Too Late
Disclaimer: Yes, I own SVU and all the characters and everything related to it, as well as the copyright. (Assistant whispers in my ear).
Hold on, I DON'T own any part of SVU?!!!!!!!!??? Excuse me while I go purposely contract rabies and play poker with a bunch of German shephards.
Munch, do the official disclaimer.
Munch: She doesn't own us, the weasel!
Me: Thanks, I guess...
Munch: You promised me a pony named Big Brother if I did the disclaimer!
Me: runs
Enjoy! Reviews welcome. I have another chapter all ready if anyone wants me to upload it. It's better than this first chapter, which kind of sets everything up for the rest of the story.
Olivia Benson sat, transfixed at the table in her apartment, listening intently to the song that had just come on the radio:
What if I told you
It was all meant to be?
Would you believe me?
Would you agree?
It's almost that feeling
We may be fools.
So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy
When I tell you your love has come here and I…
A moment like this
Some people wait a lifetime
For a moment like this
Some people search forever
For that one special kiss…
Olivia felt herself fill with peace and contentment as she came to a sudden decision. She hardly even cared that she was several minutes late to work because of the song. Quickly grabbing her coat, gun, and badge, she headed out the door, locking it securely behind her.
Nearly twenty minutes later, she headed into the precinct of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. She hurried to her desk and looked around for Elliot. She couldn't wait to talk to him. She reached for her mug to go fill it with coffee, and was pleasantly surprised to find it already full and prepared exactly the way she liked it. Wow, Elliot hasn't done this for me since…since I returned from Oregon, she thought, a pang of guilt stabbing her in the gut.
Just then, Elliot returned to the bullpen, a file in his hand. Evidently, he had been rummaging for something in the file room. Interestingly, Olivia noticed, Elliot looked like he had reached peace as well. His walk was lighter and his manner more friendly.
He spotted her, and his face breaking into a warm smile that made her heart flutter, headed straight for her.
" 'Morning, Liv! You're a little late; where were you? Cragen said we just caught a new lead on the Robinson case!"
"Sorry, Elliot; I uh, got a little distracted by something on the radio on my way out the door. Um, by the way, could I talk to you?"
He looked at her quizzically, but before either of them could say another word, Cragen strode over, looking extremely annoyed.
"There you are, Benson! I need you and Elliot to go talk to Alice's boyfriend; he doesn't have an alibi for the night of the rape and we know he has anger issues."
" All right, Cap'," said the two lead detectives, automatically grabbing their jackets and heading for the door.
When they were in the car, Elliot spoke up.
"So, Liv, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"Oh, uh, I'll tell you later. Now's not a good time," answered Olivia, hoping Elliot wouldn't notice how red she had gotten.
"Okay, I have something I want to tell you, too."
They spent the remainder of the ride in familiar, comfortable silence. When they reached the house of the boyfriend, Elliot knocked on the door.
The door was opened by a woman in her late thirties with auburn hair and a set of piercing green eyes that made Olivia slightly nervous for no discernible reason.
"Can I help you?" she asked, a little coldly.
Olivia spoke up first.
"Yes, I'm Detective Olivia Benson and this is my partner, Elliot Stabler. We're from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit and we'd like to speak with Jacob Alberson."
" I'm his mother, Margaret. Why do you need to talk to my son?"
Elliot sighed. He hated this part.
"We need to question him about the night his girlfriend, Alice Robinson, was raped."
The woman's eyes flashed with anger.
"I can assure you that Jacob had nothing to do with that. He is the captain of the football team at his high school, he has a 4.0 GPA, and he was accepted early decision to Yale, with scholarship! Does THAT sound like a sick rapist to you?!!" she insisted furiously.
Olivia and Elliot both groaned inwardly and tried to explain.
"No one is above the law, ma'am. It may well be that he is innocent, but we really must speak to him."
Mrs. Alberson snorted in disgust. "He's a minor; he doesn't have to speak to you without my permission. You're wasting your time, detectives!"
She slammed the door in their faces in irritation.
"Can you say 'total bitch'?" snarled Olivia in frustration.
Elliot looked at his partner in concern. She wasn't normally quite so easily annoyed.
Olivia noticed Elliot watching her and felt the heat rise in her face. "I don't know, Elliot. Something about that woman just didn't sit right with me. Should we bang on the door again?"
"No", said Elliot sourly. "She'd probably spit in our faces or something for attempting to blacken her precious son's name. Let's go back to the precinct. We can brainstorm over what we know and maybe come up with something. Cragen's not going to be too happy with us."
"She refused to allow her son to be questioned? Why didn't you charge her with obstruction of justice?"
" I told you, she slammed the door in our faces before we could do anything, Captain. Plus, he's a minor; I don't think we can charge her."
Cragen rubbed at his eyes, which were red from exhaustion. "Munch, Fin, did you get anything from her classmates?"
Fin spoke up. " They all said the same thing; Jacob was the perfect boyfriend; he cared deeply for Alice, they spent all of their time together, and he would never ever hurt her, blah blah blah."
"Except for this one girl, Melissa. She's Alice's best friend. She said that Jacob would call Alice all the time, asking where she was, who she was with, why she was there, how long she would be there, and constantly accused her of cheating on him," added Munch.
"Sounds like motive to me," said Elliot and Olivia in unison. The other detectives smirked.
"It's nine o'clock, we're fresh out of leads until either Jacob decides to talk or Alice wakes up. Go home and get some sleep, detectives," ordered their captain.
Olivia and Elliot went to their respective desks and gathered up their things. Olivia turned to leave, but Elliot grabbed her arm.
"What is it, El?" she asked curiously.
"Don't we need to talk?" he reminded her.
"Oh, right," she said, blushing again at the unexpected contact.
"Let's go out into the hallway. No one's around. We can talk there," Elliot suggested.
"Okay…"
They went out into the hallway. Olivia leaned against the wall, feeling unusually nervous. But then, she was about to reveal to Elliot the secret she had been carrying around for nearly eight years.
They merely looked at each other for a moment.
"You first," said Olivia to Elliot.
He grinned at her. "You'll never believe what happened to me last night!"
He sounded like a teenager about to relate his latest make-out session to his friends.
"What?" asked Olivia, smiling back at her best friend.
"I went to go see Kathy last night," he said.
Olivia's eyebrows shot up and she felt an unreasonable stab of envy. Calm down, she told herself. It probably has something to do with wrapping up the divorce.
She nodded, and he continued.
"Well, to make a long story short, Kathy is seriously considering taking me back! I'm probably going to fix my marriage!"
He looked so excited, so pleased. Olivia felt the cold, hard pain of a badly broken heart engulf her senses entirely, coupled nicely with total shock. She felt all of the color drain from her face and wooziness take over. The world started to spin insanely around her as she struggled to grasp what he was telling her.
"Olivia? Are you all right?" asked Elliot in a worried voice that sounded very far away.
No no no. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm too late. I'm too late. I'm so sorry, God. I'm too late. Please give me a second chance. I'm too late. I'm too late. He's going back to his wife and away from me forever. Please, somebody help me……I can't believe I'm too late……
Olivia didn't even realize she had whispered those words aloud and slid to the floor until she noticed Elliot holding her.
"Liv, sweetie, what on earth is going on?"
"I can't tell you….I can't…."
"You seemed fine all afternoon, what's wrong?"
"I can't tell you….."
"One minute my partner's in perfect health, talking to me, and the next she's crumpled on the floor crying like a small, sick rabbit. You can't tell me nothing's wrong, Liv."
She almost cried harder, hearing his nickname for her. This was the worst thing that ever happened to her, including the time that little girl named Maria called and no one could help her until she'd almost died.
"Come on, Olivia, we're best friends. You know you can tell me anything."
"I can't, Elliot, I just can't. Not now that you and Kathy are getting back together. Don't you understand?"
"No," said Elliot stubbornly. "Why don't you explain it to me, damn it! I can't stand to see you so upset!"
Olivia tried to pull herself back together, but it was difficult with Elliot holding her and knowing that she would never have him.
"If I told you, Elliot, it would ruin everything; our partnership, our friendship, and your soon-to-be-renewed marriage."
"Why?" asked Elliot, a look of complete confusion clouding his ocean-blue eyes. "Olivia, what did you want to tell me?"
"Elliot…..I…..I…."
"What? Come on, Liv, what is it?"
But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Three simple words, and she couldn't wrap her tongue around them. I love you, she wanted to say. But she couldn't do it. All she could think of was Kathy, and how she had gotten to Elliot first, and not Olivia. The only thing she ended up doing was staring helplessly at Elliot. He sighed.
"Okay, if you won't tell me what's wrong, at least let me drive you home," he said.
Olivia shook her head. She couldn't sit next to him for an entire car ride, knowing that if she had decided to tell him only 24 hours ago, she might have had a chance. She was too late, and it would haunt her for the rest of her life.
"Liv, you're in no condition to drive."
"Then I'll call a cab."
"Liv…."
Silently, Olivia climbed to her feet and forced herself towards the door. Her solitary footsteps echoed through the empty hallway like the ticking of a clock. Just before she pushed the door open, Olivia turned back to look at Elliot. He wasn't moving. He was staring at the place near the wall where she had just been standing. Her heart dying of sadness, Olivia pushed open the door and walked into the cold night air of New York City.