A/N: A little more plot.
With a satisfied belly, Grace laid comfortably on the couch with her head resting on Olivia's lap while the two women watched the news after dinner. She rolled over onto her belly and smiled when Olivia lifted her t-shirt and began to gently tickle her back the way Grace liked, her fingertips lightly grazing over the healed scars that would never really go away. The younger brunette happily melted under the affection, feeling safe and protected in the arms of her mentor.
"And in other news, police are asking the public to be on the look out for this man. Michael Duarte is wanted for the rape and murder of three women and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. If you see him, please call…" the newscaster spoke professionally.
Grace choked on a fearful sob and began to visibly shake as a picture of Duarte appeared on the screen, and she rolled away from the TV and buried her face in Olivia's belly, soaking Olivia's t-shirt with her tears. Olivia immediately turned off the TV and rushed to comfort her young charge.
"I've got you, baby, you're safe right here with me. I promise he will never hurt you again." Olivia gently stroked Grace's long dark hair.
"Mommy, why we not knowed it?" Gracie suddenly appeared as big girl Grace retreated inside herself to hide away from the world.
"I don't know why we didn't know about this, little one. When Mommy goes to work tomorrow I will find out what's going on and I will do everything in my power to protect you, I promise."
"Mommy, baf, peeze?" Gracie looked up with tears and fear in her dazzling blue eyes.
"Such a good girl, so polite. Yes, you can have a bath." Olivia agreed lovingly, kissing Gracie's temple. Her big girl had already taken a shower, but if her baby girl wanted the comfort of a warm bath, a diaper, and her favorite baby girl pajamas, then Olivia wasn't going to deny her. Gracie wasn't asking for a bath to clean her body, she was asking Mommy to soothe her fears.
Olivia carried Gracie into the bathroom and deposited her gently on her feet. Gracie sat on the closed toilet seat lid while Mommy drew her a warm bath, complete with her favorite rose scented bubbles and her favorite bath toys. Olivia gently stripped Gracie out of big girl Grace's clothes and guided her into the tub.
"Tip your head back, baby girl." Olivia instructed kindly and used a cup to gently soak Gracie's hair with water. She then reached over and picked up Gracie's favorite rose scented shampoo and began to gently wash Gracie's hair while Gracie played in the water. When she was told to do so, Gracie happily dunked her head under the water to rid her hair of every trace of shampoo suds. When she rose to the surface, Gracie wiped the water from her eyes and smiled up at Mommy.
"Good girl." Olivia praised, returning the smile.
Gracie allowed herself to sink fully into 'little' space as she played in the tub and babbled happily about all the things little girls love to talk about. Olivia soaked a soft cloth, prepared it with body wash specifically made for sensitive skin, and gently washed Gracie's body. Gracie giggled as Mommy washed her belly and feet, and when she was told to do so, she got up on all fours and let Mommy wash her bottom. When Gracie had been bathed properly, Mommy let her stay in the tub and play in the water for a while longer. Gracie piled bubbles onto Mommy's arms and got lost in her imagination as she sailed her boat through the bubbles up the 'mountain', informing Mommy that she was the dragon protecting the princess at the top of the mountain, and giggling when Mommy playfully snapped at the boat with her teeth, sending the boat fleeing back down the mountain in fear. Gracie didn't even realize that subconsciously, she was playing out a scene of Mommy protecting her from Duarte. When Olivia noticed that there were goosebumps starting to rise on Gracie's delicate skin, she pulled the plug and Gracie pouted as she watched her bubbles disappear down the drain. Mommy guided her out of the tub and wrapped her in a warm towel, then she picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom.
"Mommy, I's too cold." Gracie whimpered as Mommy gently laid her down on her bed and dried her off with the towel.
"I know, baby. Let's get you dressed so you can be all warm and cozy. Do you want your purple kitty pajamas or your blue horsey pajamas?" Olivia asked as she gently changed Gracie into a fresh diaper.
"B'ue horsies, peeze."
When Gracie was dry, dressed, and warm, she giggled as Mommy sent her out to the living room with a playful spank to her diaper-covered bottom. Gracie played on the floor with her toys while Mommy changed into her own pajamas so they could spend the rest of the evening just lounging around.
"Mommy, I has snack a'fore beddy-bye time, peeze?" Gracie looked up from her toys when Mommy walked in. Dinner had been hours ago and she was a little bit hungry, and after these few months she finally felt safe enough to ask Mommy for extra food knowing that Mommy wouldn't send her to bed hungry.
"Yes, you can have a snack. Would you like apple slices and peanut butter?" Olivia offered, knowing that this was Gracie's favorite snack.
"Yes. An' milk in mine sippy, peeze."
"Good girl, so polite." Olivia praised, turned on cartoons for Gracie to watch, and headed into the kitchen to make the requested snack while Gracie continued to play. Gracie giggled up at the TV as a cartoon mouse gave a cartoon duck a spanking.
"Is that silly duck being naughty again?" Olivia asked as she handed Gracie her snack and then got down on the floor to play with her.
"Hims not gonna get no star." Gracie replied knowingly.
"You're right, he wouldn't get a gold star. But we will forgive him because he is still good inside even when he doesn't get a gold star."
"Mommy, you be dis uhn! We's goin' to da ball to see da prinz!" Gracie smiled, handing Mommy one of her dolls and then turning back to finish dressing her own doll. Olivia indulgently began searching through Gracie's doll accessories scattered on the floor to find a dress for her assigned doll to wear to the ball.
The next day, Grace didn't want to admit how afraid she was to go to work. If she had it her way, she would much rather stay at home and be Gracie all day where she felt safe, but she stuffed her feelings down and got dressed for work, double checking to make sure that her gun was loaded properly. Even though she knew that she had a precinct full of people to protect her, she still sat at her desk with her gun strapped securely to her hip, something that Olivia had already scolded her over since she had discovered that Grace was developing bruises on her hip as a result of her gun digging into her delicate skin. Bruises were sometimes part of the job at SVU, but between spanked bottoms and bruised hips, Olivia was running out of arnica.
"Okay, the first thing I want to know is why the hell did I have to hear about Duarte on the news instead of getting a heads up from the department?" Olivia asked as she addressed her detectives.
"Because all three attacks were in the Bronx and their SVU somehow didn't get the memo about our connection to Duarte." Fin replied.
"Of course it had to be the Bronx," Olivia rolled her eyes, "Fin, take Velasco and pay a visit to Bronx SVU. I want every last piece of paperwork regarding these attacks on my desk before lunch."
"Captain, I would like to go instead." Grace spoke, standing up from her desk.
"No." Olivia replied without a moment's hesitation. There was no way in hell she was going to put her baby in the crosshairs.
"But I'm the one he wants." Grace argued.
"Which is exactly why you are going to stay here and go with Amanda to Mercy hospital to interview… uh, Christine Nelson, age twenty. She was raped last night at a frat party, outcry witness is Becky Franklin, another girl from her sorority." Olivia gave Grace the slip of paper in her hand.
"Captain, I was with Duarte for almost six years. I know how he thinks." Grace continued to argue.
"Yes, you do, and this is still my squad. I decide who goes where and you are going to Mercy hospital with Amanda." Olivia spoke with an edge in her tone. None of the other detectives picked up on it, but Grace recognized Mommy's stern voice when she heard it and it compelled her to obey.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace submitted to her Captain's authority over her.
"Don't take it personally, Liv's just looking out for you." Amanda said as they drove toward Mercy hospital.
"I know, I just think I could be more helpful in the Bronx than being stuck here with you babysitting me. No offense." Grace mumbled.
"None taken. Looks like we've got company, some idiot who doesn't know how to drive." Amanda observed, looking in the rearview mirror and seeing a car behind them driving much too fast and much too close.
"That's Duarte's car." Grace's dazzling blue eyes widened in fear.
"Okay, don't panic. Your protective detail is in the car in front of us and I am here too. We'll take a couple of turns and lose him, then we'll swing back around and go to Mercy." Amanda replied, speaking calmly to reassure her young colleague, reaching for her radio to let the detectives in the car in front of them know their plan.
Up in the Bronx, Fin was wishing he had hair so he could pull it all out.
"Listen, we had to hear about this creep on the news instead of getting a heads up from you guys like we should have. Don't you read your email? Michael Duarte has a direct link to one of our detectives, we should have been the first phone call you made after the first attack." Fin said.
"There was no evidence we found linking the first victim to Manhattan. She was born and raised here in the Bronx, never even been outside of the Bronx as far as we can tell. Same with the other two victims." the Captain of the SVU in the Bronx replied.
"We know you're understaffed, I doubt you looked very hard. Our Captain wants all of your paperwork regarding these three cases, and she didn't say it, but I know she'll want all three bodies transferred to our morgue to be examined by our ME. Now are you going to help us out or are we going to have to take this up higher on the food chain?" Velasco said.
"Men are such babies." the Bronx SVU Captain muttered irritably as she stood from her desk and ordered one of her detectives to start gathering paperwork while she picked up the phone and made the necessary call to have the bodies transferred.
From inside the morgue in Manhattan, the medical examiner stopped what he was doing when he received a message on his phone from the Captain of the Special Victims Unit telling him that three bodies were on their way to his lab and they were to be given his highest priority due to the safety of an SVU detective. The medical examiner knew all of the detectives who worked at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit and he didn't question which one was in danger, he simply moved his schedule around to accommodate the order he had been given. He would never admit it, but he had a healthy fear of Olivia Benson and he didn't want to find out what would happen if she discovered that her orders had been disobeyed, especially when it came to the safety of her detectives.
From inside the squad room, Olivia was sitting in her office while all of her detectives except for Grace and Amanda were sitting at their desks pretending to work while shooting the breeze. Suddenly all of their radios went off and Grace's voice, filled with pain and fear, crackled over the line.
"Ten-thirteen! Ten-thirteen! Officer down!"