Here is chapter 12, the final chapter of 'Bring You Home'!

Disclaimer: I do not own SVU, nor am I making a profit from this work.

Please read and review, one last time!

Enjoy!

At the scene unfolding in front of him, he instantly drew his weapon and fired. Twice. That was all it took and in that exact moment, he understood what Amanda had felt like. The weight that lifted from his shoulder's hit back down even harder as he hurried across the room to his sister.

Her tiny frame was covered in blood and he knew it was bad and for a moment he could hardly tell where it was coming from. When he figured it out, he pulled off his jacket and pressed it to the wound harshly, trying to slow the bleeding. With his other hand he fumbled with his radio before calling for a bus.

It was confirmed to be on route almost instantly, and he felt Lia's blood soaking through his jacket and onto his hands and its warmth made him feel sick. The pool of blood he was kneeling in made him even more so.

The time it took for the paramedics to arrive seemed incomprehensible, and in that time, Lia's eyelids had only fluttered open and shut a couple of times.

He was shoved out of the way with little sympathy by the paramedics, and he was shaky on his feet as he glanced at the dead cold body of Dan's that lay far too close to Lia's.

"Call in and tell them to have blood ready for a transfusion. We'll need a lot. It's going to be touch and go." He heard one of them say as they placed Lia on a stretcher and prepared her to move.

It was several rings after the call came through on his cell that he realised it was his ringing, that he picked up and unable to speak heard Liv on the other side.

"Lia. They're taking her to Mercy hospital." Was all he managed, before hanging up and hurrying after the paramedics.

Someone else in the building had obviously called 911 themselves, as there were several officers that were just arriving as they were leaving.

Carisi paused momentarily and pulled out his weapon.

"There's a body upstairs. Apartment 23 I fired my weapon twice, here." He almost threw it at the closest uniform, and missed most of what they said in response.

He was already at the bus when the officer came up behind him, asking who exactly he was.

"Detective Carisi, with SVU. It's my sister, if you don't mind." He gestured toward the person in the ambulance and after seeing a nod from the other young man he climbed inside and sat across from his little sister.

He hardly took his eyes off Lia the entire ride to the hospital, and the hushed and hurried voices of the paramedics in front of him drifted in and out.

With sirens blearing, they arrived rather quickly and as soon as the double doors opened, there was a team of doctors surrounding her and Carisi was left behind.

She was taken into an examination room and after a minute or two, a nurse came out to talk to him. In those few minutes, Olivia arrived with Nick following close behind.

The nurse's voice was calm given the situation, as she told him that Lia had suffered a tremendous amount of blood loss, and that there was internal damage. She finished by telling him that she was being taken up to an OR room and that she would come find him to update him on his sister during surgery.

"Thank you." He managed and with a small smile and nod, she left to rejoin the group as they moved toward the elevator, Lia still unmoving.

He hoped she didn't remember. For Lia's sake, he hoped she would never remember.

The sight of her lying on his kitchen floor was one that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

X

As soon as Lia heard knocking at the door her heart was in her throat and for a moment she considered ignoring the other person and resorted to hiding in the kitchen.

The knocking however intensified, and something she didn't quite understand made her go ahead and open it.

He was standing outside, his hand still raised from knocking and seeing her, he gave a smirk, eyes bright.

Lia didn't want to invite him in, but he pushed past her and strode inside, an air of confidence about him, and that was what scared her.

She should have run, straight out the door but instead she followed him hoping she was able to calm the storm.

Dan yelled, and he hit and he shoved.

The tiles of the kitchen floor connected with the back of her head then as he threw her down.

For once she put up a fight, and she scratched and she screamed.

That made him angry, and with every blow to her tiny body she became more and more numb.

Tears welled in her eyes and clouded her vision. All she could see was Dan on top of her.

The knife came out of no where and as it came in contact with her skin Lia truly believed she was going to die.

It was nothing like Hollywood however, and Lia hardly felt each stab. Growing more light headed with each one, it seemed like hours later when a gunshot rang out and Dan's body dropped dead next to hers.

That was when the pain seared through her body. When her brother applied pressure to the wounds on her abdomen. She couldn't scream and the pain she felt was unconscious, her not being able to get away from it.

The one vivid thought that replayed over and over in her head was that she was pregnant. Dan had been angry at her and the fact she had called him made her weak. That thought put her out of misery, and the pain dulled into a mild buzz she was no longer aware of.

Pain was the thing that awoke her again and with a team of doctors swarmed around her poking and prodding at her.

Her hand swatted at one of them and their voices washed over her in a chorus.

"Lia we're going to put you under now." Was one of the phrases she caught on to and that panicked her.

"Baby." She managed to stutter out, her throat dry and scratchy.

A surgeon with a scrub cap and mask on raised his eyebrows at the others.

"You fight for us Lia." A female voice spoke up, and as a mask was placed over her mouth and nose, Lia realised she had no idea what they meant.

How was she meant to fight when it seemed like the war had been lost?

X

Carisi paced back and forth, ignoring all of Olivia's attempts at comfort.

He didn't want to sit down, he didn't want to read some old magazine and he certainly didn't feel like a coffee.

All he wanted was his sister. His sister to be safe.

But now she was in a war zone, and he wasn't the one able to pull her out.

She had to do that on her own.

The nurse from the ER earlier came out an hour or so later and Carisi wasted no time in approaching her.

"What's the news."

"It's going relatively well considering her injuries."

"What does that mean?" He asked, annoyed.

"It means we're hopeful Lia will make a fairly complete recovery."

"But?"

"We came to the knowledge that Lia was 6 weeks pregnant. The fetus did not survive the attack. I'm sorry."

"She… She was pregnant?"

"I'm sorry. She will be in surgery for a few more hours. I'll come out again before the end and update you. You'll be able to see her in the ICU afterward."

He hardly acknowledged her leaving, and found himself in a chair, a hand pressed into his forehead.

Did Lia not know she was pregnant, or did she simply not trust him enough to tell him?

Why else would she ring Dan?

That tore him apart and it took everything in him not to fall to pieces right there on the spot.

But he couldn't, because he had to be there for his sister regardless. It wasn't about him, it was about Lia.

Olivia provided some good insight, and he really listened to her words despite his dazed state.

It was nearing 7pm when the nurse appeared, accompanied by a still gowned surgeon and he stood to greet them.

"Lia's out of surgery and is in the ICU. She made it through surgery, but she still has a long road ahead of her." The surgeon explained quickly. He'd seen enough broken families to know all they wanted was to see their loved ones.

"Piper will take you up there now. I'll be back around later to explain the extent of her injuries." He gave a nod to the nurse who eyed Carisi, and then gestured for him to follow her to the ICU.

Walking down the hallway, he could hardly breathe and for a moment he was reminded of the time all those months ago where he was visiting Lia at college.

That was the start of it. When he found out the true nature of Lia's relationship with Dan and when she made the decision to shut him out of it.

Now she was fighting for her life in a hospital bed. He would give anything for it to have ended up differently.

He never should have left her alone in his apartment. He should have been with her, all of this time. He should have helped her. Now it was beyond that.

There was nothing anyone could do or say that would make him feel any better about that, because he had failed and Lia wasn't to blame for that, he was.

"Here we are." Piper finally stopped in front of one of the rooms. The glass wall that faced the nurses station allowed him to see his sister and the way she looked so broken made him pause, his breath hitched in his throat.

"Okay, detective?" She checked and at his nod she continued, "Lia may not wake up for a few more hours yet. You stay as long as you want. We'll be in and out checking up on her. Dr. Paul will come by later this evening to talk to you and check Lia. If you need anything, just let us know." She smiled, and stepped out of the way to allow Carisi through the sliding door into Lia's room.

Instantly he noticed the slow, steady beeping of the heart monitor that told him his sister was very much alive. The sterile, antiseptic smell however, told him that it was only just so.

He took his place in the chair beside her bed and after a moment of simply staring at his sister, he carefully took her hand in his.

It was 45 minutes later that Olivia appeared at the door, and he stood, moving over to talk to her.

"I just wished she'd have talked to me." He muttered as he stepped into the hallway.

Olivia nodded understandingly. "I know. But you can't blame yourself. Perhaps Lia just wasn't ready for you to know yet. She may not have come to terms with it herself."

It was Carisi's turn to nod and knowing how drained he was Olivia continued with what she'd come to say. "I was on the phone with Tucker. You'll need to talk to IAB, tomorrow afternoon. He was certain it wouldn't take long."

"Great thank you." The slight hint of sarcasm was noted and she gave a small nod.

"Amanda called your parents just before and they said they were on their way."

"I didn't even think…"

"It's okay, it's taken care of. Just go be with your sister. Keep in touch and some of us will come by in the morning."

"Thanks Liv."

"Don't mention it." She gave him a comforting smile, before turning and leaving back down the hall.

He watched her leave before returning into the ICU room. Lia's almost expressionless face gave him peace of mind, knowing that she wasn't feeling too much pain.

This time when he took his place bedside, he felt the need to speak, words of comfort to his sister at least until Dr. Paul showed up looking about as tired as Carisi felt.

He'd talked to families of trauma victims all the time, and he seemed to have a gift about doing so. All Carisi wanted to know however, was if his sister was going to be okay.

"We're hopeful that she will make a full physical recovery." He finished after all the medical jargon that Carisi couldn't quite wrap his head around right then.

Dr. Paul checked Lia's vitals and adjusted her IV line before signing something off in her chart, shaking Carisi's hand and leaving the room.

Lia's eyes finally began to flutter open a few hours later and it was the twitch of her fingers around Carisi's hand that brought him out of his snooze.

She felt surreal, like she could feel everything and nothing at the same time and she winced and gave a tiny hiss of pain as she became aware of her surroundings.

"What, where am I?" She finally mumbled after finding her voice and didn't miss the concerned expression on her brothers face.

"Lia, you're in the hospital. You don't remember any of what happened?"

She went silent and eventually looked at him with teary eyes. "No. I don't remember. But it hurts. It hurts."

Upon calling her in, the nurse, Piper firstly administrated more pain meds, and then went about checking Lia over, including checking her surgical site and making her follow a small torch with her eyes.

Carisi sat by her side as Piper talked her through everything that happened, minus loosing the baby.

As he watched her come to terms with what Dan had done to her, he knew bringing up the fact he would have been more than happy to help with the baby would simply make Lia feel worse.

"Wait a minute." Lia's voice caught him of guard. "I was… Pregnant. I remember. I was." She stammered and Piper met Carisi's eye before giving a sad sigh.

"I'm so sorry Lia." Was all she had to say before Lia promptly burst into tears, and that was what really reminded Carisi of how young she was. She had always seemed so mature for her age, it was easy to forget that really she was his baby sister.

"I'll leave you two alone." Piper said slowly before moving out of the room, leaving brother and sister together. It was obvious even to her how close the two were. It was the sort of relationship that every parents simply wills their children to have.

"What happened to Dan?" Lia managed between quiet sobs and he looked down.

"He's dead." He spoke flatly and was caught of guard by the laugh Lia gave.

"I'm glad." She whispered and suddenly he didn't seem to matter anymore.

He was gone and she was here. Some might like to call it fate.

To Lia, it was everything and at that point in time with her in hospital broken and bruised, she didn't think she would ever fully recover from that.

For once she thought that maybe she could try.

"I promised I'd bring you home Lia."

It was then she realised, that home didn't have to mean four walls and that sometimes home was a person, your person.

With a sigh, she pulled her brother into a hug. "Thank you." Lia whispered.

She would be okay.

Lia was broken into a thousand pieces and what some might call a victim, but she was okay. Somehow, she would make it through that.

Okay so I found it a bit tricky to write the ending but here it is.

I'll definitely miss writing this!

Hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've loved writing it.

Let me know if you're interested in an sequel of some kind.

Much love,

Liv x