Coming Home [A Bensler Fan Fic]

Twenty-One

The girls went down not long after they arrived at their grandparents' house. Then it was just Olivia and Elliot as they sat together with Bernie and Joseph and discussed everything that had happened.

"So someone tried to kill you?" Bernie breathed, as she held Olivia's hand across the table.

"My father hired a hitman to kill me and my daughters. Elliot had taken Lou to the bathroom, and they both were almost shot twice." Olivia explained. Bernie gave Olivia's hand a tight squeeze before standing and walking around the table and hugging her son tightly. 

"Did they catch him?" Joseph asked weakly, and Olivia nodded.

"Yeah, they did. He was shot and captured outside of our safe house. But now because our apartment is a crime scene... and Lou will not feel safe there, let alone the rest of us, we don't have a place to go." Olivia frowned.

"You four can stay here as long as you need to. I'd love to stay up all night and talk, but you two need some sleep. We can talk more when you wake up." Joseph spoke.

Joseph and Bernie hugged their son and his fiancée before sending them upstairs. Joseph grabbed his wife before she could follow them upstairs and held her tightly against his chest.

"We could have lost them all... we almost lost our baby, Joe." Bernie whimpered, as she buried her face into her husband's strong chest.

"I know, Bern... but Elliot is here and alive. Let alone our granddaughters and Liv. And I don't plan on letting them go soon. If they end up growing old here, I'm completely fine with that because it's better than them getting shot and killed in their old apartment."

///

Lou didn't have nightmares during their nights in protective custody, but she had horrible nightmares the night they were finally back with their family. She woke up screaming and crying, her small body thrashing around in her bed. Olivia rushed in and turned on the light before quickly sitting down on the edge of her daughter's bed. 

"Lou, baby... I'm here. Mama is here." Olivia spoke loudly, as she tried to smooth her daughter's hair as she screamed and cried.

"No! Not my Daddy!" Lou screamed.

"What's happening?" Elliot asked as he stumbled into his daughters' room.

"She's having a nightmare. I think it's about you." Olivia spoke, as she tried to keep her daughter from hurting herself.

"Let me try." Elliot replied, before swapping spots with Olivia. He pulled Lou up and held her tightly to his body as her small body relaxed in his embrace.

"Daddy... not my Daddy." Lou whimpered, as she rested her head against Elliot's chest.

"I'm here, Lou. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. Just relax, baby. Wake up and relax." Elliot spoke as he started to rock back and forth.

Lou whimpered for several more moments before she opened her eyes and looked up at her father.

"Daddy?" She whispered, and Elliot smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, baby. It's me, Daddy. You are okay. We are safe and with Grandma and Papa."

"I'm scared." Lou whispered, and Elliot nodded.

"I know you are, Lou. I am too. So let's lay down together and I can hold you. You'll feel better once you know you are safe."

///

Olivia didn't fall back asleep, because she was determined to be there for her fiancé and daughter just in case they needed anything. Once she heard Bernie and Joseph get up, Olivia gathered her baby up and took her downstairs so that Elliot and Lou could continue sleeping without interruptions.

"Did we wake you up last night?" Olivia questioned as she moved into the kitchen. Bernie turned around from the coffeepot as she shook her head.

"No, you didn't. We slept like the dead last night, and I think it's because we were so relieved that you four are here and safe." Bernie smiled tiredly.

"Okay, uh, I just felt bad if we woke you up... Lou was having nightmares last night, and Elliot was the only one to calm her down."

"Oh no." Bernie frowned.

"She kept crying about her daddy, and I think it's because Elliot almost got shot. But I feel so bad about this all. Guilty more like it."

"Why would you feel guilty?" Joseph asked, as he grabbed a few mugs from the cabinet before looking at Olivia.

"It's my father that hired the hitman. I was the one who was supposed to be killed, not Elliot. I was the reason why we ended up in a safe house and our apartment is no longer safe. It's all my fault, just like everything else." Olivia sighed. 

She sank down into a kitchen chair before shifting Letty up to her shoulder and snuggling her close.

"This will never be your fault, especially since your father was the one causing all this trouble. Now, don't think about that again. You are a victim in this, just like Elliot and the girls."

///

Agent McQueen sighed as he walked down the hall to the room that Trace insisted on meeting him in. Trace said that he had more information on what happened, and he was sure it would prove that he was innocent on all counts. 

"What the hell do you need to talk about, Mr. Benson?" Agent McQueen sighed as he walked into the room.

"I didn't hire the hitman. Someone else did. I will give you the information, if you can make me a deal."

"A deal? For trying to frame your daughter and being a wanted drug lord? I think not." McQueen laughed.

"It was my sister-in-law. She's trying to frame me for everything."

"Do you think I'm dumb? You are trying to blame people you hate so that you can get out and not face any consequences. I'm not allowing you to just walk out of here when we already have you on some pretty bad charges. So unless you have something that will truly help me, then we are done here. Don't contact me, and just enjoy the fact you will be moving to a federal prison and end up being someone's bitch."