Olivia awoke Monday morning to the sound of Mazikeen yapping loudly, sleepy she sat up to see the puppy barking at the mirror clearly thinking there was another dog in the apartment. She turned looking at the alarm clock that was on the bedside table it was flashing 2:30 she sighed seeing that Elliot was also dead to the world snoring loudly
'Of course he is' she thought, sighing as she slipped from the sheets. Walking over she sat on the floor next to the little pup who was still barking at herself in the mirror.
"Hey you" she whispered "that's just you" she whispered. "See," she said softly, running her fingers behind the pup's ears.
Mazikeen cocked her head looking in the mirror still unsure of the two figures in there but seemed content enough now Liv was sat next to her.
Scooping the puppy up she carefully placed her on the end of the bed. Climbing back in, she was hoping Maze would wake Elliot up as if she had to awake at the crack of dawn then she didn't see why he should get to stay asleep. It would also stop her barking at the mirror which was a bonus
She had just got settled when her phone vibrated loudly from the bedside cabinet.
"You have got to be kidding be" she sighed, reaching over for the phone to check to see who it was calling. It was the precinct so she knew it could not be ignored.
"Benson" she yawned, pushing herself up right.
Listening to the details from the officer on the phone, they had just picked up another case. A 7 year old girl was missing from her apartment in the middle of the night. Uniform officers were on the scene but it had been passed to SVU because of the nature of what had happened.
"Okay give me half an hour." she said, hanging up her phone. Placing it back on the side she sighed at least it was morning, albeit early.
"Everything alright?" Elliot asked, sitting up, kissing her shoulder
"Yeah" she sighed leaning back into his embrace. "Just got a case," she said, sliding from the sheets. "I'm going to grab a shower" she said walking to the en suite.
Walking back into the bedroom 5 minutes later she was surprised to see the bed empty apart from Mazikeen who was sitting on the bed watching her as she pulled clothes from the draws.
"A little privacy would be nice," she said softly, watching as the puppy jumped off the bed and ran out of the bedroom.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a jumper, even though it was summer the mornings were still quite chilly. Walking out she smiled seeing Elliot in the kitchen holding out an insulated flask.
"Coffee," he smiled, handing her the cup.
"You didn't have to get up," she smiled, taking it from him.
"I know I didn't but I know how you can be when you are decaffeinated" he said teasing her into a kiss.
"What are you saying, Stabler?" she said.
"Nothing i just know how much you like your coffee in the morning"
"I could have made one or grabbed one when i got to the precinct"
"I know but I wanted to make you one," he said. "Least i could do considering i am not the one being dragged out of bed at a ungodly hour"
"Well it's the job and I was on call this weekend" she said walking over to the hall closet.
Opening the gun safe she checked her gun over before clipping the holster to her belt. She turned to see Elliot standing behind her with her bag and badge as well as her coat.
"Thank you" she said, clipping her badge to her belt and pulling her coat on.
"Be safe," he said softly , kissing her head.
"Always" she whispered, pulling her bag on to her shoulder
Sitting at her desk Olivia sighed as she typed up her DD5 on the case. By the time she had made it to the house things had calmed down, things had blown up as it turns out the child had been hiding in a crawl space in the attic as her parents had grounded her for flushing her younger sisters teddy down the toilet, so she was hiding as a act of revenge. Watching everyone panicking and running around in a manic state of panic.
"Morning" Elliot said, walking in "Tough case?" he asked.
"Not really. Just a incredibly spoilt 7 year old who hid in the smallest space in a brownstone to 'teach her parents a lesson' so that was my morning waisted when I could have been sleeping"
"Well I thought you might just be in need of this" he said holding a brown paper bag out in front of her. "Mushroom and cheese bagel" he said, kissing the top of her head. "And a hazelnut latte"
"Thank you" she smiled, turning leaning into a second kiss.
"You okay? Why don't you go get your head down in the crib for a bit?"
"Elliot, I am fine," she said, yawning slightly.
"Really is that why you have typed the same thing five times"
"I have not…" she said looking at her computer "oh…"
"Liv just a nap ,refresh your mind"
Grabbing the bag from her desk along with the coffee she sighed "maybe just 10 minutes Stabler" she said walking up the stairs. " make that an hour" she sighed yawning as he walked up the stairs
Finishing her bagel she sighed falling back against the pillow pulling the blanket up over her head she tried to shut out everything and catch up on some sleep.
"Good morning Sleeping beauty" Elliot smiled while holding out a coffee mug.
"Thanks" she smiled, pushing herself up. "I was out more than a hour wasn't I" she said taking a sip
"Yeah" Elliot said "but you just looked so peaceful, and you needed sleep" he smiled "plus its kinda cute the way you snore" he smiled.
"I do not snore!" she said protesting
"it's like a little chipmunk" he grinned
"I do not!"
"Its cute"
"I don't…"she paused, seeing Elliot laughing " What time is it?" she asked
"Just after 11" He smiled "and before you ask yes the kids got off to school okay, yes I did tell Kathy about Lizzie" he said softly
"Good" she said softly taking a sip from the coffee "I best go finish that paperwork"
Heading back down she sat down and and began typing this time with a clear head
"So where are we at with the Morningside park snatch?" Cragen asked
"Amelia; the vic was too traumatised on Friday. She is coming in this afternoon to give her statement." Liv said, looking up from her computer.
"We know she attends a school on Morningside." Amanda said "but CCTV is a little lax in the park"
"We should have more information when we speak to Amelia though" Liv chimed in. "Once we know what entrance she used into the park we can track her movements a little better."
"Alright lets get on to it. Liv, do you have your report from this morning?" Cragen asked
"Just finishing it now" she smiled, turning back to her computer.
Finishing the paperwork from the morning, she lent back in her seat things had seemed to calm down. Pushing back from her desk she grabbed her bag from the draw.
"Right I am just nipping out" Olivia smiled grabbing her bag from the draw
"Everything alright Benson?" Cragen asked
"Yeah I just need to nip home, someone got me a puppy on Friday" she said looking over at Elliot "anyway i just want to check she is okay and let her go to the bathroom" she said
"All right" Cragen said "just make sure you are back before Amelia and her parents get here i would like you to conduct the interview"
"Sure thing cap" Olivia smiled
It didn't take her long to get to her apartment,unlocking the door she gasped, the whole apartment looked like it had been ransacked, the bin had been knocked over and the rubbish was scattered all over the kitchen. The huge glass vase she had in the hall with some decorative twigs and lights was smashed and the curtains had been pulled off their rail.
"What the Hell!" she said stepping over the mess
Mazikeen sat in the middle of the apartment stuffing from the expensive cushions that had once adorned her sofa caught in her fur.
"Mazikeen!" she said looking over at the puppy
Cocking her head to one side Mazikeen looked up, her huge chocolate brown eyes now completely wide
Singing softly she looked at the dog "don't look at me like that Madam. You might be cute but you are still in big trouble" she said, grabbing the lead from the hall table. Clipping it onto the collar she led the dog out. She had no time to make the apartment safe so Maze didn't cut her paws open.
Opening the door of the car she secured Mazikeen in the back seat with the lead belt attachment she found on the side. Making the short drive back to the precinct she stopped at Krispy Kreme to get a couple of dozen original glazed to sweeten the deal of having to have Mazikeen in the office although she would probably spend the afternoon asleep under her desk.
Walking into the precinct Mazikeen started to pull slightly at the lead keen to explore this new environment. Placing the doughnuts on the side she tried to guide Mazikeen over to her desk but there were too many new faces that were all in need of a greeting from the excitable puppy, weather they wanted to say hi back or not
"Everything alright Liv?" Elliot asked looking up from his desk
"Olivia?" Cragen called from the other side of the office. "I wasn't aware this was a dog park?" he said sternly
"Sorry Cap." she said, putting her bag away. "We only just got her on Friday and someone did not shut the crate properly this morning so my apartment was trashed. I didn't have time to tidy it up and I did not want her getting hurt.
"What about your interview with Amelia this afternoon?"
"It will be fine. Mazikeen will probably just sleep under my desk"
"Okay then" Cragen said "just make sure she behaves"
Sitting at her desk Olivia checked through the statements they had already taken before the weekend and checked the details before their victim arrived.
"Detective Benson?" a voice came from the door
Looking up she could see Amelia stood with her mum at the door
"Hi" she smiled walking over. "How are you feeling Amelia?" she added softly.
"Okay," Amelia said quietly.
"Well we are just going to go through a few things just over here" Olivia smiled indicating over to the soft interview room.
Leading Amelia and her mother through the squad room Amelia looked around, the room "You have a puppy" Amelia said softly as she spotted Mazikeen under Olivia's desk.
"That's Mazikeen." Olivia smiled "she is in a little bit of trouble at the moment for mindless vandalism"
"Can she come with us?" Amelia asked looking up hopefully
Looking up at Cragen "umm" she paused unsure "sure" she smiled "Mazikeen" she called tapping the side of her hip.
Setting up in the soft interview room Amelia curled up on the sofa. Olivia smiled watching as Mazikeen curled up at her feet.
"Okay Amelia" Olivia said softly "what happened on Friday?" she asked
"I…."Amelia paused. "I walked across the park like I always do. I was by the pond and someone came up behind …"
Listening and taking notes Olivia sighed, this was the worst side of the job, yes all victims stories were all horrific and painful but when it came to children something just hit more.
Putting her pen down she smiled softly. "Excuse me a moment," she said.
"How's she doing?" Elliot asked looking through the window as Olivia walked out
"She is putting on a brave face but there is more that she is not saying
In Olivia's absence Mazikeen walked over to Amelia, resting her head on the girl's lap.
"I am sure you will manage to convince her to talk" Elliott smiled
They watched as Amelia buried her face in to Mazikeen's soft fur.
"I just wish we didn't have to make her relive all of this"
"I know. Anyway Amanda is checking the CCTV from the entrance to the park seeing if she was followed in by anyone so hopefully we will find something and as we know where she went in and where she was hit hopefully we can catch him leaving with her"
"I hope so" she smiled.
"Anyway I'm headed out, I have the Twins Parent teacher conference with Kathy" he sighed. "Which is going to be fun"
"Just keep your cool and stay calm" Olivia smiled, placing her hand on his cheek. " you need to be there too."
"I know, it's just Kathy was pissed at what happened with Lizzie"
"I thought you said everything was fine?"
"I think she is more pissed that you had that particular conversation with Lizzie"
"Well I don't think it was much fun for Lizzie, I think she would have preferred to talk to her mum about what was happening"
"The kids Love you. Kathy is just being bitter, she'll get over it" he said teasing her into a soft kiss. "See you at home"
"See you later," she said. Picking up the papers she had originally come out to get before heading back into the interview room.
Walking through the door later that evening she carefully unclipped Mazikeen's lead, unsure of what she would find. She watched as Mazikeen walked over to the window where Karma was curled up taking in the last of the sun reflecting off the buildings around them. Elliot was already back and in the kitchen.
"Hey" she smiled looking round to see the mess all tidied up "Thanks for tidying up" Olivia smiled, dropping her bag on the side, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Your welcome" he smiled, turning. "Dinner won't be long. Pasta with chicken and mushrooms" he smiled teasing her in to a kiss
"Perfect," she said, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of wine.
"You know I think I solved how Mazikeen got out of her crate" he said
"It doesn't matter" she sighed what was done was done and there was nothing she could do about it other than make sure the crate was secure herself in future
"You might want to watch," he said, sliding his phone over to her.
Pressing the play button she watched as he led Mazikeen over putting her in the crate along with a blanket, a few teddies and her water bowl and walking out. Less than 20 minutes after Elliot had left the apartment she watched Karma walk over and push the bolt on the crate allowing the door to swing open, she then conveniently jumped up onto the counter curling up in front of the camera so all you could see was fur.
"See told you I shut the crate properly"
"I know. Sorry I blamed you"she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Guess I will have to make it up to you"
"Well I can think of a few ways" he whispered into her ear as he moved back to the stove.
Sitting on the sofa with their bowls of pasta they put on a cheesy film they had both watched several times but it was better than what was on the main channels. They talked about the twins parent teacher conference, and how they were doing in school. Lizzie was doing okay and Dickie was struggling a little while Kathy made a snide remark about the divorce and having to spend time with the "other woman" even though Olivia had known all his children since they were small and they all loved her.
Once they had finished Elliot dropped the bowls in to the sink to deal with later, grabbing the bottle of wine she had opened earlier along with a Tiramisu he had picked up on his way back from the school he carried it over topping up her glass
"Thank you" she smiled as he handed her a spoon.
Pulling her feet up, she rested her head against his shoulder. Despite the sleep she had gotten at the precinct earlier she could feel the early start catching up on her. Yawning softly her eyes drooped
"Why don't you turn in" Elliot said softly running his fingers down her back
"Mmmm" she sighed "only if you come with me" she said "I might have just figured out a way to make it up to you for earlier" she said
"You go on, I'll just sort things out here" he said, indicating to their empty glasses and the sink full of dishes.
He watched as she walked into the master bedroom. Grabbing the glasses he headed over to the kitchen. Stacking everything into the dishwasher he switched it on. Walking into the bedroom he sighed softly, Olivia passed out snoring softly on the bed. Pulling his jeans off he chucked them on to the chair in the corner of her room before sliding in next to her. Switching the lamp off that was next to him he wrapped his arm around her as she shifted rolling into his embrace. Closing his eyes he smiled as her soft snores filled the room around them. It had been a long day but at least they were closer to closing the case.
