A/N... I kind of like the way this one came out. And you finally get to find out what's going on with Elliot and Kathy... :)

"The sky was dark this morning,
Not a bird in the trees,
And silence hung suspicious and anxious,
Like a blanket covered scream…"

- "Sunburn" – Fuel

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

6:47 am – Queens, NY

24 hours before landfall

"… 'Beep'…'beep'…'beep'… 'beep'…The National Weather Service has issued a Hurricane Warning for central and northern coastal regions of New Jersey, the New York City metropolitan area, and coastal regions of New York and Connecticut. A hurricane warning means that heavy rain, tidal flooding, and winds above 74 mph are possible in the warning area, within the next 24 hourS…"

x x x

As Elliot drove to Queens that morning, he couldn't get over how barren the roads had been. At this hour of the morning, any traffic was usually headed into Manhattan. Given the current weather picture, most had heeded the storm warnings and left town.

Many of the New Jersey state highways had closed to allow for the evacuation. Most of Brooklyn and Queens had evacuated fairly efficiently with congested areas mostly on the major outbound routes, while parts of New Jersey, Staten Island and the Bronx remained gridlocked. This was just what he knew from listening to radio coverage. But as far as he could see, there was hardly anyone around. Queens looked frightfully close to a ghost town.

Even though he knew what was going on, the absence of activity; buses, cars, horns, stereos with the base blaring, and not a soul to be seen on some stretches, was very unsettling.

He wouldn't soon forget this image, he realized. Even considering all he'd seen in his life's work, this particular scene sent chills through him.

The skies were mostly overcast, and winds had just begun to pick up that morning. Fortunately, it wasn't affecting his ability to maneuver the Jeep, but he wondered how much longer that would be the case.

He caught a glimpse of the bay when he drove past it earlier, and was struck by all the white caps. The bay stirred and churned about, threatening to capsize a loose boat that had drifted away from the shore. Waves rolled in quickly, slapping hard against the shore and forcing the tide further and further up on land.

Except for Lake, all of the detectives and Captain Cragen had opted to stay in town and wait out the storm. They each got what they could in the way of food and necessary supplies, and stored some items at their residences and others they kept at the 1-6. If they lost power or anything else, they had the 1-6, and as a last resort, an appointed shelter for emergency personnel only, which Cragen pulled some strings to secure.

Elliot thought he might be needed here and because his family was evacuating, he knew they were going to be okay. He stopped by to offer them some help with loading the car, and extra cash for the road.

He pulled into the driveway behind Kathy's car and saw Dickie and Elizabeth looking very much like they were just yanked out of bed. They sluggishly carried bags of blankets, food, and other items from the porch steps to either Kathy's or Kathleen's car. Both cars were in the driveway with the back flaps open.

Elliot got out of his Jeep and walked over toward the house. As he headed up the driveway, he saw that Dickie had stopped to rest against the car, while Elizabeth dug through a bag in the backseat for something. He kissed her on top of her head and patted Dickie on the shoulder as he walked past.

Kathleen stood on the porch holding one of Eli's diaper bags on her shoulder, and a bag of miscellaneous other items for the trip. Elliot paused in the doorway and kissed his other daughter on the forehead.

"Hey Dad," she greeted him, as she leaned in and gave him a hug with her free hand. "Mom's upstairs with Eli," she told him.

"Thanks, Kathleen," he said and walked past her into the house. Lining the hallway were more store bags, suitcases and boxes of random things; shampoo, lotion, pens, and notebook paper. Kathy never did know what to bring and what to leave at home. In this particular case, however, it was hard to say how long they'd be gone.

He headed up the stairs to Eli's room, and paused in the doorway, watching as Kathy got Eli dressed and ready.

Kathy looked up at Elliot briefly, but didn't acknowledge him.

"Maureen leave?" he asked her.

"She's already there," Kathy answered quietly. Kathy had arranged for them to stay in Rochester with her sister. They were far enough away not to bear the brunt of the storm, even if it moved inland and somehow clipped them.

Elliot looked around at Eli's room. "Got everything you need?"

"I guess…" she replied. She picked up a blue and white striped shirt and put it over Eli's head. He let out a tiny giggle when his eyes were suddenly covered.

Elliot took out his wallet and handed her about four hundred dollars in cash.

"Thanks," she replied, her voice and face lacking expression. She took the money, folded the bills and put them in her pocket. "What about you?"

"I'm set," he answered simply.

"Dickie sent over the bag of…"

"I got 'em," he said firmly, before she finished her statement.

"El..."

"Kathy, I don't want to fight," he said, a lump lodged in his throat, suddenly making it hard to speak.

"I don't either," she said calmly.

Elliot took a deep breath, glanced around the room and tried to remain calm as he spoke. "Can't we just…h-hold this 'thing' off?" he requested, gesturing around him. "I really need to sit with this a little longer."

"I'm supposed to start that job in DC next month. As soon as the closing on this house is done, we're leaving. Of course now, who knows when that will be," she responded, rolling her eyes.

He glanced around once more and saw most of Eli's things packed in boxes and bags. Two duffle bags by the door contained items they'd need for the trip. Elliot shook his head. "Except for Maureen, and Kathleen until she transfers to the University of Maryland, I'll have to drive to DC to see my kids."

"We've been over this."

"Kathy…"

"No! It's been all about you and your job, for years, Elliot! I'm tired of this! The divorce papers were signed in March, and we both decided that was for the best. Even after everything was final, you said you were still okay with me taking this job, and moving to DC with the kids. Then the house got sold, and suddenly you're not okay? I've done everything I can. I even set up that apartment for you in Brooklyn. I'm getting on with my life!"

"But you're taking part of my life with you!" he yelled at her.

"I gave you a choice, Elliot."

"Some choice! My family or my job? Kathy… Just give me a couple more months to think about-"

"No! You've known about this for months!" she shouted, interrupting him.

"Please! Just…this is killing me! Can't you see that?" He knew he was fighting tears at this point. "A few months warning…I can't just decide to pick up and leave New York. This is too soon!" he yelled.

She took a deep breath and spoke firmly, but calmly. "You knew. Even before the divorce papers were signed, you knew. When I first got the offer, I wanted us to have a fresh start. I thought a change of pace might make a difference, might save our marriage. But you didn't seem to want that, and you can't leave New York. Well, that's fine. You can see the kids anytime you want. You can visit them on weekends, they can come up and see you... There are no restrictions, other than their school. We've got joint custody, Elliot. Because of your job, it's better that they stay with me until Elizabeth, Dickie, and Eli are old enough to decide where they want to live. Meanwhile, it doesn't matter if we're in New York or somewhere else; they're still your kids."

"I can't just drive to DC anytime, Kathy! You know how my job is. I just need…more time," he pleaded.

She picked up Eli. "We've got to get out of here."

"Kathy, wait!"

But she was already out the door.

He listened to the footsteps echo down the hallway. They reached the end of the hall and descended the stairway, pausing for a minute near the base of the stairs before entering the kitchen. Finally, more footsteps headed back into the entrance way until he heard the front door slam shut.

x x x

7:43 am – Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia PA

Mike walked briskly through the doors of the terminal and paused when he saw the arrival/departure board. Glancing one last time at his ticket, he scanned the board for his flight. When his eyes finally stopped on LaGuardia, he stared in disbelief.

United 1842… New York – LGA 9:14 am F21 Cancelled

He headed immediately for the ticket counter and smiled when he saw the same young ticket agent.

"Good morning," she greeted him.

"Not really… Why is Flight 1842 cancelled?"

"FAA is cancelling flights into that area for safety reasons. I should say, 'restricting' flights. Emergencies only. I'm really sorry," she said, sympathetically.

"The storm? I thought it wasn't even there yet. How bad is it?"

"Well, bad enough to cause concern for any air traffic. Look, if you really want to get to New York, you'll probably have to rent a car. Seriously, most people are trying to get away from there!"

x x x

10:22 am – St. Vincent's Hospital, lower Manhattan

Fin walked out of the elevator and headed straight for Kaleb's room. The nurse and his case worker, spotted him and met him in the hallway.

"He's refusing to go. We thought maybe you could help us talk him into it," Janet, his case worker explained.

Fin walked in the room and saw Kaleb sitting up in his bed with his arms folded.

When he spotted Fin, his face lit up, and he visibly relaxed.

"Fin! Hi Fin!" Kaleb greeted him excitedly.

"Hey there, Kaleb! Good to see you! How's it going, big guy?" Fin grabbed a chair, turned the back of the chair toward Kaleb and sat down next to his hospital bed.

"I'm good. I get to go home now!" he cheered. "Do you know where my mommy is?" he asked, hopefully.

Fin smiled and patted his arm as he spoke. "No, we don't know yet, but we will, Kaleb. We won't stop looking until we find your mom," he told him, encouragingly.

"Okay," Kaleb said, accepting what was said. He leaned back in his bed and rested against the pillow.

"Look, for now, it's a good idea to go with these people. They're going to find you a place to stay while we look for her…"

"No," he interrupted. "I don't want to go with them. I don't even know them!"

"They're okay, Kaleb. Trust me, you'll be fine."

"Can I go with you, instead?" he asked.

"Well…" Fin began.

"Yeah." He nodded a few times. "Yeah, I like that idea! I'll go with you to the police station. I like that nice lady who came with you last night. What's her name? Olivia?"

"Kaleb, these people will make sure you've got plenty to eat, and there will be other kids there you can talk to. You'd rather hang out with the other kids, right?"

His face fell. "No! I won't go with them! I want to go with you!" He folded his arms and began to sulk.

After a few minutes, Fin walked out into the hallway toward the nurse and social worker, who had waited for him outside the door. "I tried. I don't know what more I can say to him," he explained.

"He's a tough one, but he's been through a lot," Diane, the nurse remarked.

"There's not a lot we can do about finding his mother, when this storm is coming and the tri-state area is being evacuated," Fin stated.

"And what if you can't find her?" Diane inquired.

"He'll have to stay with children's services until another relative is able to take temporary custody or else a foster placement is arranged," Janet answered her.

"Oh, and he'll love that," Fin said sarcastically.

Diane and Janet nodded in agreement.

"What do we do?" Fin asked. "The kid's gotta have some place to stay."

"We can keep trying to talk him into going, but we're already on borrowed time," Janet stated.

"Is there any way he could go with you, temporarily, Detective Tutola?" Diane asked.

"I haven't got much room, and I plan to stick around SVU in case I'm needed," he replied.

"It's not an ideal situation, but I'm worried about the trauma he's been under. He had three nightmares last night and no one here could settle him down. Maybe you'd have better luck," Diane said.

"It's not ideal, no. We're still trying to find placements for some, and we're running out of options. But they're not all fighting as hard as Kaleb," Janet stated.

Fin sighed. He looked back at the room, and through the glass door he could see Kaleb sitting up staring at the wall in front of him. Fin slowly took a few steps closer to the door and looked in at him. If he knew Fin was standing there, he didn't acknowledge him. It appeared as though he may have been trying to accept things. But Fin didn't miss the fear in his eyes. The kid had been abducted, violated, and abused, and he still managed to get himself free from his attacker. He had done more for himself than the SVU had done for him. They still didn't have one solid lead.

After a minute or so, Kaleb turned his head and looked at Fin. His expression held no anger nor resentment toward him. What Fin saw this time struck him hard…

Hopelessness.

Having come through his ordeal, hopelessness was probably nothing new to him. Kaleb wasn't attempting to accept things, he simply knew that he had no choice.

Kaleb's expression was unmistakable. It brought Fin back several years. Someone else Fin recalled walking away from, that he still hadn't quite recovered from. He remembered one particular undercover operation for narcotics, where he was gone for two weeks. Before he left he had promised he'd be there on Ken's birthday, he promised tickets to the Knicks, and he promised himself he'd call to apologize for not being there. He'd broken all of his promises.

Stirring out of his thoughts, he glanced over at the social worker. It wouldn't take much just to make sure the kid had a safe place from the storm for a few days. By the time the storm lifts, they could resume the search for his mom or maybe a relative. Someone to help Kaleb begin to get through this. For now, Kaleb trusted him. He couldn't let him down.

x x x

12:15 pm – Parking garage near South Street Seaport

Alina stirred and slowly lifted her head.

The man had driven them away from her brothers, but left her in the backseat all alone. He was mean to them, mostly, but not so much to her. She got peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches, which were her favorite. She lay quietly in the backseat waiting for him to come back. Of course, she sort of hoped he wouldn't come back. There were times he wasn't very nice to her, too. She just wanted to go home.

It was going to be her birthday in a couple of days. She was about to turn six. Mommy and Daddy said they were going to be home this time and she'd get to have a party this year. Her mommy promised she was going to bring her a brand new dress from Texas that she could wear to her party.

But she couldn't go to her party if the man wouldn't bring her home.

She rolled over on her side and pulled her legs up on the seat. The car started to move and shake just a little from the wind gusts hitting it.

The wind sounded very angry, she thought. She closed her eyes, listening to the wind as it echoed off the walls of the garage. Soon, she drifted back to sleep.

x x x

3:57 pm – Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia PA

Mike awoke with a start.

Glancing around slowly, he realized he had briefly dozed off. The loud speakers echoed around him, announcing flights, reminding passengers that they were in a non-smoking area, and reminding them to stay with their luggage at all times.

He tried to get a flight back to New York on two different airlines, but it just wasn't happening. He sat there waiting for a standby to Buffalo. The flight was full, but he'd take his chances. He watched as passengers approached the attendant asking about their seat assignment or confirming connecting flights.

The hurricane warning was in effect for the entire tri-state area, and they had no projections as to when the flights would resume. He tried to call Casey but she hadn't answered her phone. He knew she was tying up a few loose ends on a case before the storm hit, but then she was going to stay with her sister in Binghamton, New York. She would still have to drive through the nor'easter, and from what he had already heard, many of the roads in that direction were either flooded or closed due to traffic leaving the city. Mike was going to try to get to Buffalo and then get a rental car and go to Binghamton to meet up with her. He figured if she left at ten o'clock this morning like she said she would, at this rate, they'd be arriving at about the same time.

He listened to snippets of conversations around him. Almost everyone was discussing the storm. Any TV monitors not showing flight information were tuned in to CNN or Fox News and relaying information about the nor'easter and the hurricane. "New York City: A battleground for two major storms," the TV captions read. A brief mention of the latest political poles and then immediately back to the weather coverage.

Like him, many of the passengers were stuck trying to get home to the tri-state area. They talked about the news reports, the grid-locked roads, the projected areas that would get hit the hardest, and he lost track of the number of times he heard someone mention Hurricane Katrina during the same conversation.

He suddenly remembered that he might still have her sister's number stored in an old text message. He glanced back through a few old text messages, hoping he hadn't deleted it. He breathed a sigh of relief when it turned up.

He dialed her number and in two rings, she picked up.

"Hello…Mike?" her sister, Vicki responded.

"Hi, Vicki. Did Casey arrive?"

"No," Vicki replied. "I'm worried. I can't reach her on her cell."

"I haven't been able to reach her either. Knowing Case, she's still at that courthouse," Mike laughed.

"Mike, this isn't funny! If she hasn't left by now, she's in trouble!"

x x x

6:11 pm – SVU

Olivia sat at her desk, glancing between a set of phone records, a list of notes she had taken, and an email she got from an inquiry from the school board. Finally, something struck her.

"Sonofabitch!" she exclaimed.

John looked over in her direction. "I hope that's not directed at me," he joked.

She stood up and walked over to him with the notes and phone records in hand. "A man by the name of Nate Dowling made several calls to Aidan Boase on the day he skipped town. Nate is a Canadian citizen who was convicted of statutory rape in 1984, and for molesting two children in 1998. He pleaded the case out and served his time. Well, he was released, and because Canada only passed the sex offender registry in 2004, he's not going to show up as a sex offender," she said.

"And?"

"In 2005, he moved to the US and was staying with his cousin, Darnell Randon. Both are employed as bus drivers for the school district. Darnell has a daily route to Tyler."

"Maybe the cousin is involved. Or…maybe he's just a front for Nate's sick obsession," Munch considered. "I wonder what his tie is to Aidan Boase, though" he pondered.

"I'm not sure. Aidan's got a past, but so far, we've got nothing really linking him to this."

She walked back to her desk and plopped back down in her chair. She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Liv?"

"Yeah?"

"Good work," he said sincerely.

"Thanks, John," she replied. She slowly exhaled a deep breath. "Now if only there wasn't a mandatory evacuation order in place."

x x x

Friday, September 26th, 2008

6:30 am – SVU crib

Olivia couldn't sleep.

Her thoughts drifted from one thing to the next, as she lay awake on one of the bottom cots. She worried for the kids who were out there alone and hated the fact that she could do nothing about it.

Whenever she closed her eyes, pictures of the missing kids she had seen a few dozen times in the files would appear. At some point no matter what, she would always see Trinetta with her bright green eyes, and beautiful smile.

She had just found three more solid bits of evidence and couldn't do a damn thing about them.

Not a damned thing!

The storm was keeping her from catching the sonofabitch and getting as many of those kids to safety as she could.

Besides the case, she also worried about her partner. He told everyone he was going to help Kathy and the kids evacuate early that morning, pick up a few things, and then head back.

It must have been midnight, shortly after she laid down, when he opened the door to the crib and climbed into the closest bunk bed. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had gone looking for something with alcohol in it, somewhere between Queens and SVU. Little else would wake him after that.

She sat up, shifted her legs over onto the floor and sat still for a minute. It was very cold in the crib that night. She remembered waking up at some point looking for her gray hoodie. Finally locating it on top of a bag of Elliot's things he brought from home the other night, she pulled that on to get warm. She had no idea how it wound up in his possession again, but she was glad to have found it.

Olivia finally stood up, reached for her shoes, and put them on. She stood up and happened to glance over at her partner. Noticing the blanket had fallen onto the floor during the night, she picked it up and carefully placed it over him, thinking he'd want it later.

"Thanks, Liv," she heard him mumble barely audibly, as she headed for the door. He rolled over on his side and instantly fell back to sleep. She walked out of the crib, slowly closing the door behind her.

Olivia descended the stairs and then wandered into the bullpen. Complete silence surrounded her. It was strange not even hearing the hum of Munch's computer, which he never seemed to remember to completely shut down. It was quiet enough that she could hear the faint sound of rain tapping against the building and the panes of the glass windows in the bullpen.

Olivia stepped out of the bullpen, took the stairs down to the main floor, finally arriving at main entrance. She nodded to one of the security guards, who watched her with curiosity as she approached the doors that led outside.

Olivia stopped at the door and peered out one of the windows into the early daylight hours. Off in the distance, narrow bands of clouds colored in brilliant red and orange hues moved into the area, spanning the sky. Walking a few paces to her left, she found a window in the corner which, from floor to almost ceiling gave a much better view.

Although she knew it wouldn't stay like this for long, she was struck by the bright, beautiful colors of the morning sky. Between the cloud bands was a rich blue sky that she'd never imagine seeing in New York. The red and orange sunrise seemed to get darker near the horizon as it merged in with the remains of the night sky.

The rain suddenly picked up overhead, but with the distant horizon, she allowed herself to temporarily get lost in the view.

"Hey, Olivia? Detective Benson?"

Olivia stirred out of her thoughts and looked in the direction of the guard.

"You'll want to be careful over there," she commented, pointing slightly above Olivia's head and a little to her left. "That third window won't stay closed. If it blows open far enough, you'll get drenched. Trust me, it happened to me weeks ago and I had to change my clothes."

"Thanks, Simone," Olivia said to the guard.

She stepped a few feet away from that window, but continued glancing out at the horizon. It was still hard for her to piece all of this together in her mind. The city looked almost frightening for being so empty. Not even so much as a car, taxi, bus, or delivery truck being out at this hour, was hard to imagine for someone who had lived here all her life.

Most of the residents vacated quickly or were bused to shelters to wait out the storm. The city had kept things moving around the clock fairly well, all things considered. Following an event like Hurricane Katrina, it was fortunate that most of the residents didn't hesitate to leave.

But there were plenty who stayed behind.

She couldn't leave; this was her home. She wouldn't feel right anywhere else.

Lost in her thoughts for several minutes, she hadn't noticed that the third window Simone pointed out had opened toward her.

The bottom of the window was about at eye level to her, and would open up toward her left side. The window swayed slowly at first. Soon, the wind started to pick up, but mostly in infrequent gusts. Each time the window swung open, she'd get a blast of cool, damp air.

When she first noticed it, she glanced over toward Simone, who had the same perplexed expression. Olivia stepped closer, reaching up with the intent to try to close and secure it. The rain had seeped in through the gap in the window, which only got bigger when the next wind gust forced it open as far as it would go.

Olivia flinched, moving back just in time to avoid getting hit. Each time the window opened all the way, the force of the spring in the latch would cause it to immediately jerk back toward the latch. The rain began to fall harder, and Olivia found herself backing further and further away to keep from getting soaked. She glanced over at Simone, who was walking toward her with a wad of paper towels in her hand, ready to offer them to her so she could dry off.

Olivia turned to look back toward the window just in time.

The next gust forced the window open all the way, and suddenly the worn piece of aged wood holding the metal hinge snapped apart like a pencil. The window broke away from the frame and collapsed down onto the floor.

Shards of glass sprayed out in all directions, blowing and swirling about. Glass pieces blanketed the area between the window and the security desk.

The rain continued to pour in through the opening and intermittent wind gusts seemed to bring more and more water in, completely soaking the floor.

Olivia and Simone backed away quickly, staring at the scene in disbelief.

Lilith had arrived.

x x x

Next chapter: Hurricane Warning