Title: Beautiful Soul

Author: SVUFanatic611

Rating: PG-13

A/n – This one starts where the other one left off. It's the late night of the day they found Kathleen. In this story, the trial will take place and we'll see Kathleen grow with the support of those around her. But the maturity won't come easily. To anyone.

Summary: Sequel to One of Their Own. While SVU searches for the perp, everyone has to deal with the aftermath of Kathleen's kidnapping, especially Elliot and Olivia. How will it affect them? How close is everyone to the breaking point?

Disclaimer: SVU and its associated characters are not mine. The title was based on the song 'Beautiful Soul' by Jesse McCartney. I have no claim on the song, although I must say, I listen to it often.

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BellevueHospital
December 7, 2003
-11:43pm-

Olivia Benson's POV

"Casey, you ready to go?" I asked her. She was sitting in the chair, tired as the rest of us. Although we all wanted to stay for Kathleen and Elliot, Don made it an order to go home, sleep, and not come back unless we had all slept for at least ten hours. Ten hours? How could I possibly sleep for ten hours when my partner's daughter was in the hospital? When my partner's life was turned upside down?

"Yeah, but can you drive? I'm about to fall asleep," she said, her eyes half open.

"Sure, but I don't know how much better I'll be. I've been up for three days straight – going on four," I said, taking the keys from her. "Come on, Case, let's go," I whispered gently and put a hand out for her.

She lifted herself from the chair and we started out the door. "Wait, I forgot my briefcase," she said, now almost fully awake.

"Well, where'd you leave it?"

"In Kathleen's room, when we were visiting her."

I checked my watch. It was almost midnight. Chances were that Kathleen was asleep and I wasn't going to wake her up by going into her room to get a briefcase. "Look, Case, she's probably sleeping and I really don't want to wake her up. How about we get it tomorrow?"

"I have arraignment in the morning. I need it," she pleaded as if she was two-years-old. Or maybe she was just tired.

"Come on, but hurry up," I said, as we both walked to her room. I placed my hand on the knob and gently turned it. The door creaked open and the light from the lobby landed silently and gently on the sleeping figures of the Stablers.

Kathleen had been asked to stay over night for observation and her entire family never left her side. I didn't know if they were allowed to do that or not. I mean, they had certain hours, but maybe Kathy had connections with the hospital or maybe hospital personnel realized that the words 'visiting hours' didn't apply to them.

We entered the room silently and I stared upon Kathleen, sleeping in Elliot's arms, on the bed, while Maureen was curled up in a chair with Dickie at her feet on the floor. Kathy was in another chair close to the head of the bed with Liz in her arms. I never broke my gaze while Casey retrieved her briefcase.

"Olivia? You okay?" she asked gently as she laid a hand on my shoulder. I never realized that tears were burning in my eyes and that my lip was trembling.

"I…I…" I began. I couldn't believe it. I was fine just two minutes ago. What the hell was the matter with me? I had kept my emotions in check the past three days and now I've decided to break down? And in front of all the possible people, it had to be Casey Novak? Someone who, when I'm around her, my defenses go up and I never show any sort of emotion other than anger.

"Olivia? What's wrong?" Her voice is so gentle and so concerned. But, I feel like she's mocking me with it.

"I…I don't know. Maybe the past three days have caught up with me," I whisper as I jab at my tears. If I speak in anything above a whisper, I know one Stabler will wake up and I'll be seen as weak in another person's eyes.

"It's okay to cry, you know," she stated so matter-of-factly. "The day when we met in Cragen's office, I went back to my office and cried," she softly confessed, "until the river inside me had run dry. It's not fair what happened. Of all the people, Elliot and his family shouldn't have to endure this. Maybe not crying is crazy."

I knew she was trying to offer me some sort of comfort – like she was justifying my crying, but I hadn't truly cried in three days. Would she have considered me crazy then? But, wait a minute. Why was I so worried about the impression I left with Casey? I had never before needed her approval.

Maybe it was because in a workplace full of men, I was considered "one of the guys". But, men don't normally cry and neither do I. Now that I wanted to, I needed a woman to stand by me. The closest woman I could find was Casey Novak.

"I…They're tears of joy, Case," I said, half of it being the truth. "For the last two days, I was beginning to think we weren't going to find her – like it was just going to haunt us forever," I said, walking over to the side of the bed and standing over Kathleen. My heart had melted and had been left at Casey's feet. My defenses had gone down and I felt like I could bear my soul.

But that didn't mean I wanted to. I wanted the defenses up. I didn't want to bear my soul. It's so much harder when you're under a microscope, especially when your co-worker is the one holding it. I felt like Casey was staring at me, waiting for me to screw up so she could find a weakness in me.

"But, now that you've found her, what do you think of it?" she asked softly.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you felt it was going to haunt you if you didn't find her. Now that you've found her, what would you consider the situation?"

"Trying to shrink me?" I asked smirking.

"Just answer the question, Olivia," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I consider it…"

"What? What do you consider it?" she whispered, begging me for an answer. I felt for a minute she was Huang.

I turned back to Kathleen. I reached out my trembling fingers and gently brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. "A miracle," I said absent-mindedly. "I consider it a miracle."

I turned back to Casey and found her smiling. "She made a believer out of you, didn't she?"

"Casey, I've been a believer in miracles. I've seen miracles before. An abused kid who leads a productive life; a raped woman who turns from victim to survivor; a victim's family who finds a sense of closure and begins the process of acceptance – those are all miracles. I've seen them before. I just don't see them all that often," I said, as if I was defending my weak beliefs.

"You'd just never thought you'd be part of making that miracle happen, did you?" she said, continuing to whisper. She strode over to me and stood behind me, staring at Kathleen also.

"I wasn't part of the miracle, Case. I didn't find her," I said, sounding defeated.

"That doesn't disregard any of the work you did, Olivia. That doesn't make the fact that you stayed up for three days straight and worked endlessly on this case any less important. You're right, you didn't find her, but you gave her something greater, Liv. You gave her a hand to hold, a person to lean on, someone to trust. You gave her courage, Olivia. Don't belittle anything you did by saying you weren't part of the miracle because you didn't pull her out of a closet."

I turned toward her. "Munch said the same thing." It was stupid, I'll admit, but it was the only thing I could think of. What do you say to something like that?

"Yeah, well great minds think alike," she said, grinning.

"Come on; let's get outta here," I said, "before we wake someone up."

"Too late," she said, pointing to Dickie, who was stretching out the kinks in his neck, his eyes open.

"Olivia?" he asked sweetly. "Is that you?" He squinted through the dark.

"It's me," I whispered, walking over to him and kneeling to get to his level. "But, it's really late, sweetie. Casey and I just had to come to get something. I'm sorry we woke you."

"It's okay," he said through a yawn.

"You look tired, kiddo. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Thank you, Olivia," he stated out of the blue.

"For what, kiddo?" I asked gently, as I pulled the blanket back over him.

"For finding Kathleen. You kept your promise. You said you were trying your best and that everything would be okay. You were right."

"Was there any doubt in your mind?" I said, smiling, joking around.

"No…just…my dad. I don't think he believed you, Olivia. He wanted to, he just…" he said as he drifted back to sleep.

"Goodnight, kid," I whispered, putting the blanket in its final resting spot.

"G…nigh…" he said, followed by a snore.

I brushed hair out of his face, just like I had done with Kathleen and stood up. "Come on, before I have to put anyone else back to bed. From the stories I hear from Elliot, once Liz is up, she's up for the day."

Casey and I walked out, closing the door behind us quietly and walked to the car in silence. "Case, you drive. You're awake now and I might drop here right now."

"Sure," she quickly agreed. I tossed her the keys and she caught them easily. We slipped into the car and she drove me to my apartment. I fell asleep at one point because as she drove up to the entrance to my building, she poked me to wake me up.

"Come on, Mary Sunshine, rise and shine," she said. I jolted out of my sleep and rubbed my eyes.

"Oh God, did I fall asleep? Why didn't you wake me up?" I don't know why I was making a big deal out of it.

"You were asleep for like five minutes. And, frankly, judging by the bag under your eyes, you could use all the sleep you could get."

"Gee, thanks, Case for the compliment."

"Always here to offer the truth," she said smiling. "Goodnight, Olivia. See ya in the morning."

I got out of the car and turned around before leaving. "Case, about what happened back in the hospita…"

"Don't worry. I won't be shouting from the rooftops tomorrow that Olivia Benson cried," she said.

"No, it's not that. Thanks for listening, you know? Just thanks for being patient." I couldn't believe that I was thanking her for it, but maybe it was deserved.

"Don't worry about it, Liv."

"Goodnight, Case."

I shut the door and I didn't hear her car move until I had entered the lobby of my building.

SVU Squadroom
December 8, 2003
-7:54am-

Third Person POV

"What are you doing here, Olivia? I told you to get at least ten hours of sleep – eight hours ago. Care to explain?" said Don to Olivia as she entered and put her coat on the rack.

"Morning to you, too, Cap," she said as she sat down at her desk.

"I'm not kidding, Olivia. You haven't slept at all in three days. If you want to do the best on this case, you're gonna need sleep."

"I know that, Cap," she said as he sat on the edge of her desk. "I just…"

"Then what's the problem?" he asked softly. Olivia could tell that he was trying to open her up and have her release some tension that was so evident in the way she moved, the way she talked, and the way she acted.

"I would sleep…if I could," she said softly.

"Olivia…" he started sincerely.

"Don't worry about me, Cap. I haven't had a good night's sleep in about six years. Nothing new."

"Yes, it is new. This victim, you know. This one, you know how much she means to SVU's family."

"And it's just going to make me want this more. It's going to make me work harder. Don't worry about me."

They shared an awkward silence before Don spoke up again. "Elliot called me about an hour ago. He requested that you take lead detective on this one."

"I expected that," she stated simply.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay with it," he said with a shrug.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

He exhaled deeply and whispered in her direction. "Olivia, I'm going to be honest with you. I had intentions of taking you off this case."

She looked sharply at him and retorted with, "Why would you even consider that?"

"Olivia, you're a little too close to this one."

"Damn right I am. It's Elliot's daughter for Christ's sake! It's a little to close to all of us."

"I understand that," he said, letting his voice override hers.

"Then you'll know not to take me off. Cap, listen, I'm beggin' you. I need to be on this case. I…I…I just do."

"I know that, Olivia…which is why you're lead detective," he said, letting her digest everything. She let out a sigh of relief when he spoke up again. "Under one condition."

"What is that?"

"Don't expect IAB to look the other way when we're investigating this. They don't care how close this is to you or us and they're waiting for us to screw up. They will jump on your ass and chew it off at the slightest bit of impropriety. That includes getting overzealous with suspects. You have got to keep your emotions in check at all times."

"I will, Cap. Don't worry about that."

"I know you will, but things come up, shit happens…which is why you've got scheduled sessions with Huang."

"Cap, no, I don't need them. I'm fine," she said, getting defensive.

"Let's keep it that way, Olivia. You take the sessions or you take ordered leave." She stared at him with eyes full of contempt.

"Cap, don't do this to me," she said in a hoarse whisper.

"It's not to you, Olivia. It's for you."

She stared at him once more. "Fine. When do they start?"

"Well, Elliot called here again about five minutes before you came. Kathleen's awake. Don't get her statement just yet, but let Kathy and Elliot know that we're going to need her down here when she gets discharged. The sooner the better. Take her statement and I also understand that Kathy and Elliot want to talk to you. You do that and then by the time you're done, Huang will be ready."

"Okay," she said, letting go of breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Get down there," he said, heading back to his office.

Olivia got up, put her coat on, and headed for the door when Don stopped her again, walking back to her. "Olivia?"

"Yeah, Cap?" she answered, a little annoyed with the situation.

"It's not just you. I'm making everyone on this case visit Huang. I've also told Elliot that it would be best if he went, too."

"He's not going to go," she stated simply.

"You'd be surprised what he'd do when it comes to his one of his kids."

"What about Kathleen?"

"What about her?"

"She's definitely been through hell, Don. She's going to need help, too."

"Well, she's not my detective and I can't make her do anything. However, I mentioned it to Elliot and he and Kathy are going to look into it. Huang said he'd be glad to help them in any way possible. Including sessions for the siblings."

"Well, you've got everything worked out, don't you?" she said smirking.

"I've got everything worked out for them if they want it. If they do, they won't have to jump through a thousand more hoops. They've got enough to jump through right now."

"How about you? You getting shrinked?"

"I call him when I feel the need," he admitted.

"You're a good man, Don," she said quietly, squeezing his shoulder.

"I care about Elliot and his family just as much as you do. I wanna castrate this man just as much as you do, Liv, but remember what I said about IAB."

"I will, Cap."

"I'm serious, Olivia. I know I told you before to do whatever you needed to do, but she's home now. Everything we do is going to be under the microscope. We do it by the book, or we don't do it at all." His tone meant business.

"I know you're serious. I'm taking everything you're saying to heart. I understand. Don't worry."

"Olivia?" he started, again stopping her. "When you talk to Elliot and Kathy, you talk to them like any other victim's parents. If Kathleen doesn't want them to know certain details, you don't tell them unless it puts her life in danger. Understood?"

"Cap, you know how hard it's going to be to keep that from Elliot?"

"Yeah, I do, but you speak to the victims, for the victims, you answer to me. None of that applies to Elliot."

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed.

"Now, get down there. She's asking for you."

Olivia walked out the building, not sure where her loyalties lied. She could side with Cragen, disassociate herself and treat this in a completely professional manner, which might be for the best. She could side with Elliot and get herself involved so deep that she didn't know where she'd go. Or she could side with Kathleen and speak for her. She could just work her case and help her through any troubles she was sure to encounter.

She left the precinct with Kathleen's side pulling at her heartstrings.

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A/n – well, here's the first chapter of a long one! I know its a little slow start, but the pace will catch up, don't worry. Shoutouts to those who reviewed One Of Their Own are featured below. I treasure every single one of my reviewers, and although I cannot give a personal message to every single one of you, I have read every single of your reviews and I'm touched. You guys give me such support and guidance and I don't know where I'd be without you! I gave you a shoutout, but please don't feel offended if you don't get a personal message. I have a working bibliography due tomorrow on my term paper that is 90 percent of my third quarter grade. Pray for me!

Amethyst Fluff – I wanted to thank you for your kind words in your review. They were heartfelt and I almost cried. ;) Don't worry, I know I didn't put Huang in the first one, and because I wrote as I went along, I looked back and I regretted it. To make up for it, I know somewhat where I'm going with this one ahead of time, and he's included in this one quite a bit. You'll see him in sessions with numerous people. I would tell you who, but I don't wanna spoil the surprise ;).

BuriedNox – I not only updated two chapters of OoTO, but I updated one chapter of this one! I think it's time you updated yours! LoL! Just kidding, take your time, but just know I'm waiting patiently and have no doubt in your mind (because I have no doubt in mine) that I'll review. Thanks for your constant support during this endeavor and I'm sorry about you hating Kathy. Personally, I hate her, too, but I figured that Kathleen's kidnapping wouldn't pull them apart, but pull them together. Don't worry, I will be following canon as the story progresses, just give it time. Oopes! Did I just say that? Wink wink cough cough.

shopaholic90 – I really want to chat with you and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to respond. However, I don't have a clue how MSN works, and if you could leave in a review or something how it does, I'd love to chat!! Again, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to respond.

jtbwriter – I'm glad to know that it was the best part of your assignment! I was touched when you mentioned that! Thanks for making my day!

FaithHopeLove – I'm waiting for you to update!! You gotta update!! I'm so enthralled with your writing. You can't leave me hanging!

To all the others who have supported me through writing the other one! You're reviews are, and will always be, invaluable and I will always keep you guys in mind when it comes to suggestions and constructive criticism. I live off your guys' input and the fact that you took your time to review has touched me in so many ways. It's because of you guys I continue to write. Every single one of you! – Aseye, LawNorderLuver01, rose, SetYourMindFree, Hide-N-Seeker424, aserene, Stephanie, GalaxyTraveler, HPBeatles, Brittany4445, Cartly, musical Horatio mad, kerry, Connster97, Lauren, Diane, Singing Daisy, LiRA, Meghan-the-Melancholy, SammieJo, Tracy, Natalie, ZILENABLACK, Coz, Vertigo Mac, Kathryn, Gingerjohnson, Juicy Fruit Girl, and last, but certainly not least, Maya Beebop.

Also, I promised in Talking To You, Blaming You, that I'd mention those who reviewed Setting My Sights that I didn't mention earlier in another fic and I always keep my promises. ;) I also mentioned those who reviewed Talking to You, Blaming You, too – Here it goes – Angelfirenze, Rach, AngelsRCryin, Ty, jtbwriter, tany24, FaithHopeLove, Touchstone, SetYourMindFree, Wynter Nytes, and Emsta.

Well, that's the end!!!! LoL! Actually, no it's not. I have one last note. I'm searching for a beta because the one I had isn't able to do it anymore. If you're interested, just let me know in a review. Thanks for reading through it and until next chapter, adios! –Jessica