Residence of Detective Olivia Benson

December 12, 2008

Heard faintly from Olivia's TV…

"…A few days after the storm hit, the Office of Emergency Management began a city-wide search and rescue of all five boroughs. Emergency supplies were brought in and some of the districts deemed structurally unsound were closed off until further notice. Police, fire fighters and rescue workers worked around the clock. Departments from all around the country volunteered their time.

More than half of the city's schools were shut down for safety concerns, or have been designated as temporary storm shelters.

Today, many of the shelters remain full and donations are still urgently needed. The death toll as of this week has topped 600 and hundreds more remain missing.

All five boroughs are slowly rebuilding however, returning conditions back to normal could take years.

We'll return with this special program on 'Aftermath: The New York City Storms,' in just a moment…"

Olivia lay stretched out on her couch with her right foot elevated and an ice pack covering about half of it. X-rays revealed that she had broken the fibula bone in her right ankle. The cast was removed two weeks ago and she could get by with just an air boot and physical therapy twice a week.

Usually, after physical therapy she'd go back to SVU, take some pain killers and crash in the crib for an hour or two before returning to work.

Today the therapist pushed her a little harder than usual. When Fin came by to pick her up and noticed how much she was struggling, he insisted on bringing her home.

It really wasn't so bad. She was used to riding desk so location didn't matter. But while she was at home she could skip the air boot which was very uncomfortable, and keep ice on it. With any luck, she'd have the swelling down in time for her next appointment. Maybe…

Elliot's injury was a hairline fracture and he wore a cast for a little over six weeks. Elliot, Olivia and Lake were all assigned desk duty, which was a hardship for SVU when there were cases overflowing from other precincts in addition to SVU. Consequently, Munch and Fin were swamped and rapidly burning out.

Elliot somehow managed to relieve himself of desk duty early. With the workload being as it was, not even Cragen tried to stop him.

x x x

~ Past ~

The Liberty Hotel

Survival instincts took over as Elliot and Olivia searched for whatever they could find in the way of food and water. By the second day, they were both very ill.

The hotel became even more treacherous after the storm had passed, because the soaked boards had had time to weaken and eventually break.

Olivia's foot gradually got worse, and soon all she could do was lay still and try to endure the pain. She made it worse by moving around on it, however their survival often depended on it.

Elliot left the hotel a few times to try and get help, but there was never anyone within reach.

They awoke the morning of September 30th, four days after the storm had hit, to the sound of helicopters. An hour later, Fin was there along with a few EMTs. Elliot and Olivia were brought to the nearest available hospital in New Jersey.

x x x

Office of ADA Casey Novak

September 30, 2008

Casey sat on the floor with her knees pulled up close to her and her head lowered.

She thought she was dreaming when the door to her office suddenly opened and a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

"Casey! Hey, are you okay?"

"John!" She stood up and walked swiftly toward the SVU detective. She reached out to embrace him.

Maybe it was simply the sight of a familiar face after four days in isolation, but Casey couldn't hold up much longer. Tears filled her eyes. She was finally able to put to rest the thoughts of never getting out of there.

She'd already considered writing a couple of letters to Mike and her family to leave behind in case she didn't make it.

John gave her time to settle down at her own pace. She appeared okay aside from being shaken up.

And she was, quite literally, shaken up. Her trembling could be a result of physical as much as mental distress. They'd have to take her to get checked out anyway.

John thought about the fact that he and others had been inside SVU for the past four days with back-up generators. The worse that they had to endure was a temporary loss of plumbing, cabin fever, and an aversion to canned Spam.

But Casey was left with no electricity or heat, probably didn't have much food, and didn't even have the reassurance that someone would come looking for her.

"Are you hurt, Ms. Novak?" the EMT who had accompanied John asked when he approached.

John waved him away, motioning to give her more time.

She eventually released him and stepped back. "Sorry…." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

John grabbed a tissue off of her desk and handed it to her. "It's fine. Hey, I understand."

She accepted the tissue. "Thanks. I honestly didn't think I was getting out of here..." Her voice cracked as she spoke. She wiped her eyes with the tissue and then she grabbed another one for her nose.

He put his hands on her upper arms to settle her and get her to focus on him. "Shhh, it's okay. You're definitely getting out of here. You can't go home until we get further word from OEM, but, we've got plenty of room at the Motel 1-6. We've got lights, food, water, and generators. Oh, and of course, great company," he said smugly.

Casey smiled back and started to relax a little. She didn't know how he managed to arrange for her to go to SVU, but she was grateful. A couple of days ago, she thought she'd be lucky to get into a shelter.

If only she had managed to get to SVU earlier.

"So everyone there is okay?"

"We're holding up. Liv and Elliot probably saw it the worst."

"What happened?"

"They were looking for Alina Morrissey and had to wait out most of the storm in a parking garage. They somehow wound up at the Liberty. We got them out of there about an hour ago. Place got ripped to shreds. They're both lucky to be alive."

Casey nodded. "Where are they now?"

"At a hospital in West Orange." He looked around her office. "Need anything else from here before we leave?"

She nodded and collected a few things from her desk, hurriedly tossing them into a tote bag. She also picked up the bag of clothes which she had intended to bring to Binghamton to meet her sister and Mike. Then she put her laptop into her briefcase. "I need to find Logan," she stated as she zipped it up.

"I talked to him."

Casey froze. "When?"

"A couple of hours ago. He's been trying to get back here. He's worried to death about you."

"My cell phone battery died."

"Yeah, we figured. The only reason I knew you were here was because of Logan's 20 some-odd voice mail and text messages saying he didn't think you ever made it out of here. We'll try and reach him when we get back there."

She smiled and contemplated hugging him again. "Thanks, John."

x x x

Elliot and Olivia were treated and released from West Orange Medical Center, but the city restricted anyone from returning until conditions were safe. Because of their injuries, there wasn't much they could do for the NYPD anyway.

From the hospital, Elliot made arrangements for them to stay with his cousin Erin in Cape May. Erin happened to be away on business at the time, so she had her neighbor turn over the key, and Elliot and Olivia took over house sitting.

x x x

Cape May, NJ

Elliot and Olivia sat curled up in the porch swing on his sister's screened-in porch. Their conversation was light and relaxed, with brief moments passed in a comfortable silence. After dinner, they brought their beers outside and enjoyed the unseasonably warm night air while they watched a distant thunderstorm.

It surprised both of them that they could still stand to see rain after what they had been through a week earlier.

The storm they were watching had passed, and they were watching the cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes as it lit up the night sky over the inlet. The towering cloud itself reflected some of the colors from the sun setting to the west.

"So how are we supposed to do this?" Olivia posed, breaking a brief period of silence. She sat nestled against Elliot's right side with her head on his shoulder and her casted foot propped up on one of the patio chairs.

Elliot contemplated a response as he brought the bottle to his lips and downed the rest of it. He reached across her lap and set the empty bottle down on the patio table beside her, then brought his arm back and wrapped it around her again. His left foot kept the swing moving steadily back and forth.

"We can stay here. Rent's a lot cheaper," he replied lightly.

Olivia turned her head partially toward him and smirked. "Aren't you the same person who didn't want to leave New York?"

He turned his head until he met her eyes. "Yeah, but I've got what I want right here," he responded warmly, pulling her closer.

She smiled at the sentiment, then tried to steer them back to the topic. "Seriously, El?"

"Seriously…" he began as he contemplated a response. "I don't know."

Olivia released a deep breath slowly. "First things first. Do we switch partners or do I go back to computer crimes?"

"I don't want to switch and I don't want either one of us to leave."

She wondered how she managed to fall for someone who was, quite possibly, more stubborn than she was. "Then how do we do this?"

He thought for a long moment before he replied. "Well, we keep it out of work. No one has to find out. We'll find time to be together, and sometimes work will step in and that becomes priority. Our private lives are none of their business as long as we don't let it interfere with the job," he said, as though the solution was obvious.

He spoke up after an extended period of silence. "My opinion isn't the only one that counts, Liv. I'm not going to press you for an answer. I don't want to lose you. So if that means sacrificing one or the other then I'll do it. I'll leave SVU." He stood, picked up the empty beer bottles and went back inside.

A second later, she heard the screen door squeak and then slam shut.

x x x

October 13, 2008

SVU

Mike raced through the front doors and tried to get his bearings.

TV didn't do the area justice. He couldn't believe what he had to go through just to get to the 1-6. He owed a lot of people a lot of favors for helping him get back there.

NYPD was on top of everything, from what he could tell as he returned. According to the reports, most of the Lower Manhattan, the Battery, Lower East Side, SoHo, Tribeca, and parts of the East Village and West Village were hit the worst. North of there, damages ranged from moderate to severe. The other boroughs were reportedly in somewhat the same condition.

He exited the stairs and then walked into the doors of SVU. The place was mostly empty except for Detectives Tutola and Munch, and a few uniformed officers that stopped in for a change of clothes or a quick nap.

And of course, the woman he fought so hard to get back to.

She had been perched on the side of Fin's desk, talking to a little boy who sat at Fin's desk.

She looked up when the door opened, smiled and took off at almost a jogging pace toward him.

Mike pulled her into his arms and refused to let go for a long time.

The city may have been turned upside down, but his world was finally right again.

x x x

~ Present ~

She was comfortably dressed in her jeans and gray hoodie, with everything she needed right by her, including notes and a laptop computer that she had borrowed. For the past couple of weeks, she mostly picked up everyone's paperwork or helped out computer crimes.

Of course, she couldn't let the Tyler school case go. There were still four children unaccounted for by the storm. She mainly had been pulling the names of the deceased off of a website as soon as it was available. It had been months. It was unlikely they had survived this, but she wouldn't stop until she knew for certain.

She heard the key in the lock, but kept her eyes focused on the screen. She was suddenly distracted when a brown paper bag appeared in front of her. The aroma of Mu Shu Pork wafted into the air surrounding her.

"Lunch," Elliot said simply.

She turned toward him to thank him, and he leaned over the couch and kissed her before she got the words out. "Thank you," she replied after they parted.

"No problem," he grinned.

"So you escaped?" she inquired, accepting the bag from him. "Staying for lunch?"

"Can't. Fin's downstairs. We just got back from Jefferson Park. Headed back to the house now."

Olivia arched an eyebrow. "So you came here just to bring me lunch?"

"Yep."

She eyed the bag and knew the address. Several of her favorite places were still shut down, so she knew he made a special trip. "A little out of your way."

"Missed you," he said, leaning in to capture her lips again.

x x x

~Past~

Cape May, NJ

After sitting inside staring at a blank TV set for about a half hour, he decided to go out and at least see if she needed anything.

He wanted to give her space and not make it seem like he was pressuring her, but hell she was in a cast.

Elliot grabbed a couple more beers from the refrigerator and walked out quietly. He sat down beside her and handed her the beer, but didn't say a word.

"It didn't used to be this difficult," she finally said aloud as her eyes rested on the horizon.

Elliot looked at her quizzically and almost laughed until he saw her solemn expression. He said what was on his mind anyway. "Liv, we've always be difficult."

"I meant me. I'm not used to this."

"Us?"

"No, relationships. By now, this would have all just been chalked up to a moment of weakness between us, and once the storm was gone, that would have been the end of it."

Elliot sighed heavily. "Is that what you want, Liv?"

She turned and caught his eye. She wasn't really prepared to answer him, but she also wasn't ready for him to back away entirely.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, putting emphasis on the word 'you.'

"I'm too far in to turn back," she admitted, turning her head to meet his eyes.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, then gently touched his lips to hers. "Me too."

x x x

When they were allowed to return to New York, they immediately wanted to see how well their respective apartments fared in the storms. They were permitted to check their apartments but couldn't move back in just yet.

Olivia's apartment had survived fairly well, however her windows had been broken, and the walls and floors were soaked. Once electricity could be turned back on, she was allowed to move back in. From there, it took about four days, with Elliot and the others helping, to get things back in order. She spent most of her time sitting on the floor in her bedroom, throwing away things that had been destroyed. She wished she had secured them better because a lot of it she never expected to lose.

Unlike Olivia, Munch and Fin, each having relatively minor damages to their apartments, Elliot's apartment in Brooklyn was in much worse shape. He retrieved as much as he could and opted to wait until he found out if the apartment would be inhabitable once again, or if he'd have to find a new place. Meanwhile, he helped the others get their places restored. They in turn offered him a place to stay until he was able to move back to his own place.

Elliot left all but some essential things temporarily at the house in Queens, which had received mostly exterior damage and flooding. Kathy collected what she could from the house when they returned from her sister's house in Rochester and they moved on to Washington DC. With the damages, she had to keep the house in her possession until she could collect the insurance money, take care of the repairs and put the house back on the market. Elliot offered to help officiate the repairs when the money was available. Elliot sold the house, collected a very modest sum at Kathy's insistence, and gave the rest to Kathy.

Elliot opted to stay with Olivia the first week she was back in the apartment, and joked with the others that he'd take them up on their offer when 'she got enough and kicked him out.' Weeks later Elliot still hadn't heard about his place, so he remained at Olivia's.

x x x

~ Present ~

"How's your foot?" he asked as he lifted the ice bag and examined the ankle.

She sucked in a breath, feeling a little pressure in one place from the ice bag, and he carefully set the ice bag back down. "The therapist is a sadist."

He laughed. "They all are. You okay? Need anything?"

"I'm fine."

"I'd better go," he said, and then leaned in to kiss her again.

"Thanks…again….for lunch," she told him between kisses.

"Call me if you need anything?"

"Yep. "

"I'll try to be back later," he said in a whisper, and then began a slow, seductive kiss that made him regret having to leave.

Forget everything, in fact.

"Hope so," she replied breathlessly.

He kissed her one last time and then stood, grinning smittenly as he walked toward the door. "Bye, Liv."

"Bye."

x x x

December 15th, 2008

12:45pm - SVU

Olivia glanced up when she saw the three detectives walk in after they had finished with a suspect and had them in lock-up.

Fin and Munch were in the middle of a debate over something, but she couldn't pick up on the conversation. Elliot made eye contact and she read his thoughts instantly.

I really need a break from these two. I'm ready to slap them both. He stopped just behind his chair and sighed. When his eyes met hers, she threw a subtle but suggestive glance his way.

It wasn't necessarily the glance, it would have looked innocent to anyone.

Except he knew what almost every eye roll, hair toss, glare, blink, or grin directed at him meant. Elliot sighed uncomfortably.

Olivia snickered. "Lunch?"

"Sure."

She put on her coat and they walked toward the door. They stopped when they saw a couple and a little girl walking through the doors of SVU.

Olivia didn't recognize any of them, but Elliot immediately recognized the little girl. He smiled.

"Ellll-ii-ot!" She let go of her mom's hand and took off running toward the friendly cop she remembered from the garage. She lifted up her arms, asking to be picked up.

"I think you've got a fan," Olivia remarked appreciatively.

Ella Morrissey made a polite attempt at a smile when she saw her daughter's enthusiasm toward the detective. She knew why her daughter trusted him and allowed her to stay while she and her husband Jack walked briskly toward Captain Cragen's office.

Elliot reached down and picked her up and she immediately wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug.

She settled back and Elliot introduced them. "Liv, this is Alina Morrissey. Alina, this is Olivia. She's a police officer like me."

"Hi, Alina. Nice to meet you."

"Hi Olivia," Alina greeted her, cheerfully. "You're pretty!"

Elliot caught Olivia's eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, Alina," she replied.

The little girl turned back toward Elliot looking disappointed. She poked her index finger at his shoulder accusingly. "You weren't there!"

Elliot recognized that she was talking about the 11th precinct storm shelter. "I know, honey. After we knew you were okay, I had to find Olivia. She was out there looking for you too."

She turned back toward Olivia. "You were?"

"Yes, I was."

"Oh…"

"By the time I found her, we couldn't get across the road. All kinds of stuff out there so we had to find a different place," Elliot explained. "Or we would have been there," he added with a smile.

Alina grinned back.

"It was a bad storm," he said.

"Bad storm!" she agreed, her smile diminished and her face reflected disapproval. "Water all over," she remarked incredulously.

"Yeah, I couldn't find my car," he told her. It was impounded and they had other concerns, but it suddenly seemed amusing to the little girl.

Alina looked at him for a moment longer as she tried to make the connection. "Ha ha ha… Car under water!" She giggled loudly at that thought. Her laughter died down when her mom and dad suddenly appeared. A bald man walked up behind them. He looked sad, she thought.

"Alina… Honey, we've got to go," Mrs. Morrissey said. They walked toward the exit, expecting her to follow.

She looked back and forth between Elliot and Olivia and her face fell. She liked these two and didn't want to leave.

Elliot set Alina down so she could go toward her mom and dad.

She took a few steps then turned back toward Elliot and Olivia and waved. "Bye bye," she said. Her eyes remained on the two detectives for a moment longer.

"Come on, Alina," Mrs. Morrissey called to her about ten paces away, sounding a little irritated.

She took off running, passed her parents and headed toward the door. "I gonna be police!" she announced to her parents and most of the precinct as she left. Her rapid steps could be heard even after she was no longer in sight.

"She's precious," Olivia stated. They exchanged a smile.

They turned their heads when their captain stepped up behind them. He motioned for Fin and Munch to join them.

"Gang, as you know the two Morrissey boys and the Morgan children are still missing. We're back on the case until they're found, dead or alive."

He turned toward Fin. Kaleb's mother, Rita Knight had been listed among the deceased. Her death was suspicious initially, because the time of death was two days before the storm had actually hit. Cause of death was later ruled a suicide by drug overdose. Kaleb's aunt arrived after the storm and took him with her to Philadelphia.

"Fin, Kaleb's aunt said that he's starting to have those nightmares again. Guidance counselor thinks he may be starting to remember so his aunt is going to bring him in. Maybe he'll be ready to talk this time."

He turned toward the others. "John, Elliot, I need you two to work with the Morrisseys. Try to get on their good side because they're both done talking to me. We need to find out what that little girl remembers. Right now, her and Kaleb are our only link to finding out where those other children are and who their abductor is. Jack and Ella Morrissey are going to be on our backs day and night until their children are found. Keep me posted."

x x x

Next chapter: EXTRATROPICAL