ChocoTherapy
A/N: The name comes from a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor. I don't own Ben & Jerry's, but if I did I'd probably weigh about 700 lbs by now. I also don't own SVU or any of the characters, but can you imagine if I did! Anyway this idea struck me while at work one night while facing the frozen food (Sound like fun? Well it isn't :P). Takes place after "911".

Olivia came home that night physically tired and emotionally drained. She wanted nothing more than to take a long bath and curl up in her bed, but she knew sleep was futile. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the picture of Maria, posed on that bed like a doll. She could hear her voice, calling out for the help she desperately sought, to save her from the man that would hurt her.

She took her sweater off and tossed it in the corner quickly followed by her jeans. She slipped into her pajama bottoms and pulled a plain white tank top over her head. Olivia made her way into the kitchen and strongly considered pouring herself a shot of vodka before quickly grabbing a bottle of water. She was on her way back to her bedroom, completely ready for the sleepless night ahead when she heard the quiet rasping at her front door.

"Not really what I need right now," she groaned making her way to the door. Glancing through the peephole she grimaced seeing the face of her partner on the other side. "What do you want Elliot?" she asked as she unlocked and opened the door for him to enter.

"Wow not really the greeting I was hoping for," he said stepping inside and placing a small paper bag on the coffee table.

"It's been a long day," she sighed dropping onto the couch and pulling her feet underneath her. "What brings you by?"

"I heard about the case," he said simply. Elliot took the brown bag into Olivia's kitchen and returned seconds later carrying two pints of ice cream and two spoons. He handed one container of ice cream and spoon to Olivia before taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"What's this?" she asked turning the container in her hand. "ChocoTherapy?"

"I've come to learn over the years that when women are depressed chocolate tends to lighten the mood," Elliot said with a smile.

Olivia smiled despite herself and popped open the container quickly digging her spoon in and taking a huge bite. "Oh God," she sighed as the delightfully sweet dessert slid down her throat, "I'm fairly certain this is illegal in 48 states. And if it's not, it really should be."

"That good huh?" Elliot asked, "gimme a taste." He reached his spoon towards Olivia's ice cream only to have her jerk it away.

"Eat your own ice cream," she said with a sarcastic growl. "What kind did you get anyway?"

Elliot turned the carton over in his hands, "Chunky Monkey." Olivia burst out laughing, her face almost immediately turning red from the fit of giggles that took her. "What's so funny?" Elliot asked.

"I don't…know," she managed to get out between fits.

Elliot took the opportunity to dig his spoon into Olivia's container and steal a spoonful of her ice cream. He shoved it into his mouth before she could stop him. "That is good," he said through a full mouth. Elliot attempted to steal another spoonful but she quickly smacked his hand away.

"Eat your own!"

"But I like yours better," Elliot whined.

"How do you know that?" Olivia asked. "You didn't even try yours yet."

Elliot sighed as he opened his container and took a spoonful. He shot Olivia a look before stuffing it into his mouth. "This isn't half bad."

Without a word Olivia reached her spoon into Elliot container. Before he could pull it away she had a heaping spoonful of his ice cream directed to her mouth.

"What makes you think I'm gonna let you eat my ice cream when you wouldn't share with me?" he asked grabbing her wrist to prevent her from eating the ice cream that lingered on her spoon.

"Oh come on," she whined even though she knew Elliot was immune to nearly all of her tactics.

"Not gonna work on me Liv," he warned still holding her wrist.

"Fine then," she huffed. Olivia balanced her container of ice cream in her lap before grabbing Elliot's arm and effectively moving both her and Elliot's arms closer to her and shoving her spoon into her mouth.

"That was purely evil," he said with a smirk returning his attention back to his ice cream.

"I know," she smiled. "That is pretty good."

A cascading silence fell between them with only the hum of Olivia's ceiling fan to break it. Olivia searched in her heart for the words that she wanted to say but before she could speak a word Elliot broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there today Liv. I know how hard this case was for you."

"It's okay," she whispered looking down at her hands.

"No it's not," he growled more at himself than at his partner. "I should have been there."

"Look Elliot, I'm not going to lie to you. It was a tough case." Olivia said still not bringing her eyes to meet his. "That little girl trusted me to help her and I failed her."

Elliot set his ice cream on Olivia's coffee table and did the same with hers. "Olivia look at me," he demanded in a soft voice. When she refused to meet his stare, Elliot brought his hand to her face and physically turned her to look at him. "You saved that little girl's life. Without you she would have died buried in that bag."

"I told her that I would get there before the man came back," Liv recalled, the tears silently beginning to fall. "I told her that I would save her and that he would never hurt her again. But I couldn't…I just couldn't…" Her entire body began to shake as the full wave of her emotions hit her.

Elliot wrapped his arms around Olivia's shoulders and pulled her closer so that her head was resting on his shoulder. "Let it out Liv. I'm here."

"I can't stop thinking about her," she cried. "Maria…it's such a beautiful name. She didn't deserve this."

"No one deserves the stuff that we see Olivia," Elliot said in a soothing tone. His arm stroked her back gently as he continued, "There are so many things that we see everyday that most people never even know about."

"So why do we do it?" she asked sitting up and staring him in the eyes.

Elliot took a moment to consider her question and try to come up with a suitable answer. "Because someone has to."

Olivia sat and stared at her partner for a moment. 'How did I get so lucky to have a partner like him?' she thought to herself. Sighing in defeat she snuggled closer into his side. "Our ice cream's gonna melt."

Elliot laughed at the randomness of her statement. Quickly, he pulled himself up off the couch and returned the two containers to her freezer. Upon returning he noticed that Olivia was already asleep, stretched across the entire length of the couch. Without waking her Elliot lifted her head, resumed his seat on the couch, and laid her head on his lap. He propped his feet up on the coffee table, knowing full well that if she were awake that Olivia would have his head for putting his feet on the furniture. Elliot pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and draped it over Olivia's body. She moaned in her sleep and snuggled her body closer to his.

"Sweet dreams Liv," he said bending down to place a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Well what do you think? This is just a one time thing, I'm not looking to make it into anything more. I'm a huge EO shipper but I thought it would be nice to write a story that had them only as friends. I might want to do an NC-17 by the same title that involved chocolate sauce and kinky sex, but we'll see what happens. lol