Title: Blurred Lines

Author: mindy35

Rating: K+, minor adult themes

Disclaimer: Not mine, no money made.

Spoilers: "Torch".

Pairing: Elliot/Olivia

Summary: Post-ep for "Torch". Olivia asks Elliot about his relationship with Jo Marlowe.

They were taking a mid-morning coffee break when she spied her opening. So as her partner exited the deli, two coffees in hand and a gripe on his lips about how bad the brew no doubt tasted, Olivia slipped her sunglasses off her face and asked him straight:

"So why didn't you tell me Jo was a woman?"

His stride faltered. "I didn't not tell you," he replied, handing her her coffee, "it just…never came up."

"Uh huh." Olivia propped her sunglasses on her head and cast a glance down the chaotic New York sidewalk. "S'that what I'm gonna be after we go our separate ways? Some sexless Detective Ben-something to tell cute anecdotes about?"

His eyes cut to hers, one corner of his mouth tugging upwards. "You goin' somewhere I don't know about?"

She met his gaze, squinting slightly in the sunlight. "Relax, Stabler, you're stuck with me for a little while yet."

Elliot peeled back the lid on his coffee and began blowing on it. "Glad to hear it."

Olivia was about to drink but at his mumbled comment, she stalled and sent him a look that was part surprise, part question, part amused affection.

In response, he pulled a face and explained: "I hate breaking in new partners."

"Oh, really?" she muttered dryly.

"Yeah." He gave an apathetic shrug then stepped closer, putting his back against their car. "I already know which locker is yours and where you keep your secret stash of chocolate and how you take your coffee."

She leant back against the car as well. "Yeah, only took two years for you to get that right."

"You get a new partner," he went on between sips of bitter coffee, "you gotta go back to the beginning…figure all that stuff out again."

Olivia sighed and sipped. "What a drag..."

Elliot nodded and sipped. "You're telling me."

A siren whooshed by behind them. In front of them, a gaggle of truant school girls were heading into the deli while an old man with a three-legged dog limped past. Olivia took a breath and renewed her enquiry.

"How long were you partnered with Jo then?"

"Three years."

She waited for more. When nothing more was offered, she raised her brows and muttered a pointed: "…And?"

Elliot sent her sideways glance. "And what?"

"Did you get on?" she prompted with a tinge of impatience, "Did you work well together?"

He thought a moment. "…Yeah."

Again, Olivia waited. Again, she was disappointed. "Wow, well, don't overwhelm me with details all at once."

"What?" he asked, pushing away from the car to face her. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know…" she mused, attempting to put her finger on what exactly she'd observed about the dynamic between her partner and his former training officer. "She seemed a little….smitten?"

"Oh, come on," he scoffed, shuffling to face the street.

Olivia watched him brace an arm against the frame of the sedan, gazing over the hood at the passing traffic. She took a slow sip of coffee before asking in as light a tone as possible: "Anything ever happen there?"

Elliot cleared his throat then turned to meet her steady gaze. "You know me better than that."

"I thought so," she answered, shooting him a smile as she headed to an overflowing trash can to dump her coffee. "But then I also thought Jo Marlowe was a two-hundred pound man with a bald spot and mild halitosis."

"Liv—" he set his coffee on the roof and turned to her, arms folded, "I was as married then as I am now."

"Jo didn't seem to think that much of an impediment," she commented, walking back towards him, her head tilted and step easy.

A smug smirk spread across his face. "You two been talking about me behind my back?"

Olivia put a little more swing in her step, returning his smirk with one of her own. "Oh, you're all us girls talk about, El, including how dreamy your eyes are and—"

"Alright, alright." He lifted a hand to stall her mockery. "So what'd she tell you?"

It was her turn to scrutinize the traffic, hesitating before admitting: "She wasn't telling, she was asking."

Elliot shifted in his clothes. "What exactly?"

Olivia shot him a don't-play-dumb look. "What d'you think?" She whipped her sunglasses off her head and slipped them over her eyes. "What pretty much everyone in that precinct has asked me at some point over the last decade or so."

"You mean she asked about us," he murmured after a short, awkward silence.

Her eyes traced his face beneath her shades. "They ask you too?" she said eventually, sounding surprised.

Elliot opened his mouth to answer but settled for shrugging his shoulders somewhat guiltily.

"What do you say?" she asked, brow starting to crumple.

"I say nothing," he muttered, stoically avoiding her gaze. "I say no comment."

She took a step closer, one hand slipping inside her jacket to grasp her hip. "You say no comment?"

He shrugged again. "Yeah."

Her mouth dropped open then released an exasperated huff. "El! You can't say no comment. No comment means….my partner and I are knocking boots and it's so hot that I can barely speak for fear of spilling."

"No. No comment means…." he waved a hand in frustration, "no comment!"

"Augh!" She marched to the car, snatched up his half-finished coffee then marched to the bin and dumped it. "No wonder no one in that building ever asks me out."

"Would you actually go out with them if they did?" he asked with a crooked grin.

"No." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she re-joined him on the curb. "Cops are moody and suspicious and they never get time off. They make crappy boyfriends."

"True." He bobbed his head a few times. "On the upside, some of us have dreamy eyes."

Olivia rolled her eyes and gave his shoulder a little shove. Elliot chuckled and fell back against the car. There was another pause before she made one last attempt to get at the truth.

"So nothing ever happened? With you and Jo?"

Her partner's eyes were flickering with residual amusement. "If I say no comment now are you gonna assume something did?"

"I'm not gonna assume anything." Olivia lowered her gaze, fishing the car keys from her pocket. "And you don't have to tell me anything either." She pressed the button to unlock the car and was reaching for the handle when Elliot stopped her hand.

"Look…" For a moment, he seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted. "There was always…a vibe with Jo. You know?"

She faced him, sliding her glasses back into her hair again. "A vibe, sure."

"But as far as I was concerned…" he paused, tilting his head towards hers, "it was one-sided."

Olivia nodded, once again hoping for a little more information, just a little more clarification. She was about to give up hope and turn to the car when he spoke again.

"Which is not to say…" Elliot took a breath and held it, gaze now wandering somewhere to her right, "I've never been…you know – tempted."

She shrugged lightly. "Everyone has."

"And this job…"

"I know." She ducked her head, fingering the car keys. "It breeds a…strange sort of intimacy."

Elliot hummed in agreement. "But with Jo it was never anything more than the job." His eyes returned to hers, he offered a half-smile and added, "No blurry lines. Believe me."

Returning the almost smile, Olivia wordlessly held the keys in the air. When Elliot cupped his hand beneath them, she let them fall. Then she headed round the nose of the car, eyes cast to the ground. She'd thought she'd asked a simple question. She'd been hoping for a simple answer. Instead, she was left with more questions. Their conversation, weaving as all their conversations did, in and over and around the truth, had only left her more confused. They generally stayed away from such topics. Or skated over them as superficially as possible. And this was why. Not asking, not knowing was better. It was safer, easier. She should know this by now. Especially when it came to Elliot Stabler should she know it.

She waited for a yellow cab to fly by before opening the car door and dropping into her seat. Her reticent other half was already settled, keys in the ignition. He seemed to be waiting for her, some final, not quite formed thought lingering on the tip of his tongue and demanding expulsion. He turned to look at her, saying in a voice that was supposed to sound casual:

"Besides…every partnership is different. Right?"

Olivia tugged her seatbelt over her body and gave a nod. "Right."

Elliot started the car and pressed a hand to the back of her seat, peering over his shoulder at the oncoming traffic. Olivia wasn't concentrating on anything but his last comment and what exactly she was supposed to infer by it. Whatever his meaning, if there even was any, she'd missed it. But then, whatever Elliot's meaning, it was probably better, safer, easier if she never knew. It made sure that those lines they'd so faithfully stood behind – the ones that divided what they were from what they could be, shouldn't be or shouldn't want to be – were as blurry as they'd ever been.

END.