This is a shorter chapter, just to acclimatise Liv and El now that they are defrosted.

In the quite nice hotel room that Munch had stashed Olivia and Elliot in, Elliot stood next to the bed, his arms folded, as he looked down at his partner. She was much warmer and more coherent now, and was finally taking in everything that Munch was telling her.

"This woman...she looks so much like me; you're telling me she lives in my apartment?"

"Well no, you have a new apartment, I mean she, has a new apartment; it's nice, bigger, you'll like it," Munch said, offering her a hopeful smile.

"She has taken four years of my life, she's not taking my apartment too!" Olivia said, "I don't want to live in her apartment, I want my life back!"

"Ah...well, it's not quite that simple. You see she really needed to move...she'd been through a lot. The wizard, he's as fixated on her as he is on Elliot, but while he tears down Elliot's name, his character, his history, he breaks down Clone Olivia repeatedly - putting her through all kinds of personal hell. That's what finally made me accept everything Gwen had told me - I knew she couldn't be real, after repeatedly going through these situations and bouncing back so easily."

"What situations Munch? What has this psycho been doing with Olivia's clone?" Elliot said, his tone guarded. His instinctive response to protect Olivia, briefly expanding to include her clone.

"It's best that you don't know - really who would want to know all those details anyway? Huang does have a section in his report that explains the wizards need to repeatedly break someone down emotionally, physically, torture them in every conceivable way, and take them to the very brink of destruction before hitting the reset button again...but that's some light reading for another day."

"That's sick! What the hell kind of person does that?" Elliot said in disbelief.

"One with a very disturbed mind," Munch said, shaking his head.

Olivia looked up, anger and disbelief coursing through her. "Why do this to us?"

"He's the only one who can tell you that, but his obsession with Stabler has been a constant for over four years. It's quite unsettling really. You two need to remember that everything he has done, all the pain he has caused, it has all been to a clone - and when he faces you two, he will be nothing but a quivering, blubbering mess. He will run like a frightened rabbit with Benson and Stabler confronting him. He has no real spine - but it's the clone I feel for. She's been through so much, and there was really no need for any of it. Gwen identified her as a clone long before I did - I am very sorry to say. She spent four years messaging me about mind control and clones, and people disappearing, and now I am finally listening to her she won't come within a mile of the station house - she's too afraid that the wizard will make her disappear and create a Clone Gwen."

Olivia shook her head, and couldn't help the tears that pooled behind her eyes as she picked up a photograph of Clone Olivia holding a baby.

"Ah, that's Noah...he's her...well I guess your, son," Munch said cautiously.

"Is he a clone too?" Elliot asked, deciding to give in to the urge to comfort Olivia, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Olivia glanced up at him and smiled briefly, her own hand slipping up to cover his, before turning her attention back to the picture.

Munch merely observed their interaction, knowing full well that they were completely and utterly in love. He found it hard to believe that they had never been honest about their feelings - it took being kidnapped, placed in a cryogenic prison, and a clone stealing Olivia's life, before they would finally give in to their feelings.

At least Munch hoped they would; realising that they might dance around their feelings regardless, he made a mental note to get them both to admit that they were in fact, hopelessly in love with each other, as soon as possible - if they didn't figure it out first.

Shaking his head with a smile, he dismissed his thoughts of how incredibly in denial they had both been, about the fact that they were so obviously soul mates, and really had wasted so many years when they could have been happy together.

"No, he's not a clone. I checked his DNA, no deviant patterns," Munch said.

Elliot and Olivia both glanced at Munch in stunned silence, before Elliot finally broke their dumbfounded silence. "Munch - when did you become a forensic scientist? Did that happen in the last four years?"

Munch chuckled, "No, but I have friends who are. All I needed was a hair sample. So I went with him when he got his first haircut. It was easy."

"So he's a real baby - being cared for by a clone?" Olivia said.

"Yes, she does a good job though," Munch said, "She really shines as a mother, it suits her too."

Olivia and Elliot both glared at Munch, who raised his hands in surrender, "Ok, sorry, I'll stop telling you how great the clone who invaded your life is. This isn't going to help you face her. We need to get her here and confront her with the reality that she is a clone. Once she faces you and Elliot it will be easier."

"But she believes she's Olivia…" Elliot said.

"Yes," Munch sighed, frustrated, "but she can't forget Elliot, even though her programmed memories have been warped. So we show her who Elliot really is and help retrieve those memories, then she will see that she is being manipulated."

"How do we get her to understand that she's a clone, John?" Olivia asked.

"Well, I have given this a lot of thought, but I think the frank approach might be best in this case."

"Which is?" Elliot asked.

"This is the real Olivia, you are a clone, and not real. This is Elliot, everything you have said about him is ridiculous. The evil wizard has put you through hell repeatedly - help us take him down," Munch said, with a shrug.

"You think that will work?" Olivia asked incredulously.

"Unless anyone has any better ideas, and I'm not hearing anything coming from the two thirds of the room who were recently defrosted….then yes, let's go have a chat with the fake Olivia Benson." Munch said, with a satisfied smile, certain that his plan was flawless.

What will happen when they face Olivia's clone? Will Munch's direct approach work? Will the clone help them face the little man, who is masquerading as a wizard, and take him down?

Thank you for reading my slightly crazy stories.