A/N: I don't own anything.
A/N: This is new. I had no idea I was going to write this, I don't even have a concrete plan for this story yet. As many of you know, I haven't finished writing the crossover yet. I have written some of it, but I honestly hate everything I have written in the past month. I don't think I'm going to keep any of it. Anyway, this is what you end up with: an entirely new story.
The inspiration for this story came from Tim O'Brien's novel In the Lake of the Woods, which is a beautiful, yet haunting story about mystery and deception. With this story, I have tried to mimic some of O'Brien's writing style, combining it with my own. The result is quite interesting. However, in keeping with the O'Brien style of writing (in all of his stories, not just this one), the story is going to seem unresolved. Yes, it is annoying to have an unresolved story, but if you think on a deeper level, you may find the story actually might have the ability to resolve itself.
With that said, enjoy and please review. I would love to know what you think!
Maybe she had just gotten lost. Maybe she had gone out for a jog, but had strayed away from the path. Maybe she was fine and just taking her time in coming back to him.
Maybe, just maybe.
Maybe she had woken up that morning, feeling the sunlight warming her skin as it shone through the window. Maybe she had kissed him before rolling out of bed and getting dressed to go jogging. She had gone to the kitchen and had made herself a cup of coffee that she would drink before stepping out into the woods to run.
Maybe she had stretched before leaving the comfortable cottage in the woods. She had bent her flexible body in half, reaching her arms down to her toes to stretch her hamstrings. Then she had bent her knee and pulled her foot to her lower back, stretching her quads. Maybe then she had decided she was ready and had gone away jogging.
Maybe she had decided to go for a longer jog this morning for no real reason in particular. Maybe the birds were singing a joyous melody of life and of the present and she had gotten lost in it. Maybe she was just fine.
Maybe, just maybe.
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ONE WEEK EARLIER
"Benson, Stabler, my office, now!" The captain's voice was brisk, yet he managed to wrap gentle undertones around his otherwise harsh barks of words.
Olivia and Elliot looked at each other in mild surprise. They had a sinking feeling about what this could be about; they knew each other well enough to read it in the other's face. Their faces were both lined with fatigue and the wear and tear of this stressful job and the stressful lives that they led.
"Close the door," Cragen said softly when his two detectives had entered his office. Elliot pulled the door shut behind him. "Sit down, detectives." Olivia and Elliot obliged.
The captain studied his two detectives for a moment before speaking again. "You are both very tired and very overworked," he began softly. "I know that this last case in particular took a great toll on you both."
Olivia and Elliot exchanged looks. Their last case had involved the slaughters of no less than ten children through a sick game of twisted riddles that only led them to more dead bodies. It had both of them running to their last breath, literally and figuratively. Finding the last body only six minutes past their deadline had been almost too much to bear. Finally, the twisted criminal decided to kill himself. Elliot and Olivia had found his body at the destination indicated by the final riddle.
Cragen noticed their lack of argument. "I know I should force you both to talk to Huang, but I don't think that's what you need right now. I know that you have each other to talk to."
His smile was just a little too knowing.
Cragen continued as though he hadn't said anything suspicious. "I want you both to take vacation time. Mandatory, no arguments. I want you to go somewhere to clear your heads, somewhere where you don't have to worry about anything else but yourselves. You both have given so much to this job and it is wearing you down. I don't want anything to happen to either of you. You need to take this break."
Olivia bit her lip. She didn't like the idea of taking a vacation from work, but she was too tired to argue. Plus, she knew that the captain was right. She chanced a glance at Elliot. He too looked tired, his eyes slightly glazed over.
Olivia nodded. "We will take the vacation."
Cragen nodded slowly. "Good."
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Maybe she would walk through the door any minute and ask him what was for lunch. It would be a rather late lunch, yes, but it would be lunch all the same. Maybe they would sit at the small wooden table and talk and laugh like they could forget the horrors they had left behind them in New York. Maybe they could forget the stresses of their job and lose themselves in the barren Minnesota wilderness.
Maybe, just maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
