Author's Note: Last November I found myself in London, standing at Charing Cross Station, beneath the Thistle Hotel. I was waiting for a friend and I waited and waited and …you guessed waited. I decided to let my mind wander and this is where it took me… Enjoy!
Please remember I was (and am) still new to SVU so somethings may be a little off.
The characters still belong to Mr Wolf - I just hang around with them from time to time.
Thistle Hotel, Charing Cross, London
Sunday 8:00pm
Elliot walked through the door and into the adjoining hotel room, calling out,
"Are you okay, Olivia, you've been in the shower for ages?"
"Nearly done," she replied, "just wanted to wash that flight off me."
In a surprising twist on Friday afternoon, Captain Donald Cragen had informed them they would be heading to London to assist a rape victim in her video link testimony in a related case. The detectives originally slated to make the Atlantic venture were unavailable and Olivia and Elliot jumped at the opportunity.
The six hour flight from New York to Heathrow had taken an additional three hours due to a delay on take off and another one on arrival. To top it off, the flight attendant had spilt orange juice over Olivia and then a child with a milkshake ran into her in the arrivals terminal. A shower was top priority.
"I've spoken to Jane Windsor. She'll see us at 2:00 pm tomorrow and has made herself available at the same time each day, for as long as necessary. So that should help Casey."
"Good."
"That means we have time for other things. Since it's your first trip to London, what would you like to do?" he called.
"You."
"I wouldn't mind seeing the London Eye. You?"
"You."
"I just said…" He stopped yelling as Olivia opened the bathroom door. "Sorry, you mustn't have heard me. I said I wouldn't mind seeing the London Eye."
"I heard you, Elliot, but did you hear me?"
"Yes, I did." He replied defensively. "I asked you what you wanted to do and you asked me."
"No, I didn't, I said you."
"That's right, you asked me."
"I'll spell it out for you. You asked me what I wanted to do in London and I want to do you. Is that clear enough?" Olivia walked past him and over to her suitcase.
Seeing Elliot's reaction in the mirror, Olivia smiled, she had left him speechless. She sat on the bed and demurely pulled at her robe. Elliot opened his mouth to speak a few times but the words wouldn't come.
"Elliot, I have thought about this, us, more than a few times but every time I tried to talk to you about it someone or something interrupted. I thought being in a different country would give us the opportunity to try things out…to see what happens. I mean, I don't want this to sound so casual but…"
"It could never be casual," Elliot finally spoke.
"Have you ever thought about us? I mean about us being more than work partners."
"Two or three times." He caught the look of disappointment on Olivia's face. "Well, to be honest, it would be two or three hundred times."
She smiled.
"So, how do you see this working?" Elliot asked after a few moments of silence.
"You have four children, you should know."
"No, no, I mean…"
"I know what you mean. I think in our free time we take every opportunity to explore this 'thing' between us once and for all. Find out whether we're just good friends or more than that."
"And when we get back to New York, what then Liv?"
"Then we can make an informed decision."
"Hmm," said Elliot, heading to the bathroom in his own room.
"Hmm? Is that all? Elliot?" she called.
"What?" he replied, returning to her room wearing a matching robe.
"Oh!"
"If you want to do me, who am I to object?" He took her in a warm embrace. The kiss, although tender, was awkward, both being nervous about the impending change in their relationship. Elliot pulled back slightly.
"You sure about this, Liv?"
"Aha! You?"
"Never surer!"
The ensuing hours were filled with a level of passion neither had imagined. The sexual tension which had built up slowly and steadily during their partnership was being released in a myriad of ways, leaving both breathlessly fulfilled more than once.
Around 3:00 am, the guest in the next room banged on the wall and shouted at them to take a break. Elliot collapsed on the bed laughing.
"Oh well, at least we've had no complaints from that room," he said, nodding towards his own room.
"No complaints from this room either." Olivia rolled onto Elliot and kissed him
"I guess we should keep it down," he muttered.
"But I don't want to keep it down," Olivia pouted. "I want to keep it up."
Olivia disappeared under the covers and all Elliot could do to avoid disturbing their neighbour any further was to hold a pillow over his face and give into the pleasures Olivia was bestowing on him.
Monday
12:00 pm
"Olivia…Liv." Elliot shook her gently. "It's time to get up." He planted three soft kisses on her forehead as she stirred. "Come on, Sleepyhead, time to do some work."
Begrudgingly Olivia sat up. "I'd rather stay in bed."
"So would I but it's noon, I'm starving and we have to be in Golders Green by two."
"Humph!" Olivia climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom, stopping to give Elliot a good morning kiss which made him rethink his decision to ever get out of bed. "I'll be ready in twenty minutes," she called as she shut the door.
"I'm ready now," Elliot muttered, wondering just how much time they could spare before seeing Jane Windsor.
Jane Windsor's Flat
"Come in." Jane Windsor ushered them into her second floor flat and took a quick look around before shutting the door.
"Thank you for seeing us today, Ms Windsor," Elliot began. "We know it can't be easy for you."
"No, it's not easy, Mr Stabler, but it does have to be done, doesn't it?"
'Yes, ma'am, it does."
Olivia looked at the photographs around the sitting room as Jane poured the tea.
"These are lovely photos, Ms Windsor."
"Thank you, Miss Benson," Jane replied, handing her a cup.
"Olivia, please."
"Then I'm Jane. I took most of these myself. Photography has always been a passion of mine."
"Have you taken any lately?"
"Oh no, I don't go out much, not since I returned from New York."
"Do you have family around?" asked Elliot.
"Yes, my parents live nearby."
"And have they been supportive?"
"Oh no, they don't know about it. I didn't tell them. That's why I asked you here, I work for my father."
"Why didn't you tell them?" asked Olivia.
"My family was against me going to the US and I went anyway. They warned me against New York, and I lived there anyway. They would have blamed me and I didn't want to hear I told you so."
"Jane, the rape was not your fault," said Elliot.
"I should have…"
"Nothing you should or shouldn't have done makes it your fault. Brian Leeson is the guilty one, he's the one at fault," said Olivia.
Jane just nodded.
After two hours of reviewing Jane's statement and court testimony from her own court case, answering her questions and reviewing the trial procedures for the upcoming case, Olivia and Elliot left.
"Thousands of miles and an ocean away and that bastard is still controlling her life," Olivia said as they stood on the train platform at Golders Green.
"We should be able to put her in contact with some support agencies before we go." Elliot said.
Olivia smiled and huddled closer to him. "Why aren't all men like you?" she asked as she kissed his cheek.
"Because then you wouldn't know how special I am."
"What do you want to do about dinner?" Elliot asked as they neared their hotel.
"It's just gone five; it's a bit early to eat, isn't it?"
"Oh, I don't know I thought we'd start up there with dessert and go out later."
"Elliot!" Olivia said with mock surprise. "Are you trying to get me into bed?"
"Yep!"
