Away From the Job
Summary: A new way for Detectives Stabler and Benson to get together. In order to really get to know each other in a new way, they have to get away form all the rapists and pedophiles, get away from the job. This story will start with the opportunity, and follow the two of them through their daily lives, and the cases that sometimes follow them home.
Takes place a year after Elliott's divorce, other than that, no spoilers or specific episode references. I'm not exactly sure of the exact duration of the Stabler/Benson partnership, so if you know how long they've actually been partners (plus the year I'm adding here), that would be greatly appreciated.
Rating: Will start out PG-13, later chapters will be R, but will come with a warning. PG-13 for mild swearing...they are cops after all, later R for sexual situations.
Disclaimer: Seeing as I am a soon to be college freshman, with no job, I also have no money. I own nothing. Everyone at the 16 belongs to Dick Wolf and Dick Wolf alone. There may be some later characters of my own creation, but anyone you recognize obviously doesn't belong to me.
To view the dress, visit Windsor Fashions, Prom dresses, page 7, titled "Royal Blue Satin Halter Dress"
Chapter 1 On Their Way
Olivia and Elliott had been partners and best friends for over six years, and though he'd probably never know, she'd had feelings for him for most of those years. She'd never acted on those feelings of course, he had been married until last year, and she probably never would. They'd been partners too long for him to see her as anything more, besides, Cragen would blow a gasket if anything actually happened between them.
They usually worked great together, so much so, that Fin and Munch jokingly called them the "Dynamic Duo." Between the two of them, they were usually a perp's worst nightmare, but today something was different. Elliott was acting nervous around her. He wouldn't look her in the eye, and avoided her as much as possible.
They were returning to the station after spending the past hour at the hospital interviewing a victim. Elliott had been distracted the whole time, and had left Olivia to question the woman while he stood in the background, frustrating her to no end. Olivia had finally had enough though.
When they arrived back at the station, Olivia parked the car and turned to Elliott, intent on getting some answers. Instead she found he was already getting out of the squad car and heading into the station. Now she was pissed, and quickly got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and followed him into the station, brushing past where he and Fin had just begun talking.
"Stabler. Cribs. Now." She spat out as she passed him and headed upstairs.
"Man, 'Livia's on a war path. What'd ya do to piss her off?" Fin asked, amused.
"Not sure...I'm gonna..." Elliott trailed off and gestured to where Olivia had stormed off.
"Good luck man." Fin joked, and Elliott quickly went up the stairs, pausing before opening the door to where his pissed off partner waited.
He really did know why Olivia was fuming, not that he'd willingly admit it, but he'd been acting like an ass the past few days. He didn't mean to, he just turned into a jerk when he was nervous. He finally decided he'd hesitated long enough and opened the door.
"Is everything okay Liv?" He asked as he walked in.
Her back had been to him, but she whirled around quickly and came at him. "Is everything okay? Is every- What the hell is your problem Elliott!" she yelled, and he took a step back, and closed the door.
"Liv..." He began weakly.
"Don't 'Liv me. You've been an ass to me lately, and frankly I'm tired of it." She was pacing now, and yelling at him.
"I know, I know. And I'm sorry."
"I don't know what I- You're what?" She stopped, surprised, and completely lost her steam.
"Sorry."
"Oh."
"I've been acting stupid. When I get nervous I turn into a jerk, and I'm sorry."
She snorted. "What the hell do you have to be nervous about?"
Elliott took a deep breath. If I don't do this now, she'll probably get so mad, she'll say no just to spite me, he thought, and exhaled quickly.
"Asking you out." He said bluntly.
"W-what?" She stammered, and quickly sat down on one of the nearby bunks before her legs could give way. I couldn't have heard him right, right? I've wanted this for so long, this has to be a dream.
At her reaction he began pacing. "Now I know we're partners, and I don't want to screw up this friendship thing we've got, so feel free to say no, or tell me I'm crazy."
Oh my God, he's serious. She thought in amazement. He's actually serious, never in my wildest- okay maybe in my wildest, but seriously, I never really thought...
"It's not a big deal really.." He went on.
Huh? She thought.
"My twenty year high school reunion is coming up, and since Kathy and I split-" He shook his head, Smart move Stabler, bring up the ex when you're trying to ask Liv out. "Well, I didn't want to go alone, so I was really hoping you would want to go with me."
There was a moment of silence and Elliott studied her face, looking for some type of reaction. Acceptance, anger, amusement, at this point he'd take anything.
"As your date?"
There, she finally said something.
"Yes, well no, uh if you want to be."
"Okay." What? she thought.
What? he thought. "Okay?" He had to ask.
"I'll go."
"Really?" Really? What am I getting myself into? She thought.
"Sure."
"Oh, great." Relieved, he turned to go.
She stood up. "Elliott." He turned around to face her again.
"Yeah?"
"When is it? Where is it?"
"Oh, it's next weekend, near my old high school in Jersey."
"You went to high school in Jersey?"
"Yeah. Oh, we'll have to stay there at least one night, maybe two, is that okay with you?"
"Uh..sure."
"So I can make reservations?" When all he received was a blank look, he clarified. "Hotel reservations..."
"Oh, sure."
"Great, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this 'Liv." He grinned at her and went back downstairs.
Whoa. She sat back down on the bunk behind her, feeling a little shell shocked. I just agreed to spend an entire weekend, out of town, with Elliott. She groaned inwardly. What have I gotten myself into?
After a few minutes, she pulled herself together, and left the cribs, only to run into Elliott halfway down the stairs.
"Oh hey, I was just coming to get you." Elliott smiled. "Cragen's got a case for us."
"Great." She smiled weakly. "Let's go."
As they left, Elliott jockyed for his turn to drive, and for once she didn't argue, didn't play along with the good natured teasing he tossed her way. Once they started driving, he gave up trying and let her sit silently, lost in her thoughts, and watch New York pass by.
She was still silent when they pulled up to the crime scene, and was already out of the car by the time Elliott got it in park. It was a typical crime scene, which allowed Olivia time away from Elliott, questioning possible witnesses, while he gathered some evidence and spoke with the responding officers.When they were done, they returned to the station and their separate desks and piles of paperwork for the rest of the day.
When they got off work, Elliott left to have dinner with the twins. Olivia didn't feel like going home to be alone with her thoughts, so she called Casey, whom she'd become close friends with over the past few months when they'd been working together more frequently. The two agreed to meet up for drinks and a bite to eat, so Olivia grabbed her coat and headed out.
Olivia arrived first, and waved when Casey came in about ten minutes later.
"So what's up?" Casey asked, after she'd ordered her drink and gotten settled in.
"What makes you think something's up?" Olivia asked, avoiding looking Casey in the eye, instead fiddling with the paper label on her beer.
"Gee, let me see. You call me, not willing to be alone. You've only been here ten minutes tops and your beer is already gone, you can't look me in the eye. And oh yeah, I'm your friend!" Casey said sarcastically. "So, again I ask...what's up?
Olivia sighed and peeled the label completely off the bottle. "Elliott asked me out."
"What!" Casey asked, sounding surprised. "That's great!..right?"
"Yeah, but.."
"But what?"
"He just needs someone to take to his reunion."
"So?"
"What do you mean so? He doesn't really want to go out with me. He just asked me because I'm his partner and he needed a date."
"So? It's still a date isn't it?"
"Well, yeah I guess, but.."
"Enough with the buts. This night will give you a chance to change how he sees you."
"It's actually not just a night." Olivia revealed hesitantly.
"What do you mean?" Casey asked, confused.
"It's all next weekend."
"What! Oh honey that's even better!"
Olivia had to laugh at that. "I'm not so sure what I got myself into."
"Oh who cares," Casey said with a wave of her hand. "This weekend will give you some time alone with him. Without the rapists and pedophiles hanging around." She laughed. "It'll give you a chance to show him who you are outside of the station and away from the job.
"I guess," Olivia conceded reluctantly.
"Plus, it'll give you a much needed vacation from work."
Olivia grinned. "And I'm definitely looking forward to that."
"What are you doing tomorrow after work?" Casey asked.
"Same thing I do every night...try to take over the world!" She said dryly, and laughed when Casey rolled her eyes. "Seriously though, I'm just hanging out, like every other night. I'll probably just bring some paperwork home."
"We should go shopping."
"Excuse me?"
"To get you some stuff for the weekend. We should go shopping."
"I don't know Case, I'm sure I've got plenty of stuff."
"That he's probably already seen you in. We need to find you something sexy to wear for the reunion. Something that'll knock his socks off, and make sure he doesn't see you as just one of the guys."
After a little more badgering, Casey talked Olivia into a shopping trip. The next day they spent hours in the stores, finding Olivia some cute clothes, including an extremely sexy dress for the reunion itself. The dress was a royal blue satin number. It had a halter neck with a slightly plunging neckline. The back exposed a lot of her back, dipping low and lacing together. The bottom of the dress reached the ground in the back, and the front came together at a slant. Even Olivia had to admit that the dress was amazing, and that it looked amazing on her.
By the time their trip was complete, Olivia went home with "the Dress", a couple of tops she liked, and a pair of "great butt jeans", Casey's words, not hers.
The days leading up to their trip were typical, and flew by pretty quickly. Casey was still helping Olivia pack when Elliott arrived on Friday afternoon. He waited in her living room and watched TV while she and Casey finished packing her bags. After a few minutes of packing, Casey looked up from the shirt she was folding to see Olivia standing at the foot of her bed, biting her nail.
"What? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts."
"What if this changes everything Case?" Olivia asked nervously.
"Isn't that the point? To get him to see you differently?"
"Well yeah, but, what if it screws up our friendship? We work together so well, what if we can't after this?
Casey walked over to stand in front of Olivia. "Liv, you can't waste your time with what ifs. This trip will only change things if you let it." Olivia started to protest. "No, listen to me. This is supposed to be a weekend away from work, it doesn't have to be more if you don't want it to be."
"But what if I do?" Olivia asked slowly, and Casey smiled.
"Then its up to you. You have to decide if the chance is more important than keeping things the way you already are...okay enough insight from me, let's get you ready to knock him off his feet."
Both ladies laughed and went back to getting her things ready. In a few minutes, Olivia was completely packed, her dress was hanging in its garment bag, and she was dressed and ready.
Casey hugged her goodbye and whispered, "It's up to you," into her ear, and slipped out of her bedroom door, smiling at Elliott when he shut off the TV and jumped up. "She's ready." she said, and left.
Elliott knocked on Olivia's bedroom door, just as it opened to reveal Olivia struggling with her dress and bags.
"Oh hey, let me help you with some of that." He grabbed the duffel bags and held the door open so she could walk through with the garment bag. He helped her put the bags and dress in the trunk of his car, while she locked up. Soon they were on their way, arguing over what music to listen to, and which highway to take.
A few hours later, after they'd stopped for a bite to eat, they switched drivers and Elliott quickly fell asleep.
When she was sure he was asleep, Olivia leaned forward and switched the radio channel to country music, her secret guilty pleasure. Soon she was driving down the highway, humming along quietly to Tim, Garth, Faith, and Martina.
Little did she know, Elliott was just beginning to wake up, and was quite amused, listening to her sing along to the music she'd never admit to listening to. A few minutes later, she was halfway through a Shania song, the one about men being like shoes, when he couldn't resist anymore.
"So, we're like shoes huh?"
Olivia jumped a foot at his comment, and quickly changed the radio back to the channel they'd been listening to earlier.
"Don't change it on my account." Elliott said, his amusement evident in his voice.
"Ugh, don't make fun of me Stabler." Elliott just smiled. "How long have you been awake?"
"Maybe ten, fifteen minutes tops."
"Great, why didn't you say something?"
"I never took you for a country girl." Olivia just rolled her eyes.
"That knowledge never leaves this trip, you got that? If Fin or Munch ever mention this, I will kick your ass."
"I wouldn't doubt it." He chuckled, and with that, she nodded and drove on. For a while, neither said a word until Elliott broke the silence again.
"So, country music, huh?"
Please Review! (Tons of brownie points to anyone who knows what cartoon I referenced)
I do apologize for anything that may seem out of character. This is my first SVU fan fic, but I was trying to get them away from the job, so for all I know, this could be correct.
If anyone from New York is reading this...I would appreciate some help with any logistics you could provide me with, like how long it would take to go from their station in New York to somewhere in suburban New Jersey, and street names and stuff. Please let me know in a review or email me if you'd be willing to help me out.
Thanks so much everyone!