Title: Murphy's Law
Author: Sara and Lizzie
Rating: T for language, and sex
Disclaimer: We don't own Law And Order. (Obviously)
Summary: We haven't done any L&O for awhile, but during a season 7 rerun, this just popped into our heads. It was going to be a one shot, but we said, hey let's go all out. It's basically Elliot and Olivia falling into a relationship, screwing it up, screwing each other, and sometimes getting screwed.
Author's Note: We're obsessed with your opinion of our work. Please review.
Murphy's law states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance.
She opened the door to her suite and let Elliot inside. "So," she said, smiling, "Philadelphia." He looked at her and smiled back. It was strange to see her somewhere that wasn't the precinct or some gritty New York street.
"Philadelphia." He said back, thinking he might just like this place. He hovered awkwardly in her doorway, not sure if he should actually enter the room, and just wait for her to say something. It was different now, the easy casualness of their long time partnership erased before the ink had even dried on his divorce papers.
"What are we supposed to do? If Cragen thinks I'm going to sit in here and watch General Hospital all day…"
"Aw, Liv, you don't want to see if Carly and Sonny make it?"
She arched an eyebrow at him, and he held his hands up in a surrender position. "Teenage daughters." He said.
"Uh-huh." She retorted, laughing. "Don't lie, Stabler, I know what you do on your days off." He grinned and stepped the rest of the way into her room, sinking down onto a chair.
"What we do is whatever we want. Cragen suspects you're going to stay off the radar until that charity thing tomorrow thing, so he suggested we get the lay of the land." Olivia nodded and shrugged.
"Well let's get started then, detective." She said. "I'd really rather not be here when the Philadelphia police sweep for bugs and cameras."
Elliot pretended to look disappointed. "And all these years you had me convinced that you loved electronic searches."
It was reminiscent of earlier days, the air between them, as they strolled down Market Street. They could have been any two people walking around that day. They didn't have to be Elliot and Olivia, detectives who worked sex crimes. They didn't have to have her sordid past and his messy divorce spiraling and spinning all around them. As the walked past the pristine green lawns of Independence Hall, they could have been people in another life. A life where they would have actually had a chance.
These thoughts hounded both of them as they walked in silence, through the cobble stoned streets, past the old buildings where things bigger than them had happened. The Declaration Of Independence. The Constitution. A new thought kept creeping into the back of Elliot's mind. What if they actually did have a chance? What if she was the one for him, what if this job and everything between them just brought them closer together? It didn't have to tear them up.
"What are you thinking?" Olivia asked eyeing the look of obvious introspection on his handsome face.
"About keeping you safe while we do this." Elliot responded automatically. It was only a slight lie. He was worried about that too. Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Gee, thanks, Dad." She said dryly.
"Anytime, Nina Dietrich." He said, using her cover name, which they both found ridiculous. Their walking tour of Philadelphia continued, through stops for coffee and various distractions, and Elliot humming Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom all day. By the time darkness had begun to fall, there were sitting on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum Of Art, looking out at the city before them. The skyline was not the massive, overpowering buildings of Manhattan, but it was illuminated in just the right way to make it beautiful.
"Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom…" Elliot sang softly. Olivia shot him a look and punched him lightly in the arm.
"You're the one that practically died when you found out we were coming here."
He shrugged and looked over at her. "It's not so bad, Liv. But we do have a perp to catch." Olivia nodded, her business side returning.
"I'm thinking I'll go to this charity event and tell anyone who will listen that I'm from New York, and give them as much of my cover story as they can stomach." She paused and bit her lip. "And I want to scope out as many men as I can. And I want to use that nifty little earpiece we have so you can hear everything."
"I've wanted to test the earpiece myself. Where is this little gala?"
She rolled her eyes. "Under tents in Rittenhouse Square." She said. "You can just sit on a bench all night." She supplied helpfully.
"Oh, gee thanks, Liv. I'll look forward to that."
While they bantered on the steps of the museum, not caring as the sun went down; their captain back in New York was getting extremely concerned. "I feel like I should be calling them every fifteen minutes, making sure no disasters have descended upon them yet." Cragen said to Huang and Fin.
Huang sat down in the Captain's office and ran a hand over the armrest of the chair. "I wouldn't worry, Captain. They've only been there for a few hours. What could have possibly gone wrong by now?"
Cragen rolled his eyes. "It's Elliot and Olivia. Anything could have gone by now. They seem to scream out and attract any kind of danger they can find. Plus, I don't like the sound of this."
"Sound of what?" Fin asked.
"Killing women from New York City." Cragen said. He turned to Huang. "There's no profile to explain that, is there, doc?"
Huang shook his head. "Of course not. All we can assume is nothing, at this point."
"Well that's very helpful." Cragen said, rolling his eyes.
Fin looked between the doctor and his captain. "You don't think they're trying to get someone specific, do you?"
"I can't think of any other reason."
"Do you think it's Liv?"
"I can't imagine it would be. I just hope they can find out who it is before this guy kills someone else."
"You know, it's not so bad here." Olivia said as darkness took over Philadelphia, and the skyline flooded the evening sky. Elliot smiled.
"No, Liv, it's not so bad here at all." She turned to look at him, struck by the soft tones of his voice. "It's not so bad anywhere you are, really." He said his voice almost nothing but a whisper. Olivia swallowed hard and tried to look away, but all she could do was move ever so much closer to him.
"Elliot…" she said as their lips moved dangerously close to each other. "We really…" she trailed off, her brain unable to spit out any of the thousand reasons that they shouldn't do this.
"Live a little bit, Olivia." Elliot whispered. With those words, he moved his lips the fraction of an inch they needed to come together, and kissed her.