A/N: Admit it, sometimes this Valentine's crap gets on your nerves, too. lol. But, he makes it all worth it. =)
DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns characters and Law and Order: SVU. TStabler©, that's me, owns the story, plot, narrative and dialogue.
New York City, in the middle of February, seemed to do two things to Olivia Benson. Make her really cold, and make her really nauseous. It wasn't because she was single. She wasn't. For the first time in her life, she was actually dating someone who she could see herself marrying. It was the point of the damn day she didn't understand, and the commercialization of it that pissed her off. As she walked to work, with two cups of hot coffee in her hands, she rolled her eyes and made grotesque faces at every heart-shaped decoration and flying Cupid she passed, thankful that the man she was going to spend the night with knew better than to pull any cheesy, mushy shit with her.
Olivia walked into the bullpen and rolled her eyes. "In here, too? Really?" She flicked the dumb paper heart hanging in the doorway and walked to her desk. "Okay, why?" She brushed the metallic heart-shaped confetti that had been strewn across her desk onto the floor with a disgusted face. She handed her partner a cup of coffee and made another face. He was wearing a red shirt and a black tie with little red hearts on it. "Are you fucking kidding me, Elliot?"
Munch laughed. "Wow, Benson. No date with Mr. Right, tonight? Is that why you're bitter? Are you wearing black in protest, revolting against Saint Valentine?"
"No," she said, sternly. "I'm wearing black because these pants make my ass look amazing, and Mr. Right is gonna love taking them off of me later. I'm only bitter because this holiday is nothing but a devious plot cooked up by Hallmark and Hershey's in order to sell cards and chocolate. We shouldn't have to set aside a fucking day to tell someone we love them. I do it whenever the hell I want, all the damn time. Right, El?" she spewed without even thinking, not noticing. "Not to mention all these little pink and red hearts are driving me bonkers and if I see one more naked fucking baby with a goddamned bow and arrow, I don't care who I'm standing in front of, I'm throwing up on them."
"So, that's a 'no' on the date, then?" Fin quipped. Olivia shot him a look and he backed off, in legitimate fear.
Elliot stayed silent, knowing better than to butt in when Olivia was in a mood. He tried to say something to her during her "Why I hate Christmas" rant and she bit him. Of course, he enjoyed it and then he bit her back, and then they spent a few hours biting each other, among other things. But, he wasn't going to risk having her bite him here, in front of Fin and Munch. Not yet. He would simply wait, in silence, until she found the first note he left for her in the top drawer of her desk.
It took approximately three hours and nineteen minutes.
She had been working tirelessly on paperwork, and had finally made her first mistake. She opened her drawer to get white-out and found it. "What the..." she said. Not a full sentence. Not loud enough for anyone but Elliot to hear. He stopped what he was doing and watched her, attentively. She slid the card out of the drawer and flipped it around in her hand. It was pink and heart-shaped and she looked very irritated, but the smirk playing at her lips was telling him that she was also a bit intrigued and not really mad at him. She looked down at the card and, in Elliot's Catholic schoolboy script, it said, "A Valentine's puzzle to make your day fun. You've got your hands on clue number one. To find number two, this rule you must follow. Pick up the pot of the sludge you won't swallow."
Olivia raised an eyebrow at Elliot.
He shrugged and smirked at her, trying to look innocent.
Olivia simpered as she slid her chair back, got up and walked over to the coffee pot. She took it out of the cradle and lifted it, and sure enough, stuck to the bottom was a red, heart-shaped card. She peeled it off and held it up as she looked, accusingly, at Elliot. "Am I really doing this, right now?"
"Looks like it," he said, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.
She chuckled and shook her head as she replaced the pot. She looked at the card and read, "Congrats, my love, and much luck to thee. You'll need it if you wish to find clue number three. The back of your memory is where you must delve. We first met here, at a quarter to twelve."
Olivia scoffed and shot Elliot a scornful look. Did he really think she didn't remember? She ran out of the bullpen and he smirked, rising to his feet and following her. Munch, Fin and Cragen, who had been watching her, puzzled, looked on as they left the room. Cragen smirked and sighed, knowing what was coming.
Olivia ran down the stairs, followed by Elliot, and bolted into the lobby of the 1-6, heading for the large clock on the wall. She looked up and tilted her head. How the fuck was she supposed to get up there? She smiled, climbed up on the end table, then jumped onto the back of one of the chairs. She reached up and plucked the pink heart off of the large number twelve, then leaped down, landing on her feet in front of Elliot. She waved the card in front of his face in victory then read it.
"You remembered! How sweet! For that you get more. Here is your tip to find clue number four. Here, we shared our first kiss and our very first dance. Though, no one would think it's a place for romance," his slanted cursive declared.
Olivia looked at him. "I have to go back up the stairs?"
Elliot nodded, smacking her on the butt as she moved.
They walked back into the bullpen and he followed Olivia up the stairs, into the cribs, where she discovered a red heart on the first bunk. She paused for a moment, to catch her breath, and then looked at the card. "You've made it this far, don't you feel so alive? The next one's your last, the final clue's number five. This place has been home to many a fight. Whether with me or a perp, it's always a sight."
"More goddamn stairs," Olivia mumbled. "This better be worth it, El."
Elliot just kept smirking.
He followed her back down the stairs as she walked into the interrogation room. She walked over to the table and lifted up the pink card. She flipped it over just as she heard the door click, then lock, as she looked down and read, "Your scavenger hunt has come to an end. Thanks for playing, Liv, you're my very best friend. Clue Number Five's a visual one, see? Turn around, baby."
She turned, slightly confused because the rhyme hadn't finished. When she looked at Elliot, thought, it all became clear. She dropped the card as her hands flew to her mouth. He was going to finish the rhyme himself, down on one knee, holding out the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
They knew everyone would be confused and shocked. All except Cragen, who was in on this entire thing. No one else even knew Olivia and Elliot had been together since his divorce. The ink wasn't even dry on the papers when he ran to Olivia to declare his undying love for her, and she had more than willingly reciprocated his feelings. They'd kept the secret well, they'd moved into a new house with his kids rather quietly, and they'd managed to give everyone the impression that nothing was any different. Seven months of keeping it quiet had just gone out the damn window, though, as Elliot kneeled on the cold concrete floor, anticipating her answer.
"Liv," he said, shaking the ring-box slightly. "Baby?"
"God, yes! El," she said, pulling him up. "Of course, I'll marry you!"
Relieved, he took the ring out of the box and smiled at her.
"Yes, yes, yes!" she cried as she threw her arms around him and squeezed, pulling away slightly to talk. "You...you did all of this just to..."
Elliot stopped her talking with a passionate kiss. As their tongues danced he found her hand with his and slid the ring onto her finger. He pulled away and wiped one tear from her eye and one from his. "I did all of this just to propose, yes. It's our first Valentine's Day together, well, like, officially together, not just being stuck working together, or saying we were, and making the most of it, even when we were with other people." Olivia nodded and they laughed a bit. "I wanted to show you how great this holiday could be if you gave it a chance, and I wanted to make sure you'd always remember your proposal. I tried to be creative and original, because you're the one that matters, ya know? I know it was kinda cheesy..."
"It was amazing," she whispered, pulling him toward her for another kiss.
"How amazing?" he asked, whit a smirk, kissing her again, deeper than before. He pulled away slowly and whispered, "Show me, baby." He kissed her again, and grinned against her lips as he grabbed the cord on the shades and pulled, blocking the view of the pit. Olivia slid her hand up the wall and pushed the button on the monitor, blocking out the sound, ensuring they were now completely safe from anyone hearing them, just in case. Elliot lifted Olivia up onto the table, still kissing her, and she chuckled. They'd already broken a thousand rules, a few more weren't going to matter.
Elliot pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. "You were right," he said, sliding her black slacks down, just over her hips. "These do make your ass look great and I love taking them off of you." He ran his hands back up her legs and teased the elastic on her panties, while she unbuckled his belt. She unzipped his pants and pushed down his boxers, only enough to free him, and she ran her hand up and down his shaft, gently, as her ring glittered in the light. Small, breathy gasps escaped Elliot's mouth as he pushed the silk in his hands aside.
"God, Liv," he whispered, moving her hand away and sliding into her, in one smooth move. "I love you, baby."
"I love you, too, El." She held him tight as he moved slowly, carefully, within her, and she pressed her lips to the side of his neck.
Elliot held her head down, forcing himself deeper inside of her, and shushed her. Though the room was soundproof, they weren't taking chances. He ran his hands over her body as he thrust into her, powerfully, and found her hands, linking them with his as they clutched the edge of the table. He wasn't being delicate or languid, he had a purpose and they had time constraints. There were people in the next room, who would certainly be wondering where they were.
He moved faster, harder, deeper and brought his lips to hers to muffle the sounds, though no one be able to hear them, of her violent scream as she clenched around him and he spilled himself into her. He tore his lips away from hers and rested his forehead against hers, panting, as he said, "You gave me the best Valentine's Day present ever, baby?"
"Hot work sex?" she joked, kissing his nose.
"No," he laughed. "You gave me forever."
Olivia chuckled. "You always had it, El. All you had to do was ask," she said with a wink. She looked down at her finger and then glanced back up at him. "Happy Valentine's Day, El."
"Yeah, it is," he said, as he kissed her, and began to straighten out her clothes. He knew it would be one neither of them would ever forget.
A/N: A little fluff, a little smut, that's what Valentine's Day is, right? Reviews?
