The response I have got to this story has been great, thanks for all the kind words.

Chapter 4

"Thanks for coming for me," she said quietly as Elliot started the car.

"I told you Liv I'm here for you when you need me, for whatever it is." He started up the engine. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to the hotel. I don't mind."

"El if it's going to be a problem with me staying at yours cause of Kathy and the kids, then take me to the hotel. I really don't mind. I'm just really tired and want to sleep."

"No there is no problem, my place it is."

Olivia laid her head back and closed her eyes. She could hear the music gently playing on the radio. She opened her eyes and looked over at Elliot. He hadn't changed that much in the last couple of years except maybe losing a little weight and toned up.

"You okay over there?" he asked her, glancing over quickly.

"I guess…..just suddenly feel really tired"

"Close your eyes for a while," he said to her keeping his eyes on the road.

She kept her eyes fixed on him as he drove. She couldn't believe she was sitting in the car with him. She always wondered what she would do when she finally seen him again. In her head she would yell and be angry with him, but being with him now it felt like nothing had changed, she always felt safe with him. Despite acting tough she always liked having him by her side. She tried to fight the sleep that was taking over her but she couldn't and finally she drifted off to sleep.

Elliot looked over at her sleeping and sighed.

"How did I ever leave you," he said to himself. "It won't happen again I promise you."

"Liv," he said gently shaking her shoulder.

"Hmmmmm," she mumbled.

"Were here, you need to wake up so we can get you in."

Olivia opened her eyes and looked around "El where are we, this isn't your place. Did you and Kathy move?" she asked sleepily as she looked round the street.

"No, I moved Kathy is still at the old place. Come on let's get you inside," he said climbing out the car before she could ask any more questions. He ran round and opened her door and helped her out. Then grabbed her bag of meds and bandages from the back seat.

"El what happened?" she asked him.

"Later Liv," he told her. "We will talk later; right now we need to get you inside so you can rest."

She nodded to tired and sore to argue as Elliot took her good arm and helped her into the house. She stood by the door and looked around the living room. The apartment was open plan and very modern, and tidy there wasn't a thing out of place.

"It's nice El," she smiled.

"Thanks let me show you around and where everything is, obviously this is the kitchen and living room" he said before He led her down the corridor. "All the rooms on the left are for the kids with they come to stay," he said pointing to the three doors. "This room is mine" he said pointing to the right "and this is the bathroom. I was thinking you could sleep in Maureen's room, if that's okay."

"That's great El thank you."

Elliot looked at her, she looked exhausted. "Why don't you take a bath, I will grab you some of Maureen's clothes to put on and order some food."

"Thanks Elliot but I'm not really hungry, I will have a bath and just go to bed."

"Uh huh Liv. You need food. You can't take all your meds on an empty stomach and you probably haven't eaten for days, so you need something," he told her.

"Okay fine," she said as she couldn't be bothered to argue. Elliot pushed open the bathroom door and went to the bath and began to run it for her. He grabbed some bubble bath off the shelf and put it in the water. He then grabbed some towels out the cupboard for her and put them next to the sink.

"Back in 2 minutes," he said running out the room. Olivia just stood still and watched the bath filling.

"What am I doing here?" she asked herself. "I should have just gone to the hotel; he doesn't need me like this I'm a pathetic mess." She turned and picked up meds to try and leave and bumped into Elliot who was stood holding some clothes and a plastic bag.

"No you don't Liv," he said to her, knowing she was trying to leave, he could see it on her face.

"I shouldn't be here," she said to him.

"Yes you should, I'm not letting you go anywhere, at least not tonight. If you still want to leave in the morning then I will call someone to come and get you. But you need rest, sleep and something to eat. I haven't been there the last three years but let me be here now for you."

Olivia finally looked up at him. "Okay," she said quietly.

"Okay," said Elliot putting the clothes down and taking a deep breath. "I got this to put round the cast on your wrist to stop it getting wet," he said holding up the bag. "Lift your arm up."

Olivia lifted her arm and Elliot wrapped the bag round tucking it in the top of the cast. "Not great but it will do for now, do you need a hand with anything else?" he asked her as he bent over and checked the water before turning off the tap.

"No I should be good thanks."

"Just shout if you need me, I will be in the other room." He went to leave and stopped as she began talking.

"El, I don't like to ask but when I get out the bath could you redress the wounds on my back for me. I will be able to do the front but not the back," she explained to him.

"Sure just give me a call when you need me. I have left some clothes for you so can choose the ones that fit best. They all belong to Maureen and Kat."

Olivia nodded and Elliot left closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen area and ordered the pizza. He opened the cupboard and took out a bottle of whisky he looked at it then put it back in the cupboard; he wasn't going to go back down that route. He sat on the stool next to the breakfast bar and waited for Olivia to call him, his mind going over and over the last 24 hours. So much had happened.

Olivia got undressed and stood looking at herself in the mirror as she removed all the small dressings. She held back the tears refusing to cry as she looked at the marks in the mirror. She turned away from the mirror and climbed into the bath.

"Fuck," she gasped as the hot water hit her wounds as she slowly lowered herself into the water. She took the sponge and soap and scrubbed her skin hard washing away any evidence that was still left from the last few days. She scrubbed herself over and over until she finally felt clean.

Elliot looked at his watch it had been almost an hour and Olivia was still in the bathroom. He walked down the corridor and knocked on the door.

"Liv, you okay in there?" he asked through the door. He was met with silence. "Liv!" he called a bit louder. "Are you okay? If you don't answer then I'm going to come in." He gave it a few seconds and when she didn't answer he pushed open the door.

Olivia was stood in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped loosely around her; she was staring at her reflection.

"Liv you okay?" he asked again standing in the door way.

"No… look at me, look what he done to me. No wonder Cassidy couldn't look at me."

Elliot moved forward and stood behind her. He looked at the cuts and burn marks on her body where he had used a knife and what looked like cigarettes on her, the looked red raw were she had scrubbed herself clean.

"Liv," he said placing his hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her. "You are beautiful, no matter what he has done to you, don't you ever think anything different, do you hear me. None of this is your fault, none of it."

"I should have been able to stop him, I should have been able to protect myself but I couldn't I just let him hurt me."

"You did what you had to do to survive. You done what you had to do. And you standing here proves that, you're still alive, and he isn't." he told her as he looked at her face in the mirror. "And all these cuts and burns, they will disappear in time, everything will just take time to heal."

She sniffed and wiped away the tears that were falling. "I'm so sick of crying," she said with a small laugh.

"I would be more worried if there weren't tears….. Now do you want me to dress the wounds on your back?"

"Yes please," she said handing him cream and bandages. Elliot gently applied the cream and bandages to her back. He held back the tears as he tended to her back; he had counted over 20 burn marks alone. It's a good job the bastard was already dead.

"All done," he told her.

"Thank you. I will do my front and be straight out," she told him.

"Okay the pizza should be here shortly," he told her as he left the bathroom. He quickly ran to his room and into the ensuite bathroom he bent over the toilet and vomited. He tried to be strong in front of her but seeing the state of her, what he had done to her was too much. In all his time in SVU he had never seen any victim with so many injuries that had survived. He stood up and went to the sink and brushed his teeth, just as he finished he heard the knock at his door. He quickly finished up and ran out to get it.

"Liv pizza is here," he called to her as he reached for the door. "Cassidy?" he said when he saw who was standing there.

"Where's Olivia?" he asked pushing past Elliot.

"She's in the bathroom, what the hell are you doin here?"

"I've come to take her home; she should be home with me, not here with you. She doesn't need you fucking around with head. You shouldn't have come back." He told Elliot getting up close to him.

"Cassidy you need to calm down, she doesn't need this right now."

"Don't tell me what she needs!" he yelled. "You have no idea what she needs. You left, she has me now," he shouted into Elliot's face.

"I'm not doin this with you Cassidy, not now. If Liv wants to go home with you tonight then she can. But she called me, she asked me to come for her."

"She doesn't know what she was thinking; her head was all over the place."

Elliot looked away from him and to Olivia who was stood at the entrance to the corridor; she was dressed in Maureen pyjamas. Brian turned to see where Elliot was looking.

"Olivia," he said going to her and pulling her into a hug, Olivia's arms hung by her side not attempting to hug him back. "I went to the station to pick you up and you had gone. Come on, I've come to take you home." Brian looked around and found her hoody. "Here put this on to keep warm, where's all your other stuff."

"In the bathroom," she told him her eyes fixed on Elliot who was stood watching everything by the front door. She could hear Brian moving around in the bathroom as he collected her stuff.

"Do you want to go Liv?" asked Elliot. Olivia shook her head.

"No, I want to stay here… with you, it's you I need right now." She told him sniffing.

"Okay," Elliot nodded as Brian came back through with her stuff.

"Okay Olivia, let's go," said Brian, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the door. Elliot could see her start to shake and panic as Brian grabbed her arm and pulled her with him. She looked shocked and scared.

He stood in front of them. "Let her go Cassidy, she doesn't want to go with you."

Cassidy let go of her arm and glared at Elliot. "Yes she fucking does. She doesn't need you screwing her up like last time."

"You don't have a choice, just leave, she wants to stay here," Elliot told him calmly. Olivia backed away and headed out the living room and back to the bathroom; she closed the door and locked it, then slipped to the floor and hugged her knees...

"Fuck you. You must really love this, her needing you so much. You always loved playing the big man didn't you, having her rely on you…."

"You think I like this. You think I like seeing her like this… you little pathetic fucking prick," said Elliot finally letting his anger out and grabbing hold of Cassidy's shirt and throwing him against the wall, his hand grabbing him round his neck. "I wish I never got the call from her, I would rather never see her again, than see her like this… so don't tell me how much I love having her need me. I would rather have her home playing happy families with you, than having her here like she is. So don't you dare tell me how much I love this!?" Elliot let go of his neck and Cassidy dropped to the floor gasping for breath.

"Get out!" Elliot told him. "And don't come back unless Olivia asks to see you," warned Elliot. Cassidy got up shaking and began walking to the door. "And one more thing Cassidy…" Brian turned to face Elliot. "If you ever grab hold of her like that again, I will fuck you up, and that's a promise."

Elliot watched him walk out just as the pizza delivery man came. Elliot quickly paid him and put the pizza on the bench before going to the bathroom.

"Liv," he said tapping on the door. He could hear her crying. "The pizza is here and Brian has gone," he told her. "It's only me."

He heard her moving and he heard the click of the door lock. He pushed open the door and Olivia was still sat on the floor by the door. Elliot entered the bathroom and closed the door before sliding down it and sitting next to her. Neither of them spoke.

"You didn't hurt him did you?" she asked.

"No, not really, I felt like it though, god that guy has always pissed me off," he sighed. "He didn't hurt you did he when he grabbed you."

"No….. I just panicked when he grabbed my arm like that," she told him. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."

"Liv stop it. Stop making excuses for him. You have just been through hell and he comes here and tried to drag you out the door…Jesus he always was an idiot." Elliot could feel his temper rising again; he took a deep breath as He looked across at Olivia she was shaking. He reached over and put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him and held her tight. She dropped her head to his shoulder and turned slightly into him. Elliot reached up and grabbed the bath robe off the back of the door and put it round Olivia to warm her up.

"It's okay Liv….." he told her softly. "Everything will be okay, I will look after you." it wasn't long before he heard her gentle breathing and realised she had fallen asleep. He gently and carefully moved so he could pick up. As he did she wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her out the bathroom and into his room as it was closer than Maureen's. He would just sleep in Dickies room. He lay her down in the centre of his bed and pulled the blankets over her. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her as she turned over on to her side and snuggled down. He stroked her hair and her cheek before going to stand up.

"Don't leave me," she said taking hold of his hand. "I don't want to be alone."

"Okay," he said and lay on the bed next to her on top of the blankets behind her. She reached behind her and took hold of his hand and pulled it up to her chest keeping a tight hold on it, Elliot held her close as she drifted back to sleep.

Elliot was woken up by a loud scream and Olivia thrashing about on the bed. He sat up quickly and switched on the bed side light.

"Liv" he said calmly trying to wake her from dream.

"No … get off me!" she screamed out. "No please…. I don't want to die."

Elliot didn't want to pin her down he tried to shake her gently out of her sleep. "Olivia ….. Come on Honey wake up, your just dreaming," he tried to tell her as she continued to fight in her dream. "Wake up Liv," he said again a bit louder.

Olivia's eyes shot open as her arm with the cast on swung up and met Elliot's jaw knocking his head to the side. "Get the fuck off me!" she screamed. Elliot tasted blood straight away. He looked down at Olivia who was lying there gasping for breath having finally woken from the dream.

"Elliot," she whispered.

"Yeah it's me," he smiled at her. "You were having a dream, well more like a nightmare….. You okay now?" he asked her. She nodded and looked up seeing the blood from Elliot's mouth.

"Oh god I'm so sorry," she said reaching up and touching his lip. Elliot flinched from the slight sting.

"It's okay, Liv its nothing."

"It's not okay and it's not nothing. I hit you and made you bleed," she said pushing herself up so she was sitting against his head board. He could see the tears in her eyes.

"Hey no tears okay, you hit out at whoever was in your dream, not me. I just put my face in the way," he smiled at her. She reached out and took his hand.

"I'm so glad you finally answered your phone to me, I don't think I could do this without you."

"Yes you could Liv. Your one of the strongest women I know."

"Well I don't feel like it right now."

Elliot lifted her chin up "Things will take time; you know that from all the women you have helped in the past, and I will be here, with you every step of the way."

"Don't say that," she said looking at him. "Don't make a promise you might not keep…. I don't think I could go through losing you again."

"I'm not going anywhere, I swear to god. I am going to be here for as long as you need Me." he lifted his hand and wiggled his little finger at her "Pinky promise" he smiled at her.

Olivia smiled at him and joined her little finger to his "Your and idiot at times do you know that."

"Only at times, I would say I have been a complete idiot for the last three years," he smiled back. "You hungry?" he asked her, quickly changing the subject.

"I am actually," she told him.

"Great, stay here and I will be back soon. Do you need any pain meds, while I'm out there?"

"Yeah please, my wrist is throbbing through the cast… must be where I hit you." Elliot laughed and left the room. He heated up the pizza and got a couple of bottles of water and carried them into the bedroom on a tray. Olivia was sitting on the bed her legs crossed. Elliot put the tray down in front of her and climbed on the bed facing her. He handed her the meds.

"Bed picnic," he smiled. "The girls used to love to have these, and then they would moan about all the crumbs," he said as he picked up a slice of pizza and took a large bite. They both ate in silence for a few minutes.

"So you going to tell me what happened with Kathy?"

Elliot sighed and put his pizza down "Do we need to do this now?" he asked her. Olivia nodded.

"I need to talk about something other than what happened to me, so come on get talking."

"When I got home from work, the night I shot Jenna I kinda closed down. I didn't want to talk about what had happened, even after it was splashed all over the papers I wouldn't open up to her, but she stood by me. I would just sit and stare into space for hours at a time. She tried to get me to go back to work but I didn't want to, I couldn't go back. Pulling the trigger and shooting Jenna took something away from me, something inside died that day and I realised I couldn't do it anymore. That was when I handed my papers in." He looked at Olivia. "I did come down to do it in person and to speak to you, but as I got to the station steps I started to panic. I couldn't breathe. So I handed the envelope to a young beat cop and asked him to give them to Cragen. Then I went to the nearest bar and got drunk."

Olivia moved the tray in front of them to the side and took his hand.

"I spent the next few months either drunk or hung-over, to try and blank out what I was feeling. The few times I was sober me and Kathy used to argue and I knew it was all my fault, but I couldn't stop myself. She even told me on a few occasions to call you, but I couldn't I didn't want you to see me like that. I was a total mess. Anyway after 8 months of putting up with me, she left. She took Eli and went to her Moms. Maureen and Kat tried to get me to see sense but I wouldn't listen. I felt like I had nothing. I had lost everything. It was about two weeks later when things changed; I was hung-over and looked like shit. I answered the door and Don was stood there."

"Cragen came to see you?"

"Yeah, the girls were so worried about me they called him. He talked me into getting help. I went to meetings, seen a shrink and sobered up. Kathy came back after a while and we tried counselling but we both realised to much had happened between us. We had stayed together because we felt like we should, not because it was what we wanted. So I moved out. But at least it was on good terms, we get on better now than we did for the last 2 years of our marriage," he said smiling at Olivia. She smiled back at him.

"Cragen never told me that he had seen you."

"I asked him not to, I didn't want you to see me like I was, I couldn't handle that on top of everything else. He only actually came to see me once, it was all I needed."

"So you off the drink completely now?"

"I have a beer every now and then, but that's it, and I still see my councillor every couple of weeks. So I'm doing good."

"I'm glad El, I really am."

Elliot looked at the clock as Olivia yawned. "Come on you should get some sleep," he said moving the tray onto the bedside table and standing up.

"El, if I promise to try and not hit you again will you stay with me….. I'm not ready to be alone."

"Sure, give me five minutes to lock up and change," he told her. He left the room taking the tray with him. He checked the door was locked and turned off all the lights, before going back to his bedroom. He grabbed a pair of sweats from his drawers as Olivia watched him and quickly got changed into them to sleep in. leaving his t-shirt on he climbed onto the bed.

"Don't be daft El, get under the blankets," she told him as he lay on top of the bed.

"You sure?" Olivia nodded so Elliot slid underneath the blankets and turned off the light, he lay on his side facing Olivia, he could just make out her face in the dark.

"Can you leave the light on?" Olivia asked him.

"Sure" he said reaching back and putting it back on. "Better?" she nodded.

"El we need to talk about what happened at the house," Elliot put a finger to her lips.

"Not right now we don't. We both need some sleep. We will talk again tomorrow."

"Okay," she said yawning. She reached across with her good hand and took hold of Elliot's hand as her eyes closed. Elliot lay and watched her. Even with all cuts and bruises she was still so beautiful.

"Quit staring Stabler," she mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.

Elliot ignored her and watched for as long as he could before finally falling asleep.

I did think about having Elliot punch Cassidy just because Cassidy really annoys me and has since the first season. He is just so slimy and childish. Liv didn't even care that he had left after she slept with him and never mentioned him for 13 years and we are expected to believe she always had the hots for him, do me a favour. Anyway, Next up Elliot and Olivia talk some more about what happened, and questions start to get asked about what happened at the house when the evidence that has been collected doesn't make sense.