Thank you so much for all your kind words. You have no idea how much they mean to me. What your feedback and support mean to me! I love writing, and sometimes I get caught up in feeling like my stories aren't adequate. Your kindness and your willingness to stick with me through this journey aren't overlooked. This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for each of you!
Now, regarding this story, Olivia has told El about Sealview and Lewis. Lowell Harris is out of the slammer. Fin has bared his soul to Amanda. Melinda is back. Munch owes Fin money. And Ashley Tyler is dead.
What do you think happens next? Let's find out!
Disclaimer: Y'all already know Elliot woulda known about Sealview and Lewis by now if I owned this series. They wild for keeping that shit from him rofc. Dick Wolf can give me a job or make some magic happen himself!
"Do you or Captain Benson remember a female by the name of Ashley Tyler?"
Elliot really doesn't like where this conversation is heading, and he's not really sure what to say after Ayanna says the young girl's name. Sure, it'd been years since he saw her last, but he's never truly forgotten her. Not after the latest string of events and that's when his stomach drops fifty floors.
"Yeah, uh, that was one of Harris's victims. She's how we caught Harris. What about her?" He isn't sure he wants to know why Ayanna is saying her name and asking him if he remembers her. But it can only mean one thing, and that one thing can't lead to anything good.
"Elliot, they found her body this morning." Hearing it leads Elliot's hand to cover his mouth, shock coursing through his body. He realizes that in that moment, he's going to have to do everything in his power to protect Olivia because this man is still after the people who put him away. And he knows that without Olivia, Harris would have stayed in Sealview, and many other women would have fallen victim to the sick bastard.
"Have you told Captain Benson? This was her case as well," Elliot questions Ayanna. He hears the sigh and gets his answer.
"I'll tell her."
He finishes up his conversation with Ayanna and heads back into his room with Olivia, and he sees that she has finished packing his things.
"You didn't have to finish packing," he tells her, walking towards her seated form on the edge of his bed. She looks up at him, and he can tell she's shed some tears while in here.
"It helped me to stay distracted while I was thinking," she starts. And then she pauses, looking away from him as she stands. He turns her towards him and holds her waist, and she's grateful for the weight of his hands holding her in place. It only solidifies what she'd concluded earlier.
"Thinking? Thinking about what?" Elliot cocks his head to the side, still trying to read her but failing miserably. She smiles at him and steps closer, invading his space with her movement.
"Us. Just... You've taken all this in, all of my dealings. You've stayed. And it just makes me more sure that no matter what happens, I want you by my side." She leans up and kisses his cheek. He blushes slightly and pulls her in for a hug. He nestles himself into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. She does the same, and after a few more seconds, they pull apart, Elliot still holding her.
"Liv, uh... that was Ayanna on the phone." He can see the concern etching across her face, and he wants nothing more than to take it away.
"They found a body today. Ashley Tyler's body." Olivia crumples in his arms. Can't be real. She wants to scream, but Elliot sinks to the floor with her and cradles her. She's quiet, reserved. And that scares him more than anything.
"Tell me you got more than a body and a gut full of bad news," Fin mutters, his voice sharp as he ducks under the crime scene tape. His shoes crunch on gravel, the early morning air still thick with fog. "Please, Melinda. Give me a bone."
Melinda straightens from where she's kneeling beside the remains, glancing at him with her usual calm. "I can give you bones. Can't promise they'll be helpful."
Fin exhales through his nose, muttering something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like a curse.
"Shoulda shot that son of a bitch when I had the chance."
Elliot approaches from behind, silent until he catches sight of the body—Ashley. What's left of her. And just like that, the bile rises in his throat again. He swallows it down.
"Any indication how long she's been here?" he asks, voice low.
"Estimate says two to four days," Melinda answers. "Bound. Bruising around the mouth and neck, likely suffocation. There's no blood. He wanted her quiet."
"He always wants them quiet," Olivia says softly, stepping forward. She's been standing back, just outside the tape, as if proximity might force her to relive something she's fought years to bury.
Fin turns, brows raised and eyes wide. "Liv."
She walks under the tape, straightening her shoulders even as her hands tremble at her sides. Her coat's collar is up, shielding her neck, like armor. "I need to see her."
"You sure about that?" Fin asks, not unkindly. "Not too late to do the sensible thing and sit this one out."
"I didn't come this far to be sensible," she replies, her tone steady. Too steady. Like if she lets it crack even a little, the whole damn thing will splinter. "He's not going to make me hide."
Fin watches her a moment, then offers a slight nod. "Stubborn as ever. Must be something in the water."
Elliot can't take his eyes off her. There's a strength in her now that he never got to witness when it was born. It's all aftermath—the kind that grows in scorched earth. When he left, she was already carrying too much. And now? Now she's a fortress. But it breaks his heart to know that she had to become one without him.
She steps closer to the body. Her eyes scan the scene, but she doesn't flinch. Not outwardly. Inside, it's another story. The smell, the binding, the silence—it all pulls at something deep inside her, something feral. A memory, a fear, the face of her son.
Noah. What if this had been me? What if it still could be?
And what about him?
Who tucks him in when I'm in the ground?
Who tells him I fought?
The thoughts come hard and fast, but she pushes them down, swallowing the fear like poison—bitter and necessary. She breathes out, slow and controlled. Harris took too much already. She won't hand him the rest.
Elliot steps beside her. "You didn't have to come here with me," he says gently.
"But I did," she replies. "Because she deserved someone who gave a damn. And because if I run now… I'll never stop."
He watches her eyes, the way they stay locked on the body—so focused, so haunted. His chest tightens. You were always stronger than anyone gave you credit for. Especially me.
And still, the guilt festers.
She needed me, and I wasn't there. You grew through the rubble, and I only showed up once the dust settled.
He doesn't say it. He just stands beside her, silent, until she finally turns her head to look at him.
"What do we do now?" she asks, voice barely above a whisper. Elliot exhales, finally forcing his thoughts into the air.
"We don't let him win."
And Olivia nods, her jaw set tight. Because no matter how much it hurts, no matter how scared she is, that's all she needed to hear.
They arrive back at her apartment, and when they open the door, the are greeted with laughter.
"And they always had each other's back, even if they were wrong."
She can hear her former captain's voice, and it brings warmth to her heart. She had called him to see if he could hang with Noah for the evening while she went to the crime scene. Normally, she'd have babysitters, but Noah was at that age where he could stay by himself, yet, she wasn't quite ready for that herself.
"Mom hardly ever talks about her old cop days. I'm glad she had someone then."
She turns to Elliot and smiles. She mouths a small thank you and squeezes his hands. When she doesn't let go and tugs him inside her apartment, he smiles too. She toes off her shoes and sets them by the door, right next to Noah's tennis shoes. Elliot follows suit, his next to Olivia's. She goes to take off her jacket, and Elliot is quick to finish the job for her. While he hangs up their things, Olivia walks towards the laughter and chatter of Noah and her former captain.
"Well, since you two like to gossip so much about me..." she leads off, sitting beside Noah on the couch. Noah instantly wraps his arms around his mom.
"I love you, so much, Mom."
She breathes. She wraps her arms just as tightly around him. When he lets go, she knows that Don must've told him that she'd be upset.
"I love you, kid."
Elliot walks in, and when Noah spots him, he jumps off the couch and races over, enveloping Elliot into a tight squeeze as well.
"I knew you'd be with her! Thank you for taking care of my mom."
Elliot is startled, but he hugs the kid back with equal amount of force. Olivia has gone through immortal hell and back, and she has a kid with a heart of gold. He missed it all. And the guilt creeps up his spine, splintering every nerve ending he has. He wants to crumple. He wants to cry. Wants to beg for the forgiveness he knows he's already been granted. But he deserves no absolution from this. He deserves for her to leave him in her dust. Not this.
"Well, Noah. I'd do just about anything for your mom."
And he's honest. He means it with every breath he takes. He looks over to Olivia, and he knows that she's reading him. She keeps her eyes trained on him, even after Noah excuses himself to his room. Even when their former captain says goodbye.
She knows him. Too well sometimes.
Wow. I have no other words than I am so sorry for updating this story so late. Writer's block was heavy with this chapter. But I know in the next couple of chapters, I want to amp up the action. So if you are still following and still reading, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!!