Immature
Prologue
Outside Tanny Grey's Apartment
Stakeout, NoHo
12:18 AM Thursday
Olivia sighed and popped a Motrin before taking a sip of water. She was bundled into her jacket to fight off the biting cold in the car. It was twenty three degrees in Manhattan, and it had been like this all week long, and Olivia hated winter. They were staking out a known drug spot for a pedophile on the run. The only person having a good time was Fin because he was used to stakeouts…Long ones.
"Want another granola bar?" Elliot asked.
"Is it chocolate chip?" She asked, almost desperately.
"Yeah," Elliot chuckled as she snatched it from him.
She sighed and closed her eyes as she bit into it. He knew that a chocolate orgasm was coming on and he couldn't help but snicker. It was that time of the month for Olivia, and the last place she wanted to be was on a stakeout with practically debilitating cramps and a chocolate jones. They hadn't been able to spend any time together in three weeks until now when Olivia was menstrual and they were on a stakeout working. Well, at this point, they took what they could get.
"What'd the doctor say about your blood pressure?" Olivia asked as she finished off the last bite of her granola bar.
"You had to go and bring that up," Elliot sighed, knowing that it was bound to come up sooner or later.
"It's relevant," she rationalized. "I don't want my partner to keel over from a heart attack."
"The doctor said that I should just reduce my stress," he explained, scanning their surroundings quickly.
"And?" She asked.
"And that's it," he shrugged. "He's going to prescribe me a medication that I have to pick up in a week."
Snow flurries began to fall softly and Elliot groaned.
"Great, just what we need," he groused.
Olivia rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. She picked up the communicator and tuned in to Munch and Fin's channel.
"Munch, Fin, do you see this guy?" She asked.
"Nope," Fin said. "We're freezing our asses off over here too."
"It's not so bad after a while," Olivia shrugged. "But when I see this guy I want to kick his sorry ass up and down this street because I'm in pain."
"Wait, Liv," Elliot said. "That's him."
They both saw an extremely thin, pale, and scrawny looking man enter the building, wanting to score. The guy's name was Morris Albertson and his girlfriend was Tanny Grey. She always had a party going on in her dump of an apartment.
All of a sudden, people came flooding out of both the front entrance of the building and down the fire escape. Elliot and Olivia got out of their Sedan and they watched people running down the street and screaming.
"What the hell?" Olivia asked. "You think they made us?"
"Nah," Elliot said. "Something's going down up there."
Cragen, Munch and Fin came running up behind them as the headed to the building.
People were still running and there were a couple of stragglers coming out.
Olivia darted up the walkup and she saw her coworkers diffusing the domestic dispute between Morris and Tanny.
"You stupid bastard!" She yelled, brandishing a butcher knife. "I ought to kill you right now! I told you to stay away from here! You're bad luck baby."
"You're a bitch baby!" Morris yelled. "Hey, just put the knife down. Put it down!"
Olivia drew her gun along with Elliot while Munch, Fin, and Cragen moved forward a bit.
"Put the knife down," Cragen instructed firmly. "It's not going to do either of you any good."
It was smoky in the apartment because Tanny found out Morris's little secret: he had child porn in the form of videos and photos hidden in a box, and Tanny almost threw up at them. She may be a dope dealer and cooker, but she'd never hurt children. She was burning the tapes and photographs.
"Are you going to put him in jail?" Tanny asked.
"Yes ma'am," Cragen said reassuringly. "Now, just put the knife down huh? Don't let him bring you down with him."
Tanny huffed a breath and threw down the knife, putting her hands on her hips.
"Take his ass to jail," she said. "And take all this nasty shit out of my apartment. You're a sick man Morris! No wonder you sucked in bed!"
Before he could lunge at her, Cragen grabbed Morris and arrested him.
"Morris Albertson you are under arrest for possession of child pornography, endangerment of a child, and sexual assault of a minor," Cragen listed. "You have the right to remain silent-"
"Yeah, whatever," Morris grumbled as Cragen and two uniforms escorted him out.
Tanny had wild, unruly hair, hot pink fake fingernails, and stretched out skin, like leather, most likely from the drug abuse. She got off lucky today since everyone in her apartment took off.
"Are you going to pick all this shit up lady?" Tanny asked Olivia as she sifted through the remaining boxes.
"Ma'am, why don't you follow this officer out and give him a statement?" Olivia suggested.
"Fine," Tanny huffed and walked out.
Olivia's eyes were bloodshot from the remnants of smoke coming from the small kitchen. Tanny had done a number on most of their evidence, but the other two boxes were enough to put Morris away for a long while. Elliot came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. She felt a flutter in her belly at how close he was, but it passed quickly because they were working.
"Look at this," Olivia said, flipping through the albums. "Some of these pictures are three years old."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" He asked before going into the kitchen of the apartment to look at the charred remains. "Well, Tanny burned most of our evidence, but Novak should be able to work with what we've got."
She nodded and continued flipping through the pictures.
"This was one twisted son of a bitch," she sighed. "These are making me sick."
"Well, no need to put that kind of filth in your head," he sighed. "We got the bastard."
Olivia threw the contents back in the box and allowed CSU to do the dirty work.
Olivia and Elliot walked downstairs together along with a few other uniforms. They figured they'd let narcotics decide what to do with Tanny since she held Morris at bay anyway. They'd put in a good word for her that she cooperated for her sake.
Olivia glanced at her wrist watch.
"It's late," she sighed. "I do believe that was the longest stakeout we've been on in a long time."
Elliot nodded his agreement as they walked to their Sedan. He wanted to go home, shower, and get some sleep. Their clothes smelled like smoke and something a little more caustic, a hint that Tanny was cooking anyway. Kathy had the younger Stabler children for this week, so stakeouts and rollouts were possible. Cragen wanted him to spend more time with his children when he had them, so he didn't work as late as he usually did.
Olivia had observed him with his kids; they were the most beautiful things she's ever seen in her life. His smile came more often, he seemed to forget the horrific things that they saw everyday, and he was the Elliot of old. The Elliot she met all those years ago when he could talk and let himself go.
The rush from the case still had her on high alert, but for the most part, the situation had been diffused, and another pedophile was off the street. The Motrin for her cramps had just started to kick in, and she felt her whole body relax. She could really use some dark chocolate, a glass of wine, and some nice salty peanuts.
"Ten hours on our asses, only to have sit some more tomorrow morning to fill out reports," Elliot groused. "Sometimes, I hate this job."
"Yep, but someone's gotta do it," she reminded him as they got into the car together. "Another dangerous pedophile is off the street…the job isn't looking so bad anymore."
Elliot only grinned at her as he started the car.
1-6 Precinct
SVU Squad Room
2:17 AM
Cragen was in his office making a few late night phone calls to Sing Sing, while his detectives were getting ready to go home. Munch and Fin were swapping files and paperwork to take home, and gauging from how small Munch's stack was, Fin was getting pissed.
"Look man, I ain't doing all your damn paperwork," he huffed. "It's all or nothing Munch. Your skinny lazy ass needs to do some paperwork for a change."
Elliot and Olivia picked up a few stray files themselves, watching the other partners squabbling over who got what. They both wondered whether Munch and Fin's love-hate relationship would ever result in a big blow up. Munch was so anti establishment that he purposefully didn't complete and turn in his paperwork unless he felt like it. They honestly didn't know how Casey put up with him.
Fin on the other hand was all about the establishment just because he didn't want his word to be taken lightly. When Fin spoke, he tended to tell the truth, and it angered him when anyone impugned that quality about him.
"Look John, forget it man," Fin said, putting all the files into his partner's hand. "I tried to help you out."
Munch just shrugged and put on his coat.
Olivia shook her head at the two as they left.
"I don't think those two have gone a day without arguing about something," she mentioned. "Is it just them, or are they just old?"
"They're just old," Elliot chuckled. "But John's got the girl."
She chuckled and bundled up as they went into Cragen's office.
"Good night Captain," Elliot said.
"Good night," he said, standing up. "Get some rest."
Both detectives nodded before heading out.
When they were sure that they were out of earshot, they talked freely about their own plans.
"Want to come over and stay the night?" Olivia asked Elliot as they walked to the car. "I know you don't feel like driving all the way out to Queens."
"Yeah, sure," he nodded. "Hey, c'mere."
He took her hand and gently pulled her to him and planted a soft kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss in kind before they pulled away quickly before some one saw them.
"I haven't been able to do that all day," he whispered.
"I know," she purred. "That felt so good."
"I'm sure it did," Elliot said with a chuckle as he caressed his hand down to her lower back.
Olivia gasped and pulled away gently as they each went to their respective sides of the car and got in, feeling tired and wanting to go to sleep.
Olivia Benson's Apartment
2:55 AM
Olivia felt her knees getting weak as Elliot kissed her. It was a good thing she had a hold on her kitchen counter to steady herself. He had wrapped his arms around her waist from behind first, then he turned her around slowly and his lips descended on hers. It had been too long since he last kissed this woman, his best friend, his partner, his soul mate.
She whimpered as the kiss became deeper, and she felt tendrils of desire course through her body. He was always able to do that, sometimes without even touching her; sometimes he would look at her and she would melt. She loved the blue in his eyes, how they changed color according to his moods, and how they contrasted so starkly with her own eyes. It was the perfect contrast, and she could look into his eyes and feel safe.
Olivia could feel Elliot's hands on her sides, slowly sneaking to the hem of her tee shirt. She pulled away gently then, sighing and smiling, feeling dizzy and giddy from their kiss. The heaviness of their eyes from exhaustion took over, and she took his hand and led him to her bedroom. The right side of her bed was 'his' side officially. They each had parts of themselves at their respective residences. Olivia had gotten used to doing laundry for four people…helping cleaning a big house. Elliot had gotten used to the way Olivia organized things in her apartment. It pained her to have anything out of place. Even a chair. If he left the dining room table chair out, she'd unconsciously come by and fix it perfectly. He didn't think she was OCD, but she had her moments.
Elliot went into her bathroom to change while she changed in the room. She turned on the lamp and then began to take off the decorative pillows on her bed. She turned down the crisp sheets and then went over to the closed door of her bathroom. She knocked softly.
"El?" She inquired. "Are you decent? I need to brush my teeth."
"Yeah," he said, opening up the door. He was putting his suit into his garment bag and taking out another for the morning. She went over to her sink, picked up her toothbrush, and squeezed some toothpaste onto it.
Elliot couldn't help but look at her legs. Her night shirt stopped at her knees, leaving her calves exposed. Her legs were silky and toned. He'd seen her legs in this capacity before. Actually, this would probably be about the fifth time he's seen her legs because most of the time she wore flannels to bed. He liked the way she rubbed the back of her calf with her foot. It was obviously a habit, since she really didn't realize that she was doing it.
Olivia finished brushing her teeth and she washed out her mouth before she went to get into bed.
He brushed his teeth, with his own toothbrush respectively before he followed suit and climbed into bed with Olivia.
She turned to face him and snuggled closer. He smoothed over her hair, and tangled his fingers in the length of it, noticing that her hair color had returned to it's original deep chestnut color. She usually dyed it, favoring the bright auburn over the dark Eastern European hair she had naturally. Olivia always doubted that her roots were that exotic and regal, but her European features said otherwise.
"I'm just an ordinary Manhattan girl," she had said one time to him.
Elliot kissed her softly and placed his hand on her hip while Olivia burrowed into his broad chest, inhaling his scent. He still smelled like soap and smoke, and it didn't put her off. His hands had slipped under her night shirt and they were caressing over her bare back and her hands roamed his chest.
She loved this man, so why couldn't she say it?
She kissed his shoulder as his hands warmed her back.
Olivia had never been a 'what if?' kind of woman when it came to her relationships at least. But with Elliot, she wondered all the time. What if they didn't work out? What if he falls back in love with Kathy? What if he decides he can't love her? Where would that leave her? She couldn't take such heart break after feeling this way about him for so long. She'd never felt this way about anyone before and she'd found what she'd been looking for.
"That's weird," he said quietly.
"What?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you know who I just thought about?" He asked, amusement in his eyes.
"Who?" She asked, chuckling. "And will I end up kicking you out of my bed for it?"
"Cassidy," he chuckled and she looked at him incredulously.
"Of all people," she giggled and turned over onto her back, giggling. "Why?"
"I don't know," he snorted. "I guess 'cause you two were the youngest."
"Not that young," she said with a smile. "I'm two years behind you and Cassidy was a year behind me. Either way, we were both stupid then. I felt so bad when he left the unit. I treated him so bad, didn't I?"
"No," Elliot assured her. "It wasn't you. He couldn't handle being on the unit, and…he didn't know you. I know you, so I understand why you do the things you do, no matter how rational or irrational it is. But he fell hard for you because you're beautiful, and you have so much depth to you. I'm just the lucky one."
Olivia smiled and hugged him.
"I still feel bad sometimes," she whispered. "I didn't even apologize to him. If I start to become an evil bitch when things go further with us, give me a reality check, okay?"
"Okay," he whispered, kissing her softly. "Why didn't you and Cassidy work out?"
She shrugged.
"We had nothing in common first of all," she began. "And, well, he wasn't the right person for me and I wasn't the right person for him. I'm sure he's married with a couple of kids and a nice house, and I hope he's happy, because I would have made him miserable. Besides, he's not you. None of my previous boyfriends were. Cassidy, Nick, Jeff, Michael, Andy…none of them were you. You give me this…calm that I've never felt before. You're the stability in my life and no one else could offer that."
Elliot held her tighter and sighed. His heart was in the right place to be whatever she wanted him to be to her. He was finally getting over the hurdle of the pain of divorce, and now he felt like he was supposed to be with Olivia for the rest of his life. She has become his world and he couldn't turn away from her, despite trying to. It was too painful to not acknowledge his feelings for her.
He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She caressed over his cheeks and smiled.
"Elliot," she smiled before they kissed deeply, tongues teasing.
They spent a few minutes kissing lazily, caressing over each other's bodies and cuddling closer together under the covers.
They pulled away and Olivia sighed.
"Goodnight," she said.
"Night Liv," he said and they both fell into a deep sleep.
1-6 Precinct
SVU Squad Room
10:30 AM
It was a bright but cold day, and everyone walking on the street was bundled into their jackets, and some were almost faceless because of the scarves and other head garments around them. Elliot and Olivia were happy to ride in the car on the way to work. The heater was going full blast to make up for the lack of heater function in Olivia's building. Elliot used up most of her hot water when he woke up first to shower, which pissed her off.
They were more than happy to arrive in the toasty precinct.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Munch said by way of greeting, looking at his watch. "A little late aren't you?"
"Uh, look at the schedule," Elliot said. "We really aren't on 'til eleven, but Liv and I are just good people."
Munch went over to the coffee station and Olivia grimaced at Elliot, knowing that they'd have to go out and get their own coffee. They had a quick breakfast at her apartment, but didn't have time to put on coffee.
Olivia sorted out the paperwork that had been dumped on her desk by one of the mail clerks. She hated that they did that when she had an in and out basket in plain sight. Elliot helped her pick out some office supplies for her desk.
"Why do the clerks insist on cluttering up my desk?" She asked, her cheeks burning with irritation.
It pained her to see things out of place and messy.
While she sorted, Elliot picked up a file straight from the top and pushed the other stack aside. They were both still a bit tired, but they had to work, so they would get through it. Casey was due to come in during their lunch hour and inspect the evidence they picked up earlier.
Olivia couldn't get the girl she saw running out of her mind. She looked so familiar and she was afraid that her suspicions were true.
She began to fill out the reports from another case.
"You want some coffee?" Elliot asked, getting up. "We don't have time to go out."
"Sure," she said, looking up at him. "Thanks."
She was still a little sore about the water thing, so he knew he's have to make it up to her somehow.
He put a cup of coffee in front of her and she knew that he was trying to make up for using up all the hot water. He was forgiven.
She grinned gratefully at him before turning her attention back to her paperwork.
Sometimes the job was thankless. It was one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' kind of jobs, when people were always looking for someone to blame or sue for doing too much or not enough. Olivia almost quit, but Cragen had convinced her to stay, telling her that mistakes were inevitable on the job, you just had to get up and dust yourself off.
She survived the famed two year tour, and now she and Elliot were going on their eighth year on SVU. Some days, like today, were bearable. They caught a hump, now he was about to go to jail for life, and no more children would be hurt…at least not by Morris Albertson. There would always be victims, and they had to cope with that before learning to be as objective as possible.
She sipped at her coffee as she crossed her legs under her desk and settled in for a long day.
12:15 PM
Casey walked into the squad room with several bags of takeout for lunch. All of the detectives were hungry, and like vultures after a kill, they bum rushed Casey, taking the bags from her and heading upstairs to the boardroom.
"Thanks guys," she panted, out of breath from holding the heavy bags. "You're welcome for lunch."
She followed the detectives and she stumbled upon several boxes confiscated from Albertson's apartment. They smelled smoky and caustic, and she wondered what the hell was going on exactly in that apartment. Either way, she was glad that her burden of proof was met, and it should be an easy conviction.
But at the moment, the detectives were not concerned about that. There was nothing worse than a bunch of hungry detectives and Casey would be lucky to even get a few scraps once they were through. She learned quickly not to get Mexican food, due to the story she heard about Olivia's projectile vomiting.
"Ew," she had said, and Olivia turned a shade of red that wasn't in the color spectrum. "That's so disgusting."
So, she thought twice about buying Mexican food when she wanted some.
"So, I hear this guy is pretty sick," she said as she took off her coat and draped it over one of the many chairs. She yawned, wishing that the day was over already.
"Hell yeah," Olivia said. "I hate to have to go through these again. These are disgusting. I do believe this is the worst guy we've caught in a long while."
All of the detectives sat down, alternately eating lunch and picking through the boxes. Munch passed the cartons to Casey and she fixed her own plate. She hated how they just picked off of each other's plates. It was so disgusting, and she couldn't stand it. She cringed inwardly as Olivia picked off of Fin's plate, nodding in approval of something she hadn't tasted from this particular place. John moved to pick off of hers, and she glared at him.
"Don't even," she growled and he rescinded.
Olivia and Elliot spread out several photo albums and then sorted out the tapes which were dated.
"He certainly was a meticulous little shit, wasn't he?" Fin asked, feeling anger that no one had caught the guy sooner.
"Basically, this guy has no defense," Casey explained. "The best his lawyer can do for him is talk the jury to death."
Olivia picked up an album that was dated 2004-05.
She flipped through that one. There were girls, all young, posing either by themselves or with other girls in poses that they shouldn't even know about. The images made Olivia's stomach turn, and she shook her head. There were some girls as young as about six. Morris liked them very young.
Elliot watched her as she searched through the albums, and he was wondering why she was bothering. For him personally, every picture he saw, he saw his own girls in them, and he didn't want that kind of imagery in his head, more subjects for his rare nightmares.
"Liv, come and eat," Casey said. "We've got this case in the bag."
"I am," she said as she flipped a few more pages. That's when she saw a very familiar face.
Everyone was confused as she took the picture out of the album.
"Olivia, what is it?" Elliot asked, coming over to her.
She held up the picture for him to see. "Who does that look like?"
His eyes widened.
"Dear God," he said in shock.