Operation Heart

Another One Bites the Dust

Everyone was waiting for the call from Cabot and Carisi to let them know that the warrant had been secured. Fin and Olivia were talking, and Olivia seemed rather relaxed, but she wasn't. Inside she was still panicking, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Elliot was alive. What kind of asshole faked his death like that? And what about his family? Her heart went out to all five of his kids, and his wife. God, the four oldest would definitely be hurt by finding out Elliot faked his death, as would Kathy. Eli had been a baby, the was no way he remembered his dad's death. "Liv, talk to me. Don't just sit here and stew in your repressed emotions," Fin stated.

"No, because if I let out my repressed emotions, I very well may throat punch Detective Stabler over there." Her voice was a growl, and he could see how much anger was close to the surface, and close to boiling over.

"He looks so guilty that I don't even think he would try to stop you if you did throat punch him." He had meant it as a joke, but then he looked over at Elliot and noticed how part of what he had said rang true. Elliot did look guilty for the pain he had caused Olivia, and the rest of their unit, but mainly Olivia. "Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive him?"

"I honestly don't know, Fin. The man pretended to be dead, for ten years. My partner, my best friend. What would you do if Munch had faked his death like this?" She raised her eyebrow, and he cracked a small smile.

"Considering this is Munch we're talking about. I wouldn't be surprised if he just disappears one day, and neither would you." Olivia laughed, knowing that she couldn't argue on that. They heard a buzz, and the door opened again, and then they heard heels clacking on the floor. Moments later a blonde woman entered the room, but Olivia didn't see her. Fin did though.

"Kathleen, what are you doing here?" Elliot questioned, and Olivia tightened her grip on her coffee cup. He didn't seem mad by the blonde's arrival, just wary.

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd be nice and bring Sergeant Bell and Jet some donuts. Plus, I hoped I'd get to see you," she answered matter of factly.

"Don't you know how dangerous it is for you to be here?"

"Well, after nine years of thinking you were dead, I've spent the past year taking any chance to see you that I can get, dad. And don't worry, the only people I told were Mo, Lizzie, and Dickie."

"You told your brother and sisters?"

"At least I listened to you and kept you being alive a secret from the person I really wanted to tell. We both know she's gonna be pretty pissed, dad, and not just at you," she argued, not noticing Olivia, who hadn't moved an inch.

Elliot groaned, he probably would have run a hand through his hair, if he had had any. "I told you not to tell anyone, Kathleen, not Maureen, not Lizzie, not Dickie. I'm honestly surprised you kept it a secret from her. Not that it's gonna do much good now because Ayanna didn't listen to me or Cragen." Elliot gestured to Olivia, who silently sipped her coffee.

"You told Liv?"

"Not by choice!"

At that moment Olivia's phone rang, so she answered the call and raised her phone to her ear. "Benson."

"Cabot should be pulling up any second with the warrant so you can get that phone for your case. After the case, we SVU people really need to have another game night. You're gonna need some fun after this case."

Olivia laughed softly. "I don't see another game night happening for quite a while, Carisi, unless we lessen the minimum amount of people needed. I'll explain later." She heard Alex's arrival before she saw her. "And our warrant just arrived. We'll call if we need anything else, thank you." She hung up the phone and slid it into her pocket and walked over to grab the warrant from Alex, their fingers brushing momentarily.

"Fresh from Judge Cabot's desk. Good luck." She had noticed Kathleen, but didn't bother saying a word to her, sure that if she was there, that meant she already knew that Elliot was alive.

"Alright, Fin, Rollins, and Sergeant Bell, let's roll out. Detective Stabler, you should get back to whatever you're supposed to be doing undercover," Olivia stated as she started to leave the team headquarters. As she started to walk away, she remembered that she had picked one of her tighter pairs of jeans when she had gotten dressed that morning. "And for God's sake, stop staring at my ass, Alex!" She called over her shoulder, fighting off a small smile.

"Can you blame me, Liv? You've got an ass that's nice to look at...and touch," she muttered the last part under her breath, knowing better than to antagonize Olivia too much, but Jet, Kathleen, and Elliot had all heard her. Kathleen and Jet both choked on their coffee's, but Elliot turned to look at Alex, clearly confused.

Did Olivia have a nice ass? Yes, absolutely. She was gorgeous from head to toe. Even though Elliot had been married when he "died" he had always found Olivia attractive, he had just been really good at hiding it. Apparently that was not the case now. "Stop staring at Liv's ass, or I might shoot you myself instead of letting Alex do it," Fin whispered to Elliot before speeding up to catch up with Olivia.

They were all standing outside an apartment in Manhattan, about to knock on the door. "Hold on," Olivia whispered over her shoulder, and everyone else froze. She pulled her gun out and pushed the front door of the apartment open without turning the handle. The stench that hit them all in the face was almost enough to make Olivia gag. Over twenty years as a cop, and she still wasn't used to the smell of death. She heard Ayanna call it in, but Olivia was too busy raising a cloth to her nose and mouth before stepping into the apartment, not that it stopped the stench from choking her.

"Liv, where are you going?" Fin questioned as he started to follow her, though he didn't have a cloth over his face. His years in Narcotics seemed to have made him immune to the smell of death.

"Someone figured out that Jacob Tyler was the weakest link in their organization, and decided to shut him up before we had a chance to grab him. Maybe they left a clue, or his phone," she answered as she stepped further into the apartment, finding blood seeping into the carpet, it was still wet.

When Olivia went to look around a corner, into the room where the blood was coming from, there was a gunshot, and something flew past Olivia's head, narrowly missing her. Suddenly Fin's hand gripped her arm like a vise as he pulled her back into cover, out of sight of the shooter. "Are you hit?" He questioned softly, trying not to let the shooter hear them. There was a look of fear in his eyes as he looked at her, checking her over for injury.

"I'm fine, Fin. It seems like there's only one shooter. I'm going to check again though," she answered just as softly.

"Like hell you are, Liv."

"I'm your captain, Fin. Don't argue with me."

"That bullet barely missed your head! Think about Noah." His voice had been barely audible at the end, and she froze. She knew he was right, rationally she knew. But she had to figure out who was toying with them by staying hidden as the leader of the sex trafficking ring. It was why she lost so much time with her best friend, and why she had now lost trust in him.

Moments later SWAT arrived, dressed head to toe in riot gear. "You should have called us in sooner," the boss stated, glaring at both Olivia and Ayanna. Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but Ayanna beat her to it.

"We didn't think we would be dealing with an active gun situation. If we had, then we would have gladly called and asked for your assistance," she snapped, glaring right back at him. Olivia wouldn't admit it, but she was slightly impressed by the way Ayanna handled herself.

A flashbang was thrown into the room where the gunshot had come from, and minutes later the leader of the SWAT team returned with a man in handcuffs. "Got your shooter right here."

"For fuck's sake, Izak Bekher, we meet again," Ayanna stated coldly.