Conspiracy Theories
Chapter 2
When Olivia finally made it home, she locked her door behind her and stripped on her way down the hall, not caring where her clothes landed. She kept her gun and laid it on the nightstand and the crashed onto he bed, only bothering to push the covers away. She wasn't truly tired. Just the opposite, in fact, she was almost hyper aware of everything, especially the conversation replay going on in her head.
The time she spent with John had opened her eyes to a whole new set of possibilities and while he was a good friend and a great guy, she had never considered anything beyond that for them. It simply had never crossed her mind that he would be interested in her, or that he was considered eligible. And then there it was staring her right in the she dropped into a fitful sleep, waking instantly when her phone rang at six.
"Benson." She mumbled into the receiver.
"Hey, Liv, could you give me a ride this morning? Fin canceled our usual appointment." John asked gingerly from the other end.
"Yeah, sure. I'll see you in thirty." She answered slightly more awake.
"Thanks, you're an angel." With that he hung up phone. Olivia flopped back onto the bed for a moment, wanting to give into sleep. She levered herself up to get ready for work.
Thirty-five minutes later she was knocking on John's door. He greeted her with a cup of coffee and a pastry. She eyed him speculatively.
"I walked down to the bakery. My way of saying thanks." He answered in his defense. Olivia took both, sipping at the coffee as she followed him back to his kitchen.
"Your welcome." She said finally. She was as far from being a morning person as you could be, so John wisely kept quiet until she finished breakfast and her coffee.
"Better now?" he asked as he gathered his coat.
"Much. You're an angel too."
"Why thank you. You know I always wondered how I would look with wings. I always thought black ones would be lovely. I think you'd look marvelous in white ones." She laughed. She could always count on him to make her smile.
When they arrived at work, the rest of the team was already there. John had just said something outrageous, so they were both laughing. Elliot, Fin, and the Captain all paused to look up at them. The Captain, who liked John very much, and felt like Olivia was the daughter he never had, took their entrance in stride. Fin smirked at them. If they were happy, what did he care. Only Elliot seemed angered. Olivia noticed. She always noticed with Elliot. It was harder to tell what exactly he was angry was about though. He was always angry these days especially because of his divorce. She shrugged it off and started to work.
Later when she was in the locker room to take some things home to wash, Elliot cornered her.
"So what's with you and John? You guys are buddy-buddy all of a sudden." He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"I picked him up on my way in. Nothing I haven't done before. No big deal. Besides, when you get past the cynicism, he's hilarious." She said, as if that answered everything. Elliot saw a mix of red and green.
"So you like hanging out with a man twice your age? And what am I? Chopped liver? I thought we had something…"She cut him off.
"We're friends, you and me, good friends, and we're partners, but that doesn't mean I don't have other friends. And as to what we have, we have a work partnership. I don't know here you got it into your head that I'm your cure all for everything that's gone wrong . I'm not your girlfriend. I'm not your lover. I'm not your wife. I don't want to be either. I love you Elliot, but not like that. And for your information, John is not twice my age." She replied, her own anger sparkling in the face of his. She gathered her stuff and moved to walk around him.
"Olivia." He said her name like a warning.
"No. I'll talk to you tomorrow. You have two choices. Get over whatever it is that's bothering you and be rational, or lose me too. Make a choice." With that she shook off the hand he place on her arm and stalked out to get her coat from her desk. John was waiting for her. She plucked her keys out he pocket and tossed them at him. He caught them, barely.
"I'm too upset to drive right now, but I want out of here, so let's go." He nodded and pulled on his own coat, before escorting her out the door.
They drove in silence, straight to Olivia's apartment. When she finally realized where they were, she directed John to park in the garage and led him up the stairs to her place. Much like the night before, she started to peel off layers until she got to her undershirt , letting the clothing fall from her fingers to the floor.
"Olivia, come lock the door after me. I'll catch a cab, and leave you alone." He called after her. She paused in the doorway to her bedroom.
"Stay." She said so softly, he almost didn't hear her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, stay." She continued into the bedroom and laid her gun on her nightstand as he watched from the doorway. She sat on the edge of the bed and gestured for him to join her. He sat next to her and lay back when she did. She turned to face him.
Eventually they moved to lie on the bed properly and she pillowed her head on his shoulder.
"I'm so tired of being Elliot's emotional punching bag." She said softly.
"So don't let him use you." Was his reply.
"I wont, not anymore. I'm done." She whispered as she finally drifted off to sleep. If they both slept better together than either had alone, neither one said anything. And if anyone noticed John was wearing the same clothes for a second day, it wasn't a big topic of conversation.