The Bridge Home

Sreed

Disclaimer: I feel like I have known these two for a very long time. It feels like they are mine, but they are Neal's.

Author Notes: Whenever I think about Elliot and Olivia getting together, I always picture them snowed in at a cabin somewhere. I don't know why, but I do, so I finally wrote a story to that end.

Olivia stopped and pounded her gloved hands together for warmth. She was almost hip deep in snow and could barely stop herself from shivering from the cold. She and Elliot had followed a lead from the ex-wife of a perp to the woods near Tallman Mountain State Park. The man was responsible for three rapes and murders of young college aged women. They had driven for over an hour off the main road deeper and deeper into the woods to the man's hunting cabin. The snow was coming down faster and faster and their SUV had begun to slip more and more as they took turns on the frozen and snow covered dirt road. Elliot had finally spotted smoke from the cabin off the road about 25 yards and the two now silently approached it. Elliot had stopped when Olivia did and was now waiting impatiently for her to catch up. He literally radiated anger. Maybe if she stood a little closer he would warm her up with his anger alone. She chuckled to herself and received a look from Elliot. Elliot had been angry for days. One of the girls was so strikingly similar to Maureen that he had been on edge from the first day of the investigation. They were now running on their second week with no leads. This one had been the most promising. Cragen was not happy about the fighting that had been going for the last three days. Olivia knew something had to give. Elliot had been single now for about six months and he was taking it out on everyone around him, especially Liv. Cragen told them as they left to work out their differences before they stepped back in the squad room. He had not spoken a word to her the entire trip up. Elliot stepped into her personal space, leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear.

"I'll take the front and you take the back."

And then he was gone just like that. No discussion. Olivia headed around to the back only to find tracks leading away from the door. The perp must have spotted them before they reached the cabin. Great. She took off as fast as she could in the huge footsteps he had carved in the deepening snow. She was able to cover more distance faster than he could as he had to blaze the trail in the snow first. She caught up to him just as he tried to traverse a swollen stream on a narrow footbridge without rails. Just as the man reached midstream on the slippery bridge, Liv grabbed for him. They wrestled on the narrow space. He laid a punch hard to her right cheek and shoved her towards the edge of the bridge. She grabbed for him to keep from falling off. He lost his footing and she felt herself fall into the icy water with him. They were going to be swept downstream. Liv heard a sickening thud as the man's head connected with a rock on the way down. Fortunately she landed in water only, but she could not get to the side of the stream no matter how hard she tried to swim to shore. She could see the body of the perp float to the surface face down and knew it was now a matter of life and death for her only. She turned in the water to see a breathless Elliot, who had just arrived on the scene, scramble off the bridge and try to run along the riverbank. He was screaming her name and leaping over logs and rocks grabbing branches as he went trying desperately to get to her. She was afraid he was going to jump in after her. She started screaming.

"No El. Don't do it!"

He stopped suddenly and pointed behind her downstream. She turned just in time to find herself ramming into a low hanging branch. It knocked the wind out of her, but the surging water pinned her to the branch and Elliot was able to reach her.

"Liv! Liv!"

He sounded terrified. He waded out into the water and reached for her as she tried to work her way along the branch to the shore. She was shivering so hard, she couldn't make much progress, but she managed to get close enough for him to reach for her with both arms .He pulled her into his chest as he fell backwards on the bank.

"Liv, thank God!"

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Liv, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. If I had lost you…"

Olivia could hear the tears in his choked voice as he stroked her back, her hair, anywhere he could touch her. She couldn't help herself. She sank into his embrace just as she had that day at the hospital after Eli was born.

"Liv, we have to get you back to that cabin. Hypothermia is going to set in pretty fast."

He pulled her to her feet and began to look her over. He could see a bruise starting on her cheek. Liv could feel something warm and sticky on her thigh.

"I think I cut my leg somehow. It's bleeding." She started to shake uncontrollably.

"Anywhere else?" She shook her head. Her teeth were chattering too hard to even talk.

Elliot wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side as they made their way back to the cabin. It only took about five minutes, but to Liv it felt like forever. Once they made it into the cabin she could feel the warmth from the fire in the fireplace. It was just one room with a small kitchen area, a couch, a bed, a table and a tiny bathroom off to the left, but it looked like the Hilton to her.

Elliot began to look around and found a couple of flannel shirts and some pairs of sweats in a trunk at the foot of the bed. He approached Liv who was standing swaying in front of the fire. She suddenly felt very tired and knew she was coming down from the adrenaline rush. Elliot wasted no time pulling her coat, gloves and scarf off her and draping them over the two table chairs. He came back over to her as she tried to fumble with the buttons on her shirt. She was so cold she couldn't seem to get her fingers to function and she was beginning to get frustrated. Elliot took both her hands in his, lifted them to his lips and kissed them, then let go of them as he gently reached for the first button.

"Let me help you, Liv. Please?"

She kept her eyes on his as she nodded once. Who was this man? What happened to angry Elliot? She couldn't even see it in his eyes anymore. Only care and concern met hers. She heard Elliot let out a breath and quickly slip the buttons through the holes. He pushed the shirt off her shoulders, leaving her in her bra. Liv had only been like this with him once before when he was undercover and she had to pretend to be a hooker. This was different and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Elliot bent down and untied her boots one at a time. She had to place her hand on his shoulder to steady herself as he pulled the boots off and then her socks. He stood up and slowly lowered the zipper to her pants and slid them down her legs where they clung to her. Liv could feel a burning sensation as the jeans dragged down her right thigh.

"Oh, Liv, you cut it pretty deep." He knelt in front of her and tenderly touched the area around the cut. "We need to get this cleaned up as soon as we get you warm." He grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped her in it. He headed over to the small kitchen area of the cabin and started rummaging in the shelves for a first aid kit.

"Slip off your underwear and drape it on the chair next to the fireplace to dry, okay?"

Liv wondered how she was supposed to do that and hold onto the blanket too. As if he read her mind he continued. "Don't worry, I won't look. He turned his back and opened the kit he had found under the sink. He was laying things from it out on the counter. Liv dropped the blanket long enough to undo her bra and slip out of her panties. She pulled the blanket back around herself and collapsed in front of the fire on the rug as close as she could get without actually climbing onto the hearth. She opened the blanket towards the fire and let it dry her body the rest of the way.

She heard him walk over to the bed and then heard him slip his own shirt over his head. She heard his boots hit the floor and could recognize the sound of his jeans as he pushed them off and put on a pair of sweats. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder at his amazing body, but knew better.

"Come on, Let's get you into a warm shirt."

At that moment he came into her view wearing a flannel shirt still unbuttoned and a pair of sweats. He looked like he had just stepped out of a shower or something. He looked so incredible. She immediately pulled the blanket around her and tried to stand up. She felt so week from fighting the water and the cold. Her face and leg hurt so badly. Elliot saw her struggling and was at her side instantly, lifting her to her feet. When he thought she was steady, he held out a flannel shirt for her to slip on. Her eyes met his and then he looked away as she let the blanket drop and slipped her arms into the shirt.

"Okay, you can look now," she said with a slight grin on her face. She had started buttoning from the bottom up. Two could play at this game. She left the top two buttons open.

"We'll wait on the sweats until I can clean the cut up, okay?" He took her hand and set her down on the couch, walked over to get the supplies he had laying out and sat down on the couch. He turned her sideways and slipped her impossibly long and slender leg into his lap. He first cleansed it with some Betadine. Olivia tried not to show how much it hurt, but she hissed when he put the Betadine on it and wiped it off. He reached for her hand and squeezed it for a moment.

"Sorry, it will be over in a minute." He looked her in the eye. "I don't want to hurt you anymore, Olivia."

She got the feeling that he wasn't just talking about the medicine. He gently rubbed antibacterial ointment on it and then covered it with a gauze pad and gently bent her leg up so he could wrap gauze around and tape it in place. When he was done, he kept his hand on the bandaged thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. Olivia thought her heart might stop.

"Now, let's take a look at that bruise."

He placed her leg back on the floor and scooted closer to her. He raised his hand to the cheek that was red and angry from the punch the guy had landed on her. His touch was feather light. She closed her eyes and leaned into his palm.

"Does it hurt very badly? Anything feel broken?"

Olivia could barely breath.

"No…No I don't think so."

He dropped his hand and she instantly felt the loss. He grabbed a towel and a plastic bag from the kitchen and was out the front door and then quickly back in wrapping the snow filled baggie up in it.

"Here." He held the towel up to her cheek and gently pressed it to the bruise. Olivia looked up into his eyes and he gave her an affectionate smile. Suddenly she didn't even need the fire. That smile warmed her down to the tips of her bare toes. She couldn't keep herself from shivering from the thrill of that look.

"Are you still cold?"

Elliot was instantly on alert. He grabbed the blanket back up from the rug, grabbed a pillow from the bed, put it behind her back and turned her sideways lifting both legs back up on the couch. He tucked her up in the blanket until only the hand she now held the towel in was sticking out.

"I'm okay, El, I feel so much better already."

He looked at her doubtfully and went over to his jeans to pull his cell out of the pocket. It was obviously drowned.

"There is no way we are getting that SUV out of here before nightfall. I'm not even sure we could get a signal."

"Mine is still in the SUV if you want to try."

"Maybe in the morning I'll try to get it if the snow lets up. Right now, I'm only concerned about you."

"El, I'm fine, really."

Elliot sat down on the floor alongside of the couch and surprised her when he reached under the blanket and pulled her other hand out twining it with his. He pulled it to his still bare chest. He had not bothered to cover up by buttoning his shirt. He began to rub his thumb softly over the back of her hand. Olivia was speechless.

"No thanks to me. I've been awful, Liv and there is no excuse for it."

Olivia's stomach started to do flip-flops.

"You were going through a tough time. We all understood El."

"Just for once, would you stop looking out for me and let me apologize?"

"Sorry."

"Opening up is hard for me Liv, but I want to. I need to tell you some things that I have been avoiding for a very long time."

Then it hit her. He's leaving.

"You're leaving." It was a statement.

"What? No, absolutely not. I could…never leave you Liv."

"Then what is it, El. You can tell me anything."

"I know. I just didn't know how to tell you this. I was afraid it would ruin everything and…"

"Oh, God, you're sick. You're going to die or something awful."

"No. No. Oh, God, no."

"Then what El?"

"The reason I have been so angry lately is that I noticed you started dating again right before the divorce and I don't know, you seemed really happy and I thought maybe you'd met someone and didn't want to tell me like you did with Kurt Moss."

"Why would that matter to you enough to make you angry, El?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "Because…because I thought that meant I had no chance with you."

Olivia's eyes were huge. "What are you saying Elliot?"

"I'm saying I want to be with you Liv. I have for a very long time."

Liv thought for a minute that she must have hit her head too. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

He smiled at her and got up to sit facing her on the edge of the couch. He rested one hand on the back of the couch and continued to hold her other hand, now bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"I'm saying I'm in love with you and I have been for a very long time. Don't get me wrong. I tried really hard to make my marriage work, but she wanted the boy she fell for in high school. I grew up to be a very different man. The job got to her and it just fell apart. I loved Kathy and I wanted to do right by her, but I never fell head over heels for her like I did you."

"You…you're in love with me?"

"Yes, I love you Liv and I want to be with you, don't you get it?"

He nuzzled her with his nose and then grazed his lips lightly across hers. Olivia suddenly felt very warm.

"El, I have to tell you something too. I wasn't dating again. I had one or two one time only dinners, but that's all. As soon as I heard about the divorce I stopped dating completely. The reason I was so happy back then made me feel guilty. I felt guilty because I was sad, but excited at the same time, knowing you were getting a divorce. I tried not to be, but I was, El. I know that's selfish of me, but I was happy because I thought maybe, just maybe I could have a chance with you too. Then when you didn't even show an interest in me, I thought that meant you never felt that way about me and that it wasn't your marriage that kept us apart. I gave up and that's when we started fighting. You were angry and I was too."

"Then you…"

"Love you too. I am so in love with you, Elliot Stabler, that I ache every day when you walk out of the doors of the precinct. I rush back there every morning to wait for you to arrive. You ground me. You're like my other half. I drowned in those baby blue eyes of yours a long time ago and I've just been treading water ever since. I…"

Elliot's lips came crashing into hers pouring every emotion he had held captive for the years of their partnership into that kiss. The towel and bag were dropped to the floor and he reached his arms around under the blanket to pull her close.

"Liv…"

His voice was thick with desire. He stood and lifted her up into his arms. Carrying her over to the bed, he laid her gently down, discarded the blanket and lay down by her raising himself up on one elbow to look deeply into her eyes.

"Did we just…"

"Change our partnership forever. Yeah, I think we did."

Their lips met and melted together in an endless kiss. It seemed to go on forever and yet Liv never wanted it to stop.

"I have wanted to kiss you and touch you like this for so long, Liv." He tenderly ran his hands over her face and neck. His hand shook as he placed it on the first button of the shirt she was wearing. He looked at her for permission. He would never do anything to hurt her. Olivia nodded and pulled him down again for a sweet kiss. Soon they were skin to skin and Elliot pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Even though it scared me to death, I am so glad you crossed that bridge. Liv. It actually brought us together."

"We've always been connected, El. We just needed to cross the right bridge finally. I love you."

"I love you too…so much."

Olivia sighed and stretched out in pure joy. They made love for the first time in the firelight that night. Nothing else mattered. She was home.