When Detective Stabler arrived outside of the Orphanage his captain had just turned off his phone and turned to look at the sound of a car approaching. All three Detectives inside the car got out and Craigen eyed the two partners warily. The ones he had specifically said were not allowed to have any part in the double hostage situation.


“So I take it since you are here even though I told you not to be Angel is rescued and okay?”


“In an ambulance on her way to a hospital with Aaron and Conner as we speak,” Detective Stabler confirmed.


“Good…thanks for the update. You can go now.”


“There is nothing else for me to do! You can’t just expect me to sit around and do nothing while this is going on!”


“You can go be with Aaron, Conner, and Angel.”


“No sir, I promised a five year old I would call her back. She’s had enough promises broken tonight I’m not going to go and break her heart more.” And before Craigen could even form a response Detective Stabler had his phone out and was calling Ashley’s phone number that he had programmed into his phone the other day when Nick had bought it for her. He scowled, shook his head and walked off while muttering something about remember he is your best detective…


“What’s going on inside Captain?” Detective Benson wanted to know while matching his stride.


“Sean, Trevor, and two other men are in the auditorium holding everybody in there hostage while a bunch of other men are in the hospital wing holding it hostage. I’ve spoken to Ben the one in charge of the hospital wing situation a few times now - Well, argued is more like it. I am not getting anywhere with him but I can tell he is not here for Sean.”


“How can you tell?”


“Well that and I’m going off of Dr. Huang’s theory.”


“So what’s he here for then? What’s his motive in all of this?”


“That’s what we still have yet to figure out. Every time I come close to it he hangs up on me.”


“Let me talk to him the next time he calls,” Detective Stabler insisted suddenly joining them. Craigen and Detective Benson looked at him to see he still has his phone to his ear. “Better yet, I’ll call him. What’s the number to the hospital receptionist desk? I assume that’s what phone you are keeping in touch with him on.” Detective Benson rolled her eyes as she could see their captain was not at all happy with him at the moment and she grabbed his arm.


“No, you and I are going to go get the blue prints of the building so we can figure out where it is Sean and Trevor got in at” She insisted and began dragging him off. “Who is that you are talking to? Is that Ellie?”


“No actually, it’s Doctor Johnson.” Detective Benson stopped abruptly and looked at him in surprise as did Craigen, Dr. Huang, and Detectives Tutuola and Munch.


“Why didn’t you mention that before? How are you in contact with him?”


“He’s with Ellie – the kids contacted him. Apparently he’d given Julie a walkie talkie and kept another one telling her she could talk to him anytime she felt the need to.”


“What is he doing?”


“He was watching Sean from the air vents but he needed to get Ellie far away from there so they are now hiding in Brooke’s office.”


“What about the cameras in the building?” She asked warily.


“He turned the one in Brooke’s office off.”


“I’m sure that pissed Sean off.”


“Well, he wouldn’t know because he’s nowhere near him now for Ellie’s sake. She’s freaking out big time.”


“Why what happened?”


“Ashley’s sort of…snapped. It’s crazy you won’t even believe it. Thankfully Ellie doesn’t know that, all she heard was Sean crying out in pain and Doctor Johnson had to carry her away kicking and screaming because she wanted to go and help him.” Detective Benson arched her eyebrow.


“Ashley made Sean cry out in pain?” She asked confused and Detective Stabler nodded. She stared at him for a long moment warily.


“All right, hang up with him and talk to us. Tell him you’ll call him back as soon as we have a strategy.” Detective Stabler exchanged a few more words with Doctor Johnson and then hung up.


“Well since there is now a grownup with Ellie and the kids—“


“--I am staying Captain. You can fire me if you want but either way I am staying,” Detective Stabler cut in and then before he had the chance to reply he began to explain what is going on inside. Craigen rolled his eyes and while he had one ear on what his best Detective whom he was currently frustrated with was saying, he turned and looked at Detective Munch.


“Casey has Rosalie at the station and she misses her older brother terribly. Will you take her to him please? Someone needs to be there with the twins and Conner anyway especially when Angel is ready to talk.”


“Sure Captain, right away” Detective Munch answered and he turned and headed for the car and Craigen turned around and tuned into the discussion completely.


` ~*~*~*~*~*~


When Doctor Johnson got off of the phone with Detective Stabler he turned around and looked at the kids only to find that Dakota wasn’t sitting there among them and he tensed up slightly.


“…Sarah where are Kota and Bella?”


“Right here,” Dakota answered in a small voice from somewhere under the desk just as Sarah had pointed. Doctor Johnson looked closer under the desk and after his eyes adjusted to the darkness that it was engulfed in he could just make out the little girl and baby. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized they were just fine.


“Sweetheart why are you sitting by yourself in the dark?”


“I’m not by myself.”


“Kota don’t be smart with him, he was just showing concern for you” Sarah lectured in her ‘mother hen’ like tone.


“I wasn’t being smart, I was just being honest.”


“Why are you and Bella sitting by yourself in the dark?” Doctor Johnson corrected himself, quickly intervening before the two siblings could start arguing. He can definitely see that Sarah is entering the know it all stage rather quickly here.


“Because the storm is scary,” Dakota answered his question softly as if Sarah hadn’t just tried to mother her. Everybody was silent for a long moment as Doctor Johnson tried to think of what they were going to do.


“Lily is gonna hafta goes potty soon,” She announced while looking down at the quiet Chihuahua that she had in her hoodie the whole time. “An’ I think Bella already has.” Doctor Johnson grimaced at this announcement.


“Thanks for the update kid.”


“No problem,” Dakota answered casually.


“Are there any other puppies that are due to go potty anytime soon?” He asked speaking to the other children.


“Lil’ Rok hasn’t gone in quite awhiles,” Ellie answered softly as she peered under her shirt at the pug who appeared to be nothing but a big lump under her shirt. He knows the puppies have to be just as terrified of the storm as the kids are. “Not since Nicky’s shoe anyways.” Doctor Johnson arched his eyebrow but otherwise decided he didn’t want to know.


“Lil Rok shoulda gone potty on Sean…” he heard Dakota mutter in an undertone from under the desk. “An’ leaves a big yellow stain on his shirt…”


“Who else managed to smuggle a puppy out of there?” He spoke up giving her no opportunity to make anymore comments that he was thankful Ellie had not heard. He has a feeling he understands now why she is being so distant from everybody. He eyed Josh then wondering if he somehow managed to stick Chance under his shirt, though he doesn’t see how that would be possible. The puppy has grown so much already. And he is so excitable he would’ve made his presence quite clear by now. His eyes fell on Chris then however, and noticed a little tail sticking out from the pocket of his hoodie – one that could only belong to a Chihuahua.


“Tyke?” He asked questioned and Chris nodded.


“He practically lives in either mine or Brian’s pocket these days,” Chris explained.


“So…Chance and Abbie are still in there then?” Sarah and Josh both nodded worriedly.


“Why are they being so quiet? They were trained not to be.” Both Sarah and Josh shrugged and this realization made Doctor Johnson’s worry increase. Where are the two most playful puppies in the bunch and why are they being so quiet? He shook the worry to the back of his mind then not wanting to scare the kids any more than they already are and went back into business-like mode again.


“Right. Potty for the puppies…” he mused. He stood there thinking for a moment, and then went to Brooke’s desk. He opened up a drawer that he knows will have exactly what he is looking for and sure enough the kids watched as he pulled out a few of the potty pads that they were all trained to use in the beginning. Brooke learned to keep a bunch in her desk because all of the puppies have found it most comfortable to sleep in her office a few times in their life. He went and put them in the corners of the room and then looked at them.


“There, that’s taken care of.”


“An’ Bella?” Dakota prompted and as if right on cue the baby started to fuss.


“Did you manage to bring her diaper bag out of there?” Doctor Johnson asked hopefully.


“No, all I was able to do was stuff her bottles in daddy’s backpack. In my hurry to gets out of there I didn’t remember diapers.” Doctor Johnson stood there racking his brain and as he did Bella’s fussiness was beginning to become more pronounced. When she was all but screaming he went over to Dakota.


“All right sweetie hand her here,” he told her and he reached in and gently took the three month old from her and into his own arms carefully before going into Brooke’s bedroom. Once in there, he opened up her closet and searched for a shirt that she wouldn’t kill him for using. When he spotted an old plain black t-shirt that he remembers seeing her wear on days she’d painted with the kids he pulled it down and brought Bella to the bed. He laid her on it and began to undress her.


“Ryan do me a favor and bring me the baby wipes from Brooke’s desk,” he called to the kids and he silently thanked AJ for practically living in Brooke’s office with her when he was Laila’s foster parent. “In fact I want all of you kids in here where I can see you,” he added and a few seconds later they all filed into the room. Ryan handed him the wipes and he cleaned Bella up before turning Brooke’s t-shirt into a substitute diaper with safety pins to hold it together and he lifted her now content into his arms after placing her pacifier in her mouth. Julie moved toward him then and clung to his leg looking scared and he lifted her up with one arm before sitting on the bed and kissing her forehead softly.


“What now J?” Dakota asked softly and the rest of the kids looked at him too wanting to know the answer as well.


“Now we sit here and wait for Elliot to call back.”


“Why can’t we just break the wood off an’ make a run for it out the front door?”


“Because they’re watching the cameras sweetheart. Sean will have someone from the hospital wing after us the second we leave Brooke’s office. We wouldn’t even make it to the front door. I am responsible for all of you I can’t take those kinds of risks. They don’t know we’re in here, we’re going to keep it that way.”


“What if one of us has to goes potty?” Ellie asked suddenly.


“Do you have to go potty Ellie?”


“No, but what ifs?” Doctor Johnson got up and walked over to the bathroom in Brooke’s bedroom and he peered inside. When he saw that there were no windows he turned to tell Ellie she would use that one when he noticed the air vent. He walked out of the bathroom and retrieved some extra wood and a hammer and some nails and after going in there and covering up the air vent he looked at Ellie.


“If you have to you can go in here.” Doctor Johnson noticed disappointment flicker in her eyes then and instantly had his suspicions confirmed. “Anymore concerns?” He asked her gently.


“None that you can takes care of,” She told him softly and then turned and went over and sat on the floor distancing herself from the others somewhat.


“We all have people that we love in there Ellie,” Doctor Johnson told her softly. “Believe me I understand your pain. My little brother is in there, my fiancée is in there, Dakota, Sarah, and Bella’s daddy and mommy are in there, Josh and Chris’s, Spencer, Julie, Ryan, and Laila’s…we are all suffering. You aren’t alone honey.”


“Yes, so stop acting like it,” Dakota added in a snippy tone. She is trying very hard to understand her best friend’s position but it is getting harder and harder the more time she spends worrying about Ashley.


“That is enough Dakota, no one asked for your input” Doctor Johnson told her calmly and then he went over and sat next to Ellie. Dakota shook her head and went over and sat next to Sarah and she laid her head in her lap. Sarah idly played with her hair and Dakota closed her eyes as she worked real hard to suppress her strong desire to throw something at Ellie. She knows it’s not her fault that her daddy is the way he is, and she is holding onto that with all of the strength she has in her. That and despite everything, she loves her. Very much. It is that alone that is keeping her feelings at bay. She just wishes that Ellie loved her enough to make sacrifices like that for her. Despite all of the pain she has caused her she has held onto their friendship like a life line, no matter what it’s done to her. She can’t live without her. She tried and experienced firsthand that it’s both physically and emotionally impossible. What about Ellie though? Where does she stand in her heart? Would she throw away such a strong friendship for a man who never loved her the way he was supposed to from the very beginning? Maybe she has just been influenced by Sean for way too long. Trevor had said to Kevin that he loves him and his place is wherever Sean is.


Could their friendship be just like that? Will Dakota be in Trevor’s position many years from now, in the middle of one of Ellie’s crazy stunts trying to save her butt as usual? Will she be second place in Ellie’s future dark cold heart like Trevor is to Sean when she inherits her father’s anger and need for revenge? No. Dakota thought firmly. Ellie is not too far gone, she is not too much like her father. She may be damaged but she has potential, she’s felt the one difference between them too many times not to know it’s there. She can love and she knows somewhere in her heart, she loves her. But Sean loves Trevor…and he is having a hard time getting Sean to choose him over hate. If only he could get him to do it and if Ellie saw it happen…maybe she would see the change and be influenced to change too. Wishful thinking of course. There is no way Trevor is going to get Sean to back track now. Now that he is getting what he finally wanted…killing her mommy. Dakota swallowed back a lump in her throat at the thought and tears spilled out over her closed eyes. If only Ellie could get inside her heart and really feel what this is putting her through.


If only she could really understand. She’s understood Ellie their entire friendship she has always tried her very hardest to understand. She just wishes that for once Ellie could understand her for a change. That for once things could be about her and not the other way around. Why does Ellie get to be the selfish one all the time? Having just about enough of being the good girl, Dakota sat up. She is done at this point. For once she wants the attention to be on her. And she is going to get it. Reaching over she grabbed one of Bella’s toys from the floor that she wasn’t currently playing with and she chucked it at Ellie as hard as she could hitting her point blank in the face. Ellie shrieked in pain and began to sob and everybody else stared at Dakota in complete shock.


“Dakota Ann—“ Doctor Johnson began but was quickly interrupted.


“--You are NOT the only one in this friendship Ellie and it is HIGH time you realized that! The world does NOT revolve completely around YOU! There are other people in this world hurting besides YOU!” Dakota shouted tearfully and she got up and ran into the bathroom slamming the door shut behind her and locking it and the next thing they heard were her sobs and crashing sounds as she threw things around amidst a tantrum.