Elliot kept his hands on Olivia through the night. He knew it's what she wanted and what she needed, but he couldn't sleep. Somewhere around 4:30 am he decided he would try a run before Noah was up and Olivia needed to get to work.

He snuggled closer into her back, savoring the warmth of her body against his. He fed pressed a lingering kiss on her shoulder before scooting back off the bed.

He closed the bathroom door before turning the light on. He splashed water in his face in an attempt to wash away the fog surrounding his brain. His eyes stayed closed as he reached for a nearby towel. When his eyes opened he was almost startled by his own haggard appearance in the mirror. He sighed. This week had been hell, and it wasn't even close to over.

Elliot found his bag on the floor of the closet. He dug out his gym clothes, including the socks he worked so hard to find. At the bottom of his bag he found his running shoes. He was grateful he thought to pack them.

Once his shoes were laced, he shut the bathroom light off and opened the door. The two bodies laying in bed looked just as he left them except Olivia had rolled partially onto her back with her arm stretched out. He swallowed the emotional rise in his chest. She was reaching for him.

He quietly snuck to her side of the bed. Noah laid there, still sound asleep, but worry furrowed his brow even as he slept. This day would be hard, but he would find some way to get them through it.

He reached over Noah, careful not to disturb him. He stroked Olivia's arm, and then her cheek. She stirred and lightly opened her eyes. She blinked away sleep, but noted his attire. "Going for a run?" She kept her voice low, so as not to wake Noah.

He kept a hand on her cheek. "Yeah. Is that okay? You guys will be fine for an hour?"

She glanced at her watch and noted the time. "He won't even be close to awake by the time you get back."

"And you're okay?" He wanted to make sure she didn't feel abandoned. That's partially why he woke her this early. He didn't want the chance of her waking up without him.

"I'll be fine for an hour," she answered. Her brown eyes held his with deep affection. "You go take care of you for a while. We will be okay until you get back," she promised.

He rubbed her check with his thumb before kissing her lips softly. "I'll be back soon."

"Take all the time you need El. We aren't going anywhere," she assured him.

He kissed her once more, "I love you."

He watched her bite her lip. She wanted to say it back. He knew she did, but those words held so much meaning for her. For them. He knew she loved him. She wouldn't have let him in otherwise. She'd return it when she was ready.

Instead she said nothing and kissed him again. "Get outta here," she grinned.

He let her go, standing up completely. "Back soon…promise." With that, he headed out the door.

-000-

Bruno pulled into the campsite just as the purple light of dawn began to reach through the trees. Churlish crashed out during the first hour of the drive. They left early that morning so they could get there right as it was light enough to see.

He parked and nudged her. "Churlish. We're here."

She opened her eyes, and looked all around surprised at their settings. Bruno suspected this was a new experience for her.

"You got your boots?" He pulled his own from the back seat.

"Yeah. They're probably going to make my feet blister though. I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't have a pair of hiking boots." She pulled hers from a backpack and yanked the tags off.

"You bring thick socks?" Bruno asked, knowing that would at least partially combat the friction of new boots.

"Uh, I didn't know I should." He reached to the back seat again and tossed her a matched pair of thick socks. "Use these. My boots are well worn. I'll be fine with my thinner socks."

She eyed him skeptically.

"They're clean," he promised with an eye roll.

"If you say so," she mumbled.

Churlish was an interesting person, that was for sure. She was obviously straight laced, considering she almost got Velasco's ass fired. He could respect that, but he otherwise didn't know much about her. She was new to SVU while he felt like a veteran at this point. Her ambition made her work twice as hard as her peers and usually made up for whatever experience she lacked.

She finished lacing her boots and he handed her a water bottle. "Keep it with you. Once the sun comes up it's going to get pretty hot."

She nodded and stuck it in her small pack. They stepped out of his SUV and slammed the doors behind them. He took in the surroundings and noticed Chirlish's overall reticence.

"Haven't spent much time camping?" He asked.

"No. It wasn't really part of my childhood. I grew up in the city."

Bruno nodded. She was like many people he knew in the city. He pulled out his phone. "Limited service," he commented.

He pulled up a photo on his phone. "Stabler got a map of the area and sent me the locations where they found the previous evidence and where they thought everything might have gone down."

"Helpful." Churlish commented.

"Invaluable," Bruno corrected. "Those trees are thick. You'll see once we are in there. Having marked locations makes finding something at least plausible." He pointed towards the creek. "The creek is in that direction, and we are supposed to follow the bank until it opens into a clearing."

"Alright. Let's do it then." She gripped the straps of her pack and stayed a half step behind him.

The creek bed muffled a lot of the other noises from the forest and the sound of running water proved the only overpowering noise. They took in their surroundings and started their slow hike to the clearing.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Churlish asked while her eyes scanned the dirt of the creek bed.

"Anything out of place," Bruno responded. "The only thing that makes this search a little easier than others is we are looking for anything man made out of place in the natural surroundings."

Churlish nodded, and continued her search.

Bruno kept his eyes up. Watching the branches of the trees, hoping a tree caught on something helpful. This was a Hail Mary and they all knew it.

-000-

Olivia arrived at the precinct a little early, she wanted a little time to prepare for the day. The morning had gone surprisingly smooth.

Elliot was sure to get back from his run in plenty of time for her to get ready. Noah was still crashed out hard when he made it back.

She slid out of bed when she heard the door shut, and tucked the comforter snugly around her sleeping boy. She met Elliot in the kitchen while he chugged a bottle of water. She leaned on the counter, and watched him for a moment. "Feel a little better?"

He tossed the empty water bottle into the garbage and came around the corner of the counter. "Uh. I don't know how to answer that," he admitted. "Running was a nice distraction, but…" he shrugged his shoulders, "can't distract myself forever."

She reached out for his hip and he stepped towards her. She wrapped him in a big, only to withdraw quickly. "Oh God you're sweaty," she laughed.

"Well yeah," he chuckled. "Running eight miles makes a person sweaty." He grinned mischievously and snatched her up into his arms.

"Oh gross," she complained. But she must not have been too bothered because her lips fell in his, and in seconds her tongue ran across his salty lips.

"Mmm," he hummed. "I could get used to this particular distraction.

He dropped her to her feet, but she no longer protested as his sweaty body leaned into hers. She felt him grinning.

"What?" She smiled.

"Just thinking about the other morning. I think someone promised she'd shower with me." She couldn't help but kiss that infuriating smirk. "I think it's later now," he teased.

He had already pulled her shirt up to her bra line, exposing her entire stomach. It was the perfect time for a shower.

Both their shirts were already missing before they tumbled into the hall bathroom. She was still braless from sleep and he groaned as her breasts brushed his chest. Once the bathroom door was locked she tugged at the waistband of his shorts. He kept his mouth on her while she reached for the shower knob.

He tugged at her leggings only to find she never put panties back on after their rendezvous in her bedroom the night before.

He moaned, "Jesus Liv. You trying to give me a heart attack?" His hands ran down her back until gripping her bare ass.

She nipped at his earlobe, "wasn't my original intention," she breathed in his ear. Her delicate fingers tugged at his boxer briefs.

He groaned as his underwear hit the floor and she pulled him into the warm shower spray.

Her face flushed at the memory. It seemed strange. Starting this relationship in the middle of this whole mess. But at the same time it felt like the most natural time to start it. This case caused extreme emotional wreckage, but he was there, and starting this thing was the best decision she ever made. And the sex didn't suck. As was typical to the beginning of a relationship they were having a hard time keeping their hands…and lips off of each other. It was a weird juxtaposition to the events swirling around them, but somewhere in the bliss of the morning she found the peace and strength to tackle the day. Something about his hands on her body and his mouth on hers acted as an emotional balm she didn't know she needed.

She let the affectionate feelings of the morning recede as she prepared to enter her quiet squad room. Dispatching half her detectives to the mountains was necessary, but it created some unreal silence.

She headed to her office, sipping her coffee as she walked. Marcus or Steven or whatever was in custody, so they wouldn't be able to interview him, and she doubted they would get anything useful anyway. They needed more to go on before taking him on with his lawyer in tow.

Abby's mom still refused to allow another interview. Velasco had worked tirelessly with the mother, trying to get her to come in, but to no avail.

The biggest event would be the arrival of Lucas/Ethan's parents. She really had to choose a way to refer to him. Fin had child protective services bring in Lucas early so they could talk to him before his real parents magically showed up.

She dropped her stuff in her office and found Fin with Lucas in an interview room. Not in interrogation. This event had very little to do with the criminal case, and they all wanted to create the best possible situation for this unique reunion.

She stood in the door frame. Lucas' back was to her, but Fin could see her standing there. He glanced up at her and she knew he was about to dive in.

"Alright Lucas. Today's gonna go a little different. I'm not asking you more questions about the camp out, but Imma have to tell you some stuff that might be tough to hear."

Olivia watched as Fin began to deliver the news.

"While we were investigating we came across some interesting information about…your dad."

Olivia couldn't see the boy's face, but she watched his body language change. He looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"We looked into his history and found out he had a criminal background, and…we found out you are not biologically his son."

"What?" Lucas seemed genuinely confused. "You got it all wrong. He's my dad. I'd remember if he wasn't."

"No." Fin remained firm. "You were born as Ethan Campbell. You had a different family and a different life. When you were two years old Marcus Moore abducted you from a Walmart."

"No way. You're screwing with me. There's no way."

"It's true." Fin tried to affirm. He pulled open the file that sat in front of him on the table. He slid a picture of a two year old boy with his parents. He pointed to the boy in the picture, "This is you. These are your parents."

Lucas still shook his head. "No. My dad's name is Marcus, and my mom died a long time ago. I don't know who those people are but they aren't my parents."

Fin sighed, and glanced in her direction. Lucas seemed determined to stay in denial, and Fin seemed at a loss as to how to help him understand the truth.

"Believe me or not man, but these," he pointed to the two adults in the picture, "are your parents. We ran your DNA. And that stuff doesn't lie."

Lucas still shook his head, unable to comprehend this unfathomable turn of events.

"Listen. They are coming in soon. I'm gonna take you to a different room to hang out so we can get them prepped to meet you."

"I don't want to meet them." His voice oozed with irritation. "I want to see my dad."

"Not going to happen. He's in jail for a bunch of stuff I'm not gonna go into." Fin stood, and Olivia backed out of the door. "Come with me. Your child advocate is already in the waiting room."

Lucas seemed hesitant, but surprisingly he compiled without a fight. Olivia watched Fin escort him away, and then glanced at her watch. She had about twenty minutes until his parents were expected to arrive.