New Year's Day [A Bensler Fan Fic]

[Seven]

Everyone, but Kathy, really enjoyed the new arrangement better. The kids enjoyed being closer to their schools, and being around Nora and Olivia more often. Elliot couldn't help but smile, like all the time, and he loved the idea of Nora growing up around all of her siblings.

"So I just got a call from the school." Olivia spoke as she walked downstairs and towards the front door of their house.

"Okay? Is something wrong? Did one of the kids get on the wrong bus?" Elliot asked as he watched Olivia grab her jacket before grabbing her keys.

"Kathy never picked them up." Olivia spoke as she turned and looked at her husband.

"What? She never picked them up?" He asked with wide eyes, and Olivia nodded.

"She never picked them up. So I'm going to go get the kids and see if Kathy is at home and just forgot. Stay put and keep an eye on your phone." Olivia sighed before opening the door and walking out.

"What the actual fuck." Elliot grumbled.

///

Olivia arrived at the school and found all five of the kids sitting together in the elementary school lobby. Olivia walked over to them and gave them all a hug before wiping tears from Dickie's cheeks.

"Don't cry, baby. I'm here and we will get things figured out. Okay?"

"Momma never showed up." Dickie sniffled, and Olivia nodded.

"I know, and that is why I'm here. Wait here for a few moments, and then we can take off. I just have to talk to the secretary." Olivia smiled softly before moving away from the kids and into the main office.

She walked in, and the secretary frowned when she saw Olivia.

"How are they doing, Mrs. Stabler?"

"Dickie is crying, and they all are pretty bummed. So Kathy didn't contact you at all? No note or call?" Olivia asked, and the older woman shook her head.

"None at all. The kids waited outside for ten minutes before giving up and coming inside. I have tried to call her and so has Eli's teacher, but she hasn't responded at all."

"Okay. Uh, thanks for calling me. I'm going to be taking them now and see if I can get this all figured out."

///

The kids were hungry so Olivia stopped to get them snacks before continuing out to Kathy's house. She parked in the driveway before telling the kids to wait while she went to talk to Kathy. Olivia knocked on the front door, but no one answered. So she found the spare key before unlocking the door and going inside.

"Kathy?" Olivia called, but no one responded. Olivia searched the house, and she wasn't happy with what she found. She wiped tears off her cheeks before calling her husband as she picked Eli's stuffed rabbit off the floor.

"Hey, babe. Heading home? Did Kathy just forget?" Elliot asked.

"I'm at the house, and none of Kathy's or Sean's stuff is here. The van or truck aren't here either. So I don't know where they went, but they aren't at this house anymore."

"Are you sure, Olivia?" Elliot asked as he grew incredibly angry.

"I'm sure, El. So I'm going to take the kids back to our place and I need you to find out anything about where they are. Because if they left the country, we gotta figure out a way to get her out of their lives forever."

"I want to kill her, Liv. For breaking my children's hearts." Elliot grumbled.

"Me too, El. But we can't do anything until we find her. So find her and I'll take care of the kids."

Olivia and Elliot ended the call before Olivia went to head downstairs and out to her van. She stopped at the top of the stairs when she saw the kids standing in the empty living room.

"Where's Momma?" Eli asked as he looked around the room.

"Uh-" Olivia started, but Maureen stopped her.

"She's gone, isn't she? Like, not in the city type of gone?" Maureen asked, and Olivia frowned before shrugging.

"I don't know. So we are going to go home and-"

"Did she throw all of our stuff away?" Kathleen asked, and Olivia shook her head.

"No, but-"

"Then we are packing up and then heading home. Because clearly this isn't home anymore, and our mother isn't our mother." Maureen huffed.

///

Once Olivia got home with the kids, Elliot headed into the precinct. He walked in and Fin eyed him.

"Stabler, what are you doing here?" Fin asked, and Elliot sighed as he raked his fingers through his hair.

"I need help, and lots of it."

"Did something happen to one of the kids? Or Olivia?" Fin asked, and Elliot shrugged.

"I guess something happened to the kids. Kathy never picked them up from school today, so Olivia went and got the kids to take them out to the house. But when she got there, Kathy had moved all of her stuff, and Sean's stuff, out of the house. They aren't there and we don't know where they went. So we need to track their phones and look at flight logs to see if they got on a flight."

"We can't just-" Fin started, but Elliot shook his head and cut him off.

"These are my kids we are talking about, Fin. They were left at the school because their mother abandoned them and we don't know if she's ever coming back. So please, pull some strings and look into Kathy and Sean. I need to tell my kids something when I get home."

"Talk to Captain about it, and if he says yes, then I'll help." Fin spoke, and Elliot nodded before he walked quickly towards Cragen's office. He opened the door without knocking and spoke before Cragen could even yell at him for not knocking.

"Kathy and Sean ran off and didn't tell me or the kids. I need to find them, and I need your help and permission to do some things outside of the legal box. Please."

"Stabler, do you have a legit reason we would look into them?" Cragen asked.

"They left the kids stranded at school and aren't going by the current custody agreement. Spin that around until we have a reason."