Chapter Twelve

Something Wicked This Way Comes

October 20th, 2004

Olivia walked into the lobby of the precinct and took one look at the crowd of people around the elevators and headed towards the stairs. After a month of weekly appointments with Huang and Elliot's constant support she had decided it was time to come back to work. She'd started back that Monday, and things had gone as smoothly as could be expected. They hadn't caught a case, so the whole day all she did was follow up paperwork on cases she'd been involved with before taking temporary leave. Tuesday had been the same, and she was just coming back from her lunch break, which she had spent with Dr. Huang, and they still hadn't been called out for anything. She almost hoped for a case, one to get away from boring paperwork, and two because she genuinely missed doing her job.

They had talked about this, and a few other job-related topics at the therapy session she'd just had with Huang. Aside from missing her job, she had spoken about the handful of condolences she had gotten from her coworkers at the precinct and how she had surprisingly felt comforted by them, in other words,she didn't feel a stabbing pain in her heart when they mentioned the baby. Huang had congratulated her, because according to him this meant that she was healing, and however hard it was to believe that, she did find that she was beginning to feel a little lighter both mentally and physically in the past few days. As to her hope for a case to come in, he had explained that it was just her wanting some normalcy in her life again and she couldn't disagree with him there.

Normal still seemed just out of her grasp, but she was getting closer everyday and moving on didn't seem like a huge ordeal anymore. Elliot had been a rock for the past four weeks and she was grateful for his help and love and she hoped he wouldn't kill her for the party she had planned for him tonight in thanks. Today was his birthday and with the help of his kids and the squad she had been able to set up a party for him in secret at his favorite Italian restaurant just down the street from the precinct. As far as those invited and involved with the planning knew, the celebration was strictly because of his birthday, but in her mind it was also to thank him for being there for her when she'd needed him most.

Now that her mind was on the party she went through the list of things that still needed done for about the fourth time that day and was about halfway down the list when she rounded the corner and was stopped in her tracks. Just inside the squad room where her and Elliot's desks sat, was none other than Lieutenant Ed Tucker, who had the balls to sit at and put his feet up on, her desk. Her stomach twisted in knots, the only reason for his unannounced and unexpected arrival was that he had somehow found out about her and Elliot. No one from the precinct suspected Elliot was the father because as far as she knew anyone who had inquired about his week off had been told that he was gone because Elizabeth had come down with a terrible bug and Kathy was in upstate New York for her mother's funeral and otherwise unavailable. The latter was actually true and if one of the kids had actually come down with the flu he would've had to stay home.

Olivia took a deep breath, swallowed her fear and marched confidently into the squad room, setting her jacket and purse down on her desk calmly before turning to Tucker with a fiery glint in her eye. "What do you want?"

"I don't even get a hello?" He asked with a evil smirk.

She didn't answer, her lips set in a tight thin line. "I was wondering when you were going to get back, I didn't know Special Victims detectives got to take such long lunch breaks. How was George? I've been meaning to pay him a visit, need to ask him a few questions about you."

Her eyes widened, and her whole body tensed with anger, "You can't do that. The matter I'm seeing him for is personal, not because of the job. He won't answer any of your questions."

It was true, he couldn't answer anything anyone asked about her because she was protected by doctor-patient confidentiality since she was seeing him for something that wasn't job-related. It was one of the main reasons why she had agreed to therapy with him upon Elliot's suggestion.

"Even if it means losing his job?" Tucker asked raising an eyebrow at her. "Plus, why would you care? Do you have something to hide Detective Benson?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but clamped it shut glaring at him angrily.

"Just what I thought, now why don't we take this conversation somewhere a little more private?" He said standing up and gesturing towards the area of the unit that housed the interrogation rooms.

"You take her to interrogation, you better bet your ass we're coming too." Olivia glanced over as Fin stood up from his desk, while Munch was busy talking to someone animatedly on the phone who she could only hope was their Captain who was currently out to lunch with the Chief of D's.

"Fine, then I won't have to walk as far when it's your turn for questioning." Tucker answered icily, heading towards the interrogation rooms.

Olivia took a step in the same direction but was stopped by a hand on her arm and turned around to see Fin looking tough as always but slightly worried. "What?"

"Don't say anything in there, okay? John is talking to Cap right now and when he's finished he's gonna call Elliot." He explained quietly, glancing sideways at Tucker who was waiting impatiently across the room.

She shook her head, "Elliot's in court and isn't due back for another hour at best."

"Fine, he will leave him a message, either way you don't say anything and we'll figure out what to do when Cap gets here." He squeezed her arm as if sensing the fear that was radiating through her. "Don't worry baby girl, we got your back."

Tucker called for her not so nicely and she just nodded at Fin, hoping that they did, otherwise her and Elliot would both be out of a job.

Elliot took the stairs up to the squad room two at a time as his mind raced with the thousands of possibilities that could warrant a message from Munch telling him he needed to get down to the precinct as soon as possible. He wished the Sergeant had given him more information, for starters if this involved Olivia or not. He'd been worried sick on the cab ride over and when traffic had backed up a block and a half away from the 1-6 he had handed the cabbie a handful of money and ran the rest of the way there.

Elliot burst out of the stairwell, out of breath and decided from the odd looks he was getting that he should probably slow down. He walked calmly but quickly into the squad room and was confused to find it empty. Not wasting anytime though, he looked into the Captain's office which was also empty and was about to check the cribs when he heard voices coming from the hallway of interrogation rooms. He walked towards them, checking the observation area outside of each one until he finally found the one Fin, Munch, and Cragen were occupying.

"What's going on?" He asked, causing all of them to turn around which in turn gave him a clear view of the occupants inside the other room.

He easily recognized Tucker from his voice that was coming out of the speaker on the wall and his eyes widened as Tucker adjusted himself and he got a quick glimpse of Olivia. Her jaw was set defiantly and her lips were drawn in a thin line, but her eyes betrayed her, they were filled with worry even though he could see she was trying to mask that feeling with an air of nonchalance.

Elliot looked back at Cragen, "What the hell is going on?"

"They called me, " he said jerking his thumb towards the other two detectives, "and said that this jerk had decided to stop by and that he was taking Liv to question her about the nature of your relationship."

"Damnit." Elliot cursed turning around and pounding his fist on the opposite wall.

"Since everyone else was gone, we decided that we should hang back here in case a case came in and it was about noon when he showed up and stationed himself at Olivia's desk." Munch said pointing at Tucker.

"We jus' ignored him at first, but then he started goin' through Liv's desk so we asked him what he was doing here." Fin said sighing angrily. "Told us it was none of our business unless we had any information to share about your relationship."

"How long has she been in there?" Elliot asked, looking at her through the observation window.

"About an hour." Munch answered.

"She said anything?" Elliot questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nope, we told her not to." Fin replied.

The four settled into silence after Elliot was done asking questions and continued to observe the interrogation.

"Since you won't answer any of my questions, how about I just lay out the facts for you?" He said and Olivia still remained silent.

"There have been several days in the past few months when the two of you have both taken extended lunch breaks, a handful of people who work in this building will admit to seeing the two of you holding hands or whispering in each others ears when you think no one is watching, and the big whopper being that the week following your miscarriage Detective Stabler took off claiming a family emergency." He listed each fact in a matter-of-fact tone and it made her blood boil. "My condolences by the way, I'm sure that was not any easy situation to go through alone since you will neither admit nor deny the existence of a father."

"You have no right to assume you know what my 'situation' was like." She spat icily, not willing to let him speak about her personal life in such an offhand manner.

"Have I hit a sore spot?" He asked, a tone of half-assed concern laced in each word that left his mouth. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention."

Every fiber in her being screamed at her to slap the condescending smirk he flashed her right of his ugly little face, but she held back and looked away from him so the temptation wouldn't grow.

"You know, now that I think about it you probably could've saved your kid by just admitting to your relationship with Detective Stabler from the very beginning." Her head snapped up and she glared at him sharply. "That certainly got your attention."

He paused, leaning back into his chair and taking his time stretching before continuing. "If you look at the facts it makes sense. You two would have been split up, sent to different departments and you wouldn't have been stressed out from working the Eldridge case and probably wouldn't have lost the baby. So really this whole mess is your fault and-"

He was interrupted as Elliot suddenly burst into the room, his face red as a beet. "That's it, this-whatever this is- its over. Get the hell out Tucker."

The lieutenant shot up out of his seat so fast he almost knocked over his chair, "Detective you are not authorized to interrupt this, you shouldn't even be watching."

"It's a good thing I'm authorized to end it then." Cragen said, stepping into the room. "You can leave Olivia. This has gone on long enough and that last part about her baby, you crossed a huge line Lieutenant and you better believe I'll be talking to your superior about this."

Knowing she was about ten seconds away from a break down she nodded at Cragen and sent a look Elliot's way that let him know how thankful she was for his intervention.

Elliot gave her a small nod and watched her leave with Cragen in tow before turning his attention back to Tucker. "I don't know what this squad ever did to you to create this personal vendetta you seem to have with us, but whatever it was it does not give you any right to talk to her like that."

"What about you? Feeling up for a chat Stabler? She wouldn't flip on you but if you tell me everything I might just be able to save your job." He said gesturing to the table and chairs behind him.

"You are one sick bastard, you know that?" Elliot spat before turning around to leave.

"Maybe your kid and I should start a club."

Tucker had said those last words just above a whisper and Elliot barely caught them, but it was enough to get his anger flaring again and before he knew what he was doing Tucker was on the ground clutching his ribs with one hand and his face with the other and Elliot's knuckles were bloody. Elliot bent over Tucker's injured form and leaned down so he could whisper in the man's ear.

"You ever so much as think about Olivia, I, or her-" he paused, then continued because at this point he was probably already fired and it wouldn't make a difference. "Or our child again and your ticket to the hospital will only be one way."

Elliot stood back up and stormed out of the room, but before he could go in search of Olivia he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and turned around to find Munch and Fin staring at him approvingly.

"You have just done something I've wanted to do for years and I commend you for it." Munch said removing his hand from Elliot's shoulder to clap him on the back.

Elliot gave him a brief smile, "Either of you see where Liv went?"

"I think she said she would be in the cribs." Fin answered.

"Thanks. Could you tell Captain I took her home? I don't think either of us really feel like being here right now." Elliot asked.

"Sure." Fin answered.

"Thanks. See you guys tomorrow, if I still have a job." The last statement was meant as a joke but all three of them knew it was a very real possibility.

Elliot walked away from the interrogation rooms and across the squad room to the cribs and found Olivia sitting on a cot just inside the room. Her head was angled towards the floor obstructing his view of her face, so he took a seat beside her and gingerly coaxed her head upward so he could look into her eyes. Her face was a mask of surprising calm, but when he looked into her eyes they were clouded with emotion.

"Hey." He greeted quietly.

"Hey." She repeated, laying her hand over one of his that rested on her cheek.

"You okay?" He asked, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear with his other hand.

"Not really." She admitted, a tear escaping her eye and running down her cheek.

He wiped it away with his thumb, "Nothing that jerk said in there was true. None of this is or was your fault, got it?"

"I know that, I'm not stupid." She joked, a half sob, half chuckle escaping her throat. "That's not what I'm worried about."

"What is it then?" He asked confused.

"I'm afraid that if we lose our jobs this...us...we won't be able to handle it and then I will have lost everything." She whispered, her voice catching on the last word.

Elliot wrapped both arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Olivia no matter what happens, I will love you, I'll always love you."

"Promise?" She whispered.

"Cross my heart." He answered, knowing the cliche sometimes got her to smile and he was happy to see a small grin on her face when he pulled back. "C'mon, let's go get your stuff and then we can go home."

"Can we still go to dinner like we talked about?" Olivia inquired as they walked out of the cribs, hoping she still might be able to pull off his surprise party.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to miss my party." He said, then clamped his hand over his mouth. "Shit."

"You knew?" She asked irritated and angry that he had found out.

He sighed, running his hand over his eyes, "Well it's kind of easy to guess when you disappear into the bathroom with your phone for half an hour at least once a day."

Olivia grimaced, just now realizing how obvious she must have been. "Dang it, well you better still act surprised."

"I was planning on it." He replied as the headed to the elevators.

"If you promise to make it convincing you might just get one of your birthday presents before the party." She teased as they stepped into the empty elevator.

"I get more than one?" He asked as she pushed the button for the parking lot.

She nodded and smiled as she leaned up to whisper in his ear, "I'm wearing one of them right now."

"How long until the party?" He asked, swallowing hard.

"Couple hours." She answered, backing away from him slightly, but threading her fingers through his so she did not completely break contact with him.

"I love you so much Olivia Benson." He said, kissing the side of her head.

"Eh, I'm pretty fond of you." She teased smirking.

"Hey, it's my birthday!" He exclaimed.

"Just kidding, I love you too..." She winked at him as the elevator doors opened, "Maybe."

She exited the elevator and headed towards his car at a run, and she could hear him following close behind her. When he caught her just before she reached the car she shrieked with laughter and tried to wriggle out of his embrace. He wasn't budging and before she knew it he had turned her around and was kissing her furiously on the mouth. It was a very public display and it was easy for her to understand that he really didn't care what happened with their jobs, just as long as they had each other. She couldn't agree more and kissed him back fervently, because all joking aside she really did love him and nothing IAB or Ed Tucker could do or say would ever change that.

A/N: Thanks for reading folks! Sorry about the late update, my life caught up with me and I had to deal with that. :) Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for the reviews and continued support!

-Kate