A/N: Hey everybody, just some FYI's: Casey's sister is named Sarah, I changed it at the last minute and missed some parts in the last chapter but I fixed it. There is a flash back in this chapter but its clearly marked so it shouldn't confuse you (sneak peak: its about Alex and Elliot in the beginning). This chapter is kind of long but future ones probably won't be. Enjoy!

Liv sat in the chair next to Casey holding her hand. She was still unconscious and hooked up to a heart monitor. Chester had lost it completely and Elliot had taken him to get some fresh air and a cup of decaf coffee to calm him down. Liv had been sitting there the whole time holding her hand.

The doctor came in, followed by a still harried looking Chester clutching a coffee cup.

"Dr. Berggren, what happened to Casey?" Olivia asked abruptly.

The doctor quickly checked his chart. "She had a panic attack." he replied gravely, "We were able to get her blood pressure down to normal so she should be fine."

Chester was still standing next to the door, looking ill.

"I was afraid this would happen," the doctor explained, "Hearing news like this is bound to cause a stress reaction; which is why I told you to take her home and have her get some rest." He said pointedly.

Liv and Chester looked at each other.

"How long is she going to be out for?" Liv questioned, referring to Casey's present state of unconsciousness.

"She's lightly sedated, so she should sleep for a little while. Then you have to take her straight home." Dr. Berggren said sternly.

Chester nodded and moved to the chair on the other side of Casey's bed taking her limp hand in both of his.

Olivia got up and made her way out to the waiting room.

Sarah and Daniel were both still there, along with Elliot, all of whom were exhibiting varying degrees of trepidation.

Sarah was the first to spring out of her chair when Olivia entered the room.

"Is my sister ok?" she asked matter-of-factly.

Olivia was slightly surprised by Sarah's concern. "The doctor says she had a panic attack, but she and the babies are all fine." She announced.

"Babies?" Sarah said, confused.

Liv looked at her, just remembering that she didn't know. "Your sister's having quints, Sarah" she said.

Sarah looked astonished for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Something funny about that?" Liv asked, thoroughly annoyed at her reaction.

"Quints!... oh man… my mom's gonna love this!" she said through her sniggers.

"Sarah, you should let Casey tell her mother, when she wants to." Liv said

"Too late, I already called her; she's on her way here." Sarah replied.

Three Hours Later…

Casey slowly opened her eyes to see her husband pacing the floor in front of her bed. She blinked and then smiled at him; but he was so focused on driving a trench through the linoleum he didn't even notice.

It wasn't until she softly called his name that he snapped out of it.

"Jesus, Casey I was so worried about you. How are you feeling?"

"I think I'm ok," she said, rubbing her tummy, "What happened?"

"You had a panic attack sweetie, nothing major. But were going to have to go home and take it easy for a while. Everything is going to be ok, I promise" he said going over and sitting on the bed next to her.

"I'm scared," she whispered, snuggling into him.

"I know, baby, I am too but I'm gonna take good care of you and make sure nothing else happens ok?" he said, stroking her hair.

She nodded into his chest, trusting him completely. Then a thought struck her. "Is everybody gone?" she asked.

"Danny and Sarah had to go pick up Annie from school and Liv and El had to go back to work. It's just us now" he answered.

"Oh. Okay…good" she said, not entirely sure if she was relieved or disappointed that her sister had left.

They just sat with each other for a while; a million things going through both of their heads. Casey stared at her hand resting on her tummy, thinking about the 5 little lives that were inside of her.

She never felt so scared and apprehensive of anything in her life, except maybe marrying the man next to her. She looked at him and he was looking back at her.

Chester put his hand over hers and they locked eyes. The look on his face made her feel warm inside. She knew in that moment that they really would be ok because they loved each other and they loved their babies. They kissed, wordlessly expressing that love and neither of them wanted to come up for air.

Suddenly, they heard stiletto-heeled footsteps coming toward them. Seconds later there was a knock at the door. Chester got up to open it.

In walked Evelyn Novak, a short but elegant looking woman with faded red hair that was pulled into a neat bun behind her head. Her kind face was contorted with worry as she brushed past Chester and went straight for her daughter, pulling her into a hug.

"Oh Junie, I was so worried about you! Are you ok?" she said, not letting go.

"Mom—mom I'm ok, really. What are you doing here?" Casey asked, totally bewildered.

"Your sister called me. She told me that you were in the hospital and having complications with the baby. I've been working myself into a fearful panic all the way here. From the state she was in I thought you were dying or something" she said tearfully.

Casey looked confused. "Sarah was worried about me?"

"Of course she was worried, she's your sister." Evelyn replied, her grip still tight around Casey's shoulders.

"Mom—can you let go please? I can't breathe." Casey squeaked.

Evelyn instantly released Casey and started wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just…" she trailed off, noticing Casey's overlarge midsection.

"What in the world? You can't possibly…its much too soon for…for you to be that big," she stammered.

She rounded on Chester, "What did you do to my baby!" she demanded.

Chester opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but Casey interrupted. "Mom—MOM, listen to me, Chester didn't do anything, I'm…I'm having quints."

"You're having quints!" Evelyn exclaimed, "Junie, that's wonderful! That's absolutely wonderful! Oh, I've got to call your Aunt Piper, she owes me 50 bucks!"

"Mom!" Casey said, shocked, "You bet Auntie Piper that I was gonna have quints!"

Her mom shrugged sheepishly. "Well, you know with our genes…I just had a feeling, you know?"

Casey furrowed her brow suspiciously. "What do you mean 'with our genes'?" she questioned.

Evelyn slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Junie I didn't tell you, did I?

"Tell me what?"

"That multiples run in our family."

"WHAT?" Casey shrieked.

"Well, technically it's a gene for hyper-ovulation but, you know obviously that's how you get multiples in the first place."

Casey was completely speechless. How could her mother have not told her something like that? She made eye contact with Chester who looked twice as shocked as she was.

"And when pray tell were you planning on sharing this tidbit of information?" she asked her mother, trying not to sound upset.

"Well, I don't know, at some point or another. But does it really matter? I mean would knowing that really have stopped you from getting pregnant?" Evelyn replied.

Casey looked at Chester again; they both knew the answer to that. "No, I guess not", she answered, "but geez mom, 50 bucks?"

At the same time…

Liv and Elliot were back in the squad room. Elliot was currently in a heated discussion with a suspect in a string of kidnappings and Liv was sitting at her desk, filling out hers and Elliot's DD5's out of sheer boredom. She hadn't been allowed within 50 feet of an interrogation room in weeks and the inactivity was beginning to get to her.

She couldn't blame her captain of being protective of her though. They dealt with the scum of the earth on a daily basis and she had been the target of aggression for more than a few of them.

Just as she was contemplating actually organizing her desk her cellphone chirped and she picked it up.

"Moss."

"Hi honey."

"Kurt! God, it's good to hear your voice. How are you?"

"Missing you terribly."

"Oh, I miss you too. When are you coming home?"

"Today."

"Today!" Liv practically shrieked.

"Yeah, my conference is wrapping up early. I'm coming in tonight at 8. I was gonna surprise you but well…I need a ride home from the airport."

Liv smirked. "Good one genius. You could always take a cab you know, I really don't have to pick you up."

"Yeah but cab drivers aren't as beautiful as you."

Liv giggled. "Oh well when you put it that way, how could I say no."

"You can't. So, how's my little girl?"

"She's doing just fine. She's been kicking all day though. I think she misses her daddy."

"Man I can't wait to be back. Tell her daddy loves her."

Liv smiled. "I will. What airport are you flying into?"

"La Guardia."

Liv saw Elliot walking toward her. "Hey honey I have to go. I'll see you later ok?"

"Ok. Love you darling."

"Love you too sweetheart. Bye."

Elliot grinned as he caught the end of her conversation. "Love you too sweetheart!" he mocked.

Liv rolled her eyes. "You got a problem with my term of endearment," she joked.

Elliot shook his head. "Not at all. Why don't you just make out with the phone next time?"

Liv smacked him on the arm. "Shut up jerk."

"So what was that all about, anyway?"

"Oh! He's coming home today!" she told him excitedly.

"That's great Liv. Finally you can stop moping around this place." he said with a smile.

"Why are you so.." she stopped suddenly.

Elliot gave her a weird look. "Why am I so what?"

She grabbed his hand and put it on her belly. "Do you feel that El?"

Elliot raised his eyebrows. He could in fact feel the soft fluttering coming from inside her belly. "Wow, someone is excited in there," he commented.

"I know, it's crazy right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome Liv."

She held his hand there for another second before letting him go and rubbing the spot herself. Just then Cragen came out of his office.

"Hey Liv, you can leave now if you want. It's almost 6 and we're already running out of work to do. Elliot can stay here and finish up the paperwork."

Liv smiled at Elliot's scandalized look. Normally she would object to this type of special treatment but she was in far too good a mood to argue.

"That would be great actually!" she said walking over to Cragen and giving him a hug, "thanks Don." She kissed him on the cheek and bounced over to her desk and started collecting her things.

Don looked at Elliot, more than a little weirded out. "What's gotten into her?" he asked, amazed at her over-friendliness and lack of protest.

"Kurt's coming home today" Elliot replied.

"Ah." Don said, understanding. She was different when Kurt was around. She was so much happier, her spirit was lighter. Anyone that could bring out that side of her on a daily basis was ok in Don Cragen's book.

Don watched as she practically floated out of the front door. "Elliot, go make sure she gets out ok and then get your ass back here and finish those DD5's; I want them on my desk yesterday."

Elliot nodded and went after Liv, he helped her down the front steps and walked her to her car. He waved as she drove off in the direction of her brownstone.

It was barely twilight but Cragen never let her out at the end of the day without an escort. Yes, it was quite annoying for both of them, but what are you gonna do.

When Elliot got back he sped through the rest of the paperwork hoping to get out of there by 7. He wanted to get to Alex on time, it sounded on the phone like she needed him.

Since he'd been able to uh charm a confession out of their newest kid raping psycho he had to type up a whole report on the wonderfully pleasant experience. He backspaced several times as thoughts of Alex pervaded his keystrokes.

March 15, 2009

It was a lonely night for Elliot Stabler. He had the night off from everything: work, kids, wife. His family had gone to visit his mother-in-law and unsurprisingly not invited him, not that he would have gone anyway. Olivia was spending her weekend in the Berkshires with her brand new husband. It was weird not having her around to be bored with but he wasn't mad at her. She deserved to be happy.

So there he was sitting on his sofa, staring at the rain pummeling the living room window. Then he thought about someone who might be as lonely as he was. Alex. She'd waltzed back into his life only a week ago and acted like nothing had happened. A lot had happened. She'd been gone for four years and been ignoring him and Olivia for three. They'd probably called her at least a dozen times since she got out of WITSEC, just to see how she was. That's what friends do right?

Maybe I should call her? He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contact list. He hesitated a minute and glanced at the clock. 8:53 It's not too late, she won't think I'm a stalker. He hit send.

It rang 5 times before she picked up.

Hello?

"Hey Alex, its Elliot. You busy?"

There was a pause

No, I'm not busy. What's up?

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted some company, I'm kinda lonely, you know cause Liv's taking another weekend trip with Kurt and all."

Yeah, I wish I'd been there for their wedding, I feel bad.

"It was really nice, she'll probably tell you about it sometime."

Yeah, well… you can come over if you want. We can watch a movie or something. I'm lonely too.

"Ok, sounds like fun."

She gave him her address and Elliot started to get dressed. He'd been veging in his underwear for the past hour and a half. For some reason he was getting excited. The hairs on his arms were standing up as he thought about spending time with her. He wondered what she might be wearing at this time of night.

He shook his head vigorously. Get it together Stabler, you're married, you can't think about her like that. No matter how gorgeous she is.

He smacked himself in the forehead.

As he got in his car and headed over to her place impure thoughts about the blonde ADA kept creeping into his consciousness. He accidentally drove past her house because he was so distracted. He made a U-turn and parked in her driveway. He sat in his car for 10 minutes making sure he had his head on straight.

He walked up her front steps rang her doorbell and waited. After a few minutes, she opened the door. She was wearing a baby blue long-sleeve t shirt, grey sweatpants and pink socks. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail; it was wet and glistening like she had just taken a shower.

However, the thing that first caught Elliot's attention was her face. It was wet too, and her eyes were red and puffy. She was upset, she was crying and she was looking at him like she wanted something. He'd never seen ice queen Alexandra Cabot look so vulnerable.

Elliot felt like the wind was knocked out of him. "Alex…what's wrong?" he asked, thoroughly concerned.

"I need to talk to you." She replied, her voice sounded constricted. She took a few steps back to let him in.

They settled on her sofa, half a cushion apart. She tucked her legs underneath her and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands but more tears were coming.

"Alex, did something happen?" Elliot asked, gently.

She nodded, staring at the floor. "Four years ago, I got shot and then my whole life was taken away from me," she looked at him, "and I'm having trouble dealing with it."

Her tears came faster and Elliot unconsciously grabbed her hand. "But things are good now Alex, you got your life back and the people who hurt you are either dead or behind bars."

"I k-know, I-I just…I can't keep the pictures out of my head." She pulled on her ponytail with her free hand. "I couldn't bring myself to return your phone calls when I got back because…every time I heard your v-voices on my machine…I saw that sidewalk and that car and that gun…"she sniffed and inched a little bit closer to him.

"Now I…I keep having these dreams…it's like I'm right back there, bleeding on the cold ground but I…I'm really dead, a-and then I'm in the morgue and then I'm being buried, it feels so real. I'm trying to tell them I'm not dead but no one can hear me, I feel so…"

"Helpless", Elliot finished, looking her in the eyes. She nodded tearfully. "Alex, you are not helpless, you're stronger than you think," he said gently.

He hesitated a minute, but decided to go for it, "Come here," he whispered. He held his arms out and she scooted right into them, sighing deeply as he wrapped them around her shaking shoulders.

"When I was in Wisconsin, I-I was so… afraid, all the time. I thought he could get me at any moment. In my head I know that I'm safe now, but…I just c-can't let it go."

She started sobbing and the next thing Elliot new she was on his lap, clinging to him. He stayed there the whole night, just holding her, comforting her, making her feel safe. And falling for her completely.

Present

Why did she sound so anxious? What was she going to tell him? Was she really okay? Elliot silently prayed to the big man upstairs that nothing bad had happened to her. He held down the backspace and deleted an entire line he had typed containing exactly what he'd like to do if someone had hurt her.

He finally finished at 6:55 and handed his file in to Cragen before racing out the door.

So like always I want to hear your thoughts, good or bad. Also, if there's anything anyone wants to have happen, hit me up, the next few chapters are slightly flexible. Remember though, good things come to those with patience! :)