In the two weeks of living together, Lauren didn't think anyone's life could actually be lived like this. Besides the trial, and seeing her father put in jail, which was actually a good thing, life couldn't have possibly gotten any better. She and Dickie were still considered "friends," by everyone including Elliot and Kathy Stabler. The only person who knew about their relationship was Olivia. Lauren didn't really know why they acted like they weren't together, I mean, they hadn't even kissed after the first one. They just felt it was safer, at least for now to remain, "friends." Lauren and Olivia had worked out a good solid schedule with Lauren's school and Olivia's work. Sometimes Liv didn't come home until midnight, but Lauren would always be sitting, or sleeping, on the couch waiting for her to come home. And it was a late night like that when both of their lives would change.

EOEOEOEOEOEO

Jake Thomas stood at the end of the hallway, partially hidden by the shadows. He had recently been released from prison. He didn't even really know what he was doing, but he did know that he was getting paid a lot of money to do it. He looked up when he heard the elevator doors swing open. He had been waiting for what seemed like hours and finally, the target had arrived. He watched as the woman tiredly walked to her apartment door and fumbled with the keys. He made his move. He walked up behind her and put a gun to the back of her head.

"Open the door. You say anything I'll shoot you and your rat of a sister."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Olivia Benson could not believe what was happening to her. She had been working late, finishing up a case, she comes home and some guy with a gun is threatening to kill her. She slowly followed his directions. She opened the door, thinking, trying to find a way to escape. She reached for her gun that wasn't preoccupied with the door. Not There! Shoot! She remembered today Cragen had told everyone to leave their guns before they left because it was time for the guns to be cleaned and checked for any problems. Olivia tried to remain calm. She entered her apartment, finding a familiar, yet frightening sight. Lauren asleep on the couch.

"I want you to go wake her up. Tell her to be quite." The man whispered harshly in her ears. Her ears were burning at the feeling of his hot breath.

"Please, just let her go." Olivia begged.

"Oh no," he said with a chuckle, "she's the reason I'm here. Daddy's Little Girl."

Olivia didn't know what to do so she just stood there. She wanted to protect Lauren, but how?

"Fine, if you won't I will." He pulled a second gun, one with a silencer, out of his jacket. Olivia was too preoccupied with trying to get Lauren out of his hands that she didn't realize he had the gun. A slight pop got her attention.

EOEOEOEOEOEO

Lauren jolted awake to a hot pain running through her left arm. At first she thought she was dreaming, she looked at her arm, blood, pouring out of the wound. She went to scream but a hand quickly silenced her. "You say a word. She dies." The man said nodding towards Olivia with one of his guns. Lauren tried to calm down, and figure out what had happened. Had she been shot? She looked down at her arm again. A round hole in her arm gushed red blood all over the couch. Olivia stood wide eyes, looking at her, tears beginning to form.

"We're gonna have some fun, but first let's make sure we are not interrupted."

He reached down and took Liv's handcuffs and handcuffed her. Then he tied up her legs with the rope he had brought.

"Please, let her go. You want me not her." Lauren's face was red and puffy from her silent crying.

"No, we need an audience." He smirked causing a chill to go down her spine. When he was sure Olivia couldn't get out of the cuffs or rope, he turned to Lauren, an evil smile on his face.

"Daddy, says you're sweet. Let's just see how sweet."

"Wait no, please, don't make Liv see this. She can't see this." Lauren's pleading made Olivia become physically ill. She was about to witness a rape, but not just any rape. He was going to rape her sister.

"Fine," He picked Lauren up and put her in the nearest room, which just happened to be Liv's bedroom. "She can just listen and enjoy." Lauren was so terrified.

He started to rip off her shirt then he got a better idea. He pulled out his knife.

EOEOEOEOEO

Olivia was crying when she caught sight of her redemption. On the edge of the table sat her phone. She silently thanked God, as laid on the floor, trying to get up. She figured out a way to get her hands in the front of her body. She got up on her knees. She grabbed the phone she was about to dial 911 when she was interrupted by a scream. Then a barely audible pop. She regained thought and quickly the number.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"Hello, my name is Detective Olivia Benson and my sister is being attacked. I'm handcuffed in the other room. My apartment is 4C at Manhattan East. She's been shot once, possibly twice. Please hurry." Olivia could barely manage to choke the last phrase out.

"Okay, a team is on their way. Would you like me to stay on the phone?"

"No," she hung up, afraid the man might have already heard. She laid still.

EOEOEOEOEOEO

Lauren really hadn't meant to scream but when he dug the knife into her leg the pain was insufferable.

"That was a warning," Jake said. The bullet had barely grazed the side of her left shoulder. "Any more screaming and it might get a little more interesting." He brought the knife down to her stomach and drew an x pattern. "X marks the spot." He licked up the blood that was beginning to seep out of the cut. Lauren face twisted in anguish.

"No."

Jake looked over his shoulder. He could have sworn that he had heard the older one say something.

"I'll be back." He left the room. Lauren had been looking for a way to get him out of the room. She remembered that Liv kept a gun in the second drawer in her night stand. She reached over, the pain was almost enough to make her pass out. She flung the drawer door open and reached inside. Where was… Her hand grazed the cold metal. Now how to get him in here.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Jake walked over to Olivia and immediately noticed the cell phone lying in front of her.

"Naughty, naughty," he said shaking his head. "I wasn't gonna let you in on our little play date but now, I might just have to." He yanked her up off the floor so that she was sitting on her knees. His right arm flew back, gun in hand. The next thing Olivia saw was the carpet, the left side of her face burning. He kicked her in the stomach. The sudden force made all the air in her lungs rush out, leaving her gasping on the floor. He aimed the gun at her head. He counted mentally. 1, 2…

"HELP!" Jake heard Lauren yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Shoot," he dashed around the sofa and made a beeline for the bedroom. He barely had stepped into the room when he was greeted by a bullet to the chest. He immediately dropped to the floor, dead.

EOEOEOEOEOEO

Olivia didn't know what was happening. She lay on the floor. She listened. She heard a gun shot, then, silence. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she finally managed a way to sit up. She began to work on untying the ropes around her legs.

CRASH!

She turned her head, in just enough time to see her apartment splinter open, nearly giving her a heart attack. Three men in uniform burst in. That was the last thing she saw before the darkness over took her.

EOEOEOEOEO

Olivia regained consciousness a few moments later. A tall man with dark hair was leaning over her checking the huge gash above her eyebrow. He was making sure to be gentle as he turned her over on her back.

"Please," Olivia choked, "get my sister. In the bedroom." She sat in an up right position, coughing as she sat up.

"You really need to lie down." He tried to lay her back into a resting position but she objected.

"NO, what you need to do is get and help my sister." Olivia didn't mean to be so harsh, but he just didn't understand. She was all Olivia had besides Elliot and he was always out of her reach.

"Ma'am we're taking care of her we have one other officer and a paramedic in with her. Now I need you to lie down."

Olivia tried to object but she went into a coughing fit. She covered her mouth with her hands and felt a wet substance on her palms. She looked down at her hands. Red, sticky, blood. She went into another coughing fit. The paramedic picked up his radio. "We need a stretcher up here now."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Lauren heard the door breaking from the bedroom. It was such a relief that she went unconscious.

An officer and the paramedic entered the room. The paramedic immediately radioed for a stretcher.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEO

"Bud, we got one dead man in here and a girl with two gunshot wounds and deep knife wounds to the upper thigh and stomach," the other officer said.

Olivia heard the man's radio and immediately was thankful. Lauren isn't dead! But then another nasty battle entered her brain. She had just killed him. Olivia knew she would get off, but two trials in less than a month was hard for an adult, let alone a sixteen year old. Olivia was sick to her stomach. She couldn't understand why she could never protect Lauren. She hated herself. A string of 'If Only…' phrases ran through her mind. If Only I had my gun. If only I'd have seen him down the hall. If only, if only, if only. Olivia suddenly felt overwhelmingly dizzy. She tried to hold her head up but failed miserably. She slumped down into the paramedics arms, the darkness consuming her.

The two stretchers arrived one after the other, taking the two sisters down to the ambulance where they were rushed to the emergency room.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEO

"Stabler," Elliot's groggy voice echoed over the phone into the captain's ears.

"Elliot, I just got a call from 911. Benson and her sister were attacked at her apartment." Elliot didn't even wait for him to finish. He jumped out of bed and through on a pair of jeans over his boxers. He grabbed a tee shirt and his keys as he listened to all the details Don could give him.

"They were rushed to the emergency room. I figured you would want to know."

"Yeah, bye," Elliot's pulse pounded through his ears, he could feel emotion rising in his throat. It was an almost suffocating feeling. He dashed down the stairs to his car and put the keys in the ignition. He raced to the hospital, praying that they would be alright. He prayed he would have one last moment, one last chance to tell her how he truly felt. Liv, you can't go, not until you know. He parked the car. The tires squealed as the vehicle came to a halt. He quickly locked the doors and sprinted for the entrance. He dashed to the front desk.

"I'm looking for Olivia Benson or Lauren Smith," the desk clerk noted the urgency in his voice and quickly checked through her files on the computer.

"Olivia Benson is in recovery and Lauren, it looks like she's still in surgery. Dr. Brown is the doctor in charge of Miss Benson. Recovery is on the 3rd floor, you can talk to the clerks up there."

"Thanks," Elliot ran for the elevator. He got in and pushed the number 3. The doors opened and he walked up to the desk clerk.

"I need to see Olivia Benson."

The lady typed a few keys on her computers then looked up at him, "She's in room 317."

"Thanks, and could you tell the doctor who's in charge of Lauren Smith's surgery to tell me immediately when she's out."

"Yes, 317 is down the hall on the right."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Elliot walked into Olivia's room, Cragen sat against a wall. Elliot gazed at Olivia's sleeping form. A bandage covered the area above Olivia's left eye.

"How is she?"

"She had some minor internal bleeding and some severe bruising on her abdominal region. Other than that, she should be fine."

Elliot released the breath he had been holding in. Cragen saw some of the color coming back to Elliot's face.

"I'm gonna leave and see what CSU found about our perp. Take it easy, Stabler." Cragen slipped out noting that his detective hadn't heard a word he just said. He just stared at Olivia. I strange look wearing on his face.

Elliot gazed longingly at Olivia. He was so angry. Why didn't he walk her up the stairs?

'Let me walk you up, it's late.' Elliot said as he pulled in front of her apartment.

'Elliot, I'll be fine.' Olivia said with that cute little smile that he couldn't resist. 'Thanks though.'

'Okay then, see you tomorrow.' He waited 'til she had entered the building before he drove off to his apartment.

He could have been there for her, should have been there for her. He pulled his chair up next to the bed. He grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly.

"Liv, I'm sorry. Baby, I'm sorry. For everything, the little fights, the huge blow ups, for never telling you." He stroked her mocha brown hair. It was matted and tangled. He attempted to smooth it down. Even though, her hair was a mess and she had a white bandage covering her face, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He stared in a trans-like state for what seemed like hours, praying for some sign that she would wake up.

He saw her beginning to stir. Her legs jolted to the side. She started whimpering and talking in her sleep. "Stop, please, don't. Elliot, help, please stop!" Her eyes flashed open wide. She jolted herself in an upright position causing Elliot to sit up. She winced in pain. Her abs still hurt from the beating she had taken that night. Olivia's breathing was labored. She looked around at her surroundings. She was in a hospital a familiar face sat next to her holding her hand. Why was she here unless… It wasn't just a dream. LAUREN! "Where's Lauren?"

"Shh, calm down. It was just a bad dream. Lauren is in surgery." He urged Olivia to lie back down. She gently lay back onto the pillow, her breathing steadying. Liv's eyes looked into Elliot's, but they weren't really seeing. A haze clouded her coffee colored eyes. "Liv, what happened?"

Her vision jolted back to his crystal eyes, tears threatening to fall. "El, I don't know he was just there, and he had a gun, well two guns, and if I had seen the second gun he wouldn't have shot her the first time and maybe I could have fought him off and," she broke down. She covered her face with her hands. Elliot watched, his eyes filled with sympathy. He loved her and he wanted to be there for her. He reached up and took her hands. He kissed her fingers lightly. Then, as he held her hands with his left hand, he reached up with his right and brushed away her tears.

"Liv, you can't blame yourself. You saved her, whether you believe me or not, you did. You called the police and got her out of there. Without you, who knows what could have happened."

"El, he shot her, twice, how is that saving her? I mean, I don't even know what happened in there. She could have been raped or, oh God, what did he do to her? I need to see her, please. I have to see her."

"I'll get you to her as soon as possible, but Liv I need to tell you something." He looked deeply into her eyes. Liv stared back, wearing a face of doubt. She looked down, she felt defeated, like a failure. Elliot had never seen Liv look so crushed before. "Olive Benson," he had a scolding yet tender tone, "Don't you dare get down on yourself. Lauren needs you." He pulled her chin up, "Look at me," her eyes averted his gaze. "Look at me!" She hesitantly looked toward him. "Liv, you have to be strong."

"Why? What's the point? I fail everyone, I can't save her. I can't protect anyone. El, I can't even be there you." Her eyes leaked tears.

"Liv, when have you ever failed me? Hmm? Even so, I will always be here for you." He kissed her forehead lovingly. "Always." He smiled at her. She stared at him. Maybe he's trying to say what I think he's trying to say. No, it was like a brother-sister thing. "Liv, I just wanna say that, tonight scared me. I thought you died, and I can't just sit here and hold this in. I l..."

"Mr. Stabler, Miss Benson, Lauren just got out of surgery." The pair looked at the doctor who had just entered the room.

"So, what did you find?" Olivia's ears were burning.

"She had two gunshot wounds, one was just a small wound on the other the bullet was still inside the body so we had to go and repair the damage caused, but she'll be fine. She also had several knife wounds, some deeper than others along her thighs and abdomen. She also has bruising on her face and on her inner thighs and vaginal area. No fluids."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sister shot, cut, fondled. She felt so guilty, so, so guilty.

"Can we see her?" Elliot's question jolted her out of her daze.

"El, I don't know if I can do this." Olivia said softly as he wheeled her in a wheel chair towards Lauren's room, doctor's orders.

"Liv, this wasn't your fault." He stopped when he reached the door. It was closed. He bent down and looked her straight in the eyes. "Liv, you can't blame yourself for this."

"El, what if she is a broken mess. I can't help her, I can barely help myself." She buried her face in her hands and cried softly.

"Liv, no one can do everything on their own. Let me help you and Lauren." He reached up and took her hands in his and kissed them. He looked her straight in the eyes, "Please, Liv, I can't bare to see you kill yourself over this. Let me help you."

She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Okay," she nodded, "Thanks, El, for being here."

"You're welcome."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

The pair slowly opened the door to reveal Lauren's sleeping form, her chest steadily rising and falling. Elliot was about to wheel Liv over to her bed when she stopped him.

"I can walk. The doctor's not looking now anyway." Elliot didn't object, he knew how hard it had been to get her in there in the first place. Olivia walked over towards the empty seat next to her bed. Elliot gently shut the door and walked over to the chair next to her. Olivia scooted her chair up so she could hold Lauren's hand. She stroked it.

"Lauren, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm sorry. OH God, I'm so sorry." Olivia placed her forehead on Lauren's hand. She kissed it lightly. "Sorry," she whispered so softly Elliot wasn't even sure if she had said it.

Elliot placed his hand on Liv's shoulder. He rubbed it gently. He felt her tense muscles relax a bit. The two sat in silence for a while.

"Liv, you need to rest."

"No, I'm fine." She jerked her self up right, so she wouldn't show her urge to give in to sleep.

"Liv, it's fine. I'm here." Liv didn't want to admit it, but she was tired to complain. She leaned her head back on the chair. She squirmed a bit trying to find a comfortable spot. Before she could move again, Elliot had already patted his shoulder. She caved leaning in on him. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her. She was grateful to be wrapped in the warmth of him. She wished that she could always fall asleep in her arms, she wished she had the guts to tell him that she loved him, she needed him, but she knew he didn't feel the same way. And that was the last thing she thought before sleep consumed her.

EOEOEOEOEO

Elliot stared at the sleeping woman lying on him. He bent and kissed her forehead. He lightly stroked her arm. "I love you," he whispered. His thoughts were jolted by the stirring on the bed. Lauren was waking up.

EOEOEOEOEO

Lauren felt her self waking up, but she didn't want to. She wanted to die. She had been shot, cut, he touched her. Then, she killed him. She really didn't know who he was, but she did know that her dad had hired him. He had told her this much as he felt her.

Lauren didn't dare open her eyes. She didn't want to face the truth. While she was here, in dream world, she didn't have to face what had happened. But then again, she was worried about Liv, she wasn't quite sure of anything that had happened to her. She opened one eye. She saw Elliot, sitting there, watching her. Beside him, Olivia laid asleep on his shoulder. Lauren wished Dickie was there, to hold her, to comfort her. She suddenly became afraid, what if Dickie didn't love her because of what happened. She was saving herself for marriage, or at least until she was sure she loved that person. And now, in one night, he had violated her. He didn't rape her, but it still felt the same. She couldn't trust her feelings. Dickie wouldn't love her. So she couldn't love him.

Elliot looked at her. She opened both of her eyes. She saw relief wash over his face. He gently shook Olivia. "Liv, Lauren's awake." Olivia's eyes became more alert. She sat up and looked at Lauren, tears threatened to fall. She didn't know what to say. What could she say?

"Lauren?" Elliot asked.

Lauren could barely find her voice. "Hey," was the only thing she could manage.

"Do you feel okay? Anything hurt?" Elliot was feeling her forehead. No fever.

Surprisingly there was no pain; the doctors must have been pumping morphine through her. "No, I'm fine. Liv, are you okay?" She looked over at her sister then reached for her hand. Olivia grabbed it and held tight.

"Yeah, I'm okay now that you're awake." Liv felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She didn't know what was gonna happen from here on out, but she did know that they would get through it together. Her and Lauren. And Elliot.

"Does Dickie know?" Lauren's innocent question bore feelings of ache.

"No, no we haven't told him. Do you want us to?" Olivia knew that he would find out eventually, but she wasn't going to say anything unless Lauren wanted it.

"Yeah, he should know, he's my best friend. Would you do it?" She looked at Elliot. Then he got it.

"I'll leave you two alone." Elliot left the room and pulled out his cell phone. He walked down the hall to the lobby as he dialed the number. He's probably just getting up for school, he thought as he read his watch. 7:22.

The phone rang. Once, twice. "Hello?" The sound of his ex-wife's familiar voice sounded over the phone.

"Kathy, it's Elliot. Is Dickie around?"

She could hear the stress in his voice and knew something was wrong. "He had to leave early for a 7:30 meeting at school." She could hear him sigh. "Elliot?"

"Lauren and Olivia were attacked at their apartment early this morning. I thought Dickie should know."

"Oh God, what happened?"

Elliot quickly explained all that he knew about the attack.

"I'm sorry, Elliot. I really am." Elliot could tell that she was sincere.

"Thanks, I'll pick Dickie up from school. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Take care of yourself Elliot."

"Yeah, you too." He hung up then walked to the cafeteria to get some coffee.

EOEOEOEOEO

As soon as Elliot left it became quiet. Neither girl knew what to say to each other. Finally Liv broke the silence.

"Lauren, I…"

"Olivia, don't, I know what you're gonna say. It wasn't your fault. Don't apologize. If it wasn't for you, I could be dead."

Olivia started to cry, tears flowed down her cheeks freely. How could she be so brave? Olivia hugged Lauren, making sure not to hurt her wounds. "You're so brave."

"Yeah, right," Lauren rolled her eyes. "You're the brave one. I'm not brave; I couldn't even tell anyone about our father." Tears welled in her eyes.

"Hey, that wasn't your fault…"

"Yes, it was, he beat me for so long. I could have told. I should have told. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened. This was my fault. That man came because of me, because of my father. He said that my father paid him a lot of money. I'm sorry, Olivia. It's because of me that this happened." Lauren buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"Lauren, no, never say that. It wasn't your fault. You were too young when he started it. You didn't know what to do." Olivia wrapped her arms around her and sobbed with her. "I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry." Liv didn't know what to say so she just said what she felt, "You are brave. So much more than you think." They sat there and cried for what seemed like hours.

"Liv, what about Dickie?"

"What about him?"

"I love him, but how could he ever, I mean, I feel so dirty, so worthless. I don't deserve him. I was only fooling myself. No one could ever love me."

Liv looked at her with pain, she knew exactly how she felt. She had felt the same way her entire life. "That's not true. Elliot loves you like a daughter and I love you. Lauren, know that. You are my sister and I love you."

"I love you, too, Liv. Thank you, so much, for everything."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Elliot peeked in through the door to find Olivia and Lauren sobbing and hugging each other.

"…could ever love me."

"That's not true. Elliot loves you like a daughter and I love you. Lauren, know that. You are my sister and I love you."

"I love you, too, Liv. Thank you, so much, for everything."

Elliot's eyes began to tear up. I love you, too, Liv. He wanted so bad to walk in there, wrap his arms around her, and tell her that. He opened the door and walked in he wrapped his arms around the girls. Olivia turned to look at him. The pair just sat there, looking deeply into each others eyes, as they held Lauren, who was weeping in their arms.

"Lauren, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I consider you one of my own children. I love you. If you ever need anything, just call."

"Thanks, Elliot."

"Your welcome." He reached over and kissed her on the forehead.

EOEOEOEOEOEO

Olivia sat back and witnessed the love and care of Elliot. She fell more and more in love with him with each passing moment. She wished that it was her that he was kissing. She sat back in her chair and Elliot leaned back onto his heels. Lauren collapsed on her pillow. She looked worn out. Huge, black circles were under her eyes and she looked pale.

"We'll let you sleep. Liv, Let's go check to see when you two can leave." Elliot grabbed Liv's wheel chair and Olivia reluctantly sat down. They left the room and headed for the desk clerk.

"Liv, you okay?" He placed one hand on her shoulder as he wheeled her with the other hand.

"Yeah, well, I guess. Honestly, I dunno. It all depends on Lauren."

"She'll make it, she's got you."

She smiled slightly to her self. She was flattered. "Thanks, El, that means a lot."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

After they talked to the desk clerk, they returned to Olivia's room to pack her things.

"I'm glad I don't have to be here any longer, well, be a patient here any longer. I think I'm gonna stay with Laur until she leaves."

"Liv, after we check you out, would you want to go to Dickie's school with me? I told Kathy what happened and I said I would pick him up. She's gonna allow him to stay with me for the time being."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Once the pair had checked Olivia out and packed her things, they headed to Elliot's car.

Being the perfect gentleman that he was, Elliot opened the passenger's door for Olivia.

"Thanks."

He shut the door and then walked over to the driver's door and got in.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO