The bus ride went well. The kids played games on their phones and talked. Electronics would be banned once they arrived at the campsite. Only adults could have them for emergencies, but the service was so spotty they wouldn't be very useful.
Elliot discreetly watched Noah with his friends. In some ways he was exactly like Olivia. The way he talked, his facial expressions, even his laugh, were all her. But unlike his mother, Noah wasn't as guarded. He was friendly and gregarious, and most kids seemed to like him.
Elliot had noticed a couple of kids who seemed annoyed by Noah and his friends. They sat on the back seat, and Elliot couldn't hear what they were saying, but the snickering and random pointing made him think these might be the bullies Noah was always wary of.
The terrain changed as they entered a more rural setting. The trees began to thicken, and most of the kids' eyes were glued out the windows. Most of these kids were like Noah, city born, city raised. The idea of a wilderness seemed like a setting for a movie, not something that was ever real.
About a half hour after they began their journey down the winding tree lined road, they arrived at their destination. The bus parked and kids started scrambling for their belongings.
The science teacher waved his clipboard over his head to get everyone's attention. "Hey! Listen up! Everyone has a tent assignment. See me for your assignment. We're going to have a quick lunch, set up tents, and we will head out on our first hike. Please," he emphasized, "drink water. It's going to be pretty warm the next few days and I don't want anyone dropping dead from heat stroke. Am I clear?"
There were a bunch of mumbled yeses in response. The science teacher began unloading bags and the students filed off the bus. Once Elliot got off the bus, he was assigned a tent number, along with all the adults. "Stabler, right? I got you as number three. You will have Noah of course, and Jace, and…" he flipped the page on his clipboard, "oh yes, you will have Danny too." He pointed his pen in the direction of another boy.
"Got it." Elliot replied, and reached for the tent labeled "3". He looked up and found Noah still standing with his friends. He noticed Colton looking pretty disappointed. He walked over, figuring the kid was upset because he was split from his brother.
"They put me in four. This sucks so bad. I'm pretty sure he's gonna prank me or something."
"Colt, it will be fine," Jace reassured, "you only have to sleep in there. The rest of the time you can be with us."
"What's goin on?" Elliot asked as he approached.
"Colton got assigned to a different tent…with Lucas and Jackson…" Noah grimaced. "They're kind of mean."
Elliot guessed Lucas and Jackson were probably the boys from the back of the bus. "Do you want me to see if you can swap with Danny?" Elliot asked.
Colton adamantly shook his head. "It's okay. They are way more mean to Danny. Like Jace said, I'll be okay."
That made Elliot smile. Colton was a good friend, a nice kid, and a great friend for Noah. "Alright then, let's grab Danny and get this tent set up so we can have some lunch." Elliot motioned for the kids to follow. Noah ran over to where Danny stood, and brought him over to the group.
Just as they were about to get started, a booming voice called, "Colton! You're supposed to be with us!"
Elliot flipped around to see another adult waving for Colton to come over. He groaned. "No way," he said under his breath.
"It's gonna be fine Colt. Just get the tent done and come right back here." His brother reassured.
"Yeah yeah…" Colton's face was sullen as he walked his way over to tent four.
"I can't believe he came," Jace nudged Noah.
"I know. Isn't he, like, always traveling?" Noah asked.
"Yeah I think. I don't really know. They probably made him come if they were going to let Lucas do this trip."
"I wish he wasn't here. He doesn't even want to be in this class," Noah muttered, as Elliot handed him a tent pole to hold.
"It doesn't matter if he wants to be here. His parents make him take all these classes."
"That makes sense," Noah held the pole up. "Uhhh I don't know what I'm doing."
Elliot chuckled, "Let's pull out the instructions and I'll show you three exactly how to set this thing up."
-000-
Olivia's phone pinged as she sat across from Amanda at the cafe. She laughed and lifted the phone for Amanda to see.
"Oh my God, that's way too adorable." Amanda drawled. Elliot sent a selfie of he and Noah standing in front of a tent they put together, and behind them Jace made an epic photobomb. "You doing okay with all that?"
Olivia pushed around her salad. " I want to say yes. I know he will be fine with Elliot."
"But he's your baby, and this is a new thing."
"Exactly. I know it shouldn't be a big deal. He's almost twelve. He's allowed to do stuff like this." She swigged her drink.
"Yeah, but it's hard not to jump to the worst case scenario," Amanda reached for the salt.
"Think our jobs have made us a little jaded," Olivia asked humorously.
"Maybe a little." Amanda laughed. "I'm pretty nervous anytime Jessie is away for an overnight. I'm just trying not to smother her, you know?
"Yeah I feel exactly the same way with Noah." Olivia took a bite of her salad.
Amanda's phone pinged. "Damn it."
"What's goin' on?"
Amanda let out a frustrated groan. "I swear I can't ever have a minute. Jessie threw up, and the sitter said she doesn't do throw up." Her eyes were apologizing. "I gotta go."
"Go, go. Save the babysitter." Olivia encouraged.
"Thanks. Let's try this again. Next week?"
"Plan on it," Liv confirmed.
Amanda grabbed her bag, and waved before she hurried out of the cafe. She pulled up her phone so she could see the picture again. Noah looked happy.
O: Those are some handsome boys. How's being rugged wilderness explorers going?
E: Good actually. These kids are smart. I don't have to tell them how to do something 18 times…
O: Haha. Well it's supposed to be the advanced class. The kids are supposed to be smart.
E: That's true. Hey, what do you know about this Lucas kid?
O: Oh the future sociopath? Sorry. That was extreme, but he is a textbook manipulator. Noah has a hard time with him.
E:I gathered that much. How about his dad? He's here too…
O: I don't know a lot really. He apparently travels a lot. He's hit on me a few times…
E: Seriously? I already hate him.
O: Calm down. He's a jerk and I shut that down hard.
E: You aren't making me like him more.
O: I wasn't trying to. Lucas gets into a lot of trouble so he probably had to supervise him on the trip. I wish they weren't there. I usually tell Noah to ignore him.
E: Colton got assigned to his tent.
O: Poor Colton
E: He's pretty bummed.
O: Damn. Did you ask to swap?
E: Yeah but the boys said they are more mean to this Danny kid, so Colton decided to keep the assignment.
O: Colton is a great kid.
E: I thought the same thing. Hey I gotta go. We are finishing up lunch, and I gotta get the boys ready for the hike.
O: You're loving this way too much.
E: Hey! It's fun! Maybe we should go camping sometime. ? ﾟﾘﾏ
O: Um sorry. Hard pass.
E: haha. I'll have Noah call you later.
-000-
The group of kids took off on the hike with half the chaperones. The other half stayed to set up camp. Elliot preferred to go on the hike, to keep an eye on the boys, but he was assigned to stay at camp. It was a short hike, and he trusted Noah would be fine with the other adults for at least that long.
Elliot started putting up tables so the kids would have space for dinner, and the different projects they were supposed to work on. He had it under control, but then he heard someone pulling more tables out behind him. He internally groaned when he saw Lucas' dad setting up more tables. He tried to keep his eyes down. He wasn't really interested in engaging with the man. Unfortunately, he couldn't ignore him when all the sudden the man stuck his hand out to introduce himself.
"I'm Marcus. Lucas's dad."
Elliot shook the man's hand quickly, and tried to get back to work. "Elliot." He said simply, while lifting another table.
"Which kid is yours?" Elliot really wasn't interested in all the small talk so he tried to keep working, hoping Marcus would go find something else to do.
"Noah," he kept his answers short. All the tables were up so he started on the folding chairs.
"Captain Benson's kid?" he asked skeptically.
Elliot resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yep." He pulled out another two chairs.
"I guess I didn't realize Noah's dad was still in the picture. I have only ever seen Olivia, so I assumed…"
Elliot really didn't want to know what that man assumed, and he was slightly irked by him referring to Olivia so casually. Not wanting to go through the verbal gymnastics of his relationship to Noah, he decided to just roll with Marcus' assumption. "Yeah well, I work a lot of undercover jobs, and I'm not around as much as I should be." Not an all out lie…
"So you're on the force too?" Elliot would give anything for this man to shut up.
"Yes." Short answers weren't getting him anywhere. "Thirteen years in SVU, five years in private security. Five years with international terrorism." Elliot stepped into his space a little, "And I'm currently working with the Organized Crime Control Bureau. So yeah. I'm on the force."
"Meet Olivia on the job or somethin? I'm not gonna lie, I asked her out a couple times as she turned me down flat."
For the love of God, he wanted this man to shut up. He turned around so he faced him. "Look man. I'm not interested in going into all of this with you. Olivia doesn't mess around, so if she turns you down, she means it." Elliot met the man's eyes with an intimidating stare, "Just leave her alone." Elliot knew he was being a little intense, but this man obviously lacked any sense of boundaries.
He lifted his hands up, "Sorry, just makin' conversation." He shuffled away while looking for another adult to chat up.
Elliot put up a few more chairs. Maybe it was because the man hit on Liv, or maybe it was because his kid was a total ass, but there was something about him that rubbed him wrong. He was well aware he had the tendency to be overprotective, but his gut was telling him there was something weird about the guy.
Elliot pulled up the contact list for the parents and kids camping. He found Lucas' dads last name. He texted Jet.
E: Hey, can you run a background check on a guy for me.
J: Aren't you supposed to be camping with small children?
E: They aren't really small children. They're like 12.
J: Whatever. Who do you need checked out?
E: Marcus Moore
J: How thorough do you want this to be?
E: I'm assuming he passed the basic background check the school runs.
J: Okay so more of a deep dive then.
E: Yeah.
J: I'll email it and let you know when it's done.
E: Great. Thanks.
J: Yep.