In Too Deep
(Chapter Fourteen: Defenseless)
Olivia relaxed in a hot bath surrounded by candles and classical music. She exhaled deeply and inhaled again taking in the scent of the bath salts. She took a sip of red wine then sat her glass on the side of the garden tub and placed cucumber slices over her eyes. She hadn't been able to relax this much in a long time. She was just about to fall asleep when her cell phone rang and startled her. She groaned and leaned over the side of the bath tub to pick up the phone dripping soap bubbles into the floor as she tossed it across the room without even looking at it. She sank back into the bathtub and tried to slip back into her state of relaxation.
"Damn it Elliot!" She growled as she picked up her wine glass again. She knew it was him. Calling to talk her out of something she hadn't really even talked herself into yet. He was so set against her completing this undercover assignment. Yes, it was dangerous, she thought. But everything they do in their profession is. It was her job to help the victims, to stand up for them and this was what she needed to do now. This was the only way.
She finished the last of the wine in her glass and poured more from the bottle. She noticed the wrinkles on her fingers as she sat the bottle back down. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the bath tub slipping on her robe. She grabbed her wine glass in one hand and the bottle in the other and walked to her bedroom.
Olivia sat the wine glass down on her nightstand and walked into the kitchen where she placed the cork back into the top of the bottle and put it in the refrigerator. She turned off the kitchen light and walked into the living room to get the crime novel she had had been reading from the end table beside the sofa.
She turned to walk back down the hallway toward the bedroom as she heard a strange noise. She stopped and looked around the room behind her. She walked back toward the door to make sure it was locked. She reached out and placed her hand on the door knob as it turned in her hand and opened. Olivia jumped and screamed as she stood face to face in the dark with Elliot. She slapped him, reacting before she could think about what was going on around her.
"Shit Olivia! What the hell was that for!?!" Elliot yelled out as he reached up flipped the light switch turning on the lamp on the end table."
"Elliot! You scared the hell out of me! What are you going here?" She tightened her robe and retied the belt around it. She took a deep breath and could still feel her heart pounding in her throat, so much for relaxation!
"I called you, you never answered. So I came by."
"You called me twelve times in the hour I was taking a bath! I was trying to relax Elliot. I didn't want to talk."
"Don't do this Olivia."
She stared down at the floor for a minute then turned from him and walked toward her bedroom. "I don't want to argue with you."
"I'm not here to argue. I just…I'm worried, Liv. This is bad. It is extremely dangerous and Cragen even said himself that he wasn't comfortable doing this."
"He also said that this is pretty much a last resort. Elliot, if we don't do this…." she just looked at him for a minute.
"If we go in and he makes you for a cop, he will kill you. You won't be armed and will have no way to defend yourself if something goes wrong."
"I'm not completely helpless, Elliot! I can defend myself even without a gun."
"I know that, Liv. But it isn't enough."
"You will be right there the entire time, ten feet away. Fin and Munch and Cragen, I couldn't ask for a better team."
"And you are really okay with strutting around on a stage naked in front of Cragen and Munch and Fin and a room full of strangers? A room full of men who think you are a prostitute."
"Is that what this is about?"
"No, Olivia. This is about a danger that I have no way to protect you from and you are walking straight into it. I'm scared, Liv. If this thing goes bad any number of things could happen. Things I cannot stop or control. I'm not comfortable with this, Olivia." Elliot placed his hands against her shoulders and she looked into his eyes. "Liv, please don't do this. I have a horrible feeling about this."
She watched as a tear rolled off his cheek. "I have to, Elliot." She whispered softly. "If I don't, no one will. I have the chance to stop this and I am going to take it. I really need your support on this, as my partner and my friend."
Elliot sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. "There is no way I can change your mind?"
She shook her head seeing in his eyes how much it scared him that she was going through with it.
"I don't agree with it, but I understand why you are doing it. And you have my full support. I will be there as close as I can to you every step of the way. And God help me Olivia, if anything happens to you I will kill Cragen."
She squeezed his hand in hers. "Nothing will, I have you there looking out for me. Look Elliot, if you weren't going to be there I wouldn't go through with this. I trust you and only you."
Elliot brushed a strand of hair back from her eyes as she yawned. "It's late. I should go and let you get some rest. These next few days are going to be a lot of stress and a lot of work." He laced his fingers in hers and stared into her eyes. As he stood up to leave she hugged him. Elliot held her only for a moment then kissed her forehead. "I will see you tomorrow," he said as she smiled at him.
Olivia slipped into a tee shirt and a pair of boxer shorts and climbed into bed. She turned out the light and laid there thinking about everything that had happened that day. She wondered if he could actually pull this off. She fluffed her pillow and closed her eyes to try to go to sleep, tomorrow was going to be the first of a series of long days.