Chapter Eleven
Olivia watched, frightened of the animalistic way Elliot had launched himself at the man, at the angry sound of his voice. She didn't know what to do or how to intercede. She could only watch as Fin and Lake struggled with the man while Cragen shot out of his office to pull Elliot away. Even while their boss was yanking him away, Elliot continued to struggle, his strength split between trying to free himself of the lock while he continued to pound Marks. His fists and arms were flying, coming into painful contact with far more than the one man he was aiming for.
Cragen was a much smaller man than Elliot and so the best he could do was keep Elliot somewhat away while Fin and Lake took Marks into one of the interrogation rooms. Olivia was stunned to see Elliot's face, eyes burning with hate and aggression, after Marks was gone. He snapped his arms forward suddenly, wrenching himself out of Cragen's loosened hold, and for one long, tense moment of silence, Olivia was certain Elliot was about to charge right into the other room and go after the man again.
Cragen stepped in front of Elliot, his displeasure with the younger man's actions written clearly across his face. "Sit your ass in the chair and don't you dare think about it, Stabler." His voice was so loud, so hard, so commanding, that Olivia's eyes widened further when Elliot didn't obey.
The veins were sticking out in Elliot's neck and forehead, giving him a crazed, slightly possessed look to him. He didn't actually appear to hear a word of Cragen's demand as his eyes focused on the door that had closed behind the three other men.
Finally, probably due to a waning adrenaline rush, Elliot slumped into his chair. His eyes didn't meet Olivia's and for the moment, she was thankful. She'd seen his temper a few too many times. She'd made a silent promise to forget the events of the previous night, but Elliot's repeated explosions were making that difficult. Still, she didn't want him to see the lingering effects of her fear, her shaking hands, her trembling jaw. She couldn't imagine dealing with Elliot on a regular basis, watching his temper spark out of control all the time. It was a real concern, one that she would have to resolve if she was going to continue living her life. She couldn't be in constant fear that Elliot was going to hurt someone, even if she knew he would never hurt her.
Cragen's chest was heaving and his fingers were pressed to the corner of his mouth. When he moved them a moment later, Olivia saw a trickle of blood.
She looked away, knowing deep down that Elliot drawing his boss's blood was not something he could get away with. She didn't want to see him get in trouble. She didn't want to see him lose his job. God only knew who he'd attack then.
Before Cragen could say a word, Fin and Lake reappeared without Marks.
Fin shrugged at Olivia, ducking into his seat in what she thought was an attempt to avoid any fireworks directed at him. It left Lake with the unhappy job of informing Cragen that Marks wanted a lawyer and that he was threatening to sue for police brutality.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." All eyes turned on Elliot as he continued. "That's a fucking joke."
Cragen glared at him. "Until your little stunt, we had him nailed. We would have put him away easy. Now the DA'll let him walk before he looks like a fool prosecuting someone who'll swear the cops beat him up."
Elliot was out of his chair in a flash. "Give me a minute with him. He'll plead guilty. He'll beg to be in prison."
Cragen stepped in front of him. "Sit down."
Elliot's eyes narrowed and he glared right back, every bit as pissed off. "He's not walking away."
Cragen didn't budge. "Sit down, Elliot. I'm not even going to try to fix this mess you made until I know you're not going to make another one."
It looked as though Elliot tried to listen. But his temper flared again and he wasn't any better at controlling it than any of the other times Olivia had witnessed. He got right in Cragen's face and started yelling. "After what that son of a bitch did? You're fucking joking! They should put a damn needle in his arm."
Olivia wondered exactly what Marks had done to get Elliot so riled up. She looked around and saw everyone was listening, watching, but still pretending to work. She turned back to see Cragen pointing at the hall.
"Get the hell out of here." Folding his arms across his chest, he shook his head to forestall any argument. "Go home, Elliot. Two days suspension."
Elliot stared him down and Olivia feared Cragen was about to get a black eye to go with the fat lip. Eventually Elliot nodded, although it was hardly in agreement. "You're suspending me? That bastard attacked Olivia and you're suspending me!"
The blood ran cold in Olivia's veins as she realized the whole scene had been about her. The rage, the anger, the loss of control, had all been because the man had hurt her. She didn't know how she felt about the man herself, how she felt about being attacked, if it was even the attack she knew about, the one that had rendered her in her current state.
Cragen's voice was laced with anger. "After that stunt, you're lucky it's only a suspension. Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind."
Elliot wanted to fight, Olivia was sure the fury had hardly burned off, but he seemed to belatedly realize no one was going to let him kill Marks. "Fuck. Whatever." He threw his hands up in the air and stormed down the hall.
Olivia didn't have the faintest clue what to do. She sat at her desk, watching Cragen as he addressed Fin and Lake. He was counseling them against letting their tempers get the better of them, promising them that he'd happily suspend the whole department and bump the case to another precinct if they didn't feel they could be objective. Butt-kisser Lake reappeared and nodded eagerly, informing the captain that he'd have no problem focusing on Marks' earlier crimes. Fin wasn't nearly so eager, his eyes darting to Elliot's empty desk and to Olivia's face, before he cracked his knuckles and said he'd see what he could do. It made Olivia smile to see that Fin was apparently so loyal to Elliot and herself.
Shaking his head, Cragen turned to square off with Fin. "I don't need him filing complaints against a second detective. I can explain one hothead, the partner of Marks' attack victim. I can't explain away a squad of vigilantes. Are we clear?"
Fin shrugged. "Sure, cap. How do you feel about random street violence when it happens unexpectedly to criminals?"
Cragen shook his head, a small smile forming. "Just what I need. A third Musketeer."
Olivia giggled, calling Fin's attention back to her. Lake was heading back to the interrogation room, but Fin squatted down beside her to speak without Cragen overhearing. "Don't worry, Liv, I got your back."
She nodded, unsure as to the correct response.
"Lock up can be a dangerous place, you know." He winked before he walked away, cluing Olivia in on the fact that she was missing something. But he was back in the interrogation room with Lake and Marks before she had the chance to say anything.
"I know I just told you to get the hell out of here. I'm not kidding, Elliot. You just assaulted a man in custody in a room full of witnesses. If you don't hear from IAB, you'll be lucky." Cragen's voice was still angry, but there was a hint of exasperation as well. As though Elliot's reaction hadn't been a bit out of the ordinary.
Olivia looked up to see her partner, his head down, mutely nodding as he accepted the correction. When Cragen's voice fell silent, Elliot peeked up and motioned at her. "I should probably take her with me."
Cragen looked at her, confused for a moment. "She's not suspended."
"She's not a lot of good to you either." Elliot was only referring to her memory loss, but Olivia frowned at him anyway. "Unless you want to take over watching her."
Cragen was still facing her, and she saw a warm, good-natured smile cross his face for a moment before he replaced it with a stern frown and looked back at Elliot. "No, by all means, she's all yours." He disappeared back into his office.
Thoroughly confused, Olivia looked at Elliot and shrugged. "I wasn't sure you were coming back for me." She stood up and joined him on the other side of his desk.
A hint of red colored his cheeks as he looked at her. "I only forgot you for a minute. Besides," he placed his hand at the small of her back as they started walking, pausing for a second to grin at her. "You usually chase after me when I storm out after I get suspended for flying off the handle."
She wasn't sure it should seem so funny, but it was, considering that he'd lost it over her injury. "A cool headed guy like you? You'd never lose your temper."
He chuckled. "Yeah, imagine that."
"Thank you." She figured it was something he deserved to hear after what he'd done. Misguided or not, it had been a show of feelings for her and it had been public and, surprisingly, not exactly unexpected by their coworkers.
Elliot's startled eyes found hers, furrowing together as his mouth dropped open. After a moment of silence, he shook his head. "You don't normally thank me for that sort of thing."
"Is it something you normally do?" She wasn't sure why she wouldn't thank him for standing up for her, it seemed like a perfectly sweet thing to her.
"Maybe once or twice." He shrugged, stepping into the elevator and pushing the button for the ground floor repeatedly, letting her know that it had happened far more often than he felt comfortable discussing. "But you never like it."
"Why not?" Anything that displayed his attachment to her seemed like a good thing.
"Because you always somehow think I mean to imply that you can't do your job or defend yourself."
Curious she mulled it over in her head, realizing that it made sense if she was the sort of headstrong woman she'd have to be to face her job every day. "But that's not what you mean by it, right?"
He blushed deeper, red staining all the way down his neck and disappearing under his collar. "I just like defending your honor."
Giggling, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Right, like I'm sure Lake and Fin do for each other all the time."
He turned to face her, his eyes daring to glance at her lips even as the elevator doors opened. He wanted to kiss her. He didn't have to say a word; his face told her. Finally he smiled, his hand at her back again, guiding her forward. "Casey was right about you. You're certainly a trouble maker."
Taking the opportunity she bet Liv rarely did, she stopped for a moment and let her eyes feast on him, slowly taking in his appearance from head to toe and back up. "She was right about you too."
