Chapter 2: Cases and Co-Workers

Disclaimer: Me no own. Me only borrowing them for a bit of fun.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's got a bit of Kathy in it, but it's a good chapter overall. BTW: this story takes place before Kathy and Elliot's divorce.

Elliot and Olivia sat on Elliot's couch going over their latest case. They had decided to go out for dinner and hadn't felt like going back to the squad room. Elliot had suggested that they go to his place and finish the case. He knew Kathy would not be happy. She had suspected that he and Olivia were having an affair, which they weren't. She had even gone so far as to say, "Jesus, Elliot! Could you at least pretend you're happy to be home with me, rather than in bed banging your partner!" when he had come home late one night.

"Hey, I'm home!" Elliot called as he walked into the living room.

"Hi, honey!" Kathy said walking into the room. She stopped when she saw Olivia.

"Hi Kathy." Olivia said, rather uncomfortably.

"Olivia." Kathy nodded curtly. "Elliot, can I talk to you for a second?" She grabbed Elliot's arm possessively and led him into the next room.

"Kathy! What the hell are you doing? We have company." He exclaimed quietly when they had left the living room.

"Oh… 'we have company!' No, Elliot, you have company! You bring that slut of a partner into our house and don't even call first?!" Kathy yelled.

"Kathy, lower your voice!"

"No!" she shouted back.

Olivia flinched. She heard Kathy yelling and Elliot trying to shush her. She had known that Kathy had thought she and Elliot were having an affair, but had no idea that the animosity ran this deep. Elliot came back into the room, his face was flushed and his hands were balled into fists.

"Look, Elliot, I'm just gonna go." She gestured towards the door.

"No, Liv, stay. We need to close this case. Besides I don't want you to feel like you have to leave because of Kathy." Elliot touched her arm as if to give her reassurance. Olivia understood and sat down, pulling the case file out of her bag.

Two hours later they still hadn't made any progress. They began to talk about other things and, eventually, the case was forgotten. Kathy lay awake listening to them talking and laughing. She heard Elliot say something and Olivia answer back. They were both laughing. Kathy closed her eyes and allowed a single tear to fall.

The next morning Olivia arrived at the precinct at 8:00 am. She walked to her desk.

"Hey, 'sup Liv?" Fin asked as she sat down.

"Yeah...hi." She replied distractedly

"You okay?" Elliot asked.

"Huh? What…oh. Yeah…fine." She barely looked up. Elliot looked at her closely. He could tell she hadn't slept at all. Her face was haggard and her hair was mussed. He opened his mouth to say that maybe she should catch some sleep in the crib when Cragen interrupted him.

"Elliot. John. Fin. My office, now!" The three of them looked at each other then at Cragen. "Now." He repeated.

Olivia was so out of it that she hardly noticed she was the only one in the room. She was thinking about last night. About the twinge of jealousy when Kathy grabbed Elliot's arm and about the calls. Olivia stopped shuffling papers and put her head down on her arms. She groaned, she was so tired. She jumped when the door to Cragen's office opened. She had started to drift off. Olivia looked up and watched Munch, Fin, and Elliot file out of Cragen's office. They were all looking very agitated and all were avoiding her gaze. She stood up as Elliot sat down.

"Liv? What's up?" he asked.

"I'm going to head up to the crib. If any cases come in call me." She turned and Elliot saw her slip something into her coat pocket. He began to ask what it was, but she was already halfway up the stairs. He looked at her desk and noticed the picture of them was gone. She must have taken it, but he had no idea why.

Less than five minutes later they heard the sound of breaking glass and Olivia screaming.

TBC