Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.
"Well," Elliot said, rubbing his eyes, "It was short lived, but at least I got to talk to the kids." He tossed his keys down on his desk and looked over at Munch. "What've we got?"
"Cassidy's been in Cragen's office all day, something pretty huge going on there, and I can't take two by myself. Jeffries is already out." Munch looked over at Olivia and Elliot. "You two look..."
"I know what we look like," Elliot said, scratching at his stumbled chin. "What's on the plate?"
Munch rubbed his nose and said, "Remember Agent Schreck?"
Olivia crossed her arms. "Of course, it's only been, what, two weeks?"
Munch gave a soft grunt as he handed her a piece of paper. "He's dead." He pointed toward his computer, tilted his head, and said, "Think someone was sending him, and the rest of the FBI, a message."
Olivia looked over Munch's shoulder, immediately stiffening. "Elliot," she called.
Elliot moved, right behind her, leaned into her and looked at the monitor. "Is that the same website..."
"Yeah, it is," Munch said. "Whoever killed him wanted us to know he was dead."
Elliot nodded. "Wanted the rest of the sick fucks in that group to know, too."
Munch looked at Elliot. "I guess you're taking this one?"
Nodding again, Elliot said, "Damn right." He reached back over to his desk for his keys, but he caught a glimpse of someone in the doorway. He laughed, a bitter and almost resentful chuckle. "Of course," he said to himself. He turned his head and with his keys now tightly clenched in his fist, he said, "Hi, Kathy."
"What the hell did you say to them?" his wife snapped in a fuming whisper. She stormed over and pushed both of her open palms into his chest. "What did you do to them?"
"Hey!" He grabbed both of her hands with one of his and narrowed his eyes at her. "Calm the hell down! I told them the truth!" He shook his head slightly and a bit of a smirk creeped across his face. "I told them everything."
"Well, now, they're not talking to me," Kathy said sternly, pulling her hands away from him. "The girls are pissed off, throwing temper tantrums, and don't get me started on how Dickie spoke to me before he stormed out of the house."
"What?" Elliot gasped, worried now. "Where did he go? You just let him..."
"He went to Sam's house," Kathy interrupted, calming him slightly, "His mother called me. He's fine." She cleared her throat. "Maureen is going to the game, at school, with some friends. She doesn't want to be in the house, either, so tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do!"
"Look, it's not just you," he said to her. "They were pretty angry at me, too. The whole ride back, it was colder than an arctic winter in the car." He shrugged. "What did you expect?"
Kathy looked at him, confused. "You didn't..."
"No, I didn't say anything about you. Nothing that wasn't true." He crossed his arms. "You really think I would try to turn them against you? You don't know me at all, Kathy. Maybe you never did. That's why this is happening."
Kathy looked down. "I panicked. I'm sorry."
"Elliot," Olivia called, irritated. "If you need to deal with this, I'll go on my own."
"No," he said firmly. "Nothing to deal with," he continued. Staring at Kathy, he said, "Let's go." He turned away from her, let the keys dangle from his fingers, and followed her out of the squad room. "Thanks," he said to her as they walked down the hallway.
"I didn't do it for you," she said. "We had work to do. A body waiting. We had to cancel plans, you lost the deposit on the hotel, I am in no mood to let the case go cold because your wife can't decide if she's ready to be your ex-wife, yet."
"Not her decision to make," he scoffed, punching the button on the wall for the elevator. "Listen, you heard every word I said to my kids this morning, you heard everything they said, or didn't say, to me. I called a lawyer, papers are being drawn up right-the-fuck now, so what more do you..."
"Relax," she said, stopping his rant. She ran a hand through her hair and exhaled sharply. "I didn't say I blamed you, did I? I just said I didn't want to deal with it. I know you didn't, either."
The doors closed quickly and the conversation turned toward work just as fast. "These guys, Liv, they're..."
"I know," she said, nodding at him. "They're the ones that really get to you. At least their victim, this time, isn't a child."
"Nah, just one of the guys who was trying to put them in cages, where they belong," Elliot said. "Someone wasn't part of the round-up, took him out, and then told the rest of his friends it was safe to stop hiding." He shook his head as the doors opened and he walked with her through the lobby. "Shit, I should've grabbed the file, the list of names." He unlocked the car and by the time he got behind the wheel, Olivia had the case file pulled up on the screen of her cell phone, grinning at him.
"Guess you haven't figured out the mobile database, yet," she laughed.
"I didn't know we had one," he retorted. Pulling out of the parking space, his mind wandered. He drove, mechanically, as his thoughts teemed with emotional internal argument and recollection of moments he hadn't thought about in a long while. He let his very first lucid, lewd dream of Olivia replay, how he'd envisioned her in a black and pink corset and nothing else, waiting for him on the edge of a hot tub in a fancy hotel room. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat as he fantasizes about taking the slip of fabric and bit of ribbon off of her incredible body. He shook his head, chuckles escaping, as he realized his dreams didn't really do her justice, and the reality was so much more incredible.
He relived the first time his fingers grazed her bare skin, how the burn of whiskey stuck in his throat as the rest of his body was lit aflame by her. The liquor gave him the guts, but her eagerness gave him the strength. He remembered the taste of their first real kiss, one that was not a part of some act, more than a friendly peck. Mint, coffee, a bit of Johnny Walker. The sound of her voice as she moaned for him for the first time rang in his ears. The way her wetness coated his fingers, and then his lips, and then his cock, sending him into blissful oblivion. He licked his lips, remembering how it felt to have her writhing and tightening beneath him, and he groaned as he recalled the cry that erupted from her when she came, for him, for the first time. It was like a drug, a new addiction, and he's been craving more and more ever since.
He frowned, then, as thoughts turned to bitter memories involving fights with his wife, the debilitating and morally crippling decision to cross a very thick, red line with Olivia, and the damage it had caused both personally and professionally. Again, he shook his head, knowing it was all so very worth it. Little moments came to mind, as he pulled out onto a main strip of road. The way she fiddled with pens and pencils as she sat at her desk, the way her eyes lit up every time he smiled at her, the rough and strong side of her that showed itself in the heat of every case they'd worked together. Then, the difficult conversations he'd had over and over again with his wife, initially trying to convince her there was nothing going on between him and his partner, and then trying to convince her that there was.
It all seemed to lead up to this moment, not being in a smelly police issued car, but being on the verge of a messy but nevertheless necessary divorce and a fulfilling relationship with Olivia, a strong bond with his kids, and something he hadn't felt in years: happiness.
"Earth to Elliot," she called to him, having tried to talk to him for the past few minutes.
He looked over at her, stiffening immediately. Her shoulder-length locks fell loosely into her eyes, her emerald green sweater creased where her toned arms had crossed, pushing up her chest, and the look on her face was on a spectrum somewhere between intimidating and arousing. "Uh, sorry, what?"
She rolled her eyes. "I said, most of them are still locked up. There's only two, on this list, that could be involved." She flicked her hair out of her eyes with one finger, still looking at him, and asked, "You okay?"
"Just thinking," he said, nodding. "Is James Canfield still roaming free?"
"Uh...yeah," she said, nodding as she scrolled through the file. "How'd you..."
"Going with my gut," he said. "You know, something about him...the first time...he was the only one who made open threats to any of us, and I remember him saying..."
"He'd be their savior, protect and defend his kind," she finished. "I remember." She looked out the window and sighed. "He didn't have a family. No wife. No kids."
"Who?" He squinted as he turned and pulled into a small spot behind two squad cars with their flashing lights.
"Schreck," she said, opening her door. "When I took this job, El, I thought, I was certain, that would eventually be...me."
"Liv," he said, one hand on his door handle and the other gripping her arm, "Never. You...and me...always." He blinked once. "I love you."
She moved, kissed him quickly and softly, and whispered back to him, "Thank God." She smiled. "I love you, too." She eased away from him, pulled her badge out of her pocket, and headed toward the gathered officers and medical examiner.
Elliot finally got out of the car, but his phone rang as soon as he closed the door. "Stabler," he spoke, waking toward Olivia, a smile on his face. That smile faded, though, as the voice on the other end spoke. "What? Okay, stay there. Don't move, and don't hang up! I'm on my way!" He held the phone, open and still connected, as his heart raced. "Olivia!" he yelled, frozen to his spot. "Liv!"
She turned, knowing that sound of his voice, and what it meant. She saw him, standing still, shaking, white, and ran back to him. "What? What happened?"
He shook his head, threw himself around her, squeezing tight.
"El, what is it?" she prodded again.
"We have to go...the kids," he mumbled, moving to get back into the car. "My kids, Liv."
"What happened?" She got into the passenger seat, no questions asked, and sent a few quick texts to Cragen, Munch, and Jeffries. "Tell me what..."
He looked at her, still pale white. "Active shooter at Cardinal Catholic."
"Oh, my God," she said, turning just as white as him. "Maureen."
Peace and Love
Jo
