AN: Sorry that last chapter kinda sucked… I just realized that next to nothing happened, except Ana told Elliot about… well everything… or at least the important stuff… I dunno…
Disclaimer: Not mine. Can I have them though!?! Looks excited "No." face falls and bottom lip quivers "meanie"
After only a few hours of sleep, Elliot woke up next to a warm body snuggled under his arm.
"Ana? Ana, wake up, I'm taking you to the hospital, as soon as we're ready," he said, nudging her gently.
She grumbled, not wanting to leave his warmth. "Can't I just stay here?" she asked, getting out of bed anyways.
"Sure, but first: hospital."
She forced herself to get up, even though her body protested. "Ow," she stated simply. Her body felt like a MACK truck ran over it… 16 times…
Elliot looked at her worriedly. "Don't worry, I'm just a little sore." That was the understatement of the century.
"Well, I'll get you to the hospital, maybe a doctor can give you a prescription for it or something," he suggested.
They got ready and made their way to the hospital. The ride was relatively silent except for Ana yelling at the slower moving vehicles.
"MOVE IT FUCKER!" she yelled at an idiot on his cell.
Elliot looked at her. She smiled and shrugged. "It's how I release anger. They can't hear me, so what's the problem, if it makes me feel better?"
He laughed and shook his head. He had a feeling that she was going to be full of surprises.
"Whatever floats your boat." As long as you don't take it out on other people's faces, you're alright in my book, he added silently.
They sat in the waiting room… waiting… they both decided that the cheesy morning talk show was incredibly interesting, so they watched in silence. It was a commercial for a law firm in the area that had Ana breaking the silence.
"I have a law degree… Jason just never let me get a job. I married him right after I graduated, and he wanted me at home," she said, causing him to look at her.
"A law degree? Wow. Impressive."
"Yea, I s'pose I should find a job, now that I left him, but I don't know where to start," she told him.
"What kind of law did you study?"
"I wanted to be a prosecutor, fight for the victims and whatnot."
Elliot thought for a moment. "That's what I do, too. Listen, I have a few friends in the DA's office, I can make a call, if you want," he offered.
"Maybe, I don't know. I mean, I have a baby on the way. Who is going to hire a pregnant lady only to have her go on maternity leave 5 months later?" she asked.
"Five months?"
"I figured maternity leave is about 8 months in. I'm about 3 months pregnant," she explained.
"Ana Overton?" a nurse asked the waiting area. Elliot saw Ana's wince at the sound of her last name. Of his last name.
"Do you want me to come with you?" he offered.
"Would you? I don't like hospitals." She was glad he asked, she didn't want to, but she didn't want to be alone right now.
He nodded.
2 hours later
The doctor pushed into the room. "Well, Ana, those stairs you fell down really kicked your ass. Your arm is broken and a few of your ribs are bruised, but the baby is fine, happy and healthy. You got lucky, but I suggest you don't go near any… stairs…" the doctor told her seeing right through her faulty cover story. "Sir, may I speak with you in the hall while Ana puts her clothes back on?"
Elliot nodded. "Be right back," he told her, giving her hand a light squeeze.
"Sir, are you beating your wife?" the doctor asked point-blank.
Elliot was taken aback by his forwardness. "She's not my wife. I met her a week ago at a coffee shop."
The doctor didn't look like he believed him. Elliot rolled his eyes. "I'm a cop! I saw that she had been beaten up and went to talk to her about it. She said it was a 'crazy touch-football game'. I gave her my card. She showed up at my door last night in hysterics. I brought her in to make sure her husband didn't do any permanent damage! End of story."
"I see… You did the right thing, officer, I apologize for jumping to conclusions."
The door behind them opened and Ana stepped out. The doctor had a nurse escort the pair to where she could get a cast put on.
They were on the way back to his place when his phone started ringing. "Stabler."
"Elliot, we need you at the station, we got a case."
"Be there in a minute, Liv." He hung up the phone. "Ana, do you mind if I take you to work? We just got a case and they need me there."
She had nothing better to do besides think about where she went wrong in her life. "Sure."
"Thanks. This way, you get to meet one of the best ADAs I've worked with. And trust me, there's been quite a few."
Ana smiled softly. She was slightly worried about meeting someone how may or may not help her get a job, especially the way she looked.
They got to the station house and walked into the bullpen.
"Elliot, he did it again…" Olivia told him. She noticed he wasn't alone and recognized the woman from the coffee shop. "Hi, Ana, I'm Olivia," she said, offering her hand.
Ana took the brunette's hand with her uninjured one and shook it. "You were at the coffee shop," she said vaguely remembering where she had seen that face.
"Yea, Elliot is my partner. I'm glad that you went to see him."
"You don't look surprised to see me."
"Elliot called me last night and told me why he was going to be late. I told him not to worry about it cuz I can handle myself, but we're trying to catch this one guy, but he's slippery. I needed him here," Olivia said in a way of apologizing.
Ana watched as the squad tried to figure out what was going through the perp's mind when her raped, beat, then killed the women. There were no fluids or hairs or anything to tie anyone to the crimes. None of the victims were connected by anything besides they lived on the same street: Fifth Avenue, which happened to be an incredibly long street and the victims didn't live anywhere near each other.
Elliot finished recycling ideas that had been offered up countless times before.
He was suggesting that she try to sleep on one of the cots upstairs while he worked when a statuesque red head came in the room. "Casey, what's up?"
"You got anything?" she asked. She looked at Ana and then at Elliot, clearly wondering if the woman standing next to him was a new victim.
"Oh, right, Casey, I want you to meet Ana Overton," Elliot said understanding the look. "Ana, this is ADA Casey Novak," he told her.
"Oh! Pleased to meet you Ms. Novak."
"Call me Casey. If you don't mind me asking, Mrs. Overton, what happened to you?" Casey asked spotting the ring that was still on Ana's finger.
"Oh, no I left my husband last night. Call me Ana. He… ah… well, he…" she trailed off looking to Elliot for a clue as to what she was supposed to say.
"Don't worry about it, Case," he told her, which translated to 'I'll tell you later'. "Ana, why don't you take a nap up in the cribs? It'll help you feel better." He gave Olivia a look that asked her to take Ana upstairs and make sure she was alright. Olivia nodded, knowing what he would silently ask before he even turned around.
She nodded and followed Olivia up the stairs to the cribs.
"Her husband beat her, didn't he?" Casey asked him.
Elliot took a deep breath and let it out before answering. "Yea. He did. She showed up on my doorstep last night…" he proceeded to tell recount what had happened the night before. "Casey, I know it's a lot to ask, but she has a law degree and no job. Is there anything you can do? Her bastard of a husband never let her practice, and she has nowhere to go and no money to get there."
"Well, I don't know what's open, but I can ask around… I have an opening for a personal assistant free, if nothing happens. That's probably the best I can do for her without knowing how good she is. And the pregnancy thing would be an issue for Branch, too."
"But you'll try, right?"
"Yea, I'll see what I can do."
"You're the best, Casey." He gave her a quick hug.
Cragen came out of his office, "Ah, Casey, a moment?"
Upstairs Olivia helped get Ana situated. "So… what's the deal with you and Elliot?" Ana asked out of the blue.
Olivia looked up at her surprised. "N-nothing… why do you ask?"
"Just wondering. I kinda noticed that you two knew what the other was thinking before they even said anything," Ana said. This chick is DAMN intuitive! I thought I hid my feelings for Elliot fairly well… oops!
Suddenly, Ana paled. "What is it, honey? Are you alright?"
"I think I'm going to be sick…" She shot out of the cot and rushed into the nearest bathroom just in time to get her head over the bowl.
Olivia had followed close behind her when Ana lurched off the bed. She followed her into the stall and held her hair out of the way and rubbed her back soothingly until she was done.
Ana moved away from the toilet and leaned against the cool metal of the stall. Her brow was soaked and her face was paler than usual. "Congratulations, Olivia, I think you just witnessed my first bout of morning sickness… at 1 in the afternoon," she joked.
Olivia looked at her sympathetically. She got up and came back with a wet piece of paper towel. "Here, if you put it on the back of your neck, it should help," she handed Ana the towel. "And if that was morning sickness, I'm never getting pregnant!" she said, trying to lighten the mood.
Neither of the women noticed Elliot in the doorway. He was on his way to check on the two when is saw Ana bolt into the bathroom with Liv hot on her heels. He couldn't look away as his best friend and partner helped his new friend. God, Liv is so good with people. She'd make a great mom… Bet she'd look so beautiful pregnant, too. Woah, where did that come from? He shook his head to clear his mind. He shouldn't be thinking those thoughts about his partner. But now that they were there, the images would not leave him alone. Liv with a baby bump. She'd be glowing. Focus, Stabler! She's your partner!
She seemed to sense his presence and turned. "Elliot?"
"I saw Ana run in here, I wanted to make sure everything was alright. You seem to have it under control though," he said, snapping out of his thoughts.
"Just morning sickness, El. With three kids, you'd think you'd know the signs. The main one being a fetus…" Olivia joked. Ana laughed, regaining some color in her cheeks.
"Four kids? Did you stop to eat somewhere in there?" she joked.
It helped to settle Elliot's mind. "Yea, actually, I ate a lot… she wouldn't let me near her for 4 months after each kid… longer after the twins."
Ana laughed, ending on a yawn. "C'mon, you've had a long day, go get some rest," Olivia suggested. "Elliot and I will be downstairs working if you need something, just holler."
She left him to help Ana into bed and made her way downstairs.
Munch greeted her, "Liv, nice outfit, I heard vomit and sweat-stained are all the rage this season."
Olivia looked down and groaned. "Ana just enjoyed the wonder that is morning sickness… right in front of me." She went to her locker and grabbed her extra shirt.
In the cribs, Elliot told her that he talked to Casey. "She said that she probably wouldn't be able to get you a job as a prosecutor right away, but she does need a personal assistant. She doesn't have the time to interview any applicants, she said you were welcome to the job if nothing better came up."
"That's great, thanks Elliot," she said wearily.
"No problem, get some rest." He pulled the blanket up to her chin and left the cribs.
Olivia had changed her shirt by the time he had gotten back downstairs. He gave her a curious look.
"Well, she had morning sickness right in front of me!"
He shook his head and laughed. "Thanks, Liv. You were so great with her."
She gave him one of her heart-stopping smiles. "It's my job."
AN: So… obviously, Elliot and Olivia have feelings for each other, but I have plot-twists in store for you, my silly little monkeys (no IDEA where that came from…). Just like the show, something has to happen that's unexpected. I'm thinking that it's a little slow here, so I'm probably going to jump ahead a few months in the next chapter.
Please Review!! Let me know what you think!!! Kthanx!