…
Part 14
The buzzing of her cell phone against her leg woke Olivia from what was an extremely pleasant dream, so it was a rather upset, "Benson!" that greeted Elliot's ears when he was finally freed from the hell that was Olivia's ringback tone – Man I Feel Like a Woman.
"Why the hell do I have to listen to that song when I call you?" Elliot groused, deciding to ignore his partner's mood and skip to the most important matter at hand … his emasculation.
"Wha…" Olivia mumbled.
"I have to listen to that damn Shania Twain song when I call you now too? It's not bad enough that it's my personal embarrassing ringtone whenever I call you?"
"El, Abbie must've changed it when she was here. I swear," she added when he started to protest. "I'm too damned cheap to spend an extra buck on you like that. Now, as I was sleeping and having a really good dream and you calling woke me up – this better be good. What's up?"
"Who was in this really good dream?" Elliot teased.
"Alex," Olivia replied before she could think her answer through. "Shit. Never mind. Forget I said that. What do you need?" she asked, shifting slightly under Alex's sleeping form as she glanced at the television to see that Oprah had ended (thank god because, seriously, who the hell needs to know what the inside of their stomach looks like anyways?) and it was now time for the evening news.
"I need to know what Ms. Cabot was doing in your dream," Elliot laughed.
Olivia smiled. "Nothing I'm going to tell you about. You know I don't kiss and tell," she said, before realizing that that comment, too, was going to land her in a world full of hurt.
"Oooo," Elliot sang. "So it was one of those kinds of dreams huh? Tell me, tell me!"
"Elliot," Olivia groaned. "No! You're being ridiculous."
"I'm not," he argued. "I'm married. I have to live vicariously through you, Kathy's cut me off until I go and get fixed!"
"Good girl Kathy," Olivia said. "Just go get the surgery El, what's the big deal?"
"I don't want a doctor poking around down there, do you have any idea how embarrassing that would be?"
"Um, yes – yes I do." Olivia nodded. "What the hell do you think happens at a gynie appointment El? Did you think the stirrups were just there to add to the kink of the place?"
"I prefer to think that, yes," Elliot grumbled. "Fine, forget it. Leave me to suffer alone with my magazines."
"El, I know Kathy doesn't let you have those magazines," Olivia told him with a laugh.
"You suck Liv," Elliot retorted childishly. "I was calling to see if you girls would like me to bring by some dinner for you as I'm on my way home now. But, I'm starting to think that a little starvation might make you play nicer with me so I'll just leave you two to suffer."
"You kidding?" Olivia laughed. "I'm with Alex, there is plenty to eat."
Alex, who had woken up somewhere around the stirrups discussion decided that Olivia's last comment was a little too much and slapped the surprised brunette's leg playfully as Elliot's boisterous laughter rang out of the handset still clasped in the detective's hand.
Realizing what she'd said, Olivia had the grace to blush profusely before mouthing "Sorry" to Alex and raising her voice to yell into her phone, "Shut it El, you know that's not what I meant! I meant that Alex can actually cook!"
"Yeah right," Alex drawled with a smile as she lifted Olivia's shirt and began tracing delicate circles onto toned tan abs with her tongue.
"God," Olivia breathed appreciatively when Alex nipped gently at a protruding hip bone.
"No! No religion!" Elliot screamed like a little girl.
"Grow up El," Olivia half scolded, half moaned as Alex's tongue began trailing lower until the blonde's teeth clasped the waistband of her shorts and began to tug them downward. "Christ, Alex," she breathed as she covered the mouthpiece of her phone with her left hand, her hips bucking slightly as the blonde's chin brushed roughly over her mound.
"I'll be there in thirty minutes with four bags of Chinese, Munch and Fin," Elliot said with a laugh. "Don't spend too much time at church, I'd hate to interrupt you two. Our esteemed colleagues, on the other hand, would love to watch so take your pick."
"M'kay," Olivia moaned her vague agreement, not really paying attention to Elliot's last comment, as she disconnected the call and tossed her cell over onto the nearby armchair. She'd gotten the thirty minutes part and knew there was something about food and the guys, but she really couldn't bring herself to care too terribly much about such mundane things when Alex's wickedly skillful tongue was busy doing what it was doing.
"Hi." Alex looked up and smiled as she took a moment to observe the woman she'd been busy undressing. "How are you?"
"Alex," Olivia groaned, biting her lip adorably as she fought to keep her hips from lifting traitorously into the blonde's touch. "I think you know the answer to that question Counselor."
Alex smirked as she moved lower and nuzzled the brunette's center, wincing slightly as Olivia's shorts brushed her cheek but ignored the small discomfort in deference to focusing her attention on breathing deep the heady aroma of Olivia's arousal. "I do believe you're correct in that assumption Detective," she purred. "What was I doing in your dream Liv?"
"Oooooh," Olivia gasped as Alex's fingers began tugging gently at her shorts. "How long were you awake?"
"You were saying something about stirrups," Alex replied, frowning slightly when Olivia refused to lift her hips and allow her to remove the shorts she'd been slowly working at. "What?" she asked, giving up on the small battle over Olivia's shorts to sit up and see the brunette's eyes better. "Liv, what's wrong?"
"Alex, baby-" Olivia ran a tentative finger around the perplexed blonde's jaw "-how are you feeling?"
"Fine." Alex shrugged. "Why?"
"You can see out of both eyes okay?" Olivia pressed, not wanting to scare the playful woman who was offering to bring her to the gates of ecstasy and beyond but needing to double check.
"Yes." Alex's brow furrowed as she sat up between Olivia's legs and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, not so much out of my left but it feels like it's swollen shut again. Why? What is it Liv?"
Olivia pursed her lips thoughtfully as she ran a reassuring hand down the length of Alex's right triceps before answering. "You're bleeding again," she murmured.
"Ah shit," Alex groaned as she lifted her fingers to her cheek tentatively. "Must have opened it up when I brushed against your shorts, how bad is it?"
"Eh," Olivia hedged. "Not as bad as this morning, but I'm thinking you're going to want to see a doctor about it."
"You think?" Alex frowned as she pulled her fingers away from her battered face to observe the crimson tint on her fingertips.
Olivia nodded. "Yeah. I do."
"This sucks," Alex grumbled as she pushed herself up off of Olivia and walked around the back of the couch to where her cell was sitting on the console table. Olivia watched as one blue eye focused on the tiny screen, narrowing slightly in concentration as Alex scanned through her contacts list. "Here we go," Alex mumbled as she lifted the phone to her ear.
"You calling Maggie?" Olivia asked softly.
Alex shook her head no. "Her brother, my Uncle Matt. He's a plastic surgeon – if I have to get stitches on this thing I want to make sure there won't be a scar," she explained as she waited for her uncle to pick up on the other end.
"Yeah, because everybody has a plastic surgeon in their phonebook," Olivia mumbled, once again realizing how completely different her and Alex's worlds really were.
She was thankfully ripped from her reverie by Alex's soothing alto. "Uncle Matt, it's Alex. … Yes, I figured that Maggie would have told you what had happened. … Yes. … I know I could have called you, but there was nothing you could have done then. … Yes, I mean then. … Do you feel up to a house call Matt? … I kind of fell out of bed and bumped my cheek on the nightstand. … It wasn't on purpose! … I don't want to tell you what happened. … Because it's embarrassing. … No, it wasn't crazy wild monkey sex – you really need to stop hanging out with your sister. … I don't care if she's your twin, it's getting obscene. Look, will you come over and sew me up? I really don't want a scar. … Great, thank you Uncle Matt. See you in half an hour or so, I'll call down to the desk and let them know that you're coming. … Thanks again, see you soon. Bye."
Olivia arched a brow questioningly as she watched Alex toss her Blackberry back down onto the table. "Crazy wild monkey sex? Sounds fun."
Alex pursed her lips thoughtfully before replying with a smirk, "It would have been. Too bad you made me stop what I was doing earlier."
"Not fair," Olivia groaned. "You're bleeding! Do you really expect me to ignore that for an orgasm?"
"First of all-" Alex pointed her finger at the now standing brunette on the opposite side of the couch "-it would have been more than one orgasm – you were looking at three, minimum, before I was going to let you up. And, two…" her voice trailed off as her one good eye glazed over.
"Alex," Olivia murmured. "You okay?"
"Huh? Yeah," Alex shook her head slightly in an attempt to clear it. "Where was I?"
"Two," Olivia offered helpfully.
"Right," Alex nodded, her brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to regain her earlier train of thought. "Two … two … two … Hell, I don't know – I got distracted by the mental image of the way you'd look after that third orgasm."
Olivia smiled. "While that does sound fun, I care more about you getting healthy. Elliot said something about him and the guys swinging by with dinner – you okay with that?"
"Yeah, sure." Alex shrugged. "I'd kinda figured that Fin and Munch would be swinging by to say hello sometime soon. They'll be able to keep you company while Matt is fixing me up."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, why not?" Alex smiled. "I'd like to see the guys too, it was nice – but weird – to spend the day lounging around watching movies and stuff and not doing paperwork and yelling at you guys."
"Heh," Olivia chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure they missed you and your demands too Alex."
+++/+++\+++
"Hey Elliot," Alex smiled as she opened the front door all the way and stepped back to allow the burly detective inside. "Thanks so much for offering to bring us dinner, I really appreciate it."
"No problem." Elliot studied the blonde. "What happened to your face?"
"Gee, what a way to boost a girl's ego there Stabler," Alex retorted. "I bumped it on the nightstand when I fell out of bed. Flashback," she explained with a shrug.
"I see," Elliot drawled. "You know you're bleeding, right?"
"Yeah," Alex groaned. "My Uncle Matt is coming to sew me back up. He should be here any minute. Where are Munch and Fin?"
"They're coming, Dad wanted to have a 'talk' with them about something so I came on ahead to make sure you two were behaving yourselves."
By this time they had meandered into the living room and they could see Olivia busying herself in the dining room setting out one plate at a time around the table.
"How's Liv?" Elliot asked.
"She seems to be doing better," Alex said. "I'm not a doctor so I don't really know, but she isn't wincing as much when she moves around and she actually managed to get a bra on tonight."
"Too much information Counselor," Elliot laughed. "But, I'm glad to hear she's doing okay."
They were interrupted by another knock at the door so Alex shooed Elliot off to the dining room to help Olivia while she padded back down the hall to answer the door. A quick glance through the peep-hole showed a distinguished mid fifty year old man with dark brown hair graying at his temples in a polo shirt and slacks with a bag hanging off his shoulder checking his watch and shuffling from side to side.
"Thanks for coming Uncle Matt." Alex smiled as she threw open the door and pulled her favorite Uncle into a one-armed hug.
"Alex, you know I'm always willing to help," he said sincerely. "Now, where are we gonna fix you up, kiddo?"
"Bathroom," Alex answered with a shrug. "Best light for this kind of thing, I'd imagine."
"You're probably right," he agreed.
+++/+++\+++
"So," Elliot glanced up at Olivia as he pulled take-out cartons out of plastic bags and arranged them in the center of the table. "How you two doing?"
"Hmm?" Olivia looked up. "Oh, fine. Why?"
"Alex said she had a flashback."
Olivia nodded thoughtfully. "It was pretty bad. She ended up smacking me in the shoulder and popping a couple stitches as she was flailing around."
"She said she fell out of bed?"
"Yeah, right after she nailed me," Olivia said, grimacing as she waved toward her injured shoulder.
+++/+++\+++
"So what's your friend's name?" Matt asked as he fastened his headgear on with the little light and magnifying glasses. "I'm assuming she's who you're not having crazy wild monkey sex with?"
"We're too injured for crazy wild monkey sex," Alex grumbled good naturedly.
"Maggie seems to like her," he reported as he carefully injected Alex's cheek with a local anesthetic. "Said she was perfectly protective of you and that the girl can handle the Cabot sense of humor."
"She survived Maggie and Abbie on a tag-team," Alex murmured, being careful to sit still while her uncle readied his materials. "She's definitely the first one to ever do that."
Matt smirked as he held up a needle and super-thin dissolving thread. "So, is she 'the one' then?"
"She is for me," Alex answered, as a ridiculously sappy smile tweaked her lips.
+++/+++\+++
"What were you two up to today with no Abbie here to throw wild thank god you finally fucked parties?" Elliot asked as he settled himself into an overstuffed armchair cattycorner to the couch Olivia had claimed.
"Watched movies," Olivia answered. "Napped. I don't think I slept so much in the three weeks before all this as I have these last few days."
"Sleep is good," Elliot agreed. "Helps the body heal. When do you think the doc will release you back for desk duty at least?"
"I'm hoping next week," Olivia said as she rolled her head from side to side. "Laying about all day is one thing when Alex is here to keep me company, but I know I'll go stir crazy if I'm stuck home alone once she returns to work next week."
"She serious about this?" Elliot asked tentatively.
"I know I am," Olivia said. "We talked and she's not adverse to the idea of telling people – I was actually more hesitant than she was, so I'm thinking she is… yeah."
"Wow."
"I know." Olivia nodded thoughtfully. "Who'd've thought?"
"Not me," Elliot retorted with a grin. "I'm happy for ya partner. Are you going to tell the guys?"
"We actually didn't talk about it. I'm sure they'll figure it out – you know I suck at hiding when I'm happy."
"You do," Elliot agreed with a small laugh. "And you definitely sounded 'happy' on the phone earlier."
"Yeah," Olivia groaned. "Until I saw that she'd split her cheek again and was bleeding. That's kind of a mood-kill."
"I can imagine." Elliot pursed his lips thoughtfully. He looked about ready to ask something else when the doorbell rang. "Sit tight Liv, I'm sure that's the guys – I'll get it."
"Thanks El." Olivia smiled gratefully as she leaned back into the couch.
+++/+++\+++
"So what are you going to do about work then?" Matt asked softly as he concentrated on tying off his last suture. "What will Branch think of this?"
"Honestly," Alex sighed. "I don't know. There's nothing in the general conduct policy that strictly prohibits an ADA and a detective from being in a relationship, but I'm sure that if we're not careful it could come back and bite me, us, in the butt. Right now I'm hoping that by keeping things professional at work we'll avoid most of the negative fall-out. It'll probably help to be somewhat discreet in public, but I'm not going to hide this – I figure so long as we behave like mature adults when the world is watching we'll be fine."
"I hope you're right honey." Matt ruffled his niece's hair playfully. "You know we love you, right?"
"Of course I do Uncle Matt." Alex beamed as she stood and wrapped her arms around her uncle. "Thank you for doing this," she said as she waved toward her now perfectly sutured cheek. "No scar, right?"
"There shouldn't be," he confirmed as he began placing his materials back into his bag. "A little vitamin E lotion wouldn't hurt either though."
"Can you stay for dinner?" Alex asked as she led the way back down the hall toward the living room. "I'd love for you to really meet Liv."
Matt Cabot smiled. "Of course, I'd love to meet the woman who's finally managed to get you to settle down."
"Uncle Matt," Alex groaned. "Please, we all know that I'm not the playboy of the Cabot Clan."
"Yeah … that title belongs to your brother." Matt chuckled. "How is Adam doing, anyways?"
"Last I heard he was living the high life up in P-town," Alex reported. "No boyfriend yet, but we'll see – thanksgiving is right around the corner and he always has a colorful companion to share the festivities with."
"You going to bring Olivia up to the house this year?"
Alex smiled wistfully as she imagined spending the holiday with Olivia and her family. "I'd like to."
Matt laughed as he dropped his bag off inside the foyer. "You got it bad Alex."
+++/+++\+++
"Hey! There she is!" Fin's voice greeted Alex and Matt as they made their way into the living room where the entire SVU squad, save Cragen, was assembled. "Nice shiner Cabot – we need to get a picture of that and get you entered into the best bruise contest!"
"Best bruise contest?" Alex repeated as she perched herself daintily onto the arm of the couch next to Olivia. "What's that?"
"Boys being boys," Olivia shrugged. "We take pics of our bruises and whoever the judges decide had the best one wins dinner out on the squad."
"I see," Alex smiled. "You think I have a chance?"
"I'd say you're chances are pretty good at this point," John Munch smiled. "So far the winning bruise is Elliot's from when that crazy woman whacked him in the leg with a two-by-four. But, yours has a lot nicer color variation," he observed. "They greens and yellows are quite impressive."
"Well, who's going to take the picture then?" Alex smirked. "You know I do love to win."
"That we do counselor," Fin grinned as he pulled out his phone. "Say cheese!" he laughed as he framed Alex's bruise up before snapping the picture. "But, enough chit chat, I'm starving – where's that dinner you promised us Stabler?" he asked as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Oh," Fin yelled as the group sat around the table after they'd finished eating. "I forgot – we all chipped in and got you gals some get-well presents."
Olivia frowned, clearly concerned about what they guys had done. "You did?"
Much nodded as he got up from the table and disappeared into the living room. When he returned he had two identically wrapped packages which he handed to each of the women at the table. "For you," he said with bow.
"Thank you." Alex smiled, looking genuinely pleased with the fact that the boys had thought to get her anything at all.
"Our pleasure," Fin assured the suddenly shy blonde. "Really Alex."
"Please tell me it's not porn," Olivia groaned as she played with the packaged Munch had handed her.
"It's not porn," Elliot answered with a grin. "I made them promise."
"Too bad," Alex smirked as she tore into her present, completely oblivious to the slack jawed stares she was receiving from Munch and Fin as well as the blush that was tinting Olivia and Elliot's cheeks.
Matt Cabot, used to such outbursts, just laughed openly. "I take it you lot aren't used to the cruder side of Alexandra Cabot," he chuckled.
"No," Fin replied. "And, I gotta say, I'm damn disappointed that I'm only meeting her now!"
"Aww, Legally Blonde," Alex drawled as she held up her gift. "I love it, thank you guys!"
"Thought you could use the laugh," Munch shrugged.
"She can put it on the shelf with her other three copies of it," Olivia grimaced, the pain of having to sit through Elle Woods fresh in her mind after watching it earlier that day.
"Shhhh." Alex scowled playfully at Olivia. "You can never have too much Elle Woods."
"Yes… yes, you can," Olivia and Matt groaned.
"Shut up," Alex laughed. "What's your movie?"
"A Few Good Men?" Olivia answered, her voice rising at the end questioningly. "Why?"
"You can't handle the truth!" Fin laughed.
"That's not an answer," Olivia frowned.
"Too bad." He grinned. "That's the only one you're getting right now," he tilted his head toward Alex, obviously indicating that he didn't want to embarrass her in front of the blonde.
"It's because of my glaringly obvious thing for lawyers, isn't it?"
Fin stared, disbelieving that Olivia was daring to go there with Cabot sitting right next to her. "Uh-huh."
"You have a thing for Demi Moore?" Alex turned to Olivia.
"Not that lawyer." Olivia grinned as she squeezed the blonde's thigh playfully.
Alex's look of confusion morphed into one of sheer delight. "She too dark for you, detective?"
"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "I like my lawyers a lot more blonde. Glasses drive me wild too."
Fin leaned over and mock whispered in Elliot's ear. "Have we entered the twilight zone?"
"I forgot about the glasses," Alex mused. "Once the swelling goes down I'll have to start wearing those again."
"The black ones?"
"If you'd prefer." Alex nodded demurely.
"I think we have." Munch cocked his head thoughtfully as he watched the playful banter between Olivia and Alex.
"Oh, I definitely prefer," Olivia murmured, licking her lips appreciatively.
"What the hell?" Fin gaped, his eyes flicking back and forth between Alex and Olivia as if he were watching a tennis match.
"Ask them about the balloons," Matt said with a laugh.
"I was wondering about those." Fin nodded. "What's up with the balloons Cabot? Red and black doesn't seem like your color scheme at all."
Alex glared at her uncle. "You suck."
"Hey – just because Maggie isn't here doesn't mean that you get to escape the obligatory Cabot teasing."
"Just be happy you weren't here for the donuts," Elliot told the group.
"What donuts?" Fin and Much asked simultaneously.
"Oh god," Olivia groaned.
"Religion!" Elliot yelled, slapping his hands over his ears.
Alex blushed and stared the laughing detective down, her tirade interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone in the other room. "Elliot – you're lucky you hooked me up in the hospital buddy. And, you are officially saved by the bell," she pointed at him with a smile as she left the room to answer her phone.
She found her phone on the console table where she'd dropped it earlier and answered with a brusque "Cabot" not bothering to check the caller ID.
"How are you feeling Alex?" Serena's voice answered her.
"Eh." Alex shrugged as she plopped down onto the couch and propped her sock-clad feet up on the coffee table. "Surviving. Uncle Matt and the SVU guys are all here for dinner, I think this is karma's way of getting back at me for exposing Olivia to Maggie and Abbie. How's the case?"
"Good," Serena answered with a laugh. "Got everything into evidence today and Brennan has scheduled jury selection for eight tomorrow morning – should be done by four or so. Do you girls want me to come up to your place or would you like an excuse for an outing and come down to Hogan to do it at my office?"
"I'd kill to get out of the house for a bit," Alex sighed. "How about if we come to you?"
"No problem. I'll tell Shannon to let you guys into my office if I'm not back by the time you get there."
"Any surprised with the evidentiary discoveries or disclosures?"
"No, Counselor," Serena laughed. "The usual. Trevor has some tech guy scheduled to go over some film from the club's security cameras, but that's about it."
"Have you seen the tape?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, you two looked good dancing together," Serena said, her voice softening. "There's nothing beyond PG on that tape Alex, you two are fine. Don't worry about Trevor, I won't let him do anything sleazy to you guys."
"Thanks Serena," Alex smiled and closed her eyes as a wave of relief passed through her. "We'll see you tomorrow at four then. If it looks like you'll wrap up earlier, just give me a call or something and we can come down whenever… this being housebound sucks."
"I hear ya," Serena assured her friend. "I'll see you two tomorrow, okay?"
"Absolutely." Alex nodded to herself. "Bye Serena, say hi to Abbie for me."
"Will do. Talk soon Alex. Bye."
Alex smiled softly to herself as she ran a hand through her hair and slid her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She wasn't particularly looking forward to testifying, but she was beyond anxious to put the sleaze-ball away for good.
"Everything okay?" Olivia leaned in and murmured in Alex's ear once the blonde had rejoined the penis party.
Alex smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Olivia's thigh. "It was Serena. I told her we'd meet her at her office tomorrow afternoon after jury selection to go over everything."
"Sounds good."
"So, Cabot – now that you and Liv have finally figured out the obvious, are you ready for the big brother speech?" Fin's voice interrupted their conversation.
"Already gave it to the both of 'em," Elliot chuffed with a grin. "We're cool, aren't we girls?" he pretended to scowl authoritatively at the blushing couple.
"Oh god," Alex and Olivia groaned together.
"Do we get to observe this new religion you two have found?" Fin laughed.
"No!" Olivia held her hand up and glared impressively at her laughing squad mate.
"Damn," Fin, Munch and Elliot grumbled playfully.
"Are you three for real? What's the draw?" Alex asked, genuinely interested in their response.
"You two, together," Fin waved an indicative hand between them. "Smokin'."
"You're sick," Olivia threw a wadded up napkin across the table.
"Yeah," Fin agreed. "But, it's just because we love you."
Matt Cabot cleared his throat as he glanced at his watch. "I gotta get going Alex, honey. Jenny is expecting me home soon – her parents are coming over for dinner."
Alex looked over at her uncle. " I'm sorry. You didn't have to stay for dinner here."
"Please. Take-out is so much better than Jenny's cooking. Don't tell her I said that, by the way," he said as he poked the blonde's shoulder playfully. "Think about what we'd talked about earlier, you know how your mother is about getting numbers settled early."
"Yeah." Alex bit her lip thoughtfully as she stood to see her uncle out. "We'll see what happens – I figure I have a couple more weeks to test the waters for that one."
"Take care Alex," Matt kissed his niece's forehead softly. "Rest up. Call me if you need anything, you hear me kiddo?"
"I got it Matt," Alex assured him with a smile. "Thank you."
"We should get going too," Munch's voice interrupted them. "Dad just called – we gotta head down to a scene. Thanks for having us over for dinner Alex, it was nice to see you alive and well. We were worried about you."
"Aww, thanks John." Alex smiled as she let herself be enveloped in the wiry detective's embrace. "It was nice to see you guys too. Thanks for coming over. And thank you, too, for my movie – I love it."
Fin gathered the surprised blonde in his arms as soon as his partner released her. "Thanks for having us over, sweetie. Feel better soon and don't be afraid to call us if you need anything."
Alex smiled and nodded. "I will. Thank you."
Fin, Munch and Matt made their way out as a group and Alex returned to find Olivia chatting amiably with her partner as he busied himself with clearing the table.
"You don't have to do that Elliot," Alex said as she hurried into the room and began gathering empty cartons.
"Psssht," Elliot shushed her. "Like it's hard to gather this junk and throw it away. Why don't you go sit down in the living room and I'll just finish this up here before I head on out too. Kathy wanted to go see that new Katherine Heigel movie tonight and the sitter will be at the house soon."
"Are you sure El?" Olivia frowned.
"About clearing this mess, yeah," Elliot laughed. "About the movie – not really, but it'll make Kathy happy so it's worth it."
Alex smiled. "You're a good man, Elliot Stabler."
"Now you're just embarrassing me," Elliot chuckled as he shoved the last carton into a plastic bag.
"Thanks for bringing dinner over buddy," Olivia said. "It was nice to see you and the guys."
"Our pleasure," Elliot assured her. "Now, which one of you is going to lock up after me?"
"I will," Olivia answered immediately, gently steering Alex toward the living room couch that they'd wasted the day on. "I'll be right back," she smiled at Alex. "Why don't you find something good on TV and we can veg for a bit before bed."
"You got it." Alex pecked the brunette on the cheek quickly. "Thanks Elliot," she said as she waved goodbye to the detective. "We'll be at Hogan tomorrow afternoon if you guys need us for anything."
Elliot smiled. "We shouldn't, but it's nice to know just in case," he continued as he watched Alex settle herself onto the cream-colored couch and flip the television on.
"Oooh, Jeopardy!" Alex exclaimed happily.
Elliot nudged Olivia playfully. "Fun."
"It'll be an experience, I'm sure," Olivia whispered. "Probably as much as your movie with the wife," she laughed.
"The things we do for the women we love," Elliot groaned.
"Amen." Olivia smiled and chucked her partner on the shoulder. "Amen."