The Job Can Wait

Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. This is for fun only.

Author's notes: I hope you like this. Let me know what you think! Just so you know…this is a one shot.

I am sitting with my legs crossed on my couch, a case file on my lap. I am supposed to be in my bed, resting since the doctor at the clinic had ordered I do such for the cold I had caught, but I could not find it in myself to turn away from the job. I know that as long as this monster is still free and roaming the streets that I will and can not take any personal time off that could be used to get this man off the streets for good, and behind metal bars.

My head turns slightly to the left as I can hear the persistent, light knocking at my front door, but I do not bother to stand up and answer the door as I already know who would be there. After all, I rarely have any guests over and the only person who ever seems to show up here beside myself would be my partner; especially with the long hours that I work, it seems to be a miracle that I ever find time to socialize with the opposite gender. The knocking sound comes to a quick halt, but I already know that the person behind that door is about to do anything but give up and leave. I shake my head, smiling despite the situation, as my cellar phone rings - just as I had predicted.

After silently considering my options, I pick up the ringing cellar phone on the third ring. "Benson."

I can sense his smile even through the phone as he speaks, "What are you doing?"

Setting the open case file down on top of my coffee table, I reply after a moment's hesitance. "Uh…I was just looking over the file on the Howard Case." I hear him as he heaves a sigh, and I can't help but feel concerned. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he replies in a mumble, and I know he is lying, but I decide not to call him out on his lie because then that would give him the chance to call me out on all the times that I have told him that I was fine when I truly wasn't. "Just…I thought when you left the prescient earlier this afternoon, that you would at least leave the work there instead of taking it with you, so you could at least take a few hours to rest."

He should know by now; with twelve long, sometimes hard, years in the partnership, and he still can't get it through his thick skull that even when I leave the prescient, the responsibility to catch these predators and monsters never leave me.

"Liv?" he questions when I have said nothing to fill the silence.

I shake my head, coming out of my own little world, and reply "Yes, El?"

There's a pause, and I can hear him trying to form words before he tries to speak. "Can I come in?" he finally manages to ask.

I bite my bottom lip in thought. I knew this question was coming, but no matter, I still am not ready for it. I figure silently to myself what the heck, and reply with a small smile on my face. "Sure."

"Great!" he exclaims, only mere seconds after I had said anything, and he hangs up before I was able to tell him to use his key.

I don't know how long he waited to call me again when I didn't just stand up from the comfortable position I was in on the couch to open the door to let him in my apartment, but as my phone rings again, I quickly answer it on the first ring.

"Yeah, El?"

"You said I could come in, correct?" he asks me, softly.

I nod in response, and then remember that I need to speak because he can't see my nod. "I did."

"Then why am I still standing outside in front of your door, and not in there in your cozy apartment?" he asks, interrogating me like the detective he is, and I can hear his fingers lightly tapping at my door.

I chuckle softly as I reply "Maybe because you hung up prematurely, and didn't wait for me to tell you to use your own key because there's no way I am getting up."

There's a second of silence before it is filled with his own chuckle, and he mumbles a soft "Right, of course." and once again hangs up. No more than a second has passed when I hear his key slip into the keyhole, and then see him as he opens the door, and lets himself in.

He nods at me as he closes the door behind himself. He notices the stack of papers on my coffee table, and visibly sighs.

I arch an eyebrow up, and ask "What?"

"You should be resting, Olivia." He says, using my full name to express how serious he is, as he comes to sit beside me.

I cross my arms, and look at him from the corner of my right eye. "Why should I?" Although I know why I should be doing as he has said, I still feel the need to argue and to fill this silence with our usual Benson-Stabler bantering.

"Because you are sick, Olivia, and you need to rest to get better." He whispers softly, and I feel his hand rest on my right shoulder.

I don't flinch away from his touch, but I don't encourage it either as I reply "Well I feel fine, El."

"Like hell…" he mutters under his breath, and I know that he in no way believes me. His hand moves from my shoulder to my forehead, but he gasps and quickly removes the hand. "You're burning up, Liv!"

"I am?" I ask softly, but he gives me no reply as he scrambles to his feet, and towards my medicine cabinet that contains the simple over the counter pain killer drugs, thermometer, and first aid kit.

When he comes back over to me, he has the thermometer in his left hand. Without asking me if I wanted to or not, he places it in my ear, removing it only when it makes a beeping sound, indicating that it is done reading my temperature. He gasps as he reads the digits on the small screen.

"What?" He grabs my hands, and pulls me up to my feet. "What are you doing?" I ask him, surprised.

"Dragging you to bed." he grunts, trying to pull me towards my bedroom.

I pull back. "No. I'm not going to sleep any time soon, El. I have work to do." I, silently, point at the open file on top of my coffee table.

He looks at me, and his voice as he speaks holds no room for argument. "The work will still be there when you wake up, Olivia."

I sigh, feeling myself giving in as he stares me down with his baby blues. "Fine. I'll sleep, but only so you stop pestering me."

He smirks, satisfied, and then he surprises again me as he picks me up in his arms.

"What are you doing?" I gasp softly, gripping onto his shirt for support.

"Taking you to your bed." he replies as he walks towards my bedroom.

"I can walk. Despite what you may think, I'm not an invalid, El!" I exclaim, hating the fact that he is babying me.

He looks up at me as he holds me, and says softly "I know." He has reached my bedroom, and he places me gently down on the bed. I sit there, feet curled underneath me.

I eye him as he walks around my room, before settling down on a chair in the room. I don't know how many minutes actually passed before I grew annoyed.

"So, you're just going to stay there until I fall asleep, you stubborn son of a bitch." I spat out; it's a statement, not a question.

He smirks, and replies cockily with a nod "Yes. I am."

I roll my eyes, and sigh once more. Knowing that he won't leave until I do what he wants, I allow my head to hit the soft pillow. I can feel his eyes watching me even as I close my own. I breathe softly, in and out, and minutes later, sleep has finally found its way to me.

Elliot stands up from the chair as quietly as he can without disturbing my sleep, and rips out a sheet of paper from a notebook that is lying around in my bedroom, and he pulls a black pen out of his pockets. He scribbles a few words down, addressing the note to me, and then leaves it where I would find it when I awake - on top of the case files that I had been reading over. Coming to check up on me, to make sure that I am actually asleep, and not just waiting for his departure, he smiles seeing that sleep has truly overtook me, and my chest is moving up and down with my light, even breaths. He only turns, and leaves my apartment, locking the door as he goes, when he is sure that I will stay wrapped in these warm blankets for a few more good hours.

(( Author's notes: What did you think? Was it good? Let me know in your review. (: ))