A/N I know it takes me quite some time to post a new chapter and for that I apologize, on the other hand I'm glad that I can post a chapter or chapters again at all after such a long time of not being able to write, even if I don't like the time it cost me to get them posted.

Here's the new chapter. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. - Norman B. Rice

Chapter 63

"Gena, without going into details, that's something between the two of you, did you talk with Kerry about why I wanted her to come here, secondly, have you spoken about anything else that we should know?" Oliver asked.

By asking the second question Gena knew that Oliver meant the conversation between Oliver and herself and that he was asking indirectly if she had talked about it with Kerry, without outing her if she hadn't done that.

"Yes, I told her that you wanted to try to help her, although I don't know how or with what exactly, and I told her that I had a conversation with you about Vain. I didn't tell her all the details, as it wasn't the time to do that, but in big lines, she knows about what we talked about," Gena answered.

" Do I get your permission to speak freely?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, I already trusted you with it, and with what everyone said and the trust Kerry has in you, I know that everything will be safe here, so yes, you can speak freely about everything we talked about," Gena answered.

"Thank you. As I said, I want to help you, Kerry, but I also want to help Gena, if she, or the both of you I should say, want it," Oliver said.

"But how, how could you help me or her, Benson? Don't get me wrong, if you can or you think you can, I would accept it, but I just don't see how you could do that," Kerry asked and answered, the emotions and a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Kerry, get your ass over here, I would get out of my bed to hug you but then they would cuff me to my bed or make me sign that damn paper, so you have to come to me. And call me Oliver or Oli, as everyone else does," Oliver answered, while he waved his hand around the room to show he meant everyone in it.

While Kerry walked to Oliver's bed, Oliver looked at Alex and motioned with his head to go to Gena. Alex nodded at Oliver, knowing what he meant, and got up and walked to Gena.

Oliver hugged Kerry for a few seconds and then he took her hand as he spoke up.

"Kerry, I wouldn't have let you come over if I didn't have a plan, that I'm sure of, to help you get away from the 48th. Now you haven't been with the NYPD for a long time, but I have been there my whole career, I know which precincts it's safe to go to, and I know what kind of bigoted assholes you have to work with at the 48th. I know a lot of people and if needed I can pull a few strings here and there, and I know a few people who could do it for me, should that be necessary. Now, sit down in that chair, and let me ask you both a few questions about things I need to know for helping you both," Oliver said and squeezed Kerry's hand before he let go of her.

"The biggest problem you thought you have,Kerry, besides not knowing where to go, is that Gena and with her, you as well, have been or are being blackmailed and threatened to out you either publicly or to your current captain at the 48th, right?" Oliver asked.

"Yes," Kerry answered.

"Gena, I know this is difficult and painful to talk about, but do you have any proof of it, on paper or an email or anything else, the threatening and or the blackmailing? Anything with a date on it? And is he still doing it?" Oliver asked as kindly as he could.

Gena looked at Kerry, as the tears started to fall over her cheeks and Alex put her arm around her shoulders, for what she hoped would be a bit of comforting and encouraging.

"You can answer him, sweetie, it is safe," Kerry said, knowing that her wife was the one that needed to tell Oliver for her own sake.

Gena nodded at her wife and then looked over to Oliver.

"We haven't gotten anything recently so I guess the answer is no he doesn't do it now. The last thing was about two months ago, the week before I started here, I couldn't start sooner, you know why. We have an email and some voicemails on my cell phone, I wanted to delete them but Kerry said to save them so I haven't done that, deleting them I mean. The email had Kerry's hospital record attached to it and in the email, he threatened to make the record public if I would open up my mouth," Gena answered.

With a lot of effort, Oliver managed to keep the huge smile off his face that threatened to come up there after hearing Gena's answer.

"I think we've got the son of a bitch," Oliver said.

"What do you mean, we've got him?" Gena asked.

"Yes, what do you mean?" Kerry asked.

"Gena, when did you get the first voicemail or the email? Was that after you got suspended and with that heard about the deal, or was it before that?" Oliver asked, instead of answering.

"Some voicemails before but the email after, but what has that to do with this?" Gena asked.

"What do you two know about the deal with Vain?" Oliver asked, as he looked at Gena and then Kerry.

"Well we know that Carry got suspended the same time as I got and that he, Vain I mean, got 1 year and that he temporarily lost his function as the head of the gender team, but we don't know how long that will be. That was the deal Petersen said. But why, I still don't get it?" Gena answered and asked.

"Well, then he lied to you if that was exactly what he said the deal was. Yes Vain got suspended for 1 year without paying and yes he lost his function but he can't get it back for 5 years. But what they didn't tell you is that he also got probation for 2 years and that if he even screwed up a little bit he would lose his license. The rest of the deal was for me personally, maybe I'll tell you it another time, but it isn't relevant to your situation so I'd like to keep it to myself for now. Anyway, the point is that by blackmailing you and threatening to make Kerry's record public, he violated his probation and that can make him lose his license. I think it will make him lose his license as he would violate his oath as a Doctor, as he would release patient information without permission from the patient, in this case, Kerry. It makes me wonder how much Petersen knows, and if he deliberately didn't tell you about the rest of the deal, concerning Vain. Because Vain knows that Kerry is a Detective and that she knows he would violate his probation by blackmailing you. That's why I think we've got him," Oliver explained.

"Son of bitch! Oliver is right, Vain would know that I knew he was violating his probation if we would have known about that part of the deal, which makes it plausible that Petersen didn't tell us about it and that he might have deliberately not told us," Kerry exclaimed.

"Damn, we might need to act faster than I hoped or anticipated," Oliver said, having a certain look in his eyes.

Everyone looked at Oliver and it took them all less than two seconds to know he figured out something. After all, all of the women in the room were either involved with a Detective or were one themselves, never mind the fact that Alex and Abby had worked or were working with Detectives themselves. And Alex, having worked with the strong Detective for years and knowing him the best, knows that not only did he figured something out but also that for the first time in a long time he was thinking like a Detective again, that in itself was a huge step forward in his recovery, and the blonde attorney couldn't keep the smile off her face when she thought of that.

"What did you figure out, Detective, because I know you did?" Alex asked.

Hearing Alex calling him Detective made him look at her and knew instantly why, the smile on her face was a sign but more importantly he could see in her eyes that she noticed him thinking like a cop again, like the Detective he still was, even if he didn't think he was himself. But seeing it and knowing his wife noticed it and now that he thought about it himself, Oliver knew that he was wrong with thinking that he wasn't a Detective anymore, that with the current situation and his line of thinking, he was still a Detective or at least maybe being able to be one again, after his recovery. That he wasn't a Detective only on paper, that he actually still was in his mind. And that he had something to fight for, to work his ass off for, that he still could be the Detective he once was if he would fight for it. And that he felt inside of him that he still wanted to be exactly that. He nodded at Alex, letting her know that he knew what his wife thought and let her know that she had a point. All of the other women had looked at Oliver as well, and all of them knew as well that he was thinking as a Detective again, while Gena and Kerry didn't know how much he thought he wasn't it anymore, they both knew that something changed inside of Oliver, for Gena it was that she was a nurse and had many cops as a patient, for Kerry it was that she was a Detective herself and knew how he would think as every cop would have in his situation. So everyone was looking at Oliver but nobody said something, seeing that he was thinking about something and was trying to figure out how to put into words what was in his head.

After thinking for a bit Oliver nodded his head again at Alex and answered her question.

"While we might not be sure whether or not he did it on purpose, we do know that he might know it now, because Collins knows already or will know that I'm in this hospital and I doubt he wouldn't say it to Vain, and maybe also will or have told Petersen by now. Which means we don't have much time to do anything before at least Vain will start covering up his ass or try to, or do something stupid or dangerous as his license is on the line. We all know too well, with our jobs, what people can or will do when they feel threatened or about to lose everything they have and want to prevent that from happening," Oliver said.

"Hold on, wait a second, why would they know you're here, Oliver?" Kerry asked.

Oliver took a deep breath and looked at Alex for either confirmation or encouragement, the blonde looked back at him and barely noticeably nodded back at her husband.

"Well it seems like that tonight is a night of truths," Oliver said as he took another deep breath before he continued, " I don't know if Gena told you or if she knew it herself, but Vain found out that I have testicles that actually are working almost normally when he did that hysterectomy, and Alex was with me when the nurse, Kate, came to tell me what he had discovered. Alex was the attorney that made the deal for me, and for the record we weren't married at that time, we weren't even involved. We were friends and colleagues but that was it on a personal level. And except for a couple of people outside this room nobody knows it, so I'd appreciate it if you keep it to yourself.

Anyway, part of the deal that Alex got for me with the hospital itself, or with Collins as the CEO, is that they have to pay for any surgery I need or might need in the future that isn't covered or is partly covered by my insurance policy, which means that they know or will know that I'm here. And they know that Gena works here, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know what they will think, or will be afraid of, what could happen, and it is not relevant whether or not it is true or not. And therefore, we have to take matters in our own hands and act on it now or as soon as possible, before he or they will," Oliver explained.

"Dear Lord, what are we going to do now, how am I supposed to get away from the 48th now? Please tell me that we can get out of this mess, that there is something we can do to stop all this and please tell me that there is something to protect ourselves, well mostly Gena," Kerry pleaded.

"Kerry, look at me," Oliver said as he offered his hand for her to hold.

Kerry looked at him, and took his hand. Oliver squeezed her hand but didn't let go of it, knowing that the blonde Detective needed his support.

"I think I know how we can end this. But you have to do what I'm telling you to do. No, let me rephrase that, everyone in this room has to do exactly what I'm telling them to do, and it would be nice if no one objects or starts arguing with me," Oliver said and looked around the room to make it clear to everyone in his room.

All women nodded in acceptance at Oliver, they all knew how important it was that they would act fast and they all knew that arguing with him would cost them precious time, time that they probably didn't have in the first place.

"Thank you. Gena I want you to call Kathy and have her come here, if she's still in the hospital." Oliver said.

"Okay, I'll go to the nurse station and do that right now," Gena said and walked out of the room.

"Alex, call Liz and ask her to come to hospital right now, unless she has something that is urgent for her to do, she has to come now," Oliver said.

Alex nodded and walked out of the room to find a private place where she could make the call, and Oliver turned his attention to Abby.

"Abs, who's on call for the judges?" Oliver asked.

"Petrovsky is, why?" Abby answered and asked.

"Call her and if possible have her come here as well, if not request for her to be on stand-by," Oliver answered.

Abby nodded and left the room as well. Then Oliver looked at Jane.

"Jane, are there any high profile cases at the precinct right now?" Oliver asked.

"No, nothing high profile. There are few cases but it is relatively quiet so to speak," Jane answered.

Oliver nodded at Jane's answer and continued, " Call Cragen and ask him to come to the hospital as well," Oliver said.

"Alright, I'll call him now, be right back, Oli," Jane answered.

With that Jane also left the room and now the only two occupants were Kerry and Oliver.

"Why are all those people called and asked to come here, and who's Cragen?" Kerry asked.

"I'll explain what my plan is when the girls are all back here, that way I only have to explain it once. Assuming that they all will come here, and in Petrovsky's case that she'll be stand-by if she's not available, it's easier to get everything done if everyone is here. Cragen is Captain Cragen of the 16th precinct's SVU, the precinct Jane and I are assigned to. Don't worry Kerry, you can trust all of them, Liz is the EADA for the Manhattan DA's office, and she was also involved with the deal. Petrovsky is a Judge that is strict but fair, and she always wants to do what is best for a victim if she has the possibility to actually do that. She is the Judge that was involved with the deal that Alex got for me, so it's a good thing that she is on call today,"Oliver answered.

"And they all just drop whatever they're doing and come here just because you ask them to? The Captain, I can understand that, but why would an EADA and a Judge do that?" Kerry asked, shocked.

"Yes, in a way, they will because I asked them to. Kerry, they know it is important when I ask them to come to a hospital at this time of the day. I have a good relationship with Liz and Cragen, and to a certain level also with Petrovsky. Liz is kind of related to Alex and indirectly to me because of my marriage to Alex, the Captain and I have a long history of working together and he's like family to me as am I to him, on a personal level. And within the NYPD, Manhattan SVU has a reputation of solving high profile cases and a high closure rate, but we also have the reputation of not backing down for anything or anyone, and with that we have some power as well, and everyone who knows me within the force, knows what I'm capable of and the length I'm willing to go to protect those that are close to me, and they don't want to face my wrath when it comes to that. I know a lot of people because of my job, I have a lot of connections, and I will use them if necessary. Now we haven't seen each other for a long time, but we were once partners, Kerry, and to me good partners are partners for life, even if they are going different paths throughout their careers. We had each other's back, a long time ago when we were partners, and I'm having yours now, even though I'm in the hospital right now and not working," Oliver answered and explained.

Still overwhelmed and for sure still worried about everything that is going on with her and Gena, Kerry starts to get a tiny bit of hope. If Oliver really has the connections and power he claims to have, then maybe there might be a way to get them out of the problems they are facing. And she knows one thing for sure, that Oliver will do everything he can, and she trusts him and believes in him, like he said they were partners a long time ago, but she already knew back then that he was a man of his word and that he wouldn't promise something he couldn't do. She also shared his opinion on the partner thing he said. So she thought for a few moments on how to respond before she did that.

"First, thank you for helping me or wanting to help me, Oliver. Second, I agree with you on what you said about partners. I know I can trust you, and I think with all that you just said I'm getting a little bit of hope that there might be a way out. Thank you for having my back again, when I need it the most,again," Kerry softly said.

"Always, Kerry, always," Oliver replied.

The two Detectives just had some small talk while they waited for everyone to come back into Oliver's room. Conveniently, they all came back to his room within a minute after the first of them came back. When everyone was there Oliver took the lead again.

"Alright, did you all manage to get them here to the hospital?" Oliver asked.

Everyone nodded and answered.

"Kathy was still here and will be here in a few minutes, she had something to finish up with first before coming over," Gena answered.

Alex waited for a second to see if Gena was finished before she spoke up herself.

" Liz is coming over as well, she should be here in about 20 to 30 minutes," Alex answered, and looked to Jane to follow up.

"Cragen will be here as soon as he can, he hopes that he will be here in 30 minutes, if traffic allows it," Jane answered.

And when Jane was finished Abby took over to answer as well.

"Petrovsky is coming as well, she's still on call but if possible she'll do whatever she needs to do from the hospital, should she get a call while being here, she should be here in 40 minutes give or take a few minutes," Abby answered.

"Thank you all. Right, I'll explain what my plan is in two separate sections, the first one being about helping Gena, the second one about helping Kerry. Again please do as told and only come with suggestions when you are sure that it is for the best to do it differently than what I want to do," Oliver said.

All the women nodded at Oliver again.

"Gena I want you to take Jane here, and go home to collect the evidence you have about Vain, that way if you have to make copies or print things, there aren't eyes or ears around to see or hear you doing it, the less people here in this hospital know about it the better it is, and we have a bigger chance of Vain not getting to know what we are doing before we work it all out and act on, Jane will know how to exactly do it and it can never hurt in these kind of situations to have someone with you that can protect you. Also pack some clothing and other stuff you need for a few days, for you and Kerry. Come back as quickly as you can though. Go after I finish explaining the rest of the first part of my plan," Oliver said.

"Ok, I will do that, but can you tell me why, or will that be explained when you tell us the rest?" Gena asked.

"It will be clear to you when I finish telling the rest," Oliver answered.

Gena nodded and Oliver continued, " Abby, go to Jane's and to your apartment and pack for a few days as well. I want you and Jane to stay at our apartment with Gena, it's the most secure building of all our homes and hopefully it won't take more than a few days to wrap this up, and we have more than enough space to accommodate everyone, even if I should be back home before we're done. Kerry will be staying here with me in the hospital until I'm allowed to leave, that way Alex and myself will be safe as well. We all know Alex won't leave this hospital unless it's for me to be released," Oliver explained and was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Oliver said.

The door opened and Kathy walked inside.

"You asked me to come over, again, I should say. Can't do without me, Detective?" Kathy joked.

Oliver just rolled with his eyes and smiled before he got serious again.

"Thank you for coming, Kathy. I'll tell you what I need you for as soon as I'm done explaining things to the others, I'll bring you up to date, after everyone leaves to do what they're told to do," Oliver said.

"Ok, go ahead. Sorry for interrupting you," Kathy answered.

Oliver nodded at the blonde nurse and then continued with his explanation.

"Right, before you all will be back, Liz and Cragen will be here, and probably Petrovsky as well, so I'll fill in Liz when she comes here, regarding violating his probation, and we can present the evidence when Jane and Gena are back, and she can pick it up with Petrovsky and go from there. That's all regarding the first part of my plan, so you go and do that, and I fill you in with what's needed for the part regarding Kerry and helping her if necessary, when you're back, of course depending on if or when, we're done with Liz and or Petrovsky." Oliver finished.

"Alright, Gena and I will be back as soon as possible, and if something comes up I'll call you," Jane said, as she stood up and walked to where Gena was standing.

Gena nodded at Jane and walked over to Kerry and hugged her wife and pecked her on the lips before she left the room with Jane.

"Well it seems like I'm next, stay in your bed, Oil," Abby drawled.

"Har, har, very funny Texas, just move your ass and go, it'll take you the longest to get back here, and who knows what we might need you for, being SVU's ADA," Oliver countered.

"Good point, right, I'll get out of your hair, be back asap," Abby answered and got up to leave as well.

Oliver just shook his head and smiled at Abby before the brunette left the room as well, and Oliver turned his head and his attention to Kathy.

"Again, thanks for coming, Kathy. We need an extra bed in this room, Kerry is staying with me in this room for a few days or until I'm released. As for why, it has to do with Gena and Kerry being blackmailed and all of us going to end it. And before you ask, no, I won't leave my bed, I can do what I need to do from here. I just want to get out of here as soon as I can, and I don't want to jinx it. Gena needed to go home to get some things so that's why I asked for you to come over," Oliver said.

Kathy laughed and shook her head before she responded to Oliver.

"In other words, there's another cop here to be a pain in the ass, mostly my ass, probably.

Alright, I'll go get a bed, but two things before I'm going. One, might I suggest getting a larger bed for yourself as well? I assume that Alex will be staying and knowing the two of you, she'll end up sleeping in your bed no matter what we'll be saying and it being against hospital policy. Two, is she staying here to protect or being protected, in other words, do we need someone staying outside to guard your room?" Kathy asked.

"You mean one of those beds for patients who are more heavy? If so, then yes, I want Alex to be as comfortable as she can be in a hospital, and that way I won't have to worry that she'll be falling out of bed. And to answer your second question, good thinking, she is both here to protect and probably to be protected so a guard at the door might be a good idea. But have Jane check them out before someone is assigned to stay, and thank you for thinking with me, well us of course," Oliver answered.

"Should have known you would see it that way and agree with a bigger bed for Alex instead for your own health and wellbeing as you're the one having had a surgery. Anyway, I'll look for guards myself and when Jane's back she can check them out before assigning them, anything else you need?" Kathy asked.

"No thank you that'll be all," Oliver answered.

Kathy nodded at Oliver, smiled at Alex and Kerry and left the room herself to arrange everything. After Kathy left, Oliver looked at both Alex and Kerry and started to talk about the second part of his plan.

"Let's continue and talk about helping you, now that everyone else is doing what they need to do," Oliver said.

"What do you have in mind for that Liv," Alex asked.

"I might have a good solution, but I have to ask something first," Oliver answered and then looked at Kerry.

"Kerry, Gena told us you're with Homicide now but that you weren't with homicide before you joined the NYPD. Where were you with before? I mean which division were you in? You don't have to tell me where it was, we can talk about that later if you want it and catch up, we'll have more than enough time for that probably." Oliver asked and explained his question.

"I know we will have more than enough time later, someone needs to keep you occupied enough so that you'll stay in your bed, not that I would've been any better if it was me in that bed," Kerry joked, and then answered Oliver's question, " Homicide then SVU and back to Homicide when I transferred to the NYPD, why?" Kerry answered and asked.

"Seeing you've been with Homicide and SVU before, I have the solution to get you away from the 48th. Call them and take a few sick days. That way you are not there when things are being arranged, a few days should be enough for me to get it done," Oliver answered.

Both blondes looked at Oliver, shocked and with raised eyebrows, and asked the same question at the same time.

"How?"