Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Fifteen

Surprisingly, Bernie kept her distance from the house and Elliot's family. The kids occasionally called her, but she never picked up. Elliot was a little worried about his mother, but he couldn't be focusing on her when he had seven other people to focus on.

"We have a serial rapist, people! Now, it's gonna be hard to find him, but with this information it shouldn't be nearly as hard. So, grab your partner and make sure you wear your vests!" Cragen exclaimed, before sending his task force out to find the rapist that had been tormenting the women of Manhattan for weeks.

"Captain, who do you want me going out with?" Elliot asked, as he followed his boss into his office.

"Your partner will be here soon. And as of right now, you are working this from here."

"But if my partner will be here soon, then why do I have to work from here? Can't I take Fin and go-" Elliot started, but then was stopped when a knock sounded on Cragen's door.

"Because your partner can't be out chasing down a serial rapist. I think you'd agree with me." Cragen replied.

Elliot turned around quickly and his eyes went wide when he saw his girlfriend standing outside of the door. He swung it open quickly, before looking at her.

"What are you doing here, baby?" Elliot asked softly.

"I just got transferred today, because this squad is short a detective." Olivia replied.

"Did you ask for it or-"

"I requested that Olivia get transferred back here. We need her, even if it's just from the precinct right now. So, we need you two to answer phones until we can have you interrogate a suspect. Okay?" Cragen spoke, and the detectives nodded.

///

Elliot and Olivia answered calls for hours, before finally getting word from Fin and Munch that they had picked up a suspect.

Elliot and Olivia decided to get something to eat before preparing themselves to interrogate the suspect.

"So are you back for good?" Elliot asked, as he and Olivia sat in an interview room and ate their sandwiches.

"I think so. I know that we didn't plan for me to come back until after our daughter was born, but Cragen wanted me to come back and I would never say no to that." Olivia replied.

"I'm really glad that they made us stay here." Elliot spoke before taking a drink from his coffee mug.

"What?"

"I'm glad that they made us stay here, because that means you weren't in danger. This man is going after brunette woman, between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. He has raped and mutilated them, and I'm thankful that you didn't have to go out there. You could have been a new target, and I would never be able to live with myself if you and our little girl got hurt." Elliot breathed.

"I'm glad we didn't have to go out either... god, this is scary." Olivia sniffled.

"Babe-"

"I have gotten more emotional since this all happened, and now I'm even more scared about bringing another girl into this world when she could get hurt by women or men like the man that is coming in soon." Olivia whispered.

"I want to call and check in on the kids-" Elliot started, and his girlfriend was quick to interrupt him.

"We can talk to them together. Just make sure they are okay."

///

For fourteen hours straight, with barely any breaks, Olivia and Elliot interrogated the serial rapist. He had a strong interest in Olivia, and he loved to show off for her. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, and because he was so focused on her, he didn't realize that he had admitted to all the forty attacks.

"I feel like my skin is crawling." Olivia frowned as she and Elliot drove home the night after the rapist was finally arrested and taken off the streets.

"I'm sorry that you had to be in there. We should have put Fin in there with me." Elliot sighed, as he reached over and rubbed Olivia's thigh gently.

"But if you would have done that, we might not be going home tonight. You still might have been sitting in that room and waiting." Olivia sighed.

"I worry about our girls." Elliot sighed softly.

"I worry about all of our kids."

"Our kids?" Elliot asked, as he glanced over at Olivia. He watched as her cheeks grew red, before Olivia nodded slowly.

"Yeah, our kids... I have known them for years, and I have been there for more milestones than most of your family has been. And with Kathy gone, I feel like I need to step forward and truly take on the mothering role. They don't have to call me mom, but I want them to know that I love them like Kathy loved them. That I have six kids, instead of just one." Olivia breathed.

Elliot smiled softly as he pulled over onto the side of the road and parked. He turned his body towards his girlfriend, before leaning in close and kissing her gently.

"You are an amazing mother, Liv. And all of our kids are beyond lucky."

"So are you okay with this all? Like, I know that Kathy will always be their mother... but I think they can have two. Right?"

"I approve of it, and I think they will too. Now, are you ready to go home? Because I think we could both really use some sleep."

///

When they got home, the kids were all asleep. Olivia paid the sitter, who was mostly there to take care of the younger three and make dinner for the kids. Elliot went upstairs and checked on all the kids, before finding that Maureen was still up.

"Hey, kiddo. Why are you still up?" Elliot asked.

"I was watching the news, I saw that the rapist is off the street." 

"Fin and Munch caught him."

"That's good... what he did was horrible." Maureen frowned, and Elliot nodded.

"Yeah, but he's going to jail for good. Liv did a great job."

"Liv? She doesn't work with you anymore." Maureen spoke quickly.

"She does now. She was the one that broke him."

"Is she okay?" Maureen asked rapidly.

"She's good. I think she was going to take a shower and go to bed. But I think we need to talk."

"About what?" Maureen whispered.

"Liv referred to you and your siblings as her kids. I just wanted to see if all approved of it."

"Really?"

"Really. So, do you think that maybe-"

"Mom is never coming back. So I guess that maybe we should accept that Olivia is our new mom and move forward. We all love her."

"You don't have to call her mom unless you really want too. But just think about maybe telling her that you love her just as much as she loves you."

"I'll think about it." Maureen smiled.