Sharing a Dance
Rating: G
Summary: Elliot and Maureen attend a father-daughter dance at school. Just a cute little fluff piece that I wrote one afternoon.
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own anything. But can you imagine the possibilities if I did :)


"Do I really have to do this?" Elliot asked, straightening his ties for the eighth time. No matter how many times he shifted the piece of clothing it just didn't seem right.

"You know how much Maureen is looking forward to this," Kathy said, trying to hide her smile. She sat on the bed and watched as her husband fiddled with his tie for the umpteenth time, growing more and more disgusted.

"Who came up with the idea of a Parent-Child dance anyway?" Elliot wondered aloud. "Don't teenagers spend most of their waking moments trying to get away from their parents?"

"It's only a few hours, I think you'll be all right," Kathy laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Elliot said. Finally giving up on his tie, he grabbed his jacket off the bed and pulled it on. "We'll be back by ten," he said giving Kathy a chaste kiss before leaving their bedroom. He walked down the hall first stopping at Kathleen and Elizabeth's room. After giving them each a goodnight kiss, he continued to Dickee's room, and then on to Maureen's. He knocked gently on the door waiting for her response. Elliot had learned to knock before entering his eldest daughter's room, thanks to the advice from Kathy and a few embarrassing moments.

"Coming," Maureen called through the door.

"Hurry up sweetie, we're gonna be late!"

"Almost done Dad," she yelled. A few moments later Maureen opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Elliot's eyes lit up; he had never seen his daughter look so…grown up. The maroon dress she wore hung snuggly around her body, but not too tightly, and ended just above her knees. Her soft brown hair fell to her shoulders in loose curls.

"Oh honey," he said when he found his voice. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks Daddy," she said grabbing her small purse off her desk. "Ready to go?"


The dance was crowded, the music was loud, and the drinks were lousy. 'Well this is a great start. I hope the rest of the night is just as good.' Elliot sat at a table, his jacket hanging on the back of his chair, a plastic cup full of red liquid sitting in front of him. Every now and then he would glance at his watch, but the hands never seemed to move.

As the song changed, he scanned the crown finding Maureen dancing with a group of girls. She was laughing and smiling and looked like she was having a great time. 'Well at least one of us is,' he thought. Elliot watched as a few boys joined Maureen's group and began to dance with the girls. A dark haired boy wearing an overly flashy tie began to dance with Maureen, and Elliot watched as the boy's hands moved to his daughter's hips. 'Not even over my dead body son,' Elliot thought as he prepared to intervene. Before he even stood up Maureen had grabbed the boy's hands and pushed him away. 'That's my girl,' he smiled and made his way to the floor.

"Hey," Elliot called as he approached the group.

"Hey dad," Maureen answered. "What's up?"

"Can't a guy get a dance with his beautiful daughter?" Elliot smiled as he took Maureen's hand and lead her to a small opening on the dance floor. Maureen wrapped her arms around his neck as Elliot rested his hands on her waist. The song changed again and the pair began to sway to the beat.

"Having fun?" Elliot asked.

"Yea, it's really great," Maureen said excitedly. "Thanks for coming tonight Dad. I'm so glad you didn't have to work."

Elliot sighed, he knew that he hadn't been at home much lately, but there was never a shortage of psychos in this city and that made his life a little hectic. "Look sweetie, I know I've been working a lot lately but,"

"Don't worry about it Dad," Maureen interrupted. She tilted her head back and looked directly into her father's eyes. "I know what you do is really important. And you're helping a lot of people, so if you have to miss dinner every now and then, it's no big deal."

All Elliot could do was stare at the young woman in front of him. "When did you grow up?" he asked.

Maureen only laughed and laid her head against Elliot's chest. She listened to the steady sound of his breathing and let the music move her. She felt so safe in his arms, like nothing bad could ever happen to her or anyone she loved; not as long as her dad was out on the streets.


As the car pulled up in front of the Stabler home, Elliot turned off the engine.

"So did you have a good time tonight honey?" he asked.

"I really did," Maureen smiled. "I guess Kaylie was right."

"About what?" Elliot asked as he opened the passenger door and took his daughter's hand.

"She said that I had the coolest dad at the dance," she confessed.

Elliot felt himself blushing slightly. "Is that right? What do you think?" he asked as he opened the door and stepped through.

"I think she's right," Maureen said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her dad lightly on the cheek before heading upstairs.


Elliot strode into the precinct the next morning with a bounce in his step and a smile plastered on his face. He grabbed his usual cup of coffee and took a seat at his desk. Olivia sat across from him, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Well you're in a good mood this morning," she noted.

"Well it was a good night," Elliot said offhand beginning to sift through some paperwork.

"Looks like someone got some last night," Fin laughed. Olivia and Munch both laughed at the joke.

"I'll thank you to stay out of my sex life Fin," Elliot said with a grin. "And for your information I was not with Kathy last night. It was someone younger."

Mouths dropped open around the squad room. Captain Cragen walked out of his office at that time and was dumbstruck to see everyone staring at Elliot and gasping.

"Did I miss something?" he asked.

"Our riveting discussion of Elliot's sex life," Munch filled him in.

"How young are we talking here?" Munch asked.

"Fifteen," Elliot answered. He was enjoying their confusion a little too much. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"I would really love to know what is so funny," Olivia said staring her partner down.

"Guys, last night was the Parent-Child dance at Maureen's school. I spent the night being surrounded by loud music, bad food, and hormonal teenagers," Elliot laughed.

Munch, Fin, Olivia, and Cragen all let out a sigh and resumed their prior activities.

"So did you have a good time?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Elliot said. "It was a great night."


So what did u think? Reviews are greatly appreciated!