"I didn't see what actually happened initially." Marcus began with that very large caveat. "I came in a little after the fact."

"Why?" Bruno prodded.

"Lucas. He came back to the tent flipping out about something that girl Abby did. I rushed out because I didn't want the other kids to wake up. I didn't notice Colton was even gone at that point."

Parent chaperoning at its finest. She shouldn't be surprised though. The guy was a kidnapper and human trafficker. He would obviously have poor child supervision skills.

"I made Lucas stay in the tent. I didn't want him more involved than he already was." He shook his head, "I was already on edge. Lucas had already got himself in trouble with," he hesitated on the label, "whoever that guy you sent up with Noah was. I gotta know, did you seriously send a bodyguard up to camp with your kid?"

Bruno's fisted hand covered his mouth as he choked back a laugh. She glared at Bruno, but answered, "He's a close friend."

Marcus eyed her skeptically, like everyone always did, but accepted her answer readily enough. "He's a cop though, right? He looks like a cop."

"Yes."

"I figured. I didn't want Lucas to make trouble. The last thing I needed was for your friend to look too close at me or my kid." Olivia wondered how he managed to fly under the radar for so long when "his child" was always in trouble.

"Lucas told me he didn't do anything. He just made her go to the creek with Abby. After that he basically just watched everything happen." Olivia took the account with a grain of salt. Lucas could have minimized his involvement so he wouldn't get busted by his dad. Marcus continued, "He told me what happened, and I made him stay while I hurried to where Abby was with Clem." Now they were getting to his first hand experience…not hearsay. "Abby was standing in the creek, just watching, and Clem wasn't moving. I hurried over, but I swore the girl was already dead. Abby freaked out about getting into trouble. Seemed a little crazy, worrying about getting in trouble, since we had a dead kid in the creek."

Olivia had to agree. Abby was batshit crazy.

Marcus dropped his head into his hands. "I swear I thought she was already dead. I knew there would be a whole investigation, and Lucas would be involved. If anyone looked too closely they'd easily figure out that he wasn't who we said he was."

"What happened next?" Bruno moved the conversation along.

"I picked the girl up. She was limp. Abby followed behind me, I wasn't really sure why. Maybe she was curious? I have no idea."

Because she was a total psychopath? Just a thought…

"Anyway. I dropped the girl down the ravine edge and walked Abby back to camp. I told her and Lucas to keep it to themselves. I was hoping it would look like the kids just got lost in the woods."

He shrugged. The man clearly cared for Lucas, but he seemed apathetic about everyone and everything else. "That's what happened. Like I said. Lucas was there, and he helped get the girl down to the creek but he didn't do anything to hurt her."

Bruno nodded. "We will take that into account. We need to compare your statements with the others. We might need to stop in again."

"Great," Marcus sounded bored at best. "Gives me something to do with my day."

Olivia wasn't sure how she felt about that statement, but at least he seemed willing to speak to them again if necessary.

The lock buzzed and a pair of corrections officers pulled Marcus towards the door. He took one quick look over his shoulder at Olivia before the guards pushed him through the now open door.

-000-

Olivia let Bruno drive. Her head hurt, and she couldn't stop herself from over planning, thinking and rethinking what needed to be done over the next few days.

"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Bruno asked after five minutes of dead silence.

"Maybe. I want to say yes. He has no reason to lie, except to protect the kid he claims as his." But it didn't feel like a lie. There were no attempts at deception. He seemed relaxed and honest through the whole interview. She wanted to get back to her office so she could review Colton's witness statement. She remembered him mentioning Lucas helping with everything, but she couldn't remember any mention of a specific act of violence attributed to him.

She sighed. She hoped they wouldn't need to bring Colton in again. She hoped his account provided enough information so they could avoid dragging the poor kid through another round of trauma. If it wasn't an important sticking point in the case she wouldn't even consider another interview, but each child's involvement needed to be accurate for them to have a clear picture of what actually happened.

"It's kind of weird that he still wants to protect a kid that isn't his. I mean, I saw an opportunity and decided to go with it, but I'm a little surprised it worked," Bruno admitted.

"Yeah…I'm not sure I liked using a child's self-destructive behavior as leverage, but it got us what we needed." Olivia gave him a look of consternation.

"I know. I didn't like it either, but I suspected it would elicit a reaction, and that man owes that kid. Getting him off the hook for something he might not have done is the least he could do." Bruno wasn't defensive, but he felt justified in his actions, and Olivia had a hard time disagreeing with his point. "It seems weird though. The guy is obviously morally corrupt. Indiana has him on a long list of charges, but he protects this kid. I mean, I know he raised him like his own, but it seems strange that he could live two completely different personas.

Years on the job taught her that people aren't always what they seem on the surface. In fact, they rarely were. "People can surprise you. Most people aren't one dimensional and treating them like they are will only narrow an investigation in unhelpful ways."

"That seems to be the case with this investigation. We went in assuming Lucas was our primary aggressor, and he might not be."

"I want to read through Colton's statement again. Lucas has historically been a bully and a pretty physical kid. Logically he would be the primary aggressor, but everything and everyone seems to be saying he wasn't."

"Well," Bruno shrugged, "maybe for once he wasn't."

-000-

Olivia hoped Noah would be awake when she got home, but it was 10:45pm, and she was almost sure he was asleep by now. She was dead on her feet anyway so even if he was awake she would fall asleep before she had any meaningful amount of time with him.

She dropped into the precinct, but Fin almost immediately ushered her out and directed her towards home. He promised he'd read through Colton's statement and summarize anything she needed by the morning.

She got an update on Ethan, and it wasn't great. Thankfully he was alive, but he had half a dozen broken bones, including a skull fracture. He was in a lot of pain, and refused to talk to anyone.

The psychologist recommended they back off until the following day. He'd be under 24 hour suicide watch and be monitored the entire time. He would be safe for now.

Fin made her promise to take the morning off, or at least part of the morning. They weren't bringing Abby back in until the afternoon, and Ethan obviously wasn't going to speak to anyone until maybe the late afternoon. Fin was covering Colton's statement so there wasn't a need for her in the precinct first thing in the morning. She hadn't stopped for a moment since they picked up the case which made taking a break feel…weird.

As expected, silence greeted her when she opened the door. She dropped her things on the table. She expected to see Elliot somewhere in the main area of her apartment, but he wasn't.

She wandered back to her room, knowing Noah probably wouldn't be sleeping in his room yet, and Elliot would be wherever Noah was.

The door was left cracked so she was able to open it without a sound. She laughed softly at the scene before her.

Noah slept in the middle of the bed, tucked neatly beneath the comforter. For the first time in days he didn't have tear stained cheeks. Elliot was still in jeans, a tee shirt and socks laying on top of the comforter. A case file laid open on his chest. He at least removed his glasses before crashing next to Noah. At some point Noah must have scooted over until he was snuggled up to Elliot's side. Elliot's arm was draped possessively around Noah's shoulders. She smiled. When Noah was little, he would always snuggle as close as possible to her when sleeping in her bed. She figured he was searching for a place to feel warm and safe, and her heart swelled when she realized he had also found safety with Elliot.

She knew she would need to wake Elliot. He couldn't possibly be comfortable sleeping in his clothes, but she decided to wait until she completed her bedtime routine, allowing them both peace for at least a little longer.

She slipped into her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she caught her reflection in the mirror she realized how tired she looked, but she noticed something else. Despite the exhaustion, and weight of this very personal case, she looked lighter…maybe even happy.

She slipped back into her bedroom and dimmed the lights to allow her boys to sleep undisturbed while she quietly changed. Once she dressed in her favorite pajamas, she wandered to Elliot's side of the bed. She brushed his cheek and leaned over to press a quick kiss to his lips. His brow furrowed as his brain reentered consciousness. It was so damn adorable she had to lean in and kiss him again.

This time he responded, lips moving softly against hers. His free hand drifted to her neck, fingers threading through her hair. When she pulled back he opened his eyes and smiled. "I could get used to that greeting." Honestly, she could too.

"You should change. I don't think you will be comfortable like this all night."

His hand slipped out of her hair and he gently removed his arm from its previous position around Noah. He stretched and rolled his neck, creating a series of pops. When he stood her hands immediately grasped his hips. "How did it go today?" Her eyes drifted to Noah and back.

He snaked his arms around her waist. "Not bad. I think Kathleen provided a pretty good distraction."

"I feel like we should send her flowers or something. She was completely wonderful today."

Elliot shrugged. "She loved it. I think she'd live here if she could. I think she fell in love with that boy of yours."

"Still, I want her to know how much we appreciate this. She was godsend today." She'd send Kathleen something in the morning.

He dropped a kiss to her jaw and nuzzled the length of her jawline. "I take it you had to go to Rikers?"

She leaned into him a little more, savoring the relaxation that came with his soft touch. "Yeah. I took Bruno. I think we got what we needed." She let her arms wrap around him. "Fin's making me take the morning off tomorrow."

He pulled back in surprise. He knew she rarely backed off of a case once she dove in. "Good for him," he praised.

"I feel nervous about it, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm happy to have at least the morning to," she hesitated, "to be with you and Noah."

He grinned, and kissed her quickly. "I'm happy too. We've missed you," he said, referring to both him and Noah.

"I know, I hated leaving yesterday."

His hand brushed her cheekbone. "It's okay. You're needed, and he gets that. And I understand it too." He thought for a moment. "Why don't you take him to breakfast or something, just the two of you. He misses you, and I think it would be good for you guys to have some time alone."

"He'll want you to tag along." She already knew he'd want Elliot to come.

"I'll tell him I need to get some work done. I think he needs some uninterrupted time with you." He pecked her lips again before stepping back. "You look like you're about to fall over. Get in bed, I'll be there in a minute."

She nodded, and her heart warmed with the domesticity of the statement. It seemed so natural, and it was perfect. He dropped his hands off of her and went into the bathroom to search for his bag.

She moved to the other side of the bed, and slid between the sheets. She moved herself closer to the center of the bed so she could reach Noah. She watched him for a moment, and she was suddenly grateful for the opportunity to spend time with him in the morning. He might need her, but a very large part of her needed him too.

She brushed his hair away from his face just as Elliot slipped into bed on the other side of him. She could feel Elliot's eyes on her so she lifted her gaze to his. To her surprise his eyes watered as he watched her with her son.

She began to feel a little self-conscious so she nervously asked, "What?"

He reached over Noah to hold her hand. "This is all I ever wanted for you Liv. I knew you'd be an incredible mom, and here you are, being amazing at it." His eyes dropped to the curly haired boy sleeping soundly between them. "He's pretty incredible."

Her eyes teared up, "I know he is. He's my perfect miracle."