A/N: Elliot's second meeting with Rebecca, a slip of the tongue makes Kathy suspicious, and when the crew goes out for drinks, true colors shine through.

DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story belongs to TStabler©

The door swung open, confusing the good doctor. She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "You're damn lucky I wasn't with a patient, you know."

Elliot smirked. "I need another notebook," he said, sitting in a large, leather chair.

"Did you lose the one I gave you yesterday?" she asked, puzzled.

"No," he said, tossing it onto her desk. "It's full. Every single page. This is…this is a problem, Bond."

Rebecca reached for the black and white marbled pad, opened it, and flipped through the pages. "Oh, my God, Elliot!" She flipped some more pages, and she swore she felt herself blush.

Elliot chuckled at her reaction. "You told me to write down every thought…"

"I did," she said, clearing her throat. "But this is…this is all in one day?"

He shook his head. "That's only about eight hours." He took napkins, old receipts, small flip-top notepads, and a paper bag out of his jacket pockets. "That's the rest of the day."

Rebecca looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and shook her head. "Elliot, this is…this is beyond…the is outside my realm of…"

"I figured it would be," he interrupted. "Just tell me what to do. I can't get her out of my head, that's fucking obvious. I can't quit my job because then I'd never see her, and that…that would suck. I can't go home and tell Kathy it's over, because I'm not gonna destroy my family if Liv isn't…"

"She is," Rebecca said, closing her eyes. She let out a deep breath, knowing she was breaking a much more important confidence than she had yesterday. "She loves you, Elliot. We talked yesterday, and I…"

"You told her!" Elliot snapped. "You told her, that's why she...with the buttons and the elevator!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I assure you, the minute the words sunk in…she flipped," Rebecca said. "Go easy on her, her world was just turned upside down, and she's made it very clear she isn't going to do anything about it until she heard it from you. She didn't exactly believe me." She tilted her head, then asked, "Elevator?"

He sunk back in his chair and ran a hand down his face. "We almost kissed in the elevator." He smiled a bit as the memory came back. "It was this moment, I had her hand in mine, she reached up and…her hands are so soft," he said, his eyes closing. "We moved, and she wanted it as much as I did, I saw it in her eyes."

"Did you kiss her?" Rebecca asked, into the story.

He shook his head. "The doors opened and she…we kinda freaked out. The rest of the night…wasn't so much fun. It was awkward, it wasn't a good time."

Rebecca sighed, opened her desk drawer, and pulled out another notebook. "Here," she said. "But can I give you some advice?"

"That's why I'm coming here," he said, nodding.

She smiled and tilted her head. "Just for today, try voicing a couple of these thoughts. Try actually talking to her about this. She's willing, Elliot, as long you are."

Elliot took the notebook, his eyes fell. "I don't know if I can," he whispered. "What if I fuck everything up and she ends up hating me?"

Rebecca gave him a reassuring grin. "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," he said, getting up. He waved a hand at her as he left her office, hoping things at work would be better today.

Rebecca looked down at the pile of paper, filled with Elliot's ramblings about Olivia. She picked up a small note, read it, and reached for her phone. She hoped Olivia's voicemail had a long recording time.


"Hey," he said, dropping a cup of coffee on Olivia's desk.

She looked up, blowing the tip of her freshly sharpened pencil. "Hey," she said. "Thanks."

He nodded. "We got anything?"

She handed him a file. "Waiting for Fin and Munch to get back from the scene, but the interrogation and investigation is ours." She tilted her head and said, "Your wife called, by the way. I tried to take a message for you, but she hung up on me." She smirked and said, "Sweet, little woman you got there, Stabler."

He scoffed. "Yeah," he hissed, sitting down. "She's a real gem." He picked up the phone and dialed his home number. He waited, and then looked at Olivia, into her eyes, as he said, "Yeah, why the hell did you hang up on Liv?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow and chuckled, then turned her attention to the paperwork on her desk.

"Listen, uh, I'm not gonna be home tonight, we got a case that…probably in the cribs, why do you care? Maybe I will, that's a good idea, thanks. I'll ask her." He chuckled and said, "I already called her principal, it wasn't her fault, she has detention for two days, no permanent record…Kathy, I handled it! No, I did not threaten…God, can we have one conversation without fighting?"

Olivia tried to ignore what he was saying, but the conversation was too intriguing to ignore. She looked up, catching his eye.

"It's times like this I wish you were more like Liv, ya know, we fight but it's never because…" he pulled the receiver away from him. "She hung up on me."

"I wonder why," Olivia said, her face completely blank. "I would have hung up on you, too."

He chuckled. "She says hi," he told her with a wink.

"What were her exact words?" she asked, smirking.

"Oh, I can't repeat them at work," he told her. "I'd have to arrest myself." He sipped his coffee and chuckled. "Hey, uh, I told Kathy I…"

"I heard what you told her," she sighed. "You lied to your wife, Elliot, that was not a smart move. This case isn't gonna last…"

He interrupted her and said, "Come out for a couple drinks tonight. It's Wednesday night, me and Fin and Munch go down to O'Malley's every Wednesday, you should come."

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, a night out with the fallas? Sounds tempting. I'll pass, though, thanks. Only so much talk about football and boobs I can take."

He laughed. "We don't talk about football," he said, catching her eye. He winked as she chuckled. "So you'll come?"

She ran a hand through her hair and said, "One drink. The first cheesy pick-up line or comment about my ass…"

"They know I'd kill 'em," he said, interrupting. "Trust me, with me around you're completely safe."

She felt goosebumps rise all over her body at his words, and she knew he was the last person she'd be safe with tonight.


The bar was smoky, reeked of stale beer and cheese and sweat. Olivia sat on the stool, her beer in hand, and she looked at Fin. "Your turn," she said, checking her watch. "Make it fast, some of us have to on-call tonight."

Fin laughed and nodded. "Right, you and Stabler are the emergency guys tonight, huh?"

She nodded. "Go," she said.

Fin looked around the bar, noticed a man staring in their direction, and he grinned. "All right, that guy. Married, three kids, the wife let herself go. He came here hoping to spend some time with the guys, but then he sees you, and he's reminded of everything he could have had, if he wasn't…"

"Are you high?" Munch asked. "He's staring at Olivia because she's hot, man. Every guy in the place has checked her out at least once. Can you give us something less obvious?"

"You want less obvious?" Fin asked, turning his head. "Fine. You and me, Munch, pool table. We'll settle this in a much less obvious way when I whoop your ass."

Munch chuckled and looked at Elliot. "You coming?"

Elliot swallowed his gulp of beer, and he said, "I don't wanna play." He popped a pretzel into his mouth and said, "But you were right, Munch. Every guy in here's been checking out Liv." He took another sip of his beer and eyed his partner. "Can't say I blame them. She's got the perfect body."

She turned to him, her eyes narrow. "Excuse me?" she spat. "How much have you had to drink?"

Fin and Munch walked away, avoiding the fight they knew was coming, and began to play their game of pool.

"El," Olivia said, prodding him for an answer.

"Not enough," he said. "I was just…taking a friend's advice and just saying what I think, ya know?"

She narrowed her eyes even more and spun her stool to face him completely. "You think I…"

"You're gorgeous, Liv," he said in a whisper. "Every guy in here has been staring at you, and it's because you're fucking beautiful, and you have this…you just give off this vibe, it's magnetic."

She took the bottle out of his hand and said, "Go home, Elliot."

He laughed. "I can't. I told Kathy I wasn't going home tonight." He raised an eyebrow at her and lowered his voice again. "She actually told me to stay with you tonight."

Not looking at him, she chugged the last of her beer, grabbed her jacket, and said, "You've got to be…" She was interrupted by the buzz of her cell phone. She looked at it and sighed. "Stupid voicemail. It's been buzzing all damn day."

"You should just check it, then," Elliot said, having an idea who had called.

Olivia chuckled and clicked the button, holding the device to her ear. As the message played, she let her eyes widen. Her lips pressed together, she let out a small, moaning noise, and she looked at Elliot out of the corners of her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked. "Liv?" he bugged, nudging her in the side.

She looked at him, hung up, and blinked once. "I just…I have to go," she said, getting off the stool. She was almost passed him when he grabbed her arm.

"Was that Rebecca?" he asked.

She didn't turn around, she didn't even nod. Her silence was all the answer he needed.

"I'm not drunk," he said. "I'm not crazy, and I don't need sleep, and I haven't been experimenting with any kind of drugs." He watched her turn around, met her eyes, and he smiled. "I know you're trying to find an excuse that would make this all go away, but you can't."

She closed her eyes for a moment, pulled her arm out of his grasp, and said, "I have to." She turned, walked away, and tried to forget everything Rebecca had just told her.

The footsteps she heard behind her let her know that forgetting was not an option.

A/N: Who's following her? Does she let Elliot stay with her, or will he be spending the night in the cribs? They catch a midnight case! And Kathy gives Olivia a call, but why? Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212