*I know how you all love a good Stabler kid chat...Its been a minute...* :)

"How are you doing with everything?" Elliot asked. It was a dumb question, but he needed to start somewhere.

Colton shrugged. They sat in the living room on one of the couches while his parents stood by in the kitchen.

"Yeah that was a dumb question." Elliot leaned back on the couch cushions.

"Yeah kinda," Colton confirmed. "Just ask what you need to ask. I know you need to ask some questions and it's fine. Just ask."

Elliot appreciated the kid's candor. "Okay, we just need to know what you remember about what Lucas did that night."

Colton leaned back, mimicking Elliot's casual position. "I thought I told you everything. I mean he was there. He helped Abby get.." he swallowed. "He helped get her down to the creek."

"Do you remember anything about their conversation? Who's idea was it to go down to the creek?"

Colton thought for a moment. Elliot could almost see his brain repeating the scene from that night. "They were hard to hear. They were trying to be quiet, you know, so they wouldn't be caught."

"Right," Elliot nodded his understanding.

Colton closed his eyes as he tried to remember the small details of that night. "Abby suggested they take her down there." He opened his eyes. "I'm pretty sure it was Abby's idea. She didn't want to get in trouble for being out of the tent at night." He thought a bit more. "She didn't want to get in trouble, Lucas went along with it. I don't think he wanted to get into more trouble either."

"I agree. Both of them would have gotten into big trouble if they were caught, but you're sure Abby suggested it?"

"Absolutely," Colton said firmly.

"Thanks. That's really helpful." He hated they had to dove into the event itself, but they needed the information. "How about when you went to the creek? It's really important that I know who did what."

He watched Colton swallow deeply as he relived the memory. "Obviously Lucas dragged her down there. Abby wasn't strong enough."

"Right," Elliot affirmed.

"He was the one holding her still while Abby yelled. He stood behind her holding her arms so she couldn't get away." The visual still made Elliot sick. "Abby just kept yelling., and Clem said something. I don't know who she was talking to but that's when Lucas let go of her arms. He looked like he was going to let her go but," he hesitated before taking a deep breath, "Clem tried to run and that's when Abby yanked her back. It was really hard." His eyes dropped to his hands. "That's when they saw me and I ran."

Elliot patted Colton's shoulder. "You did great, buddy."

Colton bit his lip to stop himself from crying. Elliot reached for him, and Colton accepted a very tight hug. "You did great," Elliot repeated quietly above the boys head. Out of every person involved in this tragedy, he knew, without a doubt, Colton was the bravest.

-000-

Liz—-Kathleen

L: What are you doing right now?

K: Getting my ass kicked by a 12 year old on a video game, why?

L: I'm coming over.

K: I thought you had a meeting.

L: Damn thing got rescheduled. I'm kinda pissed.

K: HA! Sucka!

L: Shut up. I'm coming over.

K: There is one kid here- he doesn't need two babysitters.

L: Whatever. I'm coming over.

K: Fine Fine. Text when you get here.

-000-

Olivia finished the case review with Jane, the assistant DA, just as Elliot arrived at the precinct. She watched him wander into her office, his eyes on her the entire way.

She sent Jane to the room where they planned to speak to Abby again. Once she was settled, Olivia discreetly slipped into her office, shutting the door behind her.

Elliot left her sandwich on her desk and was wandering around, inspecting the different items adorning her shelves.

She moved towards her desk, "This sandwich for me?"

He turned, finally noticing her there. "Well," he teased, "it's not for Fin."

She smiled and took the sandwich with her when she sat on her couch. Elliot followed behind her, settling on the couch beside her. He dropped an arm over her shoulders while she unwrapped her sandwich. Before she took a bite she asked, "How did things go with Colton?"

He leaned in and kissed her temple while she took a bite of her sandwich. He brushed her hair off of her shoulder, toying with it while he answered. "Good actually. Figured I'd come over to give you the rundown before heading back to your apartment."

She tried to hide her smile. He could have easily called her. He wanted to see her. She brushed past the comment, "What did you find out?"

"Abby's your primary aggressor. Ethan was there, he participated to a point, but Colton said it looked like he was going to let her go when Abby yanked her back."

Olivia nodded, as more and more information came in she had suspected Abby was their primary.

She left half of the sandwich on the corner of her desk she could reach. She leaned back against Elliot, allowing his arm to drape completely around her. She closed her eyes and took the opportunity to just breathe him in.

His fingers lightly trailed up and down her arm as they sat in comfortable silence. "Thanks for going to see him," she finally said. "I figured he would be comfortable with you. More than anyone else."

"No big deal," he said and she felt his lips on the top of her head.

She tilted her face up to see him better. "It was for me."

She surprised herself when she brought her hand to his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. She kept it soft and sweet, but she was slightly breathless when she pulled away.

He kept his eyes closed and their faces remained close. "You know I love you right?"

She pulled back a little further so she could see his blue eyes when they opened. "I know." Her thumb brushed across his lips before she returned the words. "I love you too," she whispered.

His lips fell on hers, and she realized they were kissing in her office, but she couldn't find a reason to care. His lips moved against hers, warm and wet. She couldn't help herself from sucking at his bottom lip, filling the sudden need to taste him.

He leaned in and her back pressed into the arm of the couch under the weight of his body. She felt him smile against her lips when her tongue brushed his. His hand found her hip and just as his tongue swept over her bottom lip her office door flung open.

"Hey Liv," Fin walked straight into the office freezing when his eyes lifted from the paper in his hand to the couple on the couch.

Just as Liv pushed her hands against Elliot's chest to get him off of her, Fin backed out of the office, "Shit! I'll come back later…" his eyes twinkled a little and she knew he would be giving her crap for the rest of the day.

She sighed and Elliot's head dropped against her shoulder. She smacked his shoulder when he started laughing, "I better go."

"Probably," she admitted. She put pressure on his shoulders, but he resisted with a smile.

He dove in for one more kiss. When he pulled back he asked. "See you tonight?"

"See you tonight," she confirmed with a smile.

-000-

Kathleen knew it was Lizzie when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Noah popped up. "It's Lizzie right?"

"Should be. She texted me that she was coming up." Kathleen confirmed and watched as Noah bounced down the hall.

Noah threw open the door for Liz. "Hi!" He greeted.

"Hey little dude. Okay if I hang out too?"

"Yeah." He turned to lead her down the short hall, "Are you any better at PlayStation games? No offense but Katie kinda sucks."

"I heard that!" Kathleen called from the kitchen.

"He can't help it if it's true!" Liz teased as she dropped her purse and keys on the counter. She turned back to Noah. "I am better at most games because I had a twin brother who'd make fun of me when I lost."

"Dickie's your twin?" His face squished up in a sort of confused expression.

"Yeah," she laughed. "I know right? I'm the cooler twin though."

Noah thought for a minute, "Maybe…I only met Dickie once so I can't tell you who's better yet," his eyes glinted with mischief.

Liz scoffed. "Too bad he's working or we could have some sort of twin competition."

Noah's grin got big. "Can we seriously do that sometime? That'd be funny. I could come up with the games or whatever."

"Only if I can help," Kathleen interjected herself in the conversation. "I'm tired of the two of them fighting over who the better twin is. I'm game to settle it once and for all."

"It's settled then. Noah and Katie will come up with the criteria for the competition and when…" she hesitated to describe the current situation. "Things settle down, we will have the ultimate twin throw down."

"Yessss…." Kathleen laughed, "we can settle the argument once and for all." She walked over to Noah and gave him a fist bump. "Good plan dude. I can't believe we hadn't thought of that before."

Noah shrugged and blushed a little. "Can we figure some ideas out and then I'll see if Lizzie is any better than you at PlayStation." He teased.

"Oh I promise I am," Liz bragged.

-000-

Stabler Kid Chat

K: Ultimate Twin Throwdown- two weeks from now. Be prepared. We will be ending the twin argument once and for all….

L: Ready to cry Dickie?

D: I don't know what the hell is going on, but there is no way Liz could beat me at ANYTHING.

K: Noah and I decided it was time to settle the "who's the better twin dispute". Two weeks from now. Dad's place. Noah as the unbiased third party will be the referee.

D: I'm game.

E: Is it weird that I want to come home for that? Sounds kind of epic…wonder if I can convince Dad to help me out with a plane ticket…. ?ￂﾠ

M: Oh man- we need to do this with Kieran and Semus sometime…I swear. I listened to that argument growing up, and now I have twins so I hear the SAME argument all the time.

K: Let's see how this competition goes, and maybe we can let the boys fight it out on another weekend.

M: Done ?

E: Will someone at least FaceTime me?

L: Noah says he'll make his mom FaceTime you so you don't miss it.

E: Yesssss! I like this kid already.

K: He's pretty cool- not gonna lie…

D: Best baby bro ever….

E: Damn it DICK you wonder why I hate you…

D: You don't hate me.

E: No, but I hope Lizzie beats your ass…

L: Damn right!

K: I so can't wait for this. ? ﾟﾤﾣ?

-000-

Abby entered the precinct looking like she was going shopping with her mother. Her hair was flawless as always, and it looked like her mom took her for a manicure on their way to the precinct. Her and her mother's level of denial was mind blowing.

Olivia watched as they settled in across from the assistant DA and next to the child's legal counsel. The entire scene was unreal.

Olivia decided to observe rather than participate. Bruno had worked through much of this part of the case so she allowed him to sit in on the meeting. She hoped the lawyers could come up with a satisfactory compromise, but Olivia worried Abby and her mother would insist on taking the case to a juvenile court judge. Olivia doubted Abby would get off for any of this, but she worried that since Abby was a pretty white girl she would get off easy.

Despite her concerns over what punishment Abby would receive, she took some solace in the fact that Abby would be taken into custody and placed in a juvenile facility until all legalities were sorted out. There would finally be some sort of consequence for her horrible actions that night.

Olivia leaned against the wall, and listened to the conversation proceeding on the other side of the glass.

"Abby insists that she was just there, and Lucas was the one who hurt the other girl." That statement alone made Olivia's stomach turn. She didn't care enough to even give Clem a name.

"She can say that all she wants, but the truth is, we have several witnesses that attest to the contrary," Jane, from the DAs office, argued.

"Two of which were involved in the crime, and have a vested interest in the direction the case goes," Abby's lawyer argued.

"Yeah but one witness is a reliable bystander with no connection to the crime," Bruno piped in.

"Another twelve year old who could be just as biased as the others involved." The other lawyer argued.

"He's reliable and consistent," Jane argued. "We won't hesitate to take this to the juvenile judge and I promise you the punishment will be harsh for such a senseless, callous crime…" Jane's eyes bore into Abby's.

"What are you offering?" The lawyer asked, but his tone indicated they weren't really interested in making any sort of deal.

"Six years in a juvenile facility, counseling and an expunged record at age eighteen."

The lawyer laughed, "that's not any better than what the judge would level at the harshest level. Try again."

"What are you looking for?" Jane asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Mandatory counseling, and probation."

"No way. She killed another child. No amount of counseling fixes that." Bruno piped in again, but then backed off once he realized he was supposed to be more of an observer.

Jane picked up on the same line of thought, "He's right. That isn't anything more than a tap on the wrist. It doesn't even qualify as a slap." She thought for a moment. "I don't want to spend this entire day negotiating. This is the final offer. Think it over for twenty four hours if you'd like, but after that we will be taking it to the juvenile court." She glanced over to Bruno and then back to Abby before laying out her offer. "Four years in a juvenile facility. Two years probation, with required counseling during that time. Expunged record at age eighteen. Final offer." Her voice leveled the seriousness of her statement.

Olivia hoped they would take the offer and spare everyone further drama. The lawyer turned to Abby's mother as they discussed the terms. After a few moments he decided to counter. "We want two years…" he didn't finish the statement because Jane stood up.

"I told you our final offer. You can take it or leave it. Call me within twenty four hours if you want to take it." She motioned for Bruno to follow her out of the room, but Jane turned just before she opened the door. "I would consider the offer," she cautioned, and she stepped through the now open door, leaving the group behind to ponder her words.