Disclaimer!! OK First off…Dick wolf rescheduled our meeting so the characters are not mine…just borrowed…for now…besides Anthony speaking of… second off…I made up Anthony…the hott Latino… and he's replacing Chester!
And Now here's the two shot North Carolina vs. Duke!
The cool afternoon breeze of the shore brushed around Elliot's clothes as he walked out onto the giant back deck of Cragen's getaway house in Jersey. To Elliot and the rest of them, this house was amazing! It has 3 floors, not including the basement; 4 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms and 1 and a half kitchens. In the back yard there was a HUGE in ground swimming pool with a diving board in the 16ft. end, a cabana with a well stocked bar, a gazebo, a basketball court, and an in ground wrap-around stone grill. A man's dream!! And they were still stumped as to how Cragen could afford it.
Cragen had let Elliot, Fin, Munch, the new guy-Anthony, Olivia, Melinda, Casey and Alex borrow it for one and a half weeks, but they don't really know why. Today, though, was the BIG game! North Carolina verse Duke! And the house was divided evenly too. You had Olivia, Alex, Fin and Anthony wanting North Carolina to take it all against Elliot, Melinda, Munch and Casey who were cheering for Duke. And that's all they talked about for weeks at the office and now at the house.
Elliot walked down the side steps and to the back of the grill. He turned on the fumes, lifted up the lid, struck a match and watched the flames leap up from the coals in the pit. Elliot then took out the 5 steaks that he had marinated over night and 8 potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil and put them on. He was staring out to the beach when the sound of 2 beer bottles made him jump.
"Damn El, never seen you jump that high before." Alex laughed as Elliot smirked and took the bottle she handed him.
"What's up Lexxi? I didn't hear you come up." Elliot said as he downed half of the beer and flipped the steaks over.
"El, you looked like you were in a complete other world. I should be asking you the same thing. But ehh…"Alex shrugged as she took a small sip and sat on the stool on the other side of the grill, "same old, same old, I guess. Hey, a bunch of us are going to play a basketball game before the big game, you in?"
"That depends, what are the teams?" Elliot asked as he closed the lid and took a small swig of his beer.
"NC, the best team ever, vs. Duck bitches of course!" grinned Alex as Elliot choked on his beer and laughed.
"Sure why not… how about after dinner, okay?" Elliot asked as he looked under the lid before closing it again.
"Yeah that works. Besides I still gotta get Livvie and Fin, but they're not going to be a problem. You know how big of a fan those two are." Alex said as she dipped her North Carolina blue NC hat over her left eye.
"That…my friend…is so true." Elliot said as he leaned against the side bar "I remember one year me and Liv were watching the Duke/NC pre-season game when her phone rang. Olivia literally walked backwards to the phone so she didn't miss a second. Well it was the guy she was dating at the time, yelling at her for not coming to their date and standing him up to watch a basketball game."
"What did she do?" Alex asked with a smirk as she took another sip.
"She was like 'Man you're so lucky it just turn to a commercial because if the game was still on I would have just said were threw and hung up instead of kindly saying we're threw like this…we're threw'. I was dyin' so hard when she just hung up, came back and was like 'So what did I miss?' and just went on with the game." Elliot laughed as he remember the cute little face Olivia made as she first heard his voice on the line.
"Oh my god! She just broke up with him like that? Damn! God, you just have to love that girl." Alex said as she downed the rest of her beer and threw out the bottle "I'm going to go and set the table. I'll see you inside, okay?" Alex asked as she hopped off the stool and walked towards the house.
"Okay." Elliot said as he lifted up the lid, flipped the potatoes and closed the lid again.
As Alex entered the house, Olivia was standing beside the island in the middle of the kitchen, cutting up cucumbers and tomatoes. Over the three days in the house so far, everyone was already calling her the Vacation Top Chef. The blade slide slightly and skillfully over the vegetables as she cut them up, scoped them up and dumped them into the salad. She opened the refrigerator and took out 3 of the 9 different types of dressing and put them on the island next to the salad. She then took out 5 beers and 3 wine glasses.
"Sorry Alex…did you want a beer too?" Olivia asked as she turned to see a shocked Alex staring at her. "What?"
"How did you know I was here?" Alex asked as she sat on the other side of the island.
"Al…I've been a detective for 9-10 years now. I think I'm able to hear someone come inside. So…do you want wine or beer?" Olivia asked as she opened her Triple X Ice and watched the smoke from inside the bottle spill out.
"Wine's good. I'll have Yellowtail Merlot, red not white."Alex asked as she grabbed 8 gold/white plates, bowls and side dish and set the table. She grabbed the silverware and put it next to the sets, then poured her glass with the burgundy red liquid.
"Okay, well the salad and bread are done. Go and get everyone and I'll see if El's done with the steak and potatoes." Olivia said as she grabbed hers and another beer and headed out onto the deck.
"Wait Liv! Are you up for a basketball game after dinner, before the game? It's NC vs. Duke." Alex asked as Olivia stopped at the door.
"Yeah sure. Let me just see if El needs help." Olivia said as she started down the steps.
When Olivia was on the bottom step, she looked over to where Elliot was staring out to the ocean with his arms crossed and was leaning over the side of the counter. She quietly walked over to him and placed her right hand on his shoulder while holding the two beers in her left hand.
"El…" Olivia spoke soothingly "El, what's wrong?" Olivia asked as she gently turned him around to face her.
"Two days ago, it's just, just, getting to me I guess" Elliot said as he gave a weak smile as he took the Miller Lite she handed him. "Thanks."
"El…" Olivia said softly as she put down her beer and stared into his now sad baby blues. "It's been 3 years since your divorce, and it was a bad one, El. You caught her having sex with one of your old family friends, in your own bed, a few days after she asked you to come home." Olivia spoke softly as Elliot broke eye contact and looked down. "El, look at me." Olivia took his chin between her thumb and index finger and forced him to look at her soft topaz eyes. "Two days ago was your wedding anniversary and I can understand how that can upset you El, but you need to let her go. There are other people out there that care if not as much then more for you then she does. Come on, I'll finish up here and you go inside and relax. Dinner will be done in 5 minutes, okay?" Olivia asked as she never let go of his chin.
"I know Liv, it's just, I don't know what to do. I've been a bachelor before but, what she did, I just…she…damnit." Elliot mumbled as he ran a hand down his face.
"How about this…you go inside, I finish up here, after dinner we play basketball, and then watch the big game. And after that we can talk, okay?" Olivia asked as she took Elliot's face in between her warm hands.
"Okay…okay." Elliot whispered as his hands covered hers, pulled them together in front of his face and kissed them. "Thanks Liv." Then he picked up his beer and went inside.
With a sigh, she lifted up the tongs, opened the grill and removed the potatoes and steaks and put them on separate plates. She then turned off the grill and took the plates inside. When Olivia got inside, Melinda, Casey and Alex had already put the drinks on the table and Fin was cutting the bread. Munch and Anthony were debating the newest conspiracy as Elliot was putting salad in each of the bowls.
"Hey Livia!" Fin called out as he saw her enter the room "We're gonna beat them Duke Punks within 10 mins.!" Fin finished as he put the bread on the table and took the plates from her and put them on the table/
"Yeah you wish buddy." Elliot joked as he put Fin in a headlock. "You know the score will be 87 to 31 Duke." He said as Fin broke the headlock with ease.
"Ahh, but see we'z got Livia as our incredible point guard and 3 point shooter, Lexy as our demon forward and foul shooter, Ant', who can fake the ball so well ya neva see it comin' and as our dynamite centa." Fin said as he had his right arm around Olivia and his left around Alex.
"And we have Fin." Olivia said with a smirk as Melinda, Casey, Elliot and Munch sort of stood together as Anthony came and stood beside Olivia "Who can handle the ball better then the pros and can dunk it so nicely it could make Shaq cry." Olivia said as she stole Fin's white NC hat with the NC logo in camo and put it on and took a few steps toward the other group. Fin walked up to her, turned her around and looked at her with a smile on his face; Olivia returned the smile.
"Baby girl, if ya gonna wear the hat, ya gotta do it right." Fin said as he turned it sideways slightly, gave her a one arm hug and kissed the side of Olivia's and Alex's head.
"Okay, okay." Elliot said as Melinda and Casey leaned on each side of him. "But we got Melinda and Casey, who are the best double team, team ever put together, Munch who can, well, hey Munch, what can you do?" Elliot asked with a smirk as he turned to see Munch looking over the rim of his glasses.
"Well my fellow comrade, I can be the best center because of my height. And that's about it." Munch said with a shrug and went to sit down.
"Then there's me."Elliot said with a step or two forward.
"You?" Olivia and Fin asked in union "yeah…ok. I can't wait ta see this." Fin said as he went to sit down with Anthony and Alex.
"Yeah…" Elliot softly as he stepped right in front Olivia, first looking at Fin as he sat down, then finally settling on Olivia. "Me. See, I can cross you up like there's no tomorrow, babe. And make shots you wouldn't believe. So you should watch you self Honey."
"Honey? Babe?" Olivia asked with a smirk as she met his gaze. "Just remember, baby, I can handle myself, so when I chop you up on the court, don't feel bad that this chick can beat your ass any time." Olivia said then walked away.
After Elliot finally got the smile off his face and the thought out of his head, he sat down next to Casey and Munch, the noise level rose extremely. And it was all about the same think. NC vs. Duke.
"WAIT!" Alex yelled towards the end of dinner causing everyone to look up at her in shock and surprise. "How about we make the game a little more interesting."
"What do you mean?" Melinda asked as she took a sip of her wine.
"Why don't we play water basketball?"
"Huh?" was all that everyone said.
"Play basketball, but in the pool!" Alex said as she grabbed her, Olivia and Fins dishes and cleaned them off.
"That would be so cool!" Olivia and Casey said as Melinda and Anthony talked excitedly about the possibilities.
Elliot grabbed the rest of the plates and cleared them and went to help Alex put the dishes in the dish washer, and then they went back to the table.
"So…now what?" Elliot asked.
"Now we get changed and head to the pool." Anthony said as he grabbed Melinda's hand and headed to their room. Anthony and Melinda have been dating 3 days after Anthony got the assignment to be transferred to SVU 1 year and 11 months ago. And there's talk that they might get engaged.
"I'm down wit' dat. How 'bout you, babe." Fin said as he put his hands on Alex's shoulders squeezed slightly as she looked up and smiled and put her arms around his neck.
"You know it." Alex said as she pulled him towards her and kissed him hard and passionately.
"Yo! Guy, get a room." Elliot said as the kiss became deeper and deeper.
"Mmm…we'll think about it."Alex said as they went back to kissing.
"God…first Anthony and Melinda and now Fin and Lexxie! What has our world come to?" Olivia teased as she and Elliot walked to their rooms.
"Well those two I expected, but I swear, if Munch and Case start doin' the mattress mambo, I think I'll lose my breakfast, lunch and dinner." Elliot said they walked up the stairs and he stopped at his door, which as right across from Olivia's room on the 2ed floor.
"LALALALALALA!! I don't want to hear this or I think I'll lose it based just on you saying it!" Olivia said as she pretended to throw up and started to laugh her musical laugh.
"Man, I can only imagine. Well, I guess I'll see you down there." Elliot said as he gave a small smile, turned and opened his door.
"El…"Olivia spoke with such softness in her voice, but he still knew she had moved closer so he turned to find Olivia only a few inches away.
"What?" Elliot asked in a weak voice.
What Olivia did next shocked the hell out of him. She gently wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him as close as she could and laid her head on his shoulder.
"You look like you could use a friend and a hug. You can't just hold it in forever El. After the game we'll talk. Promise. It's not just you Elliot, and everyone needs a friend at these points." Olivia said as Elliot wrapped his arms around her waist and put his forehead on her shoulder.
"I just don't understand it anymore, Liv. If she wanted me to come home, why did she cheat?" Elliot said as she looked up and saw tears gather at the brim of his blue eyes.
"We'll talk soon, El, very soon. I promise!" Olivia whispered as she hugged him tightly for a second then went into her room. When Elliot got into his room, he took off his semi-tight black graphic tee and walked over to his suitcase and pulled out his black and royal blue bathing suit with the Duke Blue Devil on the left side. He then took off his tan baggy cargo pants and replaced them with the suit. He grabbed his favorite Duke Blue Devil's T-shirt and towel, draped it around his neck and headed to the pool. As he comes to the steps he sees Olivia halfway down the steps.
"Hey, wait up." Elliot said as he took 2 steps at a time to catch up.
"Hey…come on! A Duke shirt?! And suit?! You're killin' me El!" Olivia said as she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head.
"Hey hey hey! Me? Olivia…you're the one with the elegant scripted 'NC' logo on your bikini top and baby blue basketball shorts with the tar heel symbol on one side in white." Elliot said as he snapped the string of the bikini and pretended to untie it.
"EL!" Olivia said as Elliot laughed and hugged her as they both brought their sunglasses to their eyes as the stepped out onto the deck. "I'm gonna get you for that." Olivia said as she tugged on the back of his shorts slightly and walked over to one of the chairs to drop off her stuff, laughing.
"Hey!" Elliot barked as the back of his shorts dropped just above the ass. "Now it's revenge!" he growled as Olivia walked over to the deep end to test how cold the water is and pulled it out because it was too cold. With a devilish smile, Elliot ran over to Olivia and tackled her into the semi- freezing cold water.
"J…J…Jesus Crrrrist El!!" Olivia chattered as she wrapped her arms around Elliot's neck so she was stable. "All…all youuu had…had to d-do was ju…just pretend to-to push m…me in an-and I wo-would ssstill be-be scared shi-shitless!" Olivia voice was so wavery from the cold Elliot scoped her up and brought her to the shallow end.
"Yea…well…that was…just more fun." Elliot said as he picked her up and sat her down on the ledge of the pool and positioned himself in between her legs.
"Yea…well…now I'm cold as all hell." Olivia said back as she pulled her feet out of the water and sat Indian style.
"Well I'm going to go help Fin and Anthony with the water net for the game." Elliot said as he shook his head to get the water off, causing Olivia to lean back, swam backwards then went up the steps and went to Fin and Chester.
Olivia stood up and walked over to her chair and grabber her towel. She wrapped it snuggly around her body and took her now wet hair out of its ponytail. As her hair fell down, water slid off the tip and down her shoulders. She then took off the towel and rubbed it over her hair to dry it off. After her hair was
somewhat dry, she dried off her legs and draped the towel over the back off the lounge chair. Olivia walked over to the edge of the pool and put her feet in slowly.
"Hey guys!" Elliot yelled as he, Anthony and Fin dropped the net where it was. "We can't play water ball."
"What? Why not?" Casey and Alex said as Melinda sat down next to Olivia and put her feet in the pool too.
"'Cause the net's busted an' Bony Ass ova there is bitchin' 'bout some medical probl'm wit' da water." Fin said as he grabbed the basketball and started to dribble like a pro.
"I'm not bitching! I'm just standing up for my well being." Munch said as he got up from the chair he was sitting on and walked over to where Alex and Casey were standing and looked over to where the rest of the guys were standing.
"Well," Olivia said as she helped Melinda stand up and they both walked over to Fin, Elliot and Anthony by the edge of the pool, "We have no problem with that on one condition."
"What condition?" Fin asked as he looked at her and Melinda, who was smiling sweetly.
"This!"
With that Melinda grabbed Anthony's arm and Olivia grabbed Elliot's and pushed the in the pool. Unfortunately, they held on and brought them with them. Anthony landed on top of Melinda as Olivia fell on top of Elliot. Laughing, Anthony threw Melinda on his back, waited for her to wrap her arms and legs around him and carried her up the steps. Elliot on the other hand, scooped up Olivia like a bride and carried her out.
"Elliot?" Olivia asked when he didn't put her down.
"Huh?" He asked as he came out of his daze.
"Can you put me down now? Please?" Olivia asked as he started to blush slightly and put her down.
"Sorry Liv."
"Don't worry about it El."
"'kay guys…" Fin said as he grabbed Anthony by the back of the neck, Olivia by the elbow as Elliot put her down and as Alex came walking towards them. "And you too girlys. Let's get dis game on da road, huh?"
"Let's go!" Melinda said as she and Elliot walked over to where Casey and Munch were talking.
"Okay…here are the rules." Olivia said as she stole the ball from Fin and spun it on her middle finger, "Rules are, 1-no killing anyone so if you have your gun, drop it! 2-play by normal basketball rules as in
dribbling and such and 3-" Olivia said as she chest passed the ball to Elliot and smirked devilishly "Ladies first, Babe."
"Oooo ohoh! Damn, she's wouldn't even have to be on our team and I would know that was good." Anthony said as he laughed.
"Ant'…Shut up!"Elliot said as he continued to stair as Olivia, with the smirk still on her face, until she walked slightly backwards to get to her team then turned.
"Ant' you're jumping and you got Munch. Alex…" Olivia said as she looked at Alex.
"I got Melinda. Fin, cover Elliot." Alex said as she looked from Fin to Olivia
"'Kay…that means Livia, youz got Case, baby girl."
"Okay, let's get started!" Olivia said as they took the court and waited for their opponents.
"Okay, on defense, Elliot, get Liv," Melinda said "Munch takes Fin, Casey, Alex and I'll take Anthony." Melinda said with a smile that was unreadable.
"Alright, let's do it!!" Elliot said as they broke apart and went to meet their match.
Fin checked the ball to Elliot and the game started. Elliot dribbled the ball left and did a cross-over pass to Munch. Munch held the ball and waited for an opening, then passed it to Melinda for the lay-up, but was picked off by Anthony, who went straight down the court for the easy-up. Casey passed it into Elliot and ran up the court. Elliot double crossed Fin on the left and passed the ball to Casey, who was at the foul line. Casey shot and scored. Fin bounced passed it into Olivia and they went up. Olivia stopped walking at the top of the three but didn't pick up her dribble when Elliot came up in front of her. Olivia pivoted left, making her back to him, switched the ball to her left hand, bounced it twice before bouncing it between Elliot's legs, rolling right, picking the ball off the bounce and going for the lay-up. Elliot shook his head as he passed it in to Melinda and headed up. Alex forced her left, but Melinda passed it to Casey, who faked to Munch and passed to Elliot just outside the three. As Fin stepped up to him, Elliot put the ball in the triple threat position and waited for them to get set up. Elliot then took the ball, faked dribbled forward and shot the ball from outside the three and watched it go in the net.
Olivia passed the ball into Anthony and ran up. When Anthony got up, Alex set a pick on Melinda for him to go for the lay-up. As Anthony was in mid-air he saw Munch to his side and pass the ball to Fin, who was on the box, before Munch could deny the shot. Fin then waited for Munch's hand to fall down before jumping up and putting it in. Munch passed the ball to Casey and then went and stood next to Melinda. Elliot stood behind them, and when Casey came up, he faked left, went right and caught the pass. Elliot then faked the ball to Melinda, passed it to Casey at the foul line. She put it in and they headed up. Alex passed it into Olivia and they headed up together. Olivia passed it to Alex as Elliot came towards her. Elliot then went towards Alex, who passed the ball to Olivia and watched as she put it in with a swoosh deep away from the three. Two hours later, the score became 103-96 North Carolina.
Elliot had the ball at the top of the three when he passed it to Casey for a give-and-go up the middle. As Casey passed the ball, Olivia went to intersect it when Elliot ran right into her, causing them both to fall hard and skid backwards with Elliot on top of Olivia.
"Shit, Liv! I'm so sorry." Elliot said breathlessly
"Don't…worry…about it El" Olivia said as Elliot stood up as everyone started to gather around, worried.
"Are you okay?" Elliot asked as he stuck his hand out for her to take it.
"Yea…I'm fine. Shoulder hurts a little but I'm good." Olivia said as she took his hand and hoisted herself up. That's when she heard everyone suck in a breath of air.
"What?" Olivia said as she felt something warm slid down her arm and turned to try and see, giving Elliot a chance to see it.
He saw blood oozing from her shoulder from a big gash and little scrapes around it from where she fell on the not so smooth cement. With him on top. 'Probably making it worst' Elliot thought as he bit his bottom lip.
"Liv…I'm SO SO SO sorry!!" Elliot said as he ran and got her towel.
Olivia reached back and felt her shoulder, brought her hand back to look and started to laugh.
"Guys, I've been shot, cut and almost blown up, I'm fine…really. I'm just going to go and grab a shower and clean up. I'll see you guys in a few. And if the game starts as I'm still in there…I want a play-by-play exactly the way it happened, got it? Or I will pull out my Glock!" Olivia warned laughing as she started to walk in the house.
"Damn, that looks like it hurts more than hell." Alex said as Fin wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm going to see if she's okay." Elliot said, putting his shirt on, as the worry never left his face as he jogged inside.
Please review and Chapter 2 /final chapter/ will be up soon! :D