Olivia walked into the 16th precinct, shaking the snow off of her gloves and hat. She walked through the corridor towards the squad room and, to no surprise, saw a grumpy Eliot.
"Hi El," she said.
"Hey."
His mood had been worsening for three days and as the world turned into shades of white and gray Olivia could only perceive it to continue down a depressing path. He's been upset since Sunday, she thought. I wonder what was in that letter?
"So how have you been?"
"Fine."
If this is any indicator, I'm assuming that it was not good. After Eliot read the letter he said that he and Kathy had a bill to discuss and promptly ushered Olivia out of the house. Before she could ask him what happened, it was Monday and they were testifying in court against Alyssa Shettly. She could tell that Alex and Bobby knew that something was up as well, but none of them could pinpoint anything beyond his cold exterior. Today it seemed as if the winter's chill had wrapped him up in its blanket and refused to let go.
Before Olivia could pry any further Cragen opened his door and walked out. "All detectives in SVU, listen up!" Eliot lifted his head from the desk and looked towards the captain.
"There's an opportunity for a reward for success in this next case. Angela Hearty was raped and kidnapped by this man, Walker Ripley," he said as he held up a photo. "Angela is the niece of the mayor of New York City, and the city is willing to pay up to twenty percent of any detective's salary as a bonus for the year for helping to catch the criminal and return the victim to her family and friends. For most of you, this is a lot of money. Consider it as extra incentive to catch the perp. This reward is available to junior and senior detectives who have been with SVU for over three years."
Cragen walked back to his office, but turned around at the last minute. "Oh, and by the way, the reward is for the individual who is most successful, so partners will work together but at the end only one will gain the bonus. Keep up the hard work."
That's nearly ten thousand dollars, thought Olivia. She began to ponder all of the things that she could do with the money. Move into a new apartment, new clothes, travel…if only in her imagination it sounded like a good idea. She looked at Eliot; he seemed deep in thought as well. Oh well, a little friendly competition never hurt anybody.
Fin, Chester, and John walked over. "That's a nice surprise," said Lake, leaning against Olivia's desk. "Too bad I just got here last year."
"It's fine," Munch said, "there's not much chance that I'll get the reward on desk duty, either."
Fin smiled. "I guess it's the three of us that are at the top of the game," he said, motioning to Olivia and Eliot.
"Yeah, good luck," said Olivia, winking, "you're gonna need it."
"So are you, Liv," said Fin, smiling back.
"Guys!" said Eliot harshly. "There's a woman out there who's been raped and kidnapped; I think we should be concentrating on that first and the money after she's safe!"
"Um, sorry Stabler," said Fin, backing off. "I'm gonna head back to my desk. See ya, Liv."
"Kay."
Olivia turned back to the paperwork. She opened up her file on the case and looked at a mile of paperwork. "Looks like this one's gonna take a lot of time and effort."
"Don't they all," said Eliot without looking up at her.
"Eliot, what's wrong?" Olivia watched him purposefully look away, his brow furrowed and contemplative.
"Olivia, don't bring it up."
"I just-"
"No."
And with that, he got up from his chair and headed to the locker room, the conversation ended.
