Stork (SVU Fanfic)

Chapter One

"Liv, go home. You've been at it for 36 hours," Cragen says.

I look up and slam my hands down. "I'm so close to solving this, Cap. I need to figure out the perp's connection to Diane."

"Munch and Fin will take care of it. Liv, please, go home. Get some rest."

"Fine!" I yell, loud enough to make everyone jump. I take my bag and walk briskly out of the precinct, down the streets, and up to my apartment.

My empty, emotionless, apartment.

I close the door and turn on the light. Nothing about this apartment feels the same, though I don't know why. I've come home to this place for 15 years. It never felt this lonely. Not even in the 6 years before starting at SVU. I hadn't met Elliot Stabler yet. We instantly connected. Even if I was alone here, I wasn't alone. Elliot and I were...linked.

It's been two months...and every time I come in here, I think of all the times Elliot did. Midnight visits after a bad case. Chinese food cartons everywhere and don't forget the beer and wine.

I sit down and call Kathy before I get too lost in thought. As usual, Maureen answers.

"Hey, Liv," she says.

"Hey, Mo, is your mom around?"

"Consciously? No."

I shake my head. Kathy went home the night Elliot died and got so wasted. Then it gradually became a nightly thing. "Okay, tell her I called. Is there anything you or the others need?"

"No. But thanks," Maureen says. "What about you?"

That takes me off guard. Maureen is the first to ask if I need anything besides Cragen.

"No, sweetie. I'm all good. I just need sleep, I think," I say with an airy laugh.

"Okay. I'll let you do that," the poor 23 year old says. I know how she feels, but this poor girl. And her sisters and her brothers.

I hang up with her and put my phone down. Slowly, I force myself to shower, scrubbing myself as best I can under the lukewarm water. When I get out, I don't bother to brush or dry my hair. I don't bother getting dressed either. I just crawl in bed and let my tears lull me to sleep.

~one week later~

I raise the wine glass to my lips, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

I get up and look through the peephole, seeing nobody. Slowly, I unlock the door, grabbing my gun off table in my entryway.

When I open it, there's still nobody. But I hear a noise that causes me to look down.

What I see makes me gasp. Eli. Little baby Eli in his...car seat.

"Eli...what...?" I ask him as I pick him up out of the car seat. Taped to him is a note.

I pick up the plastic and cloth contraption with my other hand and lug it all inside. I drop it next to me and shut the door with my heel. Setting Eli on the couch, I take the note. In a very neat handwriting that I know I've seen before, I read:

Dear Olivia,
By the time you've found this, I will have already paid someone to take my baby to you. I will have known that my time has come to an end. I can't be happy. As much as I can't stand living with a husband who's with you the most - no offense to you, by the way, you're a wonderful woman - and not his family, I can't live without him either. My pain is too unbearable. I've tried too hard for so long, even if two months doesn't seem like long. The days are years to me. My kids are doing fine, I can tell. They're as happy as can be expected right now. Lizzie is most affected, but she can distract herself. And she's talking to the school about it.