Elliot walked into his chaotic house, seeing the children running around like crazy. As usual, there were a few extras since some of the kids had planned to have a friends spend the night.

He entered the kitchen, taking off his coat. Kathy turned around, a smile growing on her face as she spotted her husband. "You're home early." She stated, as he walked towards her.

"Yeah," he grinned, gently placing a kiss on her forehead. "Cap't figured I should take the rest of the day off." He added.

"Well, that's lucky for you. Especially since Dickie and Lizzie both have a friend staying over." She replied, going back to finish making dinner. She had so many mouths to feed tonight.

"And our other two delightful daughters?" He asked, cleaning up the kitchen as he waited for her reply. When was the last time someone cleaned off the table? It was covered in who knows what.

"Maureen is spending the night at Kimmy's and Kathleen is probably in her room hiding from the rest of the kids." Kathy laughed, waving towards the upstairs. Elliot shrugged his shoulders, a smile on his face.

"Well, can you blame her?" He teased, making Kathy giggle and shake her head. Soon, Kathleen came stomping down the stairs, obviously annoyed. She cocked her eyebrow, looking at her father.

"What are you doing home?" She spat, glaring at him.

"Good to see you too." He fired back as she walked away. He followed behind her, not going to let her get away with sassing him. He was the boss and she was going to have to deal with it.

"Mom, can you please tell the kids to quiet down? I'm trying to work on my math homework." She begged, complaining to her mother. Elliot walked up beside them, his arms crossed.

"Working on homework? On a Friday?" He questioned, arching his eyebrow at her. She let out a groan and turned to face him.

"What? Is that a crime?" She growled, not wanting to deal with her father. He was always playing bad cop, even when he was off duty. Sometimes, she wished he would just lighten up.

"For you, yeah. You never do homework on a Friday, Kath." He answered. Sure, he wasn't home as often as everyone else would like, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew his kids well enough to know that they never do homework on Fridays. They always wait until late Sunday night.

"I like to change it up." She fired back, her voice getting tense. Why was he always on her case? Couldn't he just leave her alone?

"Kathleen, just ignore them. Besides-"

"You don't talk to me like that ever, " Elliot declared, cutting his wife off. "I'm your father and I deserve to be respected as such. If you want to talk to your friends like that, that's none of my business-"

"It's always your business! You make everything your business!" She shouted back, learning how to defend herself from Maureen. She had watched enough of their fights to know how it worked.

"Kathleen!" Kathy butted in, glaring at her child.

"What?" She groaned, quickly realizing it was two against one and she would definitely lose. Her mom alway sided with her father, which was never fair.

"Just set the table and call the kids." Kathy sighed, tossing her hands towards the table, making Kathleen storm off. Elliot began to walk away, slightly upset that Kathleen was turning into a cranky teen.

"Elliot," Kathy added, making him turn around. "Please just-"

"I'm not going to be disrespected by my daughter, Kathy. I'm trying to lay down some rules. She needs to know her limits." He defended. His voice soft enough so Kathy could hear but Kathleen couldn't.

"I know, I know, El," She replied, resting her hands on his chest. "She just needs some space. She's going through some things. Cut her some slack, okay?" Kathy asked, looking into her husband's eyes. "Okay?" She repeated.

Elliot reluctantly nodded his head, rolling his blue eyes. "Fine. Okay." He agreed, heading towards the table.

xxx

The kids were just settling down for bed. Both of the parents knew the kids were going to be up late talking, but they were okay with it. It was only for one night, and besides, the kids never really got to have friends over.

But at the table, Elliot noticed something he shouldn't have. If he wasn't a detective, he probably wouldn't have even suspected it. "Dickie, come here." He called, making him come back down the stairs.

"Yeah, Dad?" He asked, standing in front of his father. Elliot furrowed his eyebrows, gently resting his hand on Dickie's shoulder as he sat on the couch.

"Your friend, Jason," he started, trying to think of the right words. "How did he get all of those bruises?" He asked, trying to make it sound casual.

"Oh, it was a bike riding accident. He hit a bump and went flying. He said it was really cool." He answered, nodding his head, smiling.

"Bike riding accident? Wow, I'm glad he was wearing a helmet." Elliot played along, smiling. Deep down, he knew the kid was lying. There was no way those bruise got on his body from a bike accident.

"Yeah, but he says he's okay. Can I go upstairs now?" Dickie asked, slowly moving towards the stairs, Elliot nodded his head, making his son sprint up the stairs.

Elliot shook his head, leaning back into the couch. He licked his lips, debating about what to do. There were so many options, but what was the right choice? "I know what you're thinking, El." Kathy stated, sitting down beside him.

Elliot turned and looked at her. "Kathy, I have to do something." He defended, his eyes pleading with her. After everything he saw day after day, he had to be the one to save this kid.

"It's none of our business." She fired back, nervousness present in her voice.

"It is my damn business," he declared, his voice deadly soft, afraid one of the kids would hear their conversation. "If I don't stop this, Jason could be killed and I'll never live with myself. I see this stuff everyday, and this is only the start. If I can stop it, I can save him."

Kathy sighed, shaking her head. She looked back into his eyes. "Did Cragen send you home early today because of a case?" She asked, slightly dazing Elliot. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Well, it..." He stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. "Sorta, but it was a mutual agreement. He offered me the option to go home and I gladly took it." He lied, hoping she would take the bait.

Unfortunately, she didn't. "Elliot-"

"Look, it was a case that I was getting too involved in. He just figured I needed a break." He quickly added, cutting her off. She tightened her lips, placing her hands on her lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered, hoping she could maybe get him to open up. He immediately shook his head. Why would she even think to ask that?

"You know I don't like bringing that world here. You know this is where I get away from it. It's the one place where I can relax and-"

"Elliot, come on. I'm your wife. I want to know what's going on inside your head. I want to be the one you turn to for these kind of things." She defended, rubbing her hand on his arm. She wanted to be his rock sometimes too.

"Kathy, you help me a lot. You just being you makes my life a thousand times better." He grinned, pecking her lips. She softly smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. Sure, she wished he would tell her, but he was too stubborn.

xxx

"I'm gonna drop the kids off at their house." Elliot declared, grabbing the keys for the sedan as the kids came slowly walking down the stairs. They didn't want their friends to leave yet. Maybe if they walked slow enough, their dad would let them stay longer.

"Okay!" Kathy called from the laundry room. He walked towards the stairs seeing all of the kids slowly marching down, their faces low. Elliot smiled at them, leaning on the railing.

"What? Did someone rain on your parade?" He teased. All of them nodded their heads, frowns on their faces.

"Can't they stay a little while longer? Please?" Lizzie begged, looking up into her father's eyes. Maybe she could get him to change his mind. He always did things for her. Like he always said, she is his baby girl.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Dad has to get back to work." He answered, making the kids groan and walk a little faster. They headed out towards the car as Elliot waved his hand out the door. Being a little dork, Dickie jumped up and gave him a high five.

Elliot laughed and followed behind them. "Elliot! Wait!" Kathy called, making him stop.

"What?" He asked, opening the door again. She quickly rushed to his side, looking into his blue eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid, Elliot." She warned, her voice stern. She knew after their talk last night that he was planning something that he might regret.

"Have I ever done anything stupid in my life?" He teased, making her playfully glare at him.

"Well don't start today." She replied, before he kissed her.

"I won't," he answered. "Goodbye. I love you!" He called as she walked off to finish the chores.

"Love you too. Drive safe!" She stated as he shut the door.

xxx

"One down. One to go." He smiled as he looked into the back. He left Jason for last.

They pulled up to the house, which actually looked very nice on the outside, but Elliot knew better than to judge just by the house. He turned off the car, then helped Jason out of the car. He followed him up the stairs, trying to maybe just get a peek inside. "Thank you, Mr. Stabler." Jason stated, looking up at Elliot.

Elliot bent down, immediately spotting the cigarette burns on the kid's arm. "Hey, no problem, Jason. If you ever need anything, here's my card." He replied, handing him the little card.

Jason smiled and nodded his head. He opened his mouth, about to speak, when he was cut off. "Jason! Who's at the door?" A voice boomed. Elliot stood up, his role of a police officer taking over.

"Just Dickie's dad." He softly replied. Feet stomped towards the door. Elliot stood a little bit closer to the kid, his inner self screaming at him to protect the child.

A tall man appeared in the doorway. He had a scar on the side of his face and tattoos colored up the side of his right arm. As Elliot guessed, the man was smoking a cigarette. "Who the hell are you?" The man demanded, glaring at Elliot.

As if it was from muscle memory, Elliot pulled out his badge. "I'm Detective Elliot Stabler." He answered, his voice getting tense. His anger was building just looking at the guy. How could he hurt a child?

"Jason, you told me this was your friend's dad, not some police officer." The man spat, staring down at his son. Jason slightly whimpered, taking a step back.

"This is Dickie's dad. He's a cop." Jason softly replied. His dad bent down, grabbing his son's wrist.

"What was that? Speak up." He demanded, pulling the child closer to him. By this point, Elliot had had enough.

"Excuse me, but I need to take a look around your house," Elliot stated, pushing past them. That stopped him from pulling on Jason. Immediately, he took off after Elliot, telling him that this was against the constitution. "Sir, I have probable cause."

"Get out of my house, jackass before I call your superiors!" The man shouted, making Jason cover his ears. Elliot slowly back out, knowing he might have done something to make this worse for Jason.

"Okay. I can come back with a search warrant." He mumbled headed out the door. Quickly, he hopped into his car and headed for the office. He had a case that he was going to see personally.

~~~~~~~~~~