Semper Fi

Whenever You're Ready

The drive to the hospital was pretty quiet. Nick sneaked a few glances in Olivia's direction to try and get an idea of her demeanor. She was quiet and spent the entire ride staring out the window. She didn't know what kind of shape the young girl was in and although she knew she had to focus on getting as many details out of her as possible to help her catch Harrington, she was determined to not victimize her more. She remembers how Cassidy and members of the squad tried to indirectly ask her everything that happened with Lewis. Cragen and Barba were the only two who knew everything because they were present for her statement. There were too many Lewis' and Harrington's out there and she wanted to rid the world of as many of them as possible but she wanted to do it without making things worse for their victims.

"You ok?" Nick asked tentatively.

"Yeah."

They pulled up into the parking garage and Olivia took a deep breath to steady herself.

"You know I can take the lead on the interview if you want?" he offered.

"Nick, this girl was just held captive, raped and tortured. I'm sure she is going to feel more comfortable talking to a female detective," she said pointedly. "I'm fine. Trust me."

"Ok."

XXXXX

Elliot pulled up to the brownstone on the outskirts of Manhattan and Dickie was waiting for him. He took Noah out of the backseat and they went into the house together. It was 3 bedrooms and 3 baths with the option to knock down a wall on the second floor and make another bedroom. The home had a lot of potential but Elliot was concerned about getting it all done before the baby came. He and Dickie walked through the house talking over ideas for renovations, painting and prices.

"So what do you think dad?"

"It's a good find. You did pretty good to say that this is the first one that we looked at. I feel like it has a lot of potential."

"Good. I could really see you guys here."

"Yeah...I'm a little concerned about the price though," Elliot said trying to work the figures in his head while keeping a close eye on Noah who was walking around the empty space.

"We can work on that. That's what you have me for. I told you I think I could get it down some," Dickie explained.

"Alright well let's see what you can do with the price. In the meantime, let's go and look at the next one."

They went and saw three more houses. One he wouldn't even walk in because of how it looked on the outside, one was too far away and he knew Olivia would not be ok with the commute and the last one was a pretty good contender. There was just something about the first house that stuck with him. After looking at houses for a few hours, they decided to grab a bite to eat and talk over all of the options. Elliot was surprised when Dickie suggested it. Even though they were on better terms, he still walked on eggshells a bit with him because Dickie inherited his moodiness and temper. He knew that at any given moment the atmosphere could change between them and he was hoping that everything would stay positive.

"So it seems like the first house is the one you really like," Dickie said after they both gave the waitress their order.

"I do like that one. Like you said I could see all of us there. I want Olivia to take a look at it of course. I have a few pictures I'm going to show her and then we can set up another appointment to look at it."

"Good. I have some more to show you just in case. Later in the week if you are up to it."

"Of course I'm up to it. Thanks for helping us out like this," he said sincerely.