Chapter One.
Olivia lay in bed, silent, next to her one night stand; her biggest screw up yet. She knew very well that she was risking everything – his reputation, her own, and their case. But she had no one to blame but herself. Nobody made her go on this date. Nobody made her drink the four glasses of champagne. Nobody made her invite him up to her room. Nobody made her strip and climb into bed with him.
The phone was rang, loud and piercing. Olivia groaned loudly and sat up in bed, propped up with one arm. She looked at the sleeping figure next to her. Tim stirred gently in his sleep. She leaned over him and flipped the wall switch. The lights shuddered on. With the next noisy ring his eyes squinted open.
"Who the hell calls at this hour?" he grumbled as he glanced at the bedside clock that read 4:37AM. "Take care of it, would you?" He rolled onto his side and put the pillow over his face and went back to sleep. Within seconds he was snoring.
"And on my only day off..." Olivia added softly to herself. She picked up the phone, which had gone silent. The dark screen blinked to life as another call came in. The number flashed quickly before the first ring, and she answered it.
"Hey, El," Liv whispered. She hopped up from the bed and tiptoed into the living room. She sat down on the couch. It creaked; she flinched.
"Go outside," Elliot told her.
She looked out the window to see him sitting on the front of his car, waving at her and smiling. She smiled back without really meaning to. He had that kind of affect on her. Olivia was careful not to let the door slam shut behind her. If Tim came out now, they were both screwed.
As she approached, he held out his offerings: a steamy, strong cup of coffee. Just the thing she really wanted, actually – even if it was before 5 AM on a Saturday.
"What're you doing here?" she said in a hushed voice.
"The captain said we had to come in. He called but you didn't answer. So I made a house call," Elliot informed her.
"Yeah your call came in 30 seconds after his, El, and don't give me the 'I was in the neighborhood' bull." Liv stared him down, a favorite activity of hers. She always won; he always let her. It was a game.
"Stop being such a cop," he teased her, and laughed aloud.
"Shhh!" she exclaimed, thinking of Tim. She prayed he hadn't heard that. Elliot's voice was loud and carried. But it was already too late.
The front door of the apartment slammed. Elliot jumped and Olivia buried her face in her hands. This was going to suck. A lot.
"Who's there? Liv, is that you?" Tim asked, squinting into the darkness.
"What the..." Elliot started, but she cupped a hand over his mouth and tried to shove him into his car, but he pushed her away. He drew his gun and flashlight and advanced.
"Tim McCarthy?" Elliot exclaimed, shocked and horrified. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared into the face of SVU's prime suspect for a string of attacks in the near area of Manhattan. Tim turned and fled down the street and into the night.
"Elliot, I can explain," Olivia began, first glaring furiously at Tim and switching to a softer, pleading look with Elliot. "It's the first time...it was a mistake, a huge one, I know, and...you aren't going to tell the Captain, are you?" She was trembling, and not from the light breeze that swept across her bare skin.
"Ah crap," Elliot started. He put his hands on the back of his head and backed away. "Goddamnit, Liv!" His tightly curled fist came down hard onto his car and it left a little dent in the metal.
"Please...please, you can't tell Cragen. It'll ruin the case; it'll ruin me," she continued to plead. Pulling her head together she stepped forward and put her hands firmly on Elliot's shoulders. "You can't tell him. If we do this right, if the three of us play our roles, no one ever has to know." Her voice was confident but shaking.
"And what happens when everyone does find out? Hmm? This things don't stay hidden forever, Liv, you know that," he shouted, not at her but into the busy city night. "Why him, Liv, his a rapist. He's a monster."
"No," she whispered, "he's not. I don't believe he did this, Elliot. I met him. He's genuinely charming; you can see it in his eyes. He has the same passion as you do. Believe me, it's not him."
"Don't you dare compare me to him," Elliot hissed. "You've tied my hands behind my back, Liv. What do you expect me to do? Bring all four of us down because you were stupid enough to sleep with a suspect? Or bring you done, and make you pay for your own mistake?"
An unsettling silence fell between them. She could feel his rage ebbing away bit by bit. His breathing slowed to a normal pace and the deep red in his face faded. Though his jaw was still clenched, as were his fists, Olivia could he wasn't going to blow up again.
"Whatever you decide to do," she finally said in a low, controlled voice; "I know it'll be the right one, and I don't blame you for anything. I can't, this is my fault." His back was facing her now, and he could feel her eyes boring into him.
"I won't tell," Elliot said intensely. "You and my job are all I have left, and I don't think I could have one without the other." He leaned in close to her.
"What are you saying?" she whispered back, moving in closer so their noses touched. She could taste his breath; smell his skin.
"You mean the world to me," he confessed and wrapped his arm around her.
Their phones went off at the same time.
"Goddamn phones!" Olivia exclaimed. She met Elliot's eyes for another few seconds. She flipped open her phone and pressed the end button until the phone shut off. She pulled him through the door of the apartment, and led him to the bedroom.
Morning came quickly. Having gotten no sleep during Elliot's visit, Olivia frowned at the dark circles beneath her eyes. A fine film of sweat covered her and Elliot's bodies.
"Get up sleepyhead," she said and shoved him off the bed. He landed with a thud and a grunt. Slowly he reappeared from the other side of the bed.
"I'm going to take a shower," she announced.
"I'll see you at work," Elliot said, scrambling to his feet and jamming his legs into his pants. "I have to go home real quick – take a shower, all that stuff."
Standing at the doorway into the bathroom, Olivia paused and looked over her shoulder. "Thanks for not telling." And she closed the door behind her. A few seconds later, the water was running and Elliot was already in his car.
Olivia was getting weird looks everywhere: in the parking lot at the station, as she was checking into the building, as she made her way to the Special Victims Unit squad room and even as she entered the room itself. Munch and Fin were already at their desks. Munch looked up from his usual coffee-and-newspaper routine. Fin paused in the middle of filling out some forms, leaving a black circle of ink where his pen stopped.
She looked straight ahead, to the Captain's office. From what she could tell from between the blinds, Elliot was sitting in a chair. Cragen was red in the face and the Chief was standing behind him.
As if a bell went off when she stepped up to the Captain's Office's door, it swung open. She stood face to face with Cragen.
"What the hell is this?" he snapped in her face, holding up the daily paper. Her face fell, and she looked frantically at Elliot. He dropped his gaze immediately, and shook his head from side to side.
"I don't think I can save you this time," Cragen growled. He pulled Olivia into the office and slammed the door behind them.