Olivia crouched down and reached her hand out, "Hey, we've been looking everywhere for you," she kept her voice soft, but Colton seemed frozen in place. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his arms were wrapped tightly around them. Olivia didn't want to push him, and she didn't want everyone rushing in to crowd him, but she needed to call it in so they could call off the search.

She reached for the radio at her hip and remembered Elliot had it. "Hey Colton?" His dark eyes flit up to hers, "I'm just going to let everyone know I found you, okay? We have a lot of people out here looking for you." She softly smiled at him, but those brown eyes still appeared vacant and terrified.

She cautiously stood and took a couple steps back as she tried to ascertain Elliot's location. She spotted him down hill from her, luckily within earshot. "El!" She yelled.

His head immediately whipped around, and she couldn't help the emotion she felt when she called out, "I got him!" Her voice cracked "He's okay!" His face registered the same relief she felt. He bounded towards her, dodging the thick foliage as he came.

She crouched down as he approached, and he mimicked her position as she pointed out a terrified Colton still frozen beneath the tree fall.

Elliot approached slowly, and reached his hand out,"Colton," his warm voice rumbled.

To her surprise, when Colton realized it was Elliot talking, he rushed from his hiding place, nearly knocking Elliot over as his arms flew around him. "Oh buddy," Colton began sobbing, and Olivia's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle her own emotion. They found him. He was alive.

"Hey bud, I got you." Elliot soothed. She knew he was fighting back the same rush of emotion. They found him, and she couldn't stop her own tears of relief.

Elliot lifted Colton into his arms, much like he would a younger child, and Colton clung to his shoulders. Elliot rubbed his back, "You're safe. We got you." Elliot reached one hand towards his belt loop for the radio. He couldn't quite reach it so he turned his hip towards Olivia, "I can't reach. Call it in." He kept his voice low and soft, so as not to startle the boy who was clearly in shock.

Olivia did as she was told and grabbed the radio from his hip. Tears pressed against her eyes and she blinked them back furiously. She swallowed the lump in her throat before clicking the radio, "This is Captain Benson," her voice shook with emotion. "We found him. He appears unharmed." Thank God.

The voice on the other end sounded relieved, "Copy. We'll send a paramedic team up. What's your location?"

Olivia's eyes flew to Elliot's, and they both knew a swarm of strangers would probably traumatize this kid even more. She clicked the radio, "We got him. He's physically fine. No medics needed. We can meet the ambulance at the campsite."

She really hoped Anderson wouldn't insist on protocol for this. There was no way Colton would let anyone touch him besides Elliot, and from the fiercely protective look on Elliot's face, she guessed he wouldn't allow anyone to take the child from him.

The radio clicked, "Alright everybody. You heard her. Let's round everyone up, and get this kid to the campsite."

Olivia clipped the radio back to Elliot's hip. Elliot shifted Colton's weight a little and asked him, "Do you want me to carry you down like this or do you want a piggyback?"

Colton's wide brown eyes focused on Elliot's, and Olivia wasn't sure he was going to talk at all, but he surprised her when he softly said, "Like this." He snuggled his face into Elliot's chest.

Elliot nodded against Colton's head. Olivia rested hand on Elliot's back, "Let's go." She let her slide down his back, and they started their trek back down the hill to the campsite.

-000-

The campsite was a flurry activity. Officers and medics buzzed around. Elliot was thankful for all their help, but now he wished they would back the hell off.

As they approached the ambulance one of the EMTs reached for Colton, but he clung tighter. "I'll ride with him," he told the medic, who thankfully backed off. "Where is his Mom?" Elliot scanned the sea of faces, but he couldn't remember what Colton's Mom looked like.

He turned to Liv, who hadn't said much, but had stayed glued to his side. She tiptoed up, but she shook her head. "I don't see her, but there is a chance she didn't want Jace up here with her if…" her thoughts trailed off, but Elliot knew exactly what she was thinking. Colton's mom didn't want his twin brother there if things went badly. "I'm assuming she stayed where Fin and Noah are. Someone has probably called her, but I'll check with Fin." She glanced around and the buzz of people. "Stay with him." Her hand gripped his bicep, "get him into the ambulance, and I'll make sure his Mom meets you at the hospital."

"Sounds good." He replied.

He felt her hand squeeze his arm lightly. Her eyes held his and she looked like she wanted to say something, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she said, "Nice work Elliot. They would never have found him on their own."

"Well technically you found him." He demurred.

"Well yeah, but you knew where to go." Her eyes shined with admiration, and it thoroughly warmed him. "Um," she suddenly seemed self conscious. "I'll go make some calls. I'll meet you at the hospital."

He nodded. "See you there."

-000-

Elliot sunk down into the chair next to Olivia. She leaned her head back against the wall, "are you okay?"

He thought for a moment because he hadn't had more than a minute to consider how "okay" he was. "I don't know," he admitted.

"How's Colton?" She had only seen him briefly when she escorted his mother to the exam room.

"Physically okay. Tired, dehydrated. Couple skinned knees." Elliot blew out a breath, "Mentally or emotionally? This is gonna be tough. Kid is clearly traumatized. He's barely talking to his mom." He shook his head, "We are going to need to get a psychologist in here I think."

"He's been talking to you," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but barely, and I'm not sure I am the right person to push him for details." He leaned his head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "I'm out of practice with this Liv." He turned his head and he caught her concerned brown eyes. "I mean, I left SVU almost thirteen years ago." He sighed and dropped his attention to his hands. "And one of the reasons I left was because I just couldn't…I couldn't do this anymore." Truth be told, that was only one of many reasons, but it was true all the same. He felt nervous about his admission. They still needed to talk about his reasons for ghosting the world, and he worried this would open up an emotional discussion he wasn't prepared for.

To his surprise she reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his. "You were great at it." Her voice was softer than normal, and he knew this conversation was beginning to strike a sensitive nerve. He wasn't sure he could handle anymore emotions today.

"You were great at it," he emphasized. "I just sorta rode your coattails."

"You know that's not true." He knew she meant it, but he knew he wasn't built for SVU in the way she was.

He shrugged, not wanting to argue. "Anyway, the past few years I have spent my time slamming perps against walls and threatening mob bosses," he tried lightening the heavy mood, "A little more geared to my natural strong suit."

He could tell she wanted to argue, but she let it go. "You might not think you can do this anymore, but you might not have a choice. Colton trusts you. You," she emphasized. "He knows me better, but he didn't want me. He wanted you." She squeezed his hand and he lifted his eyes to hers. "You did something to make him feel safe, and right now, that's the most important thing. Whether you think you're up for it or not, that kid chose you."

Elliot knew she was right. She was always right. He knew he could do the job. He knew he could complete an interview, but he didn't feel prepared for the heaviness of a child centered SVU case. And part of him was a little scared, because the last SVU case he worked on ended in the death of a teenage child. And that was an event he never quite recovered from. "Well, let's see how he's doing after he's had a chance to rest. I'm not pushing him to talk until he's ready."

"Of course. I wouldn't suggest otherwise." She sounded as exhausted as he felt.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He was so damn tired. "Did you check in with Clem's parents? Any changes?"

"I talked to her mom. Her dad was in the hospital room with her. The doctors still don't know much."

He tried to focus on the good. They found Colton. He was okay. But it hardly seemed like a win, when Clem laid in a hospital bed, nearly comatose.

"It seems crazy. All this technology and science, and they can't tell us if she will wake up or not."

"I know," Olivia agreed. He opened his eyes and watched her picking at invisible lint on her pants. "They did say the longer she stays unconscious the worse her prognosis gets."

"Jesus," he muttered, and she nodded solemnly.

He glanced down at her obviously swollen ankle. "Did you get that looked at?" He nodded towards her ankle.

She shook her head. "It's fine, just sore."

"Liv." He scolded.

"It's fine. Really." She gave him a reassuring smile, "you did a great job babying it and taping it up," she teased. She placed a hand on his forearm. "It just needs some ice and rest. I promise," he eyes were sincere, "it's fine."

He nodded, "Just stay off of it please." He kept his eyes on their intertwined hands. "I'm glad you stayed. That you were there."

"You know as well as I do that I would have gone crazy just sitting at the motel waiting."

He chuckled. "Yeah that's true. But seriously. I'm glad you were there." And he was. He was glad she stayed, not only for the kids, but for him as well. He needed her to get through all of this.

He shook off his emotion and changed the subject. "Where's Noah? I'm sure he's ready to go home."

"Fin's on his way. He's picking me up so I don't have to drive home."

"Good call." At this point he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Part of him wanted to live in this hospital. He had no reason to go home, and he felt responsible for these two kids. And Clem… he didn't feel like he could go home and rest while that sweet girl fought to stay alive.

Olivia suddenly seemed a little shy, "You could ride home with us…" she suggested.

He sighed. That sounded good. Riding home with her. But he felt stuck. "I dunno. I might stay here…"

She cut him off, taking his hand again. "El, you can't stay here forever. Colton will be discharged soon. And Clem…it might be a while until they know anything…" she held his gaze, and made the firm request. "Come home with me Elliot."