Everything That I Need
Chapter 4: Shocking Surprises
Olivia glared at the woman that snarled at her. If looks could kill, Dani would be dead already.
Speaking of Dani, her face had a bruise or two from Casey, as well as a few scratches here and there. Olivia had no idea what Casey did to her, but she was glad that Dani didn't know who gave her the scratches and bruises. If Dani found out, Casey would likely be charged with assaulting a police officer.
"What do you want, Dani?" Olivia spat, spitting out the name, as if it was poison.
"Something that you have," Dani answered, frowning. "In case I haven't made myself clear, I want Elliot."
"Too bad," Olivia said, smirking. "You had your chance. Elliot told me that you left SVU."
"Only because I couldn't handle working sex crimes," Dani explained, irritated. "Has it ever occurred to you that I didn't want to leave Elliot?"
"How was I suppose to know?" Olivia questioned, frustrated.
"I tried calling SVU many times," Dani explained, slamming her hands onto the counter. "To talk to Elliot and ask if he wanted to go out some time."
"He never mentioned you calling," Olivia pointed out.
"Either Munch or Fin would pick up and say that Elliot was busy!" Dani shouted. "Oh, he was busy all right."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Olivia questioned, her eyes narrowing.
"He was busy, but I bet you it wasn't work-related," Dani said, angrily. "I bet you that every time I called, he was busy fucking you in an empty interrogation room!"
"What Elliot and I do is none of your business!" Olivia shouted. "You can't blame me for him not returning your calls."
"You're all that's on his mind!" Dani yelled. "When I worked with him, all he could talk about was you!"
"Can you blame the guy?" Olivia asked, smirking. "He missed working with his gorgeous partner and was stuck working with a bitch for weeks!"
At that moment, the bartender returned with Olivia's beer. He interrupted the conversation and passed Olivia the bottle.
"Here you go, ma'am," the bartender said.
"Thank you," Olivia replied, as the bartender left to serve another person who approached the bar.
"This isn't over," Dani muttered, as Olivia got off of her seat. "I won't give up without a fight."
"Oh, shut up, bitch," Olivia spat, before making her way back to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit table.
"How many more answers do we need to find?" Fin groaned. "It seems like this puzzle goes on forever!"
"Only one more to go," Munch replied, his eyes on the crossword puzzle.
"Bring it on," Elliot encouraged. "What's the clue?"
"Nine-letter word for the episode that featured the EO hug," Munch read, thinking.
"Does anyone know the answer?" Alex asked.
"The answer?" Fin scoffed. "We still don't know what EO is!"
"I have heard of EO before, I believe," Melinda mentioned. "I think it was on some sort of fan site on the Internet."
"Do you remember what it was for?" Alex asked, curiously.
"I forget, I only glanced at it when I came across it one day," Melinda explained. "I do remember that there were many fanatics on that site, though."
"Wow, whatever EO is, it must be famous," Munch said. "Maybe it's something related to a government conspiracy."
"Shut up, Munch," Fin muttered, annoyed. "Not another one of your damn conspiracies."
Just then Huang and Cragen returned to their table and got the attention of everyone at their table.
"Has anyone seen Olivia?" Cragen asked, as Huang took his seat.
"She went to get a drink at the bar," Fin answered. "Why do you ask, Cap?"
"I'm going to make an important speech and it is important that you are all here to hear it," Cragen explained.
"What is it about?" Alex asked, curiously.
"You'll find out soon," Cragen replied. "Go get Casey and tell her to come back here."
Alex sighed and got up. "She's not going to like us bothering her again."
As Alex made her way to the dance floor to notify Casey of the news, Olivia returned from the bar, holding her bottle of beer. Elliot noticed that she looked a bit tense.
"Livvie, is something wrong?" he asked, gently.
"That bitch met me at the bar," Olivia muttered, referring to Dani. "She's not going to give up without a fight, El."
"There is no point in having a fight anyway," Elliot said, gesturing for Olivia to take a seat. "You're mine and nothing will change that."
"I know," Olivia answered, taking her seat, with a smile.
Cragen turned to Elliot. "Elliot, I need to speak to you before I go make that speech."
"Okay, Captain," Elliot replied, following Cragen towards the stage.
Alex returned a few minutes later, with an annoyed Casey and a disappointed Chester behind her. She took her seat at the table. Casey took her seat and Chester sat next to her in Elliot's empty seat.
Soon, everyone returned to their tables and the music died down. The commissioner climbed onto the stage and approached the podium with the microphone. Cragen stood beside him, waiting for the chatter to end.
"Once again, thank you all for coming out to the annual NYPD Police Banquet," the commissioner announced, enthisiastically. "Now, a fellow captain would like to say a few words to you all. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big round of applause to Captain Don Cragen from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit."
Everyone applauded, as the commissioner shook Cragen's hand. Cragen then stepped forward and positioned himself at the podium. The commissioner climbed off the stage, to give Cragen the spotlight.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the detectives in my unit for working hard to put away perps and to be there to comfort the victims," Cragen announced, gesturing to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit table. "I would also like to thank the assistant district attorneys for the effort they put in prosecuting the perps and to our fantastic forensic psychiatrist and medical examiner for assisting us with our cases."
Once again, everyone in the hall applauded for the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Everyone at their table gave a small wave. They didn't mind being the center of attention.
Once the applause died down, Cragen continued. "I would also like to bring one of my detectives up here, since there is a surprise in store for her. Ladies and gentlemen, Detective Olivia Benson."
Surprised and slightly confused, Olivia stood up and made her way towards the stage. Everyone at their table stood up and applauded for her, loudly, as well as everyone else in the hall. That is, except for Dani, who approached their table.
Olivia climbed onto the stage and turned to face her Captain, who smiled at her.
"Olivia, you are one of my best detectives in the unit," Cragen said, once everyone stopped applauding. "You're also like a daughter to me and I want you to be happy."
"I am happy, Captain," Olivia said into the microphone, so everyone could hear her.
"That's good to hear," Cragen answered. "It's about time that I bring another one of my detectives up here to present Detective Benson with her surprise."
Back at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit table, Dani took Olivia's seat and folded her arms, as she glared at Olivia.
"What's going on?" she asked Alex.
"Let's wait and see," Alex whispered.
On the stage, Cragen continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big round of applause to Detective Benson's partner and boyfriend, Detective Elliot Stabler."
Everyone cheered and applauded, as Elliot climbed onto the stage, with a microphone in his hand. He shook Cragen's hand with his free hand. Cragen then climbed off of the stage and made his way back to his table. Olivia couldn't help but smile at Elliot.
"Hello, you all know me as Detective Elliot Stabler from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit," Elliot said, looking at everyone. "I have decided that I would present Detective Olivia Benson with her surprise tonight."
Olivia grinned, but was also curious to find out what Elliot had up his sleeve.
Elliot smiled. "But before I get to that, I would like to share a story with all of you."
Dani raised an eyebrow. "What story?"
"Shush," Casey hissed, angrily. "I'm trying to listen."
Elliot continued. "Many of you may not know this, but Olivia and I have been best friends for twelve years. We know each other's secrets and we always have each other's backs. We even have this tradition, when we eat Chinese food every Friday night after work. That's how we got together actually."
Dani looked somewhat interested in what Elliot had to say. She was curious to find out how Elliot and Olivia got together in the first place.
"Anyway, like I said, Olivia and I eat Chinese food every Friday night,":Elliot explained. "So, one Friday night after work, I picked up some Chinese food and went to Olivia's apartment. We ate, watched some movies, and talked about work and life in general."
"What a story," Melinda said.
"I bet you it gets better," Fin said, smirking.
"She told me about one of Detective John Munch's wacky conspiracies," Elliot continued. "I laughed, saying that she was lying and that Munch must have been drunk when he told her about another conspiracy of his."
"My conspiracies are not wacky!" Munch exclaimed, a bit loudly.
"Quiet!" someone from a nearby table hissed.
Munch nodded, closing his mouth.
"She said that she wouldn't lie about something like that," Elliot said, continuing with his story. "She then said, 'But I would be lying if I didn't want you to kiss me right now.'"
The audience cheered and went wild after hearing those words come out of Elliot's mouth. Alex, Casey, and Melinda laughed, while Chester, Huang, Munch, and Fin chuckled. Cragen smiled. However, Dani's expression didn't change. She just continued to sit there, with her arms folded in front of her.
Back on stage, Elliot turned to look at Olivia, who, although embarassed, was laughing as well.
"So," Elliot said, once everyone had a good laugh. "For the record, Bad-Ass Benson came on to me."
Everyone laughed again, as Olivia covered her face with her hands, laughing.
"I thought Elliot was the one that made a move on her," Alex said. "I guess I was wrong."
"Don't worry, he surprised us all," Fin said. "I had no idea that baby-girl would be the one making the move on Elliot."
"Like I said before, Olivia and I have been partners for twelve years, and have been seeing each other for the last three years," Elliot continued. "Our relationship has been stronger than ever before."
Olivia smiled sweetly at Elliot. However, Dani raised an eyebrow, wondering where Elliot was going with this.
"However, after all of this, I can no longer be her partner," Elliot said. "Not even her boyfriend."
Upon hearing what Elliot said, everyone in the audience let out gasps, simultaneously. Alex and Melinda's mouths dropped open in shock. Casey felt like she was going to pass out. Munch, Huang, Fin, and Chester's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Only two people at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit table were not shocked at all. Cragen seemed calm, while Dani smiled, evilly.
"I knew it!" she said to herself, gleefully. "I knew that he would ditch her soon!"
Olivia looked at Elliot, a look of complete disbelief on her face. She was surprised and hurt. She felt the warm tears in her eyes, but fought to hold them back.
However, when Elliot reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, dark blue, velvet box, the audience went wild, screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs. Alex, Melinda, and Casey realized what was happening and squealed. Munch, Fin, and Chester were confused at first, but then got the picture. Cragen and Huang couldn't help but smile. Dani looked extremely confused.
"Olivia," Elliot said, getting down on one knee in front of her. "Ever since the day we met, I knew I wanted to be with you. I love both sides of you: the bad-ass side you have dealing with perps and the compassionate, caring side you have dealing with victims."
At first, Olivia was confused, then surprised. She covered her open mouth with her hand, looking down at him, shocked.
"I need you by my side when I wake up every morning and when I go to sleep every night," Elliot continued, opening the velvet box, to reveal an elegant, gold and diamond ring.
The day finally came. Elliot managed to leave both Olivia and Dani looking speechless.
"Olivia Benson, will you marry me?" Elliot asked, lovingly.
Olivia watched as Elliot held the microphone out to her with one hand, and held the ring out to her with the other. Her lips curved into a smile.
"Yes, Elliot," she said, into the microphone. "Yes!"
Everyone cheered and applauded for the newly engaged couple. Elliot took the ring from its place in the box and slipped it onto Olivia's ring finger. She glanced down at the ring, smiling, before stepping into Elliot's warm embrace.
Alex, Casey, and Melinda were discussing the proposal with each other, excitedly. Munch, Fin, and Chester were cheering as loudly as they could. Cragen and Huang applauded, politely. Only one person in the hall wasn't happy.
Dani sighed, as she watched Elliot pull Olivia in for a passionate kiss. That explained it. Elliot couldn't be partners with her anymore because it was against the rules to have partners working together who were married to each other. Knowing Cragen, he would most like partner Elliot and Olivia with Munch and Fin. And of course, Elliot couldn't be Olivia's boyfriend anymore because he was now her fiancé and soon-to-be husband.
By the time she snapped out of her thoughts, Elliot and Olivia were approaching their table. Everyone at their table, with the exception of herself, got off of their seats to congratulate the happy couple.
"Congratulations!" Casey exclaimed, hugging Olivia.
"Wow, that's one big piece of ice, baby-girl," Fin commented, looking at the diamond on Olivia's engagement ring.
"I agree," Alex added, examining the ring. "Nice choice, Elliot."
Olivia ended her hug with Casey and turned to Cragen, who, other than Elliot, was aware of the proposal beforehand.
"You knew?" Olivia asked. "You knew that he was going to propose?"
"Elliot figured that I was the closest that you had to a father and asked me for permission to marry you," Cragen explained. "After the marriage, Olivia will work with Fin and Elliot will work with Munch."
Elliot looked disappointed. "Damn, why do I get Munch?"
"Hey, I'm still here!" Munch exclaimed, waving his hand in the air.
"Take good care of her, Stabler," Cragen said, firmly to Elliot. "She's like my daughter. Do not, repeat not, ever hurt her or you will regret it, I assure you."
"Don't worry, Captain," Elliot answered, his eyes on Olivia. "I would never hurt her."
Alex, Casey, and Melinda were already discussing possible wedding details. Chester was trying to break up Munch and Fin's argument about who was to be Elliot's best man at the wedding. Cragen and Huang congratulated Elliot and Olivia once more on their engagement.
They were so occupied that they didn't notice Dani standing behind Olivia, her gun aimed at the brunette detective.
So, what will happen? Will Olivia be okay? Will Dani succeed with the shooting? Will Munch finish his crossword puzzle? Will Casey get her kiss from Chester?
Only one more chapter to go! :D Please Review! Reviews are greatly appreciated! :D
-TeenQueen661.