The chapter has been finished for a few days, but people on Instagram know that I've been in hospital for the last two days. I'm back home now. Now I'm going on vacation with my sister on Thursday because she decided to come with me.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4
"Liv!" shouts Elliot as he enters the conference room. The captain looks up with teary eyes as she hears the voice of her longtime partner. Elliot doesn't hesitate and immediately embraces Olivia. He can empathize with how she is feeling. Kathy's sudden and unpredictable death has made it extremely difficult for him to suddenly take care of Eli alone. He strokes his close friend's back reassuringly. Olivia lets herself fall into her partner's arms and buries her face in the crook of his neck. She breathes in his aftershave scent.
"Liv, pss... babe, everything's fine," he whispers reassuringly. Although Liv hears Elliot call her babe, she can't process the words. She finds comfort in his touch and the soft words he breathes into her ear. Although no new tears wet her eyes, she remains buried in the crook of his neck.
The former partners linger for a while in their own sphere in the meeting room. Only when Elliot's cell phone rings do they return to reality. The ringing takes them out of their own world and back to everyday life. The investigator takes a look at his cell phone and realizes that his superior is calling him. Once again, he strokes his girlfriend's back with his free hand while continuing to hug her tightly.
Annoyed, he answers the call, which Olivia notices and makes her smile.
"Elliot, where are you? We need to talk about your covert operation," Sergeant Bell says on the other end of the line. When the captain hears Sergeant Bell's words, she tenses. This moment of embrace was too good to be true. She slowly releases herself from the embrace and looks questioningly at Elliot, who shakes his head and turns to his superior.
"Ayanna, I have a family emergency. I can't go undercover, I have to be there for my niece. I'm her only male caregiver," explained Elliot, who knew that Ayanna had no knowledge of his siblings and could therefore speak openly. When there was a knock at the door, both Olivia and Elliot looked towards it and realized that the social services worker was at the door.
"Ayanna, I have to go. The social services worker wants to talk to me," the detective informed her before hanging up and Olivia Benson opened the door.
"Are you feeling better, Miss Benson?" Ms. Jackson, the social worker, inquired. Liv nodded, and the social worker asked, "Can you take care of your niece and Ty?"
"Yes, of course. I just need to talk to my supervisor to get time off," Olivia explained.
"Liv, if it doesn't work out, I'll take your niece and bring her home to you. Plus, I can relieve the babysitter for Noah," Elliot offered.
"Are you sure, El?" Liv inquired
"Everything's fine, Liv. As you know, I've raised five children. Two teenagers are no problem for me." Liv looks up happily at her friend and expresses her gratitude with a glance.
"Excuse me, Miss Jackson, where do I sign to take responsibility for Olivia?" the captain asks. The social worker reaches into her bag, pulls out the necessary documents and places them on the table in the conference room. Olivia grabs the pen and signs the required papers. The three adults go into the squad room together. The policewoman approaches her niece and kneels on the floor to be at eye level with her.
"Olivia, I'm Simon's sister and your mother has asked me to look after you and your brother while she's in hospital. Could my friend Elliot accompany you to the children's room where there are books for your age? I need to speak to my supervisor to get some days off so that you and my son can settle in well."
Little Olivia nods in agreement, pulls out the picture Churlish saw earlier and then says to Elliot, "Elliot, my father gave me this picture of himself, my aunt and my uncle just before he died. Are you my uncle?" The teenager hands the picture to Elliot, who looks at it, then looks questioningly at his former partner, who nods, and then speaks to the girl.
"Well, not really, but if you want, you're welcome to think of me as your uncle. I'm your aunt's best friend and I also knew your father. If you like, I can tell you a few stories about your aunt in the children's room, from before you were born." The teenager nods immediately and smiles for the first time since her arrival in the squad room. Miss Jackson is seen off by the three people. While Elliot escorts little Olivia to the children's room, the Captain goes to her office to make a phone call to her superior. In the squad room, they leave behind three curious detectives, one of whom immediately decides to contact his former Bell from the Organized Crime department sits in her office and is puzzled by her employee's behaviour. She has never heard of a niece before. She briefly considers whether Elliot might have used an excuse. So she decides to tell Jet to look for it.
"Jet, we have a problem. Elliot claims he can't go undercover because he has to look after his niece, who is in social services. Could you please see if you can find out anything about that?"
"Certainly, Sergeant, no problem." The young team member immediately starts searching and quickly finds something suitable.
"Sergeant, I've found what I'm looking for. Elliot is registered in Social Services as a relative of 12-year-old Olivia Marsden, who is the daughter of Tracy Harrison and Simon Marsden." The sound of the name Simon Marsden catches Ayanna Bell's attention: "Simon Marsden, that name sounds familiar. Did we have a case involving him?" The IT specialist immediately starts looking for links to the organized crime cases.
"The distributors of the manipulated Purple Magic murdered Simon Marsden, who also happened to be the brother of Captain Olivia Benson."
Immediately, the sergeant realizes the reason why Elliot called off the undercover mission after receiving this information. She is convinced that her detective wants to be present for his best friend and the woman he loves.