he murmured as he slowly moved his hand from her shoulder to her hand and tugged gently "come with me baby."

Olivia stood from his desk chair tearfully "w-where are we going?"

"The cribs there's too much chance of someone walking through here and hearing us."

She nodded then frowned slightly "B-But Kara... And our food and that's a public room too."

Elliot sighed in relief that she didn't blindly agree as it told him he was getting through to her "Kara's occupied in your office, I'll lock the door and we can reheat our food up later."

She nodded and he rubbed her hand while they made their way in there "you're not the only one who blames yourself you know," he whispered once the door was locked and he knew the room was empty.

"Y-You shouldn't blame yourself El it wasn't your fault."

"When I got that note I didn't investigate it enough, not the contents of it," he clarified quickly "but where it came from I should have called the person and tried to get there name or called Cragen, I should have been more suspicious of it showing up than I was."

"Y-You were trying to protect my feelings you didn't know it was him trying to lure you away from me."

"I didn't then no but we had an inkling later that night remember? And I still didn't call Cragen."

"Yeah but El that was more me than you and neither one of us thought that he would be that bold I really and truly thought he was gonna let it go honest to god..."

"I know baby... I know," he murmured as they sat down together on a bunk bed and he looked deeply into her eyes "if you don't blame me for the mistakes I made though you shouldn't blame yourself either, that's the point I'm trying to make no one on this earth is perfect and you survived at the end of the day that's what matters."

"Logically I know you're right but deep down..." she sighed and shook her head.

"I understand," he said as he then sighed "and I understand why the phone call nags at you I'd probably feel just as unnecessarily guilty as you do if I had been in your shoes but can I be brutally honest with you?"

"Of course."

He nodded and took both of her hands in his "baby before you guys called me we had no idea where you were, we were trying as hard as we could to find you and I was never giving up but your call was the only lead to your location that we got."

"M-My god..." she whispered as she shuddered slightly "h-he could have done god knows what to me then, killed me or w-worse..."

"He didn't," Elliot murmured while squeezing her hands reassuringly "he didn't and you're safe here with me."

She nodded "I-I might not be though if he hadn't made me make that phone call..." she whispered knowingly as what he was trying to tell her hit her.

"Yeah," he whispered gravely as he finally just pulled her into him "at the very least it would have taken us longer to find you so that's how I see it. Now that doesn't mean I don't hate him for hurting you and putting you in the position that he did because I do but I can't regret you being able to give me a clue to where you were so I'm glad it went the way it did."

Me too, Olivia thought to herself as she let out a slow breath and wrapped her arms around him "I love you El... I-I love you so much."

"I love you too baby, I love you too," he whispered as he stroked her hair "we're gonna disagree and it'll probably happen often it always did but our love is stronger than any case we might find ourselves on and we're not gonna end up like Amaro and Rollins you wanna know why?"

"Why?" she asked with a slight smile as her body language was relaxed.

Elliot moved his lips to her ear "because if by some small chance things get too hard for us to compartmentalize I'll resign again and take the security post right outside the precinct, then I'll be close but we won't have cases to fight about anymore."

"El you would hate that job it's too stationary for you," she said as she rubbed his stubble lightly.

"Ah not really I'm sure I'd patrol the parking lot and help man the metal detector plus when break time came I'd have a nice comfortable office I could go visit which would have a nice comfortable couch in it that I could eat my lunch and rest my legs on."

"Yeah definitely you would be welcome anytime, this is all worse case scenario though."

"Yeah it is and I'm gonna try my best to keep in mind where your head's at and reign myself in more."

She nodded "and I'll work on knowing that it's okay to be authoritative with you while we're on the clock."

He nodded and smiled softly at her then they kissed tenderly "so you ready to head back out there now? We've got burritos and coffees waiting on us," Elliot asked once their mouths had broken apart.

"Yeah," she said and he nodded, moved his hand from her hair then stood up "I only was able to get one of your reports filled out so I was thinking after we eat maybe we can both work on our respective paperwork? Then maybe we'll be able to go home early."

Elliot nodded then gazed into her eyes "try that again baby."

She nodded "after we eat lets get a head start on our paperwork from yesterday, maybe with any luck we'll be able to go home early."

"Much better," he murmured with a soft smile as he then kissed her temple "copy that," he said and they headed back to the squad room steps in sync.

xxxxx

"Hey El I thought you sat my coffee on the edge of your desk?" Liv asked puzzled as he walked in with their reheated food.

"I did was it not there?"

"No, it looks like Fin's here though," she said noticing his jacket on the back of his chair.

"He's early it's only 6:38."

"He might've come in to do an early workout he does that sometimes," she said as just then he walked into the room "whoever made the coffee today is on permanent coffee duty it was the bomb."

Olivia's face fell "you drank Olivia's coffee?" Elliot asked glaring.

"There wasn't any in the pot and the cup was completely full it looked like fair game to me."

"It was on the edge of my desk!"

"It looked like it had been sitting there for a little while I didn't think you wanted it," he said as he sighed heavily "I'm sorry Liv."

She sighed "it's fine Fin you know how to fix it."

He sighed "I wanted to get an early start on my paperwork..."

Liv nodded and gave him a small fake sympathetic smile "next time you'll think before you drink, off to Starbucks you go, I want two cake pops and a chocolate latte with extra caramel and extra fudge."

"Liv..."

"The quicker you head out the quicker you can get back and get started on that paperwork, El do you want anything?"

He nodded "I'll take two vanilla Biscotti's with almonds."

Fin sighed, grabbed his coat and headed out "well that should teach him honey," Elliot said once he was gone.

"Lets hope so," she said as once she bought a milos tea from the vending machine her and Elliot ate their breakfasts together.

7:28 AM.

"Here you go," Elliot said as he passed a dd5 across his desk they were sharing for her to sign.

Olivia put down her own sheet, took it from him then signed it after giving it a quick once over "you're on a roll this morning El this is your third one in 25 minutes."

"What can I say the Biscotti's gave me some energy. You're more perky too."

"Yeah a cake pop and a chocolate latte'll do that to you. I'm gonna give the second one to Kara I'm feeling too jittery to eat it right now and it won't hold all day for Izzabella."

"That's a good idea I bet she'll really like that when she wakes up."

"Maybe so I hope she'll feel a little better too."

"Surely she will, she did let you take her to the bathroom right?"

Olivia frowned "she never asked so I never assumed she needed to go. Did she say something to you?"

"No I couldn't help but overhear her on with her mother though and she told her she had to go."

"Shit," Olivia whispered and Elliot just nodded "El how'd you get Dennis to stop banging on the door so quick earlier?" she asked while signing her own paper.

He chuckled "I told him that if he didn't when I got him to the Tombs they'd put him in a restraint chair and tie him up so tightly that he wouldn't be able to move any part of his body and that they'd leave him that way for hours."

"Wow..." she whispered as Fin chuckled from his desk "daaamn man."

"What can I say he was scaring a little girl and on purpose too he pissed me off."

Fin just nodded "your bad side is a place where I never wanna be."

Elliot grew quiet then "you'd get it if you had been here yesterday the man raped three little girls under the age of five," Liv said.

Fin nodded grimly "I hope they lock him up and throw away the key then."

"They will the case is strong," she said as a loud scream was heard from her office and her and El both jumped up and headed in there in sync.

xxxxx

"Please no! P-Please no! M-Mama mama mama!" Kara cried in her sleep on the couch as she thrashed around then fell off and startled awake.

"Shit," Elliot cursed as he had tried to catch her but it had happened too fast and his attempt had been unsuccessful "Kara, Kara sweetheart you're alright, you're alright me and Olivia are here you were just dreaming I promise."

"I-I got hurt, M-mama got hurt e-everybody got hurt I-I need mama, I-I need mama."

"Honey your grandparents should only be about 2 more hours now I promise," Liv murmured.

"W-Why can't mama be here... W-Why I-I needed her all morning a-and nobody let her be here..."

"Sweetheart that's something that your grandparents and mom are gonna have to explain to you later but I promise you we're gonna do everything in our power to get her back with you Kara," Elliot said.

"Y-You've said that all morning Mr. Elliot..."

"I know we have..." he murmured as he sighed "I know," he said as he then glanced at Olivia's propped up phone which was showing that the 30 minute Flintstones episode had long finished "do you wanna watch the Flintstones movie? I bet by the time it's over your grandparents will be here to get you."

"I-I guess so."

Elliot nodded sadly wishing there was more he could do for her but sadly right now there just wasn't "sweetie I'm gonna help you up off the floor and take you to the restroom while Elliot loads it okay?" Liv said.

"O-Okay, can I put on another shirt too? There's blood on this one."

"Yeah of course I'll get one from the bag I packed you, hey El I almost forgot, the picture you took of the cut on her head were you able to print that off?"

He sighed "dammit no I didn't I knew I had forgotten something... I'll do it as soon as I get this loaded."

"Thank you," she said as she grabbed Kara a comfortable looking teeshirt from her bag then helped her up as Elliot nodded and they headed out and to the bathrooms.

By 5 minutes until 8 the case file had been organized and put into a folder along with the evidence photo as Olivia finished her call to Barba just as Rollins and Amaro walked in side by side "looks like you guys had a long night," Rollins said.

"Definitely, we're rapping things up though. You guys come in together?" Liv asked.

"Yeah," she said with a bright smile as Olivia nodded slightly curious but deciding not to ask "I'm thinking it's gonna be a cold case and paperwork day today unless we get anything new and I'm crossing my fingers that we don't."

"Same here," everyone said in unison "I have court today at 3, I was the arresting officer of Irene Powell last Thursday," Rollins said.

"Okay no problem, does anyone else have any court appearances today I should know about?"

They all shook their heads as Carisi had snuck in by this point too "Sarge would it be okay if I shadow Barba in court today?"

Olivia frowned "this is the second day you've asked this week."

"I know I know but being an ADA is always what I've aspired to be and Cragen let me do it from time to time, Barba's said it's okay already and it'll only be for a couple hours."

"Fine but only if you're not needed on a case later and all of your paperwork is caught up, you're a police officer right now."

"Understood," he said and everyone clocked in then got silently to work.

"Liv?" Rollins asked about fifteen minutes later as she stepped over to the desk that her and Elliot were sharing.

"Yes?" she asked while signing Elliot's eighth completed dd5.

"Can me and Nick be partners again?"

Olivia frowned slightly "is there a problem between you and Carisi that I should be aware of?"

"No not at all it's just me and Nick are good again."

"I'm sorry Amanda but no I'm not gonna get into Cragen's habit of treating the partnerships here like musical chairs we have our assignments and they're gonna stay the way they are unless there are real problems."

"Of course you'd say that you have the partner you want."

Elliot's pin stopped moving and Olivia just sighed with a deep frown "if you guys being good lasts more than two weeks ask me again and I'll consider it okay?"

"Fine, it's gonna last too we'll prove it."

"I hope so."

"It will cuz we're just casual now."

"Okay, unless there's anything else we're disrupting detective Stabler's focus so I need you to get back to work."

Rollins sighed, shook her head and walked off "I swear I feel like a parent right now," Liv muttered.

"It'll get better baby," he whispered as he reached over and stroked her arm a couple times gently "when's Barba gonna be here?"

"Probably about 20 minutes he had an 8 AM arraignment, I'll let you know when I see him I promise."

"Thank you, I only have five of these left then I can go dig into the cold case box if you want."

"Sounds good and unless we get something all hands on deck I'll let us clock out after lunch."

Elliot smiled and nodded "I think an afternoon nap will be in the cards for me."

"Me too right now I'm wired but I'm under no disillusions that I won't have a sugar crash later."

"I here ya," he said as he stroked her arm one more time then retook his pin and she followed suit.

Ten minutes later Fin and Amaro were sent to a possible rape scene and five minutes after that Rollins brought out the cold case box as Olivia was through with her paperwork now, she just needed to look over and sign everyone else's "Amanda can you bring all of the dd5's that you finished over here for me to sign please?"

"Yeah sure there are eight of them, six that I did yesterday and my last two I finished today."

"Okay," she said and Amanda stood up and sighed "if only Dodds hadn't shot down your computerized paperwork idea huh?"

"Yeah I know, I should've known he would though we didn't get to stop using typewriters until early 2011."

"Damn," she said as she handed them to her then saw the pile of Elliot's that had been signed but not taken to the office "how are you gonna tell the difference between these later?"

"The handwriting I can recognize El's handwriting anywhere."

Elliot chuckled "back in the day she used to tell me it looked like legible chicken scratch."

"How can you have legible chicken scratch?"

"Because it was neat enough you could read it it just wasn't pretty," Liv said as Elliot nodded "I was always in a hurry I hate paperwork."

"Ah," she said nodding as Barba walked in then "slow day?" he asked the room.

"A bit yeah," Liv said as Rollins went back to her desk.

Barba frowned slightly "what's so urgent then?"

"We feel that a woman from the case we caught this morning was arrested unfairly and we wanna see about getting her released."

"If she was arrested by you guys then how do you see it as unfair now?"

"It wasn't us it was the unis who called us in, her name is Jessalyn Jones and her daughter Kara Green was almost a rape victim," Elliot said.

Barba nodded grimly "okay let me guess the mother stopped it but went a little too far and you wanna give her a free pass because you see yourself in her and you know that you went a little too far back in May is that right?"

Elliot shook his head "we did what we had to do to subdue him, this has nothing to do with us though the woman was defending her home and her daughter it was classic self defense."

Barba sighed and nodded "okay let me see the case file."

Elliot nodded and handed it over as Barba began wizzing through it "why wasn't this evidence photo taken in the lab?" he asked pointing at the picture of the cut on Kara's head.

"I figured this way would be less intimidating for the child."

"Evidence photos are always supposed to be taken in the lab to prevent editing of any kind, evidence tampering, random things ending up in the frame or blurry images that can't be examined properly."

"I know how to take a picture there isn't anything wrong with it , I'd never tamper with evidence and I don't know how to edit photos even if I wanted to."

"Weather you would or wouldn't isn't the issue it's what the defense attorney can say that you might have done and get the photo thrown out as a result."

Elliot nodded and sighed "look the man who broke in to the house is in a coma so there may not even be a trial and if there is we have more than this photo we have his fingerprints all over the place and we have Ms. Jone's eye witness testimony."

Barba just nodded at him then turned to Olivia "you shouldn't have let him take the evidence photo in the house."

Olivia frowned "he trained me and has more experience than I do so if you think I'm gonna micromanage every single thing he does then you're mistaken, he made a judgment call and I stand behind him 100% on it."

"God the two of you made a mistake," Barba muttered but he flipped on through the file anyway "it says here that Ms. Jones was arrested for assault two for continuing to beat Mr. Kelly in the head with a baseball bat after he was already incapacitated?"

"That's correct she was in fear for her daughters life though she said so when she gave me her statement," El said.

Barba nodded and flipped to it then frowned "that's not what I see here, I see a woman with revenge in her heart she said in I quote, "Detective all that was going through my head in that moment was my rage at him for having the audacity to try to break into my house and hurt my daughter."

"Mmhmm read further," he said as a couple in their late 50s walked into the squad room "I bet that's Kara's grandparents I'm gonna go check then get her for them," Liv said.

"Kay," Elliot said and a minute later Barba sighed "I see where she said that she was worried about Kara possibly being hurt or killed but it was you who asked her that question she didn't come right out and say it."

"It doesn't matter how she wound up saying it as long as she said it."

"Good point but the law also states that the person has to reasonably believe that another attack could occur and he was incapacitated."

"The word reasonable is subjective ADA Barba what might be reasonable to her might not be reasonable to you."

"He was incapacitated and she kept beating him anyway."

"She was in fear for the life and safety of her daughter."

"But he was incapacitated he couldn't hurt her any more."

"She was afraid that he could, look I can go around and around in circles with you all morning or you can just do the right thing it's not like she's gonna offend again and she saved her daughter from being attacked and raped."

Barba sighed deeply "what was in your coffee this morning? Because if I didn't know better I'd think you were a criminal defense attorney the way you're going back and forth with me."

"Just sugar and creamer, I did have two vanilla Biscotti's with almonds though."

"I see, I'll try those, see if they make my debate skills any sharper."

"Ohh you don't need them any sharper trust me on that Barba."

"It can never hurt," he said as he sighed "I'll talk to my boss, see what I can do to get her a fair shake."

"I want her released Barba not stuck in jail for weeks while you and your boss work it out her daughter needs her at home."

"I'll try okay? I'll try and if I can't get the charges dropped I'll get her low bail and plead her out."

"What would the offer be?"

"Probably anger management and probation, with her statement though I'm sure they'll let me choose not to pursue any jury would be sympathetic."

"You're damn right they would be," Elliot said as Barba just nodded and Olivia, Kara and her grandparents filed out of Olivia's office as Olivia had the pillow and blanket and the grandmother had Kara's bag and her cake pop "you didn't sleep much did you baby girl," Eliot heard the grandfather, Jon ask softly as Kara was leaning into him heavily.

She shook her head slightly and Elliot watched him gently stroke her hair "god honey you're gonna put her to sleep here if you keep that up," the grandmother, Tammie said.

Jon shrugged noncommittally and Tammie did too before looking for Olivia as she frowned when she didn't see her near by "do you need help with something ma'am?" Elliot asked.

"Yes sir I'm wondering about my daughter Jessalyn Jones's bail?"

"I'm sorry ma'am she hasn't been given a bail amount yet, I'm hoping she'll either be released or given one in a few hours."

Tammie just nodded "the bastard's lucky it was her that got a hold of him and not me he'd be in a casket right now not a coma," Jon said.

"Honey," Tammie whispered as Barba frowned but Elliot just gave him a small knowing smile "will Kara need to appear in court or anything?" Tammie asked.

"She shouldn't but if she does we'll get in touch with you."

"Okay thank you," Tammie said as Elliot nodded and the three of them left the squad room then "you guys are gonna need to keep your eyes on him," Barba said.

Elliot sighed at that "look I doubt he's gonna do anything like he said the guy's already in a coma and it's not like anyone told him which hospital he's at," Rollins said.

"Good point, I need to head out unless you guys needed anything else I have opening arguments at the courthouse in 20 minutes, Carisi do you still want to shadow today?"

"Yeah the Sarge said I can later if I get all my paperwork caught up," he said as Olivia retook her seat.

"Alright well maybe I'll see you later, Rollins remember you testify at 3."

"I'll be there counselor," she said and when Barba left Olivia slightly smiled at Elliot "I got the cribs remade," she said.

He nodded "you know that's not your job right? You could have had one of us do it."

She shook her head "I brought the pillow and blanket out so I put them back I'm not gonna be that kind of boss El, how'd it go with Barba?"

"Okay I think he said he'd try to get her released but he might have just said that to shut me up."

"Maybe not."

He nodded through a sigh "I did everything I could to persuade him and keep my promise now I just have to let it go it's in his hands now."

"I'm surprised you're saying that," Liv said with a slightly furrowed brow.

"Me too baby, me too but I said I'd tone myself down and I meant it."

"I know you did," she murmured as she then sighed "well I guess I'll head to my office with it now empty I don't have an excuse to work out here anymore."

"Liv you're not bothering me I promise."

"I know," she whispered as she sighed, grabbed her stacks of unsigned paperwork then stood determinedly "Carisi when you get your paperwork finished bring it to my office, I'll sign it then you can go shadow."

"Copy that," he said and a minute later Olivia's office door gently closed and the squad room stayed silent.

The morning dragged on as Fin and Amaro were back not long after that as it turned out that the case they had caught was a false report and when Elliot finished the last of his paperwork he grabbed a cold case file, headed to Olivia's office then just never left "you think Stabler's ever gonna come out of there?" Carisi mused at around 11.

"Nah," Fin said nonchalantly and Carisi nodded thoughtfully "you know I don't think the sarge likes being in the office."

"I don't think it has anything to do with the office," Amaro said.

"It doesn't," Fin said as just then a tall serious looking man walked into the squad room "I need to speak with the officer in charge please," he said to the room.

"What's your name and what is this regarding?" Fin asked.

"My name is Jan Jenkins and I'm from Axon I think you can figure out the rest."

Fin groaned heavily and nodded his head "Sergeant Benson's office is to your right, knock before you go in please."

He nodded and stepped away "Axon is our taser manufacturer right? Rollins asked.

"Yeah," he said and her, Amaro and Carisi all immediately started giving moans and groans of disapproval knowing what was coming.

xxxxx

"Come in," Olivia said from her desk hearing a sharp knock on her door as Elliot was researching something about the cold case they were looking over together on his phone on her couch.

Jenkins stepped into the office and shut the door as Elliot's eyes immediately darted up from his research "which one of you is in charge?" he asked.

"That would be me I'm Sergeant Benson how can I help you?"

"My name is Jan Jenkins and I'm with Axon your squad has been flagged for taser recertification."

"Oh shit," Elliot whispered as Olivia started to grow slightly nervous "w-we don't really deploy our tasers very often here."

"That may be so but I have my orders to be here and it's mandatory if you have a problem with that you'll need to take it up with the chief of police."

"Battling with the chief of police isn't really how I've planned to end my first week as CO Mr. Jenkins, I assume you'll just be showing us a video? If so you're more than welcome to use the projector in the viewing room."

"Ohh no ma'am I mean there will be a presentation at the beginning but all of you are gonna be recertified today which means..." Jenkins continued to speak but his voice faded out as her heart rate skyrocketed and blood rushed through her ears "can you, Can you leave her out of it?" Elliot implored noticing Liv's panicked expression.

"No sir not without approval from the police chief," he said as Elliot nodded through a sigh and stood to walk over to Liv's desk but just then she jumped up and darted out of the office and a mixture of worry and anger coursed through Elliot's veins...

TBC.