2 weeks later

Elliot's phone buzzed on the bedside table. He propped himself up on one arm, rubbing the grogginess in his eyes with the other. He hated calls in the middle of the night, but it was part of the job.

"Stabler," he stated when he picked up the phone, his voice revealing his lingering sleepiness.

"Elliot, we need you and Olivia out at Randall's Island. There's been a homicide," came Cragen's voice.

"We'll be right there." Elliot closed his phone, ending the call. He rolled over and wrapped his arm around Liv's waist, pulling her closer to him. Her warm skin soothed Elliot as it pressed against his bare chest. She was like a furnace under the blankets, but he didn't mind. It was nice to sleep next to someone again. It had been months since Kathy left him and took the kids. "Liv," he whispered into her ear.

"Huh," she replied groggily rotating her head enough to see Stabler looking down at her. "What is it?"

"Get up. Captain just called. They need us down at Randall's Island." Olivia let out a long moan as she sat up stretching. Elliot scratched her back, waking her up even more. The two had agreed to try a formal relationship, even though it was more of a formality. They had known each other for so long; they were already like an old-married couple. Confessing their love for each other 2 weeks ago just deepened their bond. They were going to tell the IAB eventually, they just hadn't determined when. For now, only Novak and Cragen knew about their relationship, and their baby. Stabler sat up and gave Liv a kiss on the shoulder before getting up. He grabbed yesterday's clothes from the floor: a now wrinkled grey button down and jeans. "I'll make coffee while you get dressed."

Olivia slinked out of bed, reluctant to leave the warmth. She slid into her clothes before spraying her hair with dry shampoo and pulling it into a ponytail. She didn't have time to shower now, so that would have to do.

"You ready?" Stabler called from the living room. Benson wandered out to him where he stood, her gun in one hand and a coffee in the other. She smiled at him, holstering her gun and taking the cup.

"Thank you," she said as she took a sip. It warmed her soul and brought life back into her exhausted bones. Her doctor had said she could have a cup of coffee a day, no more than two. It took a lot to back down to only two cups, but she made it work. The two wandered out to the car and took off towards the crime scene.

"What've we got?" Stabler asked as he and Benson approached the yellow police line, rocks crunching under their shoes, the smell of cement filling their lungs.

"Female. Rape-homicide. And she recently had a baby," Dr. Warner briefed.

"How can you tell?" Olivia asked.

"You see her abdomen?" Dr. Warner pulled the drape away from the body to expose the patient. "Her uterus is still gravid, indicating that it has not had time to shrink back down yet."

"Any idea how old she is?" Stabler asked, squatting down to examine the body closer.

"She can't be more than 16 or 17. No ID or cellphone on her"

"Any idea how long she's been dead or what killed her?"

"I'd have to say no more than 4 hours. It's hard to tell. She has ligature marks around her neck, but she also lost a lot of blood" The three stared at the body. "I'll know more when we get back to the lab."

"We'll check the system for similar MO's when we get back," Stabler stated as he rose to standing. The two started back to their car before Stabler stopped.

"Do you hear that?" he asked his partner.

"Hear what?" she questioned, looking around for what Stabler was looking for.

"I hear a baby crying. Everyone quiet down!" Stabler hollered. The crime scene's bustle slowed. The squeak of a baby was heard faintly in the distance.

"Over there!" El exclaimed as he jogged in the direction of the cry. He made his way under the overpass towards a dumpster, the cries getting louder. "Olivia!" Benson ran to catch up to her partner who was already halfway into the container of trash.

"I guess we've found our victim's baby," Liv said surprised as Elliot climbed out with a baby in his arms. The infant was no more than a few days old. She was wrapped in a pink swaddling blanket but did not have any clothes on.Her umbilical cord was still fresh and showing no signs of shriveling yet, only a food storage clip keeping it from bleeding out. Liv looked at her partner with wide eyes.

"Let's get her over to the paramedics," he declared as they started back to the main crime scene. The baby's cries quieted to a whimper as Elliot's body heat warmed her up. The CSI team hurried past them, eager to start examining the dumpster. The paramedics cleared the baby of any emergent issues, but recommended she go to the hospital for further examination.

"Go El. I'll meet you back at the precinct," Liv said as she placed her hand on his back, ushering him into the ambulance. "Make sure she's ok." He gave her an empathetic smile as she closed the rig's doors and patted the side, signaling to the driver to go. As the ambulance started off towards Mercy Hospital, Stabler couldn't help but think of his kids. He could remember when they were this small and fragile, and he would have another one soon enough. How anyone could ever do this to a baby was beyond him. He reached down and took a hold of the infants cold, small hand, the little girl's fist wrapping around his index finger. "You're going to be ok," he whispered to her as he held her close. "I'll find whoever did this to you."

"Hey Liv, I won't be in until this afternoon. Dickie punched a kid at school and I have to go in," Stabler said over the phone.

"Like father, like son," Olivia quipped back. "But seriously, take your time. We've got it here. Missing persons ID our victim and Munch and Fin are bringing in her boyfriend for questioning. Cap and I can handle the interrogation."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We've got it covered. Go take care of your kid."

"Thanks Liv. I'll see you later." And with that the call ended. It wasn't long after that Munch and Fin arrived with the suspect. They sat him in the interrogation room adjacent to Cragen's office. Casey, Don, and Olivia gathered, watching the man through the one-way glass.

"How do you want to approach this?" Benson asked her superior.

"Ask him about the baby. See if he has anything to do with how she wound up in that dumpster. If he's her father, he's more likely to help us with her before he admits to killing the victim," Cragen speculated. Liv nodded her head and walked around to the interrogation room door. Before she could turn the handle, a sharp, stabbing cramp took over her lower abdomen. She doubled over, catching herself from falling over. She stood there hunched over for a minute, waiting for the pain to subside. When it finally did, she straightened herself up and entered the room.

"I guess a congratulations are in order," Olivia stated as she sauntered in. "You're the father to a bouncing baby girl. At least, she would be if she hadn't been left for dead in a dumpster."

"No, no, no, no, no. You've got this all wrong. I would never hurt Amanda's baby. I love her. I would never do anything to hurt them," defended the man.

"Really? Then tell us why she's dead and her baby is fighting for her life," Benson seethed. She had no tolerance for murders and even less for child abusers.

"Wait, Amanda's dead?" the man asked, his voice cracking and tears welling in his eyes.

"Yeah Carl. She's dead." Benson laid out pictures of the dead body. As she placed the last one another pain hit her. Her breath hitched, but she did her best to try and push through it.

"Oh god." Carl let out a cry as he picked up one of the pictures. "And you think I did this?"

"Well did you?" Olivia let out a long breath, hoping to breath away the pain. She steadied herself on the table as the room started spinning.

"No! Why would I hurt our baby?!" The man shot up out of his chair as he got more defensive.

"I don't know, you tell me." Olivia locked eyes with the suspect, trying to get a read on if he was genuine or just a good liar. Suddenly the room went black, and Benson collapsed to the ground.

"Oh god," Novak exclaimed as she watched her friend pass out from the other room.

"Call a bus," Cragen ordered as he hurried out of his office. "Munch. Fin. Take care of Carl." The two detectives hurried the man out of the room as Cragen knelt next to Benson. "Liv? Liv, stay with me." He checked for a pulse. It was strong, but she was not responding.

"This is ADA Casey Novak. I need an ambulance to Manhattan SVU. We have an officer down," Casey reported to the 911 operator.

"Liv?" Cragen continued to ask, lifting his detective's limp body and holding her in his arms. "Liv, stay with me. You can't go now. You've got a baby on the way. Liv?" Paramedics rushed into the room and started hooking Olivia up to their monitors. "I'll ride with her," Cragen told Novak who was now at their side. "Call Stabler and tell him to meet us at the hospital."