A/N: Sometimes, even the strongest people we know can't hide their feelings under pressure. It takes someone truly special to calm them down.
DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story, plot and components, belongs to TStabler©
"Liv?" Elliot called, peeling himself off of the lumpy, grimy bed in their new barrack. "Olivia?" He followed the sound of muffled sobs to the bathroom, and he pushed the door open.
"Jesus," Olivia said with a sniffle, wiping her eyes. "Don't you knock, Stabler?"
"Liv, are you crying?" Elliot asked, his eyes widening as he knelt in front of her.
"What? No," Olivia said, turning away from him. "Why the hell would I be crying? I do not cry! Why would I cry?"
Elliot sighed. "Because we had the day from hell, we both realized that our lives are being completely controlled by the NYPD, and you had a nightmare five seconds before you jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. I know your nightmares, baby." He caressed her cheek, tilted her head up, and asked, "Why are you crying?"
Olivia shook her head.
"Tell me," Elliot demanded. "I'm your partner, in a thousand ways. Baby, tell me."
"I can't do this," Olivia sobbed, clutching onto him suddenly. "I can't break down because some bitch on a power trip makes me run thirty miles in the rain with a twisted ankle and cramps, I can't cry just because all of our friends are at the beach enjoying the last summer of their childhood, before going off to the college of their dreams, while we're pummeling the shit out of each other and learning the ins and outs of the state legal system. I can't run into the fucking bathroom in the middle of the night because I can't stop remembering the way I felt when my mother..."
Elliot wrapped her tighter in his arms. "Shh," he said, stroking her hair back. He worked backwards, telling her what she most needed to hear first. "You will never have to feel like that again, because no one is ever going to hurt you like that, ever. I'm not gonna let them. We couldn't enjoy the last summer of our childhood because neither one of us really had a childhood to celebrating the ending of, and you are so much stronger and smarter and faster that that Jeffries bitch. She makes our lives hell because she's jealous of you and she's got the hots for me."
Olivia chuckled. "Thanks, so now I've got competition," she mumbled into his chest.
"No way," Elliot said, pushing her back to look into those brown eyes he loved so much. "There's only you, Liv. Just you, baby." He kissed her, feeling her calm down, sinking into the kiss. Her light moan told him what he needed to know. "Come on," he said, pulling her into the bedroom."Let's get back into that hard, smelly, police-issue bed and I'll prove..."
Two ringing cell phones blared, interrupting an otherwise sexy suggestion.
Olivia sighed, scratching his back lightly. "Duty calls," she groaned.
Elliot grumbled, "Does it always have to call when we're trying to..."
"Benson," Olivia said, shutting him up as she answered the phone. "Well, that's great, but how are we...won't that cause...okay. We're on the way." She looked at Elliot and said, "We get to go to the beach after all."
"What?" Elliot asked, pulling his shirt on.
"Dead body at Manhattan Beach. Girl. Raped," Olivia said, mechanically. "Is it horrible that I'm getting used to saying that?"
Elliot shook his head. "You can get used to saying it," he told her. "But you can't get used to dealing with it. That's when we have a problem."
"That," Olivia said, grabbing her gun and badge out of the drawer on the nightstand, "Is never gonna happen."
They did as Cragen had instructed, walking nonchalantly off of the academy grounds, and flashed their badges as they passed through the gates. A car was waiting for them, and when they got into the backseat, Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned. "Gimme a break," she spat. "You?"
"Me," Jeffries said, smirking. "You two are a handful. Sorry about today. You both needed to be taught a few lessons."
"I'm sorry," Olivia said. "When did this become a friendly conversation?"
Jeffries scoffed. "You are easily threatened, aren't you, Benson? I flirt with your little boy-toy there a little to ruffle your feathers and you hate me?"
"No," Olivia said. "I hate you because you're a bitch," she said, staring out the window. "And you can flirt with Stabler all you want. Nothing's gonna happen. I'm pretty damn sure he's happy with what he's got, he wouldn't want to trade down."
Jeffries sighed. "You need to learn a thing or two about respect if you wanna cut it as a cop, kid," she said, staring at Olivia in the rear view mirror. "Especially since you're a girl."
"Well, in my opinion, the only people who deserve respect are the people who treat me with it. I'm not one to respect my elders, or authority, in case you haven't noticed. What was that golden rule thing? Do unto others as you would have others do unto you? I work backwards. With me, you get what you give."
Jefferies smiled, and as she pulled onto the highway, she knew that Olivia would have to learn her place, and learn to stay in it. And she knew just how to teach her how to do it.
"I can not believe they gave us the rest of the day off," Olivia said with a yawn, tossing off her jacket and plopping into the bed.
Elliot toed off his shoes, pulled off his shirt, and slung himself onto the lumpy mattress next to her, pulling her into his arms. "We were at a crime scene until four in the morning," he mumbled sleepily. "And then we went to talk to the girl's parents, and talked to the kids at her school. We've already missed three classes, Liv, and we are in no condition to go through tactical and firearms training."
Olivia grumbled what could have been, "You're right." Her head was buried under Elliot's arm, between his shoulder and the mattress, so he didn't really understand her.
Elliot chuckled, rolling over slightly to give her a kiss on the forehead. "I loved the way you showed up that Jeffries woman," he whispered into her hair. "You really proved you knew what you were doing, and you corrected her. Eight times."
"El," Olivia garbled with a mouthful of his arm, "I think that's part of their diabolical plan. Part of the training or whatever. See if we know our shit."
"I don't think so, baby," Elliot said with a laugh. "You got her, and you got her good. She was way too pissed at you for her to have been wrong on purpose," he told her. He ran his hands over her back and squeezed her tighter. "I'm not tired," he whispered to her.
Olivia picked her head up, looking into his eyes. "How are you not tired?"
Elliot shrugged. "Okay, so I'm tired," he admitted. "There's just something more important to me than sleep right now," he said, sincerely, with a half-dopey smile on his face.
"And what's that?" Olivia asked, smirking, as if she didn't know.
Elliot gave her a menacing, narrow-eyed smirk and pulled her on top of him, rolling over on the bed, which felt as if it was stuffed with bricks instead of feathers. "You, Liv," he said, pulling her down to meet him for a kiss. "You're more important to me than anything. You and Maureen. You're everything."
Olivia peered down at him and her heart thudded. Why did he care so much? Why was she letting him? He had been there for her so many years ago, the only one who ever made the pain stop, and here he was, ready and willing to do it all again, and she was petrified.
He must have seen the flash of fear and uncertainty register in her eyes, because the smile faded from his face and was replaced by a very serious expression. "Liv, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I couldn't if I wanted to, I signed a contract remember?" he laughed. "Seriously, baby, I'm not gonna leave you again. Partners for life. We made a deal."
"Yeah," Olivia said, "But that was before I…never mind."
"Before you what?" Elliot asked, worried that she'd changed her mind.
Olivia closed her eyes and dropped her head to his. "Before I fell in love with you. Now when you leave, and you will leave, it's gonna hurt even more. I wanna be with you while I can, El. I hate myself for letting this happen, you know that?"
"Liv," Elliot barked, rolling them over, pushing her down into the firm bed, "I'm not going anywhere! I'm not gonna hurt you. I know that's hard for you to believe, but it's the truth. I didn't expect to fall in love with you, either. But I did. You don't see me freaking out about it, do you? I've been burned before, too, Liv. Badly. Part of me thinks you're gonna up and take the fuck off, too, but I can't let the fear hold me back from…loving you. You know losing you would kill me, Liv."
Olivia blinked. He was right. "El," she said, taking a deep breath and letting her eyes close. She exhaled as they opened and she looked deeply into his blue orbs. "I'm scared, but I'm not gonna run," she whispered. "I wasn't planning on running."
"And I'm not gonna leave," Elliot whispered back, realizing he may have overreacted a bit. "So now what?" he asked, a playful smile at his lips, lightening the mood.
"I think this is where we kiss," Olivia said, her smile now matching his.
"I think so," Elliot whispered, bending his head to meet her lips. He kissed her, slowly, loving the way she wrapped herself around him, the way she sighed and moaned, the way she responded so willingly to him. He deepened the kiss, running his hand down her side, reaching a particularly sensitive spot, making her gasp and he poked his tongue into her mouth, surprising her.
Olivia laughed, massaging his tongue with hers, dragging her legs up and down against his, telling him she wanted more.
Elliot moaned into Olivia's mouth, trailing his hands up her body, grabbing the hem of her shirt, pulling it up. He reluctantly pulled back from their kiss to remove the shirt completely. Immediately kissing her again, he moved to her pants, sliding them down.
Olivia had pushed Elliot's pants down and was about to shove his boxers off when he stopped the action, stilling his movements. "El," she whispered, "Elliot, what's…"
"Shh," Elliot said, his head popping up and turning toward their door. "Do you hear that?"
"No," Olivia said, listening, "I don't hear…what is that?" she asked, finally hearing the scratching sound Elliot had been talking about.
Elliot straightened his boxers out, grabbed his gun and got out of the bed. "Okay, it's one thing when it's Cragen interrupting us," he said, walking over to the door of their bunkroom, "But if this is some fucking raccoon or some shit that's keeping us from…oh, my God," he cried, opening the door.
"What?" Olivia asked, running to him in nothing but her black boy shorts and an NYPD tank top. She looked down and gasped. "I'll call Cragen," she said, running to get her phone.
Elliot knelt down and tried to get the woman to open her eyes. "Hey," he cried. "Hey, can you hear me?"
The woman nodded.
"Good," Elliot said. "You're gonna be okay, Jeffries." He looked around, curious, and thought it strange that something like this could happen on police academy property. There was not a single C.O. around, and the few rookies and officers that littered the place seemed not to notice the bleeding, broken woman lying at the foot of their cabin stairs. Elliot scooped her up into his arms, pulled her inside, and sat her on the couch. He got her a blanket and when he was sure she was alert and responsive, he asked the first question. "What happened to you?"
Jeffries looked at him, tears in her black and blue eyes, blood seeping from her split lip. "I was raped," she said, trying not to sob, trying to be strong.
Olivia, shutting her phone, walked over. "Cragen's on his way. He's bringing a bus, and Tucker." She looked at Jeffries, knelt down beside her, and asked, "Do you know who did this to you?"
"Yes," Jeffries nodded. "But they…" she trailed off, shaking her head.
Olivia's eyes widened. "They?" she asked.
Jeffries nodded again. "They weren't looking for me. I was just there. I got in their way."
"Who were they looking for?" Olivia asked, suddenly worried that they had a new potential vic.
Jeffries looked at Elliot, hung her head, then turned and looked up at Olivia. Very quietly, almost guiltily, she said, "You."
A/N: Was this some sort of female rookie hazing gone wrong? Did Jeffries set it up, then feel bad about it? How will Elliot and Olivia handle their case, and who at the academy find out their real cops? How will that affect their treatment? Maureen comes for a visit! And will Elliot and Olivia EVER stop getting interrupted? I'll keep going, if you want me to.