Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own any of these characters, they are owned by NBC and Dick Wolf. This story is a work of fiction.
Just some quick background, Elliot is divorced, and living in the city in his own apartment. He and Olivia have been dating for more than a year. They are still partners and are working an emotionally draining case together and have almost nothing to go on.
Olivia sighed as she exited the station house. "You ok?" Elliot asked as they walked to the sedan to head home. "Yah, it's just this case is bothering me, there has to be something we are missing" She said. "Liv, we're off work, and I know it's hard but letting it go will help you relax" he told her. "It's just not that simple, there is a litter girl out there and she is confused and scared and we can't do anything to help her," she said, the frustration evident in her voice. They got in the sedan and Elliot began to drive towards her apartment. They drove in silence, enjoying each other's company. When they arrived he softly asked, "You want me to come up?" "Sure, if you want to," she replied. He parked the sedan and as they exited locked it and headed towards her building.
As they entered her building, she threw her coat on the armchair and he followed suit. They both toed off their shoes and left them by the door as well. Elliot followed Olivia to the couch and sat down next to her, placing an arm around her shoulders. "Anything you want to talk about? You seem really quiet tonight" he commented. "This case is just really getting to me, she just looks so broken, I just can't seem to get the emptiness in her eyes out of my head" she said pausing, "The video we had to watch today was horrific. It just keeps replaying in my head, I thought we had seen pretty much everything, and then we see that. It's rare that I get sick on a case" she finished. " I think this case has hit pretty much everyone hard, just thinking about my kids makes it hard to sleep at night" he admitted, swallowing hard. Olivia takes his hand in hers and squeezes it reassuringly, her touch a small comfort to him. "I can't imagine having to think about that, I wish I could just let this case go" she replied. "As much as you wish you could let cases go, and not let them affect you, it's what makes you great at what you do. You work so well with the vics, you connect with them" he told her. "I know, but I seem to get more emotionally invested in cases, and then they affect me more than everyone else on the squad" she told him. "But, that's not always a bad thing; you have this way of making vics feel comfortable, you empathize, and vics open up to you. We all get affected by cases, we just don't get upset, or show our emotions how you do. You are a great detective" he assured her, pulling her into a hug. Olivia cuddled up to him on the couch and laid her head on his shoulder. He placed a light kiss on her forehead and rested his chin on the top of her head. "El, do you want to get something to eat?" she asked awhile later, breaking their comfortable silence. "Sure, how about Chinese, my treat?" he asked with a small smile. "That's fine with me," she said opening her phone and handing it to him, the call already placed to the restaurant. After he ordered them some food they remained cuddled on the couch until Elliot got up to pick up their food. While Elliot was gone Olivia stayed back at her apartment. She dozed off to find herself in a very familiar nightmare. When Elliot returned about twenty minutes later he found Olivia in tears, battling demons that he had no knowledge of, but that had been haunting her for years.
So this was just a quick teaser, I have been working on this story for quite awhile, I started it a few years ago, put it aside and just pulled it back out. I don't really have it broken down into chapters after the first one or two so I have to figure out how I will post this. I am going to try to post a chapter or two a week, maybe a thousand words at a time. I hope you enjoy, please review!