Chapter 18

Elliot was still in Cragen's office when John found the answer, which might not have happened if he hadn't been straightening out the fax snafu. Trying to determine what faxes belonged together by header and footer wasn't the easiest thing in the world so he'd had them spread out across his desk. And like having all the puzzle pieces in one place, the picture slowly formed.

Fin wasn't thrilled with the idea of interrupting Cragen while he was taking Elliot's statement but a break in the case wasn't something they could ignore. Knocking on the Captain's door he stuck his head in, "Cap'n, we caught a break. John's putting it on the board now."

"We'll be right there," Cragen put away his legal pad of paper and Fin nodded before retreating back to his desk.

Once Elliot and the captain had joined them John began to explain what he'd found, "We couldn't figure if our perp was male or female, or maybe we had a team." He shook his head as Huang pinned up two pictures to the board. "What we have is an abusive father, a missing mother and a daughter not even old enough to drink."

"You think the father is working with the daughter?" Stabler looked as if he felt ill as he asked the question.

"Her Juvie record is sealed, but that she has one is revealing in and of itself," Huang said quietly. "But when she was eighteen she was arrested for torturing a dog. You'll have to read about that one in her file," Fin noticed Liv put a hand on George's arm in comfort. The shrink had a dog and a cat and was just as bad as any parent when it came to his pets. "Our working theory is that her father abused her sexually and controls her completely. She obeys him blindly, helps him get the kids, takes care of them, acts as the sympathetic one and then when he's done with them she gets to play dress up with the bodies."

"So does she kill them or does he," Cragen wanted to know.

"From the size of the hand prints on the kids necks, I think he does," Olivia said quietly. Fin wished like hell that he could touch her but she was two desks away. Moving over to rub her arm or shoulder would be more than a little obvious. "Her record doesn't show killing. She might be getting her jollies out of helping him rape them. Warner said it was obvious that at least one object was used on the kids post mortem."

"So they lure the kids away, keep them somewhere, rape them, and eventually kill them when the story loses its savor," Elliot shook his head slowly. "But where?"

"Our primary suspect owns a house, an old brownstone from his father, with a large basement," John's smile was a thing of beauty. "Those old houses have thick walls and in a basement there'd be no way anyone would hear them. It's not like an apartment where neighbors would hear through the walls."

Olivia shuddered, Fin could see her hands shake and she picked up a file to cover it before giving in and just sitting down at her desk. Huang backed off so he wasn't too close, while John eyed her carefully before he continued talking, "We'll need a search warrant obviously."

"We're sure he doesn't have other properties?" Elliot was staring at Olivia as if he was trying to solve a puzzle but he didn't move from the desk across from his partner where he stood beside Cragen.

"His uncle owns the shop and runs it, owns a nice duplex nearby," Fin picked up the file and used it as an excuse to move closer to Olivia who was slowly regaining her calm. "The nephew is the son of the younger brother, apparently the man didn't amount to much before he died, the uncle only had one daughter who does design for the shop, Katrine, she'll most likely inherit."

"So the nephew knows that he's out in the cold no matter what his skill level is," Elliot regarded the board, the shoes near each victim. "We've been looking for a signature besides the fairy tale theme, the shoes could be it."

"How are the alibies for our Grimm duo?" Cragen wanted to know with a frown.

"They alibi each other," Fin shrugged. "It's weak."

"Find a time when they aren't together and pick them up, separately," Cragen ordered. "Work the daughter, Doctor Huang, I'd like you and Olivia on her. Elliot, you've missed more than half a day on this, use the time to catch up while Fin and Munch go get the nephew. And let's move on this quickly before they decide they want to add Rapunzel to their list of fairy tale characters. Chances are if they've overlapped with the twins like they did the others they've already got a kid."

Fin nodded and picked up the phone to call the uncle and owner of the shop. "I'll ask the owner if we can borrow his nephew," He told Cragen. "That way we'll know where he is at least."

"Good," The captain nodded his satisfaction, "Liv, you and Huang, figure out where the daughter is and when you can get her, co-ordinate that with Fin and John."

Fin frowned as he took in Liv's pale face, "Hey when's the last time you ate?"

"Uhm," That Olivia couldn't remember right away was a clear indicator that it had been too long. "We got a snack between shops," She admitted and looked at Huang who frowned at her.

"That was four hours ago at least," He reminded her. "No wonder you're pale."

"Yeah, I'm going to hit vending for some soup," Liv agreed. "That'll hold me over for a bit." She got up and headed into the hall, dollar bills in hand.

Fin frowned into the phone and did his best to not let it show in his voice as he spoke to the owner of the shop, "Well we don't want to put you out or anything." He tried to sound charming, "As long as his daughter doesn't need him home right after work, we could pick him up. Give him a ride home after." John was raising a sardonic eyebrow at him and Fin just flapped his hand in a shooing motion, "No, he's just one of the few we really haven't gotten to sit with the sketch artist. We can't have them come in together because they'll influence each other."

A few more minutes of 'yes sirs' and thanks and he was off the phone, "So the man is off work at five, his daughter goes off at six and he usually hangs around and they go home together. We can go get him when he's off shift. Then Liv and George can pick her up at home."

Huang nodded his agreement, "I'll call and ask if we can meet her at her home for some follow up questions."

"And it gives you a look at the house too," Elliot was already sitting at his desk, reading one of the files but looked up to make the comment.

There was a mechanical thump and a loud curse from the hallway and Fin sighed, standing up from his desk, "The damn machine ate Liv's dollar again I'll bet." He poked his head out and sure enough, there was his fiancée swearing at the vending machine. "Liv, you and George are headed over to the girl's house to see her after six. Why don't you two go and get us take out? We're all starving here."

The look she gave him was a cross between a glare and a smile, "You know I hate it when you make a reasonable suggestion and I'm mad about something else."

"Yeah I know," Fin chuckled. "C'mon. Can even get Italian if you can talk the rest of 'em into it."

"Pass," Liv was walking towards him now, a half smile on her face. "Garlic breath while interrogating a suspect could be against the Geneva convention."

"Something else then," Fin leaned against the doorway and grinned as she brushed past him, her body deliberately touching his before he turned and followed her. "Long as you eat something."

"I will if you will," Olivia retorted and Fin couldn't argue that.

The week after they caught a serial killer was intense; Elliot and Olivia were still carefully not talking about anything except work. Cragen hadn't had 'the Talk' with all three of them yet but Fin wasn't counting that out as a possibility. But they finally had the case wrapped up. The daughter had cracked like an egg; apparently before her father had allowed her to 'play' he'd simply buried the bodies of his victims upstate. She'd remembered where with uncanny accuracy in part because her father had threatened to bury her there when she'd tried to stop him killing one of the kids.

It turned out that her father had abused her from childhood, just as he was abused by his father. They could only hope that with the arrest the cycle would stop with her. The latest victim had been a tiny little girl and pictures of Thumbelina had been taped up around her bed. Fin had taken one look at her and felt the ice crawl up his spine at the thought of his own child going through this. For a moment he'd had some sympathy for Elliot and what he went through with child victims.

Fin was waiting now, he hated waiting, for Liv's doctor to say it was all right for him to come back to the exam room and see the sonogram. "Mr. Tutuola," The nurse/receptionist called hesitantly.

"Yeah that's me," Fin stood as quickly as he could and tossed the magazine he'd been flipping through onto a table.

"I'll take you back now that Doctor Leese is done with the exam," The woman escorted him to a door halfway down the hall and knocked. A moment's pause and someone called for them to enter, "Go right on in." The nurse invited and smiled as Fin nearly jerked the knob off the door in his haste.

Twenty minutes later he was still staring in shock at the picture he held in his hands, "This is...a surprise." Fin finally got the words out.

Olivia nodded, she was still studying the print out while the obstetrician send the video of the sonogram to Liv's phone. "So I guess the apartment is the right size after all," Was all she said in a dazed voice.

Before Fin could reply his phone started to buzz and chirp, "It's Cragen." He frowned down at the damn thing, "We caught a case."

"Well if that video doesn't come through just give me a call," Doctor Leese instructed. "Olivia, at your age, you might want to try and take it easy as much as you can. Avoiding stress will be very important."

"We'll work on that," Fin promised. "When does the nausea stop anyway?"

"Usually at the three month mark if not a little sooner," Leese replied with a frown. "My greatest concern is you eating right Olivia. I meant it when I said three meals a day."

"Somethin' else for us to work on," Fin nodded and kissed Liv's temple as she began to pull on her shoes.

"We'd better go," Olivia murmured and Fin sighed but agreed. Cragen knew where they were, he wouldn't have called them in if it wasn't serious.

Cragen was displeased with both of the two men in his office and less than thrilled with his female detective as well, Olivia knew that instinctively. That was something she'd never lost, from childhood she'd been able to read the atmosphere of a room, knowing when someone was angry or upset had at least mentally prepared her for what could be coming.

"Let me make something very clear," Cragen said to the three of them. "Fin, you and Olivia came to me and said flat out that you could keep your relationship out of the precinct. So far you haven't done a bad job of that. And I was aware that you were going to give it some time before you told Elliot about this. However, keeping him in the dark for six months is not conducive to a good partnership."

"Cap'n we knew he'd blow his stack if we came out and told him," Fin objected. "Just were hopin' he'd catch on and maybe get used to the idea. Took Munch less than a week to figure out we were dating. Elliot's worked with Liv longer'n I have with John. Never thought it'd take him this long."

"Part of it is my fault," Olivia took a deep breath, vividly conscious of Fin standing beside her, "The things I can't talk about…they make it hard for me to deal with Elliot sometimes."

"What things?" Elliot shook his head, "You ask why I don't trust you Liv but then you say flat out there are things you don't tell me."

"You have to be willing to listen man," Fin shot at him. "And from where I'm sitting you don't listen to Liv very well. You haven't in all the time I've known you."

"This is not a therapy session," Cragen called a halt to the sniping. "This is to address that one of my detectives blew up and put hands on his partner, causing her fiancé, yet another detective, to aim a gun at the first detective. This could cost all three of you your jobs. At the least it should be an official reprimand. I don't want it to come to that since this is personal and really shouldn't involve the job."

Olivia felt as if her stomach was filled with ice and barely kept herself from shuddering, "I offered to transfer Captain. I can still do that if you need me to."

"And I told you I need you here," Cragen held up the pad of paper with their statements on it. "That goes for all three of you. But you three are going to learn to communicate if it kills you." She was very conscious of his eyes on her, wondered how awful she looked when his expression became concerned. "I said communicate Liv, not bare your soul, so breathe."

Liv nodded and forced a breath in while Fin's hand barely brushed her back, "Yes sir." She agreed taking another breath.

"Fin, you're going to work on not antagonizing Elliot. I'm sure you're aware that it only puts more strain on Olivia so that's a nice incentive," Cragen's voice brooked no arguments and Liv felt more than saw Fin nod his agreement. "And Elliot," The captain's voice was even harder if that was possible and Olivia felt like flinching from the unbending tone. "Don't think I've been unaware of all the little slings and arrows you've been aiming in Fin and Liv's direction for years now. SVU might not be a dating service but not all of us have had the luxury of marrying their high school sweetheart. So you're going to work on being less judgmental. And you're also going to work on keeping your hands to yourself."

"Cap'n I don't—"

Elliot didn't get four words out before Cragen cut him off, "I don't want to hear it. Olivia being your partner doesn't give you the right to put hands on her. And if you'd tried that around me? I might not have shown as much restraint as Fin did. I get where you're coming from and I get the frustration but you're not her father or her brother Elliot and you don't have the right to touch her as if she belongs to you."

Olivia couldn't contain the shudder at the thought and shook her head as Cragen's eyes snapped to her along with Stabler's. Fin's hand surreptitiously rubbed the small of her back and she shook her head, "I'm all right, just a little flicker back there." She looked at Fin and then at the captain. "Sir, you know I can't talk about it. Just…let me work on it a little more, and I promise, I'll try to explain it to him soon. If it turns out afterwards we can't work together…"

"I'm not transferring you out of here Olivia," Cragen warned her. "Desk duty yeah, but you aren't going back to computer crimes."

Olivia forced a smile, "Well we'll see how it goes won't we." She straightened up from her leaning position against the wall, "We'll keep going on the case, and see if we can find anything to support the victim's story. She said something about seeing a neighbor when she was running."

"Good, get with John about that, he was first on scene," Cragen told her, "Elliot and are going to have a little chat about appropriate office behavior." Olivia caught the resigned look on Elliot's face as she left the room, Fin right behind her.

"Pretty brave Babygirl, admitting you had to talk to him eventually," Fin's hand was still on her back, his voice low in her ear. "Didn't think you could get any braver."

"Not brave, just…tired of all of it," Olivia sighed as she leaned against his desk. John was in the hall talking to a uniform so they had a minute or two to talk. "Somehow I've got to explain what it does to me when he grabs me. Nothing bothers me as much as when he does that. A stranger grabbing my ass doesn't bother me as much."

"Bothers me," Fin grumbled and she couldn't help smiling at him teasingly.

"You wouldn't be you if it didn't," Liv smiled. "At least the apartment will be ready early."

"Yeah, let the packing frenzy begin," Fin chuckled and John came back in the squadroom and it was time to get to work.

Author's Note: So I didn't want anything official to happen because they never reported it beyond the informal meetings with the captain. But I did want Cragen to make very clear to Elliot that this was unacceptable behavior. It might seem like he was spreading the blame around but he's not wrong in that if Fin and Liv had communicated with Elliot he wouldn't have been so ignorant of what was going on under his nose.

With Elliot it's more wounded pride and hurt feelings than anything else, he feels like his partner is cutting him out and he doesn't like it. Eventually he'll see it's his own behavior that's making her pull away but in the meantime, at least Cragen's told him to behave himself right?

Hope you guys liked this, it took me a bit to figure out what I wanted to happen.