Well, I managed to keep my promise! Finished before the premiere! I cannot wait until 9:00!!! Hope you like the last chapter of my version. Wish at least some of my story would come true on the show...you know, like all the good EO moments! Dream, dream, dream! Let me know what you think! " ) Bensler
And P.S. Thanks to all of you who have commented, reviewed, encouraged me along the way. You are the best!
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IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: The opening statement was true. I did finish and it was posted on SVUFiction . com (with no spaces). I am Bensler there as well. I am not sure, but I think this may be my last post on this site. Though many of you are very faithful readers and reviewers and emailers, it does not seem like I have the response on here that I do on the other site. And that may be partly because so many of FF's readers now read on SVUFF, too.
Anyway, unless someone can give me some good reasons to keep posting here...this may be my last story for FF. I kind of hate saying that because this site was the first place I did post and I was totally overwhelmed and humbled by the response I got. It's what propelled me to write more and find that I do have a talent for it. Here I go, playing Olivia...making myself feel guilty...I'll probably talk myself into continuing on here, too, LOL. But, I already have a new story posting at SVUFF - Benson & Stabler: Too Close...AND I have a sequel to Keep It in the Family (the story that got so much response on this site I honestly thought I was in a dream - and it has been on the top ten most read list at SVUFF since September 2008...over a year) almost ready to start posting AND after attending a writers' conference in Atlanta the first of the month, I am actually working on a 'real' book...so who knows what I will do, but the time to do everything I need and want is hard to find.
Whatever I decide, I do want to thank all of you for being my 'cyber' friends. Some of you who have emailed me regularly and off and on truly do feel like my real friends. Thank you for all the encouragement, praise, and yes, even constructive criticism about my writing, and kick in the pants when I needed it. You guys truly are awesome and without you I would not have found this new passion called writing. I thank you from the bottom of my 3. " ) Bensler
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Chapter 11 ~ Unspoken
Benson Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 12:21 p.m.
Swallowing hard, Olivia pushed back the steadily rising panic that threatened to consume her. Forcing slow, deep breaths, she inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She had to stay focused, had to maintain control. What little she had left, that is – which was virtually none. It was clear that Kendal was calling the shots and she could see no way for this situation to have a good outcome.
As she attempted to key into the apartment, her hand shook though she valiantly tried to keep it still. Kendal smirked and leaned into her. "Need some help?" He put his hand over hers to unlock the door.
Snatching her hand away from his as though a hot poker had stabbed her, she tried to distance herself from him. He merely laughed and shoved her into the apartment. "You better get used to my touch, honey."
She shot him a terror filled look. Dread. Fear. Repulsion. The emotions washed over her in quick succession bringing with them a lightheadedness that wanted to claim her. The underlying meaning of his words hit her full force. He intended to finish what he had started Friday night. The face of Lowell Harris flooded her mind and she determined Nate Kendal was not going to rape her. At least not while she was alive, because if it came to it, she would die fighting him off. Should it come to that, to her dying, the only regret she would have was the unspoken words between her and Elliot. If somehow she managed to survive this, she purposed in her heart that she would tell him how she feels about him.
Stabler Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 12:53 p.m.
Elliot had called Olivia's cell four or five times. It went directly to voice mail so he tried texting her. No response. The nagging fingers of worry took hold and he decided to call Munch.
"Hey, John. You know where Liv is? She's not answering her cell."
Munch was puzzled. "She left here well over an hour ago headed to your place."
"An hour ago?" Elliot held the fear at bay. "Well, she's not here. She was supposed to come by on her way from the lab," he recounted.
"Yeah…she came back here first and then left for your place," Munch told him.
Elliot knew something was wrong but managed to convince himself that maybe she had some other errands to do. Besides, he had no idea where to start looking for her so he settled back to wait. Waiting was not something he was good at doing. For anything or anyone. He tossed his cell phone on the table by the couch oblivious to the other cell phone it landed beside.
SVU Squad Room - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:09 p.m.
Just as Munch hung up with Elliot, Cragen was coming from his office.
"Munch, Fin," the captain said as he motioned for the two detectives. "Warner called. She's got something. Get to the lab."
Fin nodded, and Munch stood up. "Captain, Elliot just called. Wanted to know where Olivia was."
The look on Munch's face told Cragen more than his words. He was just as worried as Cragen felt. "Try calling her?"
"Goes straight to voice mail, not answering texts either."
Immediately Don Cragen's intuition told him something was awry. "Okay. Okay. You two get to the lab. Call me when you find out what Melinda has. I'll go by Olivia's apartment just to check."
Fin and Munch exchanged surprised looks. Rarely did the captain go to the homes of his detectives. They realized he was worried which was also rare. Rare, at least, that he allowed it to be seen. As they turned to leave, Alex Cabot walked into the squad room.
"Captain, Detectives," she nodded as her eyes met each man's before she turned to Cragen. "Some interesting things came up in the course of looking over some information on Kendal."
All three men eagerly waited for her to continue, but she hesitated. "All right. What?" Cragen asked.
"Not sure of the significance of this…it may mean nothing…but I came across papers Kendal filed five years ago changing his name from Kendall to Kendal."
Fin looked at the other men. "So? What's the big deal with that?"
Munch shrugged it off, too. "In the course of doing genealogical research for my family, I've found many instances of names being spelled differently. Maybe he found that the correct spelling had only one 'l'. I don't see how this ties in. Captain?"
Cragen frowned in deep thought, before shaking his head. "Can't think of a reason for it to be an issue either."
"Well, like I said, I don't know if it's important, but I thought you should know," Alex told them. "The other thing is that Nate Kendal and Rena West dated ten years ago."
"I knew he knew her! Her sister acted really wigged out when she first saw him at the hospital," Fin exclaimed.
"And there was DV filed on him, but she refused to press charges," she added.
The men looked at each other. "Well, this sure changes some things," Munch said as he cocked an eyebrow.
"I need to get back," Alex told them.
"We'll walk with you." Cragen took her by the arm and led her out.
Benson Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:20 p.m.
Nate had gotten them a couple of sodas and made her sit on the couch beside him. She refused the drink, but he sipped on his, holding it in his left hand, his right hand running the barrel of the gun up and down Olivia's thigh. It was all she could do not deck him, but the gun in his hand was a reminder of that he was the one with ultimate control. She felt nauseous. He had said he wanted to talk, to explain some things to her.
Taking a long swig of the soda, he shifted so he was closer to her and now faced her. He stared at her so long she became increasingly uncomfortable. "You know, I first saw you months ago at that ballistics seminar in April," he said, his voice soft and quiet. "I thought you were one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen."
What? She racked her brain trying to remember seeing him. But of course, how would she remember – there had been hundreds of NYPD personnel at the seminar.
Managing to find her voice, she asked, "Did we meet?"
Laughing, he took another swallow of his drink. "No. But I watched you from a distance and knew one day we would meet."
Oh, no! Had he been stalking her since then, she wondered? Is that what all this was about? Him wanting to be with her? Why didn't she know that? Why did she not sense this ulterior motive? She a sex crimes investigator, for heaven's sake! She was trained to spot these perverts and yet she had been duped by one disguised as one of their own. Anger at herself washed over her and now she really had to keep herself from punching him.
His eyes ran over her body and he smiled. Not a good smile, but one that made her cringe. He trailed the gun from her temple down her jaw and neck. The coldness of it chilled her to the bone but she knew it was not really from the gun. He continued to drag it over her left breast down her abdomen and along her thigh again. It was all she could do not to jump, smack him, do something to protect herself.
Clearing his throat, he looked past her, staring into space. "You got brothers and sisters?"
Puzzled at this change of subjects, she frowned slightly and answered, "No. I mean, yes, a…a half-brother." Not one to discuss her family situation with even those closest to her, she certainly did not want to discuss it with this sleazebag.
Kendal looked at her questioningly. "You're not sure?"
"Uh…I…just found out about him a couple of years ago."
He nodded as if he understood. "Why?"
"I…I never…uh…never knew my father. But found out he had another child after me…my brother."
"You close to him?"
"No…not really. I mean we get along…but I don't see him much. Lives in another state."
"I had a brother. Older than me. I really looked up to him. Our father was a drunk. My brother was a like a substitute father, you know?"
Noticing he said 'had' not 'have', she wondered what happened to him. Why was he telling her all of this? She didn't want to know his life history, but she knew she should keep him talking. That would buy time for her to figure something out or for the guys to realize something had happened and come looking for her.
"My mother was an alcoholic," she stammered.
His eyes flew to hers, searching to see if she were telling the truth. "Yeah? Then why weren't you with your dad?"
The knot that suddenly filled her throat made her voice raspy as she answered, "She…uh…it was a one n-night stand. She didn't know his name."
Kendal looked at her, his gaze softening. "Guess we both had a crappy childhood."
"At least you had your brother," she reminded him.
He chuckled but it was sarcastic. "Yeah, I had my brother. I was only nine when he joined the service. Longest four years of my life. But he came back and things were better at home because Dad had gotten sick and couldn't slap Mom and me around anymore. Plus the last time he hit Mom, I hit him back."
Olivia shuddered to think of a young boy realizing the only way he had to protect his mother was to hit his father. She felt sorry for Nate Kendal. Just a little bit because she knew all about physical abuse.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Yeah, me too."
"You said you had a brother. Something happen to him?"
Nate looked over at her again, his eyes now hard and cold. "He was murdered."
The gasp was out of her mouth before she realized it had been formed. "Oh…I'm sorry."
Kendal looked at her like he was trying to decide if she really was sorry. "January will be seven years ago."
"Wh-what happened?"
"Police said he was running drugs."
"That what got him killed?"
The laughter started softly but built to a loud roar. "No. He wasn't involved with drugs. I know my brother."
"Then what happened?"
He snorted, "Another cop killed him."
Her eyes widened as her lips fell open with surprise. Another cop? Kendal's brother had been a cop? Her mind went into overdrive, thoughts bouncing off the walls of her brain until they began to fall into place. All of a sudden things started to make sense. A lot of sense. And as it did, she knew without a doubt that her life and that of the entire Special Victims Unit was in imminent jeopardy.
CSU Crime Lab - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:25 p.m.
Munch & Fin listened in awe at what Dr. Melinda Warner had to tell them about additional testing on the DNA found under the Rena West's fingernails.
"Since it involved an NYPD detective, I sent it to the FBI for analysis. I just got the report back. Their lab is much more sophisticated and they were able to extract additional DNA from the samples. DNA that gave us another hit in the system…" she continued to explain what the analysis had revealed. When she finished she slipped the report into a large white enveloped and handed the package to Munch.
He thanked her then turned to Fin. "Cragen needs to know about this ASAP."
Fin was already on his cell phone. "Captain, you ain't gonna b'lieve what Warner had for us."
Stabler Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:25 p.m.
The walls seemed to be closing in on him. From his seat on the couch, Elliot's legs bounced restlessly; he sighed; ran his hands over his head and face; cracked his neck; popped his knuckles. Where was she? He could not continue to sit here and do nothing. In less than three hours his life would come completely apart. In less than three hours he would cross over to the other side of the law. But he was innocent.
Jumping up he began to pace the apartment. From the living room to the kitchen to the bedroom and back again. Breathing hard, he stopped at the window, leaned forward on the sill and stared out at the overcast day. Forget about him and his impending arrest, he was sick with worry about his partner. 'Olivia…where are you?' The words were barely audible, yet he wondered if somehow she would hear and know he was worrying about her. If somehow she could tell him where she was and if she were okay.
Slamming his hands against the window frame, he turned to eye his cell phone. Why didn't he think of this before? Crossing the room, he picked it up from the table and flipped it open. It was dead! Releasing an anguished growl, he threw it across the room where it bounced off of the kitchen bar and spun in a circle before coming to rest in the middle of the dining area. Then he noticed the other cell on the table. Frowning, he picked it up. Maureen's? He could not believe she had left here and not called looking for it. She had stopped by briefly last night. This was good luck for him. He opened it and dialed Olivia's home phone. He kicked himself for not thinking to call her land line earlier. He listened to the ringing, praying that she would answer, hoping that she was at home.
Benson Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:26 p.m.
Startling at the ringing phone on the end table beside her, she stared at the incoming call, the number on her caller ID. Olivia looked over at Nate. "Uh…I really need to get this. It's my contractor. I'm having my mother's apartment renovated."
Nate moved closer to her, invading her personal space, and looked at the caller ID. "No name, just a number. What makes you think it's your contractor?"
"I know the number by heart. Been dealing with this for a long time and he's really hard to get in touch with. Do you mind?" she asked him.
"Why doesn't he have your cell number?"
"Didn't want him bothering me while I was working," she explained, silently begging him to let her answer before it quit ringing or went to the recorder.
Eyes shifting between her and the ringing phone, he finally nodded, giving her permission to answer. Permission? Did she really just think that to herself?
Not second guessing his acquiescence, she quickly reached for the phone and spoke, "Hello."
"Hey. My phone died, using Mareen's."
" Greg…hi. I know. Glad you called." Her voice was shaky, but she hoped Kendal didn't know her well enough to recognize the fear in it.
'Greg'? He was sure this was Olivia. Why did she call him Greg? And why did her voice sound like that? Like she was upset.
"Liv…it's me," Elliot frowned. "Thought you were coming by for a bit."
"I hear you. Listen, the tile that came in? It's not what we ordered."
"Liv? It's Elliot."
"Oh, yeah. I know. I know. But, you gotta send someone to pick it up. Dana understands."
"Dana? Who the…?" He shook his head to clear it. "Liv, what's going on?"
"Yep, the wrong tile; it was totally not what we thought it was," she continued.
"What?"
"Looked like the real thing, but it wasn't."
"You okay?" Elliot was confused but realized she was trying to tell him something.
"No, no. Just get someone to come get it, okay? So, you're at lunch, huh? Donna with you?"
"Donna? Dana?" Elliot shook his head and laughed. "I gotta tell you, Liv, I have no idea what you are talking about."
"What was her last name? You know, Greg, Elliot still hasn't met her."
"Donna," he repeated totally confused. "Greg? You can't just tell me what's going on?"
"No...can't do that. But, yeah, Greg, Elliot thinks she and I are so much alike…do you?"
"You and Donna? Who the heck is Donna?"
"Well, if you think about it maybe you'd see the similaries between us. Even I see them." She tried to sound teasing and lighthearted.
"Similarities between you and Donna? Donna who?"
She tried for a chuckle. "Okay, well, okay, if you don't see the similarities that's fine. You're acting like you're my husband. Just make sure the next order of tile is right or it will be the last one and I'll have to find a new contractor."
Suddenly something clicked. He didn't know what the diatribe about tile and her looking like some Donna and him acting like a husband was about, but he knew something was off. "Liv…something going on? What? Kendal?"
"Yes. That's right. Just please get someone to pick up the tile. Look I gotta go. See you soon. Right…very soon." She hung up the phone and took a deep breath, praying that Elliot understood and Kendal did not.
And then it hit him. "I'm on the way!" he said aloud even though she had already ended the call.
Captain Cragen's Car - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:28 p.m.
Cragen had tried calling Olivia himself but to no avail. He was truly concerned. Having just forced Kendal off the investigation and out of his squad, his gut told him that whatever was up with Olivia, Kendal was involved.
He was just parking in front of Olivia's building when his cell phone rang. "Yeah, Fin."
If someone had been with him they would have seen his face pale. As it were, he felt the icy grip of fear and a heaviness settle in his stomach as he listened to what Fin had to tell him.
"Meet me at Olivia's. I'm about to go up." Ending the call, he opened the door to the car and made his way to the building. Since there was no answer when he buzzed her apartment, he contacted the building supervisor, identified himself, explained the circumstances, and followed him up to Olivia's apartment.
Benson Residence - Tuesday, September 29 – 1:28 p.m.
After the phone call, Kendal disconnected it from the wall. He then pulled Olivia up from the couch and wrapped his arms around her. As he tried to kiss her, she pushed at him trying to get away.
"No. Please, Nate. Don't," she begged.
The smile was downright evil. "Come on, Liv. You think after the other night I'm going to let it go without having you? Without knowing what it's like to be with you? This was never my intention to begin with, but when I saw you…I knew I had to have you. And after the way you came onto me the other night..." he laughed, "I know you want it, too."
He jammed the gun into her side and with his free hand he held her face to his as he roughly kissed her. She didn't kiss him back, but she didn't fight him off either. She didn't know what to do. If she tried anything he might shoot or the gun could go off accidentally.
Pushing her down onto the couch, he straddled her and when he had her where he knew she could not fight him off he laid the gun on the coffee table. She saw him do it, but it was out of her reach. Smiling at her, he began to unbutton her blouse.
Now she could not help it. The fight or flight phenomenon kicked in alongside her police training and she screamed, "Get off me!"
Fighting for all she was worth did no good. He had her securely pinned to the couch as his hands slid over her body. Now he ripped the blouse open, the remaining buttons flying into the air and scattering. Fists balled, she tried to hit him but he deftly deflected each swing. When one finally did connect with his jaw, he instantly backhanded her.
The pain was numbing, but didn't stop her. The taste of the warm blood in her mouth only fueled her determination and she swung at him again. This time her fist landed just the outside corner of his right eye where Cragen had caused a cut. The strip tore away and blood spurted from the wound.
"You little…" he hit her again, but this time with his fist.
It nearly knocked her senseless and she shook her head to keep from passing out. Elliot. Elliot! She needed someone to help her. Now. And suddenly she heard someone calling her name.
Hallway Outside of Benson Residence Tuesday, September 29 – 1:35 p.m.
Cragen's blood chilled as he heard Olivia scream and then yell 'get off me'.
"Call 911!" he yelled at the super as he pushed him aside and kicked the door in. Gun drawn he quickly scanned the apartment.
"NYPD. Freeze."
His eyes landed on Nate Kendal straddled over Olivia and he was powerless to stop him as Kendal's hand raised again.
Cragen didn't even hear the gunshot before his body was wracked with a searing pain as the bullet tore through him. It had been years since he had been shot. In fact, it was his second year on the job when he was still walking a beat. He was shot in the leg by a suspect in a robbery and the pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. And now he remembered it all too well.
The impact threw him backward causing him to go down. Kendal, the gun still trained on the captain, had momentarily forgotten about Olivia. She took the opportunity to run to Cragen's side.
"Captain!" She fell to his side and pulled his shirt away.
He groaned at the pain, his hand going to his right shoulder. "Olivia, you okay?"
She could see the bleeding was severe. "Nate, he needs help. Let me call for an ambulance. Please." She ran to the kitchen for some towels which she pressed into the wound.
Kendal came a few steps closer, the gun still in his hand though it now pointed at the floor. "No. No help. Justice must be served."
"Nate, please?"
"Olivia…DNA…Melinda sent to the FBI lab…" Already, the captain was having trouble maintaining consciousness, his words becoming slow and methodical. "Kendal's DNA under West's fingernails…he-he got Elliot's skin from under his own nails the night they fought…"
Olivia stared at her captain and then looked at Nate in disbelief, remembering the fight between Nate and Elliot and the long scratch that Elliot had down his neck. Nate had taken Elliot's skin from under his nail and put it under Rena's. How? Then something registered.
"You know her…knew her before this happened." She was bewildered at the whole thing.
Kendal was amused. "Yes. She's my old girlfriend. She'd do anything for me. When I dumped her, she nearly went insane, so when I told her all she had to do was help me put the man who murdered Brad in jail she was more than willing to cry rape."
Muffled footsteps in the hall alluded to the fact that they had more company. Elliot cautiously peeked around the open door, his gun extended in front of him. His horror filled eyes stared at Captain Cragen lying on the floor with Olivia holding towels to an obvious gunshot wound. Then his eyes locked with Kendal's.
Elliot stood with his gun on Kendal and Kendal's gun on him. "Liv? Captain okay?"
"He needs medical attention."
He nodded. "You okay?" The sight of her blouse unopened, buttons missing, her bra visible when she moved a certain way nearly killed him. He knew that Kendal had tried to finish what he began the other night and it set him on fire with rage.
"Yes. El, just get out of here."
"Oh, he's not going anywhere," Kendal cocked the gun and leveled it at Elliot.
"Nate, let him go. This is already bad enough."
Kendal laughed, "But not as bad as it's going to get, honey."
Elliot's jaw jumped at Kendal's use of the endearment.
"Why, Kendal? Why'd you try to frame Elliot?" Cragen asked in a weakening voice.
"Stabler knows why. Tell him." He turned his glare to Elliot.
Elliot shook his head. "I had no choice, Kendal." Elliot had already put two and two together and knew exactly who Nate Kendal was and why he was doing this.
"There's always a choice."
"Your brother was going to shoot me. It was him or me."
"No! He wouldn't have shot you! Brad was not like that! He wasn't!"
"He wanted to die but couldn't do it himself so he left me no choice. I'm sorry."
"No. He was a brother in blue…how could you…he wouldn't have shot you."
"Nate, he knew he was caught. He knew he would face a trial and jail and he couldn't take knowing people would find out what he had done, and that he would spend the rest of his life locked up," Olivia told him, as she still held the towels to Cragen's shoulder.
"You framed him! You made it look like he was a drug dealer! Brad wasn't like that!"
"Nate, it's all in the reports. Did you read them?"
"Yeah, I read them. You put what you wanted in there. It's not true. You ruined my brother's life, his reputation. You killed him and I was going to make sure you knew exactly how it felt to have everyone think you had done something that you were innocent of…how it felt to not be able to set the story straight. I had it all worked out, too." He looked at his watch. "Only three more hours and six minutes and you would have been on your way to prison. But this is better. I get to take you all down this way."
"Son, you're going to jail for you have already done…don't make it worse by killing someone." Cragen's voice trailed off as he faded from loss of blood.
He scoffed. "Killing someone? I'm already dead so now you're all going to die."
Terror shot through Elliot at those words and Olivia looked at him with panic etched into her features.
Cragen seemed to have passed out and Olivia was extremely concerned. "Nate, please let me call EMS. The captain needs help."
"No." He looked at Elliot. "Put your gun down."
Elliot shook his head. Kendal stepped closer. "I said put the gun down."
"No. You want to shoot me then shoot me. But rest assured I'm taking you with me." Elliot tightened his grip on the glock.
At this moment, sirens could be heard and they were getting closer. "You call someone?" he asked Elliot.
Elliot would not answer and Kendal pointed the gun at Cragen and Olivia. "You call for backup, Cragen?"
Don was pretty much out of it, but he managed to nod. Kendal took another step, aiming the gun at Cragen's head. It was against his nature to stand by and do nothing, especially when someone he cared about was in danger, so Elliot charged him and just as he did Kendal shifted the gun toward Elliot and fired. Almost simultaneously, Kendal fell backward, falling against the recliner before landing on the living floor. A pool of blood darkened his white shirt right in the middle of his chest.
Elliot was in shock because he knew he had not fired his own gun and yet Kendal went down from a bullet. He was also shocked, and relieved, to realize he had not been shot. Turning slowly he saw Munch just inside the doorway of the apartment, Fin right behind him, guns in hand.
EMS arrived minutes after Munch shot Kendal. There was nothing to be done for Nate Kendal. The shot had ruptured his aorta. But Cragen had been quickly stabilized. The GSW was a through and through in the shoulder. He'd be back at work in no time. Once given fluids he regained consciousness long enough to give a few orders to his crew before he passed out from the pain medication they administered.
Munch, Fin, Olivia and Elliot watched all the activity and quietly spoke to one another.
"How'd you guys figure all this out?" Olivia asked Munch and Fin.
"When Warner told us about the DNA…it was a match to not only Nate but his brother, Brad, came up as another possible suspect. He spelled his last name with two 'l's and Alex had just told us that she ran across some paperwork where Nate had dropped one of the 'l's five years ago," Munch explained.
"Yeah, that's not all. She told us Kendal and West used to date. Even had a DV call on him against her. She dropped charges. And those tissues at the scene…Kendal musta got 'em out of the trash cause the FBI lab found one of his hairs – probably from his arm - on one of them."
Elliot asked Olivia, "When did you realize who Kendal really was?"
"After we got to my place, he wanted to talk. Told me he had a brother that was murdered by another cop. Said he'd been accused of running drugs and that it was almost seven years ago. It just all fell into place when I tried to remember anyone with the last name of Kendal. Brad Kendall and the mothers he had smuggling cocaine in the baby formula cans, came to mind." She sighed and looked at the spot on her carpet that was stained with her captain's blood. "I thought I would never be able to make you understand what I meant."
Elliot laughed and looked at Munch and Fin. "Yeah, you shoulda heard her. Talking about Dana and Donna; wanting me to pickup kitchen tiles that were wrong ; calling me Greg and telling me I acted like a husband. That's what did it." He looked at Olivia again. "When you said I was acting like your husband, then it all clicked. Then I remembered Donna, Dana, Greg and the tiles."
They all laughed. Fin said, "Yeah, imagine the two of you hooked up for real. You already act like an old married couple, fight like one anyways."
Elliot and Olivia exchanged embarrassed glances as they each blushed just a little.
"Hey, undercover as Greg and Dana Elliot buying tiles for a kitchen renovation we got along just fine," Elliot said defensively hoping to play it all off as a big joke.
"Yea, well if you ever do renovate a kitchen together make sure the tiles are not filled with cocaine," Munch added.
"We're taking Captain Cragen to emergency, now," the lead EMT said aloud to the group.
"We'll follow Cragen to the hospital. You're going to need to inform the Chief of Ds and IAB." Munch smiled and he and Fin trailed behind the stretcher and the EMS personnel.
Elliot looked at his watch. "It's only two-fifty. I had another hour and ten minutes of freedom."
"That was close, El."
"Too close. You gonna go with me to see the Chief and Tucker?"
Laughing she took his arm, "No way would I miss seeing the look on Tucker's face when he finds out he can't send you to Rikers."
The main exit of her apartment had been sealed off by CSU so Olivia led him out the back way. As they walked out of the back door of her building, heading back to the precinct, Olivia was so overcome by what had just happened and what could have happened. So overwhelmed and so grateful that Elliot would now be cleared. Before she had time to analyze it, brood over it and come up with a myriad of reasons why she shouldn't, she stopped. Right on the bottom of the stairway leading into the alley, she stopped.
Catching Elliot off guard with her sudden change of direction, he had a surprised look on his face when she turned, took his face between her hands and pulled him into a kiss. Then her left arm went around his neck, her right under his left to bring him against her. At first he was frozen, his hands at his side. He closed his eyes as their lips met and she could not remember a sweeter, gentler yet more passionate kiss. When he returned the kiss and brought her closer to him, wrapping her in his arms, she thought she would be happy to stay right there the rest of her days.
The memories of another hug came to mind. It had only last seconds. This one could last as long as they wanted. This kiss held more unspoken meaning than she thought she would be able to convey with words, but she had made a promise.
"El?"
"Mmmm?" He was busy peppered her face with light kisses.
"El? I need to tell you something."
"Yeah…I need to tell something, too." He pulled back, his eyes piercingly blue full of emotion. "Olivia, I love you."
Breaking into a huge smile, she told him, "That's what I was going to tell you. Elliot, I love you, too. So much."
Grinning, he kissed her again then dropped his arms from around her. He jammed his hand in his front left pocket and when he pulled it out his fist was closed and he held it out to her.
"Here. Got something for you." He took her hand and opened his in her palm.
Tears sprung to her eyes as she stared at the gleaming circle of gold. His wedding ring.
"The divorce is final today. I'm free, Liv."
Yes, he was free. From the bonds of a dead marriage and free from being falsely accused and on his way to prison. Free to pursue a relationship with her. She smiled so big she thought her face would freeze like that.
"El…uh…Elliot…I…I…"
Before she could say anything in response, she felt a tickle in her nose.
"Aaaaachoooo!" She sneezed and then did it two more times in succession, sniffling after the last one.
They looked at each other and both started laughing and Elliot pulled her to him, kissing her again. "Come on. After we leave one PP, I know a place that serves great chicken noodle soup. And I've already got tons of Kleenex!"
Sometimes it is necessary for life to become a bit unstable in order for us to realize that stability comes in many different forms. Health. A job. A hobby. God. Friends. Family. Even the partner that sometimes drives you to that unstable place in your mind may be the only one who can bring you back to center, to all things that are not unstable.
~ ~ ~ ~ eoeoeoeoe ~ ~ ~ ~
Love to hear what you thought of the chapter/story. " ) Bensler
