Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this fic. I welcome any constructive criticism as that is the only way to perfect one's writing and storyline to its full potential. Also thank you to those who have faved/followed. You guys rock. This fic was inspired by my friend Mary Elizabeth who is basically my twin and loves SVU as much as I do.

It had been a little over two weeks since she'd gotten out of the hospital. Olivia couldn't take off work so her detective Carisi was kind enough to fly to Seattle with Emily and help her pack up her life and offered to help haul it back with her. They had just packed the last box into the Uhaul when a man pulled up. Her ex, Jason.

Emily groaned as the unmarked police car came to a stop and Carisi gave Emily a look that told her he knew what to do.

"Hey, Em!" Jason said excitedly. Emily wanted to punch him in the face with his fake enthusiasm, "Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I am," Emily said, then turned to Carisi, "This is Dominic, he's-"

"Her new boyfriend," Carisi said turning and winking his eye that Jason had no view of, "And you are?"

"I'm her ex…partner." Jason stumbled through his words. He was thrown off guard hearing Emily had a boyfriend so soon after leaving.

"Yes," Emily said, grabbing Carisi's arm with her casted hand.

"Oh," Jason said, his eyes shifting to her hand and face, "Did he do this?" Jason made an aggressive shift towards Carisi and Emily put herself in the middle.

"No, he didn't Jason. Ok? Can you back off?" Emily said her hands in the air standing her ground, "I was dehydrated and had a panic attack and passed out. He couldn't catch me before I hit the ground." The statement was technically true because he hadn't been close enough to catch her.

"Ok," Jason said, his hands in the air as he backed away, "I'll leave you alone." He climbed back into his car and drove off.

Emily sighed, sitting on the back of the truck. Carisi came around and took a seat next to her.

"Thanks," Emily said, looking down at her hands, "You didn't have to do that." Emily looked up, trying to smile.

"It's really no problem," Carisi said, smiling back, "I have three sisters so I know an ex when I see one."

Emily chuckled. She was still trying to figure him out. He was cute but she'd seen the looks he gave the blonde detective named Amanda, so she didn't want to get in the middle.

Emily hopped down, Carisi following her lead, and she got in the passenger side. Carisi walked around and hopped in the driver seat, bringing the truck to life and pulling out. Emily looked in the side rear view mirror, watching her childhood home get further and further away. All of her and her parents belongings shuffled in the back of the truck despite being secured. She knew she would feel sad about leaving, but the moment the house she had put up for sale, the one she scraped her knees, fallen from trees, gone to prom, graduated college, returned from the police academy, and taken care of her mother in disappeared from her view, all of those memories flooded her thoughts until they exited as tears.

Carisi saw that she was upset, but he knew that sometimes you kept your mouth shut and let someone cry.

It was going to take nearly 2 days of just driving time to get to New York so they took turns driving, making Emily's driving time shorter because of her wrist. Carisi wouldn't have minded driving solely, but Emily wasn't having any of that.

He hadn't really taken the time to really look at Emily. She and Liv were technically identical but so many things were different. There was this vulnerability that Emily showed whether she liked to or not. Olivia had mastered the stern non-vulnerable look long before Carisi joined the squad. There was also something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. Before she could catch him for looking too long he looked away. But she'd noticed anyway.

After driving for 30 hours they decided to find a hotel. The closest one they could find had only one room with one bed. Carisi knew she'd been through a lot so he made a makeshift bed on the floor next to the bed. Emily protested but Carisi wouldn't take no for an answer.

Emily sat in the middle of the bed with her knees drawn to her chin, her arms wrapped tight around her legs. Carisi had been fast asleep for hours but she just couldn't turn her thoughts off. She could hear his soft breaths from the floor as she thought about the man that assaulted her. She just couldn't let go that he had started attacking women the day before she had arrived to New York. Did he know about her mom? Did he know where she was born and originally from?

Just the thought of the possibility that he was stalking her and somehow knew those things made her heart race. Hot tears rolled down her face involuntary. She tried to catch her breath but just got more choppy. Just as she felt like she would fly apart, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her. She almost forgot Carisi had been there. She didn't even notice him waking up or even coming over to the bed but she was so glad he did.

"Shhhh," he said, as if he was soothing a baby, "You're ok. You're safe."

For such a skinny guy, he had a warm and comforting hug. Emily concentrated on his breath with her ear to his chest and began mimicking it. In a few minutes she felt better and she didn't know what to say as she sheepishly laid down on the bed. Carisi wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he couldn't just go back to the floor and leave her there alone to get lost in her thoughts again. So without saying anything he laid down behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Emily gently put her hands on his arms and they both fell asleep. This was going to make the rest of the ride home a tiny bit awkward.