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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Three-Hundred-Forty-One




When Sean and Trevor arrived outside the Police Station they took Elenore right up to the sidewalk where she would be able to safely walk inside and Sean set her down.


“Remember all of the promises you made me Ellie,” He reminded her while giving her a firm look.


“I wills,” Elenore replied softly as she looked down at her feet wishing that she hadn’t made the promise not to run off to see him anymore. She doesn’t know how she is going to manage not being able to talk to him – not after this.


“Go on inside now,” he told her and Elenore nodded and started for the door. Sean turned toward Trevor then but did not look at him not wanting his lover to see him as he tries so desperately to keep those blasted father feelings inside. But Trevor knows better and he knows that. Suddenly Elenore paused. She turned and looked at Sean a moment, before running back to him and throwing her arms about his legs as his back was still turned. Sean looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and then turned around and stiffly patted her on the shoulder.


“Bye daddy I loves you,” She told him softly before kissing his hand, turning around, and making a mad dash for the door. He stood there in shock until she reached the door, opened it up, and went inside and then he turned around.


“Goddamnit the little shit…why’d she have to go and do that?” he cursed before storming off in the direction of the woods not knowing how else to express his feelings except with anger. Instead of answering Sean’s question Trevor turned around and ran after him. When he caught up he draped his arms around his shoulders and rested his chin on his shoulder.


“Where to next?” he asked deciding to change the subject. He knows Sean is already going through enough without him questioning his actions – which he so badly wanted to do.


“Well, since Max got caught and Ashley is back at the Orphanage…I was going to ask you the same thing myself,” Sean told him moodily.


“Max has been caught?” Trevor asked in surprise.


“I called him while you and my daughter were getting a long so wonderfully a few steps behind me – which by the way I would like to know what that was all about. But anyway, he didn’t answer and I know he wouldn’t let my call go unanswered.” Trevor shrugged.


“Would you have rather me be mean to her? I know you don’t put up with that shit.”


“No but you were being secretive and I would very much like to know why.”


“Yeah well…we all have our little secrets, don’t we Sean?” Trevor replied while looking Sean directly in the eyes as they walked side by side, Trevor practically leaning on him.


“I don’t keep secrets from you.”


“Bullshit,” Trevor replied while rolling his eyes.


“I don’t know what you are talking about.”


“How about you tell me what happened to Lindy, Sean?”


“How dare you bring that up,” Sean growled, looking straight ahead of him in order to shield the pain. “She left me when I was very little you know that! She’s a cold hearted bitch who didn’t want me!”


“I’m not sure I believe that anymore,” Trevor insisted.


“Why would I lie to you about something like that?” Sean snapped, his emotions toward Ellie’s surprise hug and kind words and his anger over losing both Max and Ashley showing clearly on his face.


“I don’t think you’ve been lying to me this whole time babe,” Trevor told him and he stopped him and lightly pressed his back up against the tree before looking him directly in the eyes. “I think for a long time you believed she left you and didn’t want you yourself up until very recently because maybe you were young and someone older put it in your head. But when you found out the truth you went on saying she left because it’s much easier for you to be angry and hateful then it is to come to terms with what really happened and accept it.”


“Oh you do, do you?” Sean asked moodily. “Did you come up with that theory all on your own?”


“No, actually” Trevor answered evenly. “The breakdown you had not too long ago has left me thinking about it for a very long time Sean…it’s made me question what really happened back then. It made me wonder why you are so angry and hateful…so I went searching for answers.” Sean narrowed his eyes and Trevor continued. “If you hate your mom so much, if you are so insistent about her running off on you and leaving you to suffer with your father then why is it that you still have pictures of her all over your trailer home?”


“You had no business going through my things!” Sean insisted, raising his voice slightly.


“I was concerned about you! You were having breakdowns left and right and I wanted to know what was going on! But since you never tell me anything I had to go looking for the answers myself!”


“Well keep out of it! It’s none of your business!”


“Everything that goes on with you is my business dickwad, we’re supposed to be lovers! We’re supposed to be a team!” Sean looked away stubbornly.


“Why can’t you just tell me what the hell happened?” Trevor urged while gently grabbing Sean by the chin and making him look at him. “What could possibly go wrong if I knew about it? You know I’m the last person on this earth who would judge you!”


“My father fucking drowned her in the lake outside our home, okay?! Are you happy now?” Sean yelled before lightly pushing Trevor away and turning his back on him. Trevor was silent for a long moment as he took in that information. He was starting to suspect something like that. “I watched the whole thing happen before my eyes. I was hidden behind a log in the woods near my house – mom told me not to come out no matter what I heard and no matter how much my father demanded me to. I watched him fucking hold her under that lake and kill her with his bare hands.”


“And what does that have to do with Kori and Ashley?” Trevor asked softly as he reached out and squeezed Sean’s shoulder in attempt to let him know he is there for him.


Everything,” Sean answered in a low rough voice.


“Well, how about you let me in on it?”


“How about you get off of my fucking case for a while?” Sean snapped before storming off ahead of Trevor through the woods. Trevor sighed heavily and set off in a close distance behind him as he racked his brain on this new information.



~*~*~*~*~*~



“ELLIOT! ELLIOT, I’M BACK!” Elenore called out as she ran through the station looking left and right for her favorite Detective. People around the station looked up upon hearing the little girl’s shouts including the very detective she was looking for as she rounded a corner and found herself at his desk.


“Ellie!” he exclaimed in surprise before quickly getting to his feet and swooping the little girl up into his arms and he hugged her.


“Thank-god you are all right, we were all worried sick” he told her while planting a kiss on top of her head as she hugged him back. After a few short moments he pulled back slightly and gently cupped her cheek in his hand as he looked her over checking to make sure she is unharmed.


“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he asked anxiously.


“They spanked me but daddy tooks care of it.”


“Oh he did, did he?” Detective Stabler asked while raising his eyebrow.


“Uh-huhs,” Elenore nodded with a small smile.


“And did he take good care of you as well?”


“Yes he did,” Elenore answered in a matter of fact tone. “He made sure I closed my eyes an’ covered my ears when he saved me an’ then afterwards he tooks me to the playground where we played for a bits. He wanted me to be okay when he brought me back.” Detective Stabler looked at her for a couple of moments in silence just taking this all in. After a few moments he kissed her forehead softly and gently rested her head against his shoulder as he hugged her close to him and he eyed Detective Benson silently telling her to call Kevin to tell him he is bringing her home. When he saw that she was doing so he turned and headed for the elevator as he rubbed his hand over Elenore’s back in a slow circular motion causing her to instantly nestle into him. After securely buckling Ellie in the middle seat in the back Detective Stabler drove the mile to the Orphanage and parked in his usual parking spot before turning the car off and getting out. Elenore already had her seat belt unbuckled before he even had her door open. Shaking his head in amusement, Detective Stabler reached in and got her and he carried her over to the sidewalk before setting her loose. As soon as her feet were on the ground she made a mad dash for the door, pulled it open, and ran inside where she found everybody waiting on her but the one person who really stood out was her daddy front and center.


“Ellie!” He exclaimed tearfully as he went running toward her.


“Daddy!” Elenore replied as she met him half way and allowed him to gather her up in his arms. He held her close to him tightly.


“Thank god you are all right.” He pulled back slightly after a few moments and checked her over and when he saw that she looked as if they hadn’t even laid a hand on her he silently thanked Sean for doing something right for once.


“I’m okay daddy,” she told him when she realized what he was doing.


“Are you sure? Did they touch you at all?”


“She says they spanked her but Sean took care of it,” Detective Stabler spoke up. “And then apparently to calm her down he took her to a playground and let her play for a bit before bringing her back.” Kevin raised his eyebrow at Detective Stabler who silently returned his look of surprise and then he turned and allowed everybody else to welcome Ellie home. After receiving hugs and kisses from everybody except for Ashley and Dakota, Elenore looked at them as Ashley stood there holding Dakota. Her eyes fixed on Dakota who had her arms wrapped around Ashley’s neck and was staring back at her with tear stained cheeks. Everybody went quiet as they could just feel the tension between the girls filling the room. After a few short moments of looking at Dakota, Ashley looked at Kevin.


“Kev bring her over here please,” She told him before kneeling down so Dakota was sitting on her knees and Kevin did the same, putting Elenore down so she was standing in front of them.


“Hey Ellie, I’m glad you are okay” Ashley told her gently.


“Thanks…I’m glad your okay more though…” Elenore spoke softly. “I’m sorry Ashee…I didnts mean to get you kidnapped.”


“Hey…you didn’t get me kidnapped okay? I don’t want you to blame yourself over this.”


“But if I tolds you guys that I knew daddy was at the party then it wouldn’ts have happened…” Elenore insisted.


“That’s not true sweetheart,” Ashley insisted. “Yeah…you should’ve told us you knew he was there, and you should’ve told us about you secretly communicating with him behind our backs…that was bad judgement on your part. You should never keep secrets from us especially those kinds of secrets. But what happened that night was not your fault. We all knew Sean was there Ellie…us big people should’ve handled it but we didn’t. That was our mistake not yours. You are five years old there is no reason you need to be blaming yourself.”


“Buts everything I do always ends up getting people hurt,” Elenore insisted softly and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“That’s because you go off and do things by yourself and keep secrets from us when you know you aren’t supposed to,” Ashley explained gently. “If you stopped doing that then you wouldn’t get into trouble so much and your friends wouldn’t get hurt.”


“That’s not true…” Elenore insisted softly. “Earlier at Mc Donalds I went up an’ asked Laney if I could goes an’ gets a free cookie with that guy who pretended he was a nice man who worked there…an’ Laney gots hurt an’ I gots kidnapped.”


“Again that wasn’t something that you could control honey, you are five years old. You had no way of knowing that was going to happen. That man took advantage of you. You did the right thing by going to Laney and we are all very proud of you for that,” Kevin told her gently. “You were a big girl and handled the situation very well considering the circumstances.”


“That is how you should handle all situations like that. You don’t ever go off alone with a complete stranger without permission,” Ashley added. “Or mean guys like those guys at Mc Donalds will take you and do bad things to you and we would all be very worried for you. Do you understand?” Elenore nodded quietly. Ashley smiled at her some and she reached out and gently tucked a strand of Elenore’s hair back behind her ear before looking at Dakota.


“I have someone here, who missed her best friend very much,” she informed. She looked down at Dakota who suddenly tightened her hold on her and rested her head against her shoulder. Ashley gently rubbed her hand over her back.


“Kota didnts miss me. She hates me – she said so herself,” Elenore told her softly while looking down at her feet.


“Yeah, Kota told me everything that was said the other night on the airplane and we had a nice long talk about that,” Ashley explained. “Didn’t we Kota?” she asked and Dakota nodded quietly.


“And she would like to tell you something…but she is a little shy about it so she is hoping that you will be willing to hear her out.” Elenore looked up at Dakota and nodded quietly. Ashley smiled down at Dakota encouragingly.


“I didnts mean anything I said the other night Ellie…” Dakota began softly. “Abouts hating you I mean…” she added quickly. “An’ any other mean thing I saids…but I was angry ats you because you are supposeds to be my friend an’ I just can’ts understand why you wanna help the man who was hurting my Ashee.”


“Cause he’s my biological daddy an’ will always be apart of me whether any of you likes it or not. An’ I cant’s understand why you wanna take that away from me by making him goes away forever.”


“I don’ts want to take him away from you Ellie, but he’s trying to takes my Ashee an’ the more I had to help you protect him the more bad I felt. I love you Ellie, an’ always will but I can’ts help you sneak around anymores. An’ I need you to understands that.”


“Ellie isn’t going to be sneaking around anymore I can promise you that sweetheart,” Kevin spoke up gently. “I’m going to be keeping an annoyingly close watch on her until she learns not to.” Elenore looked up at him with narrowed eyes.


“Don’t you narrow your eyes at me little lady. It’s the backpack for you everytime we go out in public, and when we aren’t in public you are going to still feel like you are wearing it.” Elenore scowled slightly, but otherwise didn’t argue. She promised she would behave for Kevy, and behave she will.


“I don’ts want him to die,” She insisted while looking back at Ashley with pleading eyes hoping that they still have a deal.


“Me neither,” Ashley told her gently and she wrapped her arm around Elenore and pulled her close to her for a hug. Elenore returned it.


“Really? Even after what he did to you?” She asked in surprise.


He hurt me Ellie…not you. There is no reason you should be punished for that. I understand why you want to protect him honey…you two obviously have a really strong connection. He obviously still loves you or he would never have left me to go find you” Ashley explained and she looked at Detective Stabler who was standing there looking at Ashley as if he can’t believe what he is hearing from her. Kevin had told him earlier what Ellie has been up to all of this time behind their backs and he still hasn’t come to terms with her request.


“As a victim Elliot am I allowed to have any kind of say in what happens to Sean?”


“You are allowed to yes and we will take your opinion into strong consideration but its not really up to us in the end sweetie. Your opinion will have to be delivered to a much higher authority then me.”


“I don’t want Sean to have to go through capital punishment” Ashley insisted softly. “I’m not saying that he should be able to run free…that would be dangerous. But I think being locked away in prison will do everybody justice. And maybe some very strong help from a professional shrink…because there’s a real person in there somewhere Elliot, I was asking Max questions about him and his relationship with Ellie…and Trevor…and I learned a lot.”


“Are you going to tell me about this stuff that you learned?” Detective Stabler questioned, still not understanding her request. But Ashley has a feeling no one will right off. She didn’t either and had to come to terms with it all on her own in her own way. “Because if you want your opinion to be taken seriously from this higher authority that we have to go to then you have to have a strong case. You have to prove to him that Sean doesn’t deserve capital punishment.”


“I will in a private room if you want me to but not here,” Ashley answered while looking pointedly at Elenore so he would understand. He did.


“All right then, in Brooke’s office.”


“Just let me finish up here,” Ashley insisted and she looked down at the girls and immediately got to work on guiding them through the process of fixing their friendship.