Chapter 21 - Call

SVU Squad Room • Tuesday, September 2nd • 7:23 a.m.

Jake arrived before Olivia, which was a rarity. He had coffee, tea and bagels for everyone. Munch eyed him as he crossed the room.

"Well, well, well. Got a little sun, did we?" Munch had to comment on Jake's tan and slightly red face.

"Yep. Spent the whole day riding, fishing, swimming and sunning. Perfect holiday," Jake grinned as he set the bag of bagels and tray of cups on his desk.

"Hear that?" Munch turned as he directed the question to Fin. "While we were running all around Manhattan, he's out soaking up the sun and having a grand old time."

The food had caught Fin's attention and he came around to Jake's desk. "Yea, I hear 'im. Perfect, huh? Ain't perfect unless you had a woman to hang wit' ya," Fin mumbled around the huge bite he had taken of a blueberry bagel.

"Fin's right. So spill. Who was your date, Zoumberis?" Munch questioned as he filled a cup of coffee with sugar and creamer.

Jake merely laughed as he sat down and logged into his computer. While he waited for it to boot up, he leaned over the desk and folded his arms, "Who said I had a date?"

Munch and Fin exchanged glances and then looked over Jake's head as Olivia entered the squad room. They both broke out in huge grins and started high five-ing each other.

"What?" Jake asked and then turned to see Olivia as she strode into the squad room.

"So, Olivia looks like you got quite a bit of sun. Tell me, how'd you like riding on a motorcycle?" Munch asked.

Fin's statement followed quickly behind it, "I ain't never heard of you fishing!"

Staring at the two men, her mouth fell open, she raised her left eyebrow and shifted her eyes to Jake, "You told them?"

Jake innocently held his hands out and shrugged, "No. You just did."

Rolling her eyes, her hands went to her hips as she glared teasingly at Munch and Fin.

"Olivia, you know there are no secrets in the SVU," Munch added, still grinning mischievously.

Elliot had come out of his office to refill his coffee mug and heard Munch's last declaration. "Secrets? Who's got secrets?" he asked as he poured the thick, brown sludge.

Munch twisted around to look at him, "Seems our colleagues spent their last day before returning to the grind, riding, fishing and swimming and as a bonus they now sport deep, golden tans."

"I ain't never figured out why white folks want to lay out in the hot sun, sweatin' and bein' miserable just to get darker," Fin shook his head.

Elliot's head felt like it would explode at this new information. "Riding?" His gaze swept from Jake to Olivia and back again.

"Motorcycle. I've got a Harley Davidson," Jake explained suddenly very uncomfortable under the glare of Elliot's narrowed eyes as the scene from Sunday night popped into his head.

"Hmmm…well, the two of you should be rested up enough then to jump right into work, huh?" Elliot's smirk was indicative of what he had in store for them.

He stared at Jake then slowly shifted his gaze to Olivia. Her already olive complexion was tanned a deep brown. The highlights in her hair seemed lighter. She simply glowed from her day in the sun. The woman was incredibly attractive. He wished he were not so angry with her. He wanted to talk to her, to be with her. Breathe her in. Realizing she would not hold his gaze, he pushed the thoughts away. She looked guilty. Guilty of what, he wondered, as his imagination began supplying possible answers?

She caught his eyes but then looked down at the floor as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She then glanced up at Jake. He licked his lips and looked back at Elliot, "Uh…yes, Sir. I'd say we're ready to jump right back in, Sir."

"Good. You get started on file room two. Munch and Fin didn't have time to put files back and they've piled up since we were short two detectives," Elliot tilted his head in the direction of the file rooms. "Benson, you clear off all the files on the table in Interrogation room three and work on file room one. I'll expect everything to be in place by lunchtime."

The four detectives traded looks. They all knew this was punishment. And though no one said a word and no one would ever put it to words, they knew it was because Elliot was not happy about Jake and Olivia spending the day together. Now they were going to spend the day apart filing. Grunt work. Work that a student clerk took care of most days.

Olivia's head jerked up to meet Elliot's cool stare and managed to shoot him a heated glare. Elliot simply folded his arms across his chest and returned the look it with a sarcastic smirk. She continued eye contact with him as she huffed her way to the interrogation room. Jake saw the exchange between them and shook his head as he headed for file room number two.

Four hours and ten minutes later, Elliot was in his office when Olivia made her way to her desk after finishing her part of the filing. He was on the phone but he glanced up briefly as she came in. Reaching for something on his desk, he quickly turned away from her. She felt her stomach flip flop because she could tell just from those actions that he was not going to make this easy. He was still angry. She sighed and settled at her desk. She really wasn't hungry, but took a cinnamon and raisin bagel from the morning and spread cream cheese on half of it. She could not believe he had them putting away files all morning. Yes, she could. She knew it was his way of making sure she knew he had the upper hand. Well, he may think he has the upper hand, but she would show him a thing or two.

"You okay?" Jake asked as he sat down at his desk across from her. "Liv?"

"Hmmm?" His words finally registered with her, "Oh…yea. I'm fine. You finish?" She smiled and sat up straighter.

He nodded his head, "How about we get some real food, huh?" He looked at the bagel she was holding.

"Great idea. Just a second," she turned to her computer and quickly typed something. "Let's go," she answered and grabbed her cell and stood up.

Anything to get out of there, to put some distance between her and Elliot, even if she didn't feel like eating. Oh, there was already plenty of distance, but she wanted the physical distance, too. She was not sure how much longer she could bear to be this close to him and yet know things were anything but right with the two of them. Dropping the bagel in the trash, she followed Jake out the double doors.

******

Elliot was still on the phone when he glanced out and saw Olivia and Jake leaving. The blood rushed to his head and he wanted to run to the door and holler out to them, asking where they were going. Almost simultaneously his computer beeped to let him know he had a new email. He clicked on the icon of the letter and saw that Olivia had emailed him.

Date:September 2

To: Stabler, Elliot (NYPD/MNSVU)

From:Benson, Olivia (NYPD/MNSVU)

Subject: Is it okay if we eat?

Finished filing. Jake and I are getting lunch.

He laughed as he read her email. It wasn't like she was really asking permission since she went on to inform him that she and Jake were going to lunch. He knew she was being a smart…well, she was being sarcastic. Since there was no case they were involved in and they had a right to a break, she wasn't doing anything wrong. But he sure was ticked off. He knew she was also throwing it in his face that he could separate them at work and make them do any number of less than detective worthy duties, but he had no control over what they did off the clock.

"Captain?"

The voice at his door brought him out of his funk over Olivia and Jake being together. He looked up to see Jessica McDaniel standing there. Groaning inwardly, he rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. The ADA was the last person he wanted see standing there. She had on a deep purple skirt suit with a lavender shell. Her long blond hair was straight today instead of flowing with its usual curls. She was a very attractive woman. One that Elliot did not want to deal with right now.

"Jessica…hi. What brings you to SVU?" he asked. They did not have anything pressing that she would need to discuss with him and he had no idea why she was there.

"Oh…I was just wondering…I have a few questions about the Delgado case…and I…uh…thought we could grab some lunch and talk…that is, if you don't have any plans…" she suggested uncertainly.

Must be getting old, Stabler, he thought to himself. A gorgeous woman is asking you to have lunch and you don't want to go.

Smiling, he stood and walked toward her, "Well, I have no plans and I am starving. Got somewhere in mind?"

"Oh…um…no…where ever you'd like to go will be fine with me," she smiled, clearly relieved that he had agreed to accompany her.

Sid's Deli • Tuesday, September 2nd • 12:15 p.m.

They walked three blocks to Sid's, a favorite lunchtime choice at the precinct. They both got sandwiches and a salad and found an empty table for two in front of the window. Once seated Jessica began asking Elliot some questions about Dante Delgado and if there had been anything new on the case. They had been talking for about fifteen minutes when a woman's laughter caught Elliot's attention. Not just any woman. Discreetly looking around for its source, he quickly found Olivia. And Jake. Immediately his blood pressure spiked and he felt the anger he had been nursing since Sunday wash over him like lava spewing from a long simmering volcano. He was aware of Jessica talking but he no longer was able to process her words or even pretend to pay any attention to her.

"Elliot? Elliot?" she called his name several times and finally turned to see what he was so intently staring at and then she understood. Or at least she thought she understood. Olivia must be the woman that he was 'interested' in.

Reaching over, she touched his arm, "Captain?"

His head jerked toward Jessica, "What?" His voice was brusque and he realized he had snapped at her. "I'm sorry…what did you say?"

"I said…are you ready to leave?" she asked. She had not really said that but realized she had lost his attention and was fairly certain she would not regain it again.

On their way out, Olivia saw Elliot and Jessica. While her heart constricted with something…a tightness…a dread…they waited in line to pay for their meal and she was able to watch them from the corner of her eye. Then to her to her dismay they stood and she knew they would be coming up to the register. She wanted to run. Instead she reminded herself that this was not seventh grade and as Elliot had so clearly reminded her, she had no claims on him. They were both acting like jilted lovers when neither one of them had the right. She hoped against hope that the line would move quickly and they could get out of there before having to face them.

Jake turned around and took her by the arm, "I got you covered. Let's go." He had paid for her lunch, too.

Breathing a sigh of relief she glanced one more time toward Elliot just as he turned toward her. Their eyes locked for several long seconds, but then Jessica said something and he looked away. Olivia and Jake left. The gnawing in her stomach made her glad that she had only eaten a small salad and drank water because she felt she might be seeing even that little bit again.

SVU Squad Room • Tuesday, September 2nd • 3:15 p.m.

Putting the last of their reports into an envelope, Olivia felt her cell phone vibrating against her hip. Looking at the caller ID, she frowned because it said 'unknown caller'. She hated answering those kinds of calls and most of the time did not, but with the two cases they had going on, it could be someone with information.

"Benson."

There was silence but she could hear someone breathing. Great. An obscene phone call on her cell phone. These pervs must dial numbers at random. She started to hang up but decided to give it one more try.

"This is Detective Benson. May I help you?"

"Detective?" the soft, uncertain voice asked.

Olivia sat up straight at the sound of a young girl's voice. "Yes. Who am I speaking with, please?"

"It's…it's Jade."

Jade Delgado. Drawing a deep breath, Olivia motioned for Jake and spoke again, "Jade, are you okay, sweetie?"

Jake came around to sit on the edge of Olivia's desk, their eyes meeting as Olivia spoke.

"Yes…no…I mean…I want to talk to you, but my Mom doesn't want me to," she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Honey, we can talk right now," Olivia told her. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

There was a long pause, "He…my Dad…" Another long pause and she changed the direction of the conversation. "Uh…can we talk in person?"

"Okay. Where are you? I'll come to you," Olivia told her as Jake shook his head rapidly from side to side. Her brows drew together in a frown at his action.

"No…I…I'm at home…uh…will you meet me at the bodega four blocks from my house?"

Olivia's eyes narrowed in thought as she tried to place the location, "You mean the one on the corner with the pharmacy? Near the bookstore?"

"Uh-huh…"

"When?"

"Thirty minutes?"

"Okay…I'll be there."

No sooner had she flipped her phone shut than Jake started in on her. "Liv, you know you can't do this."

"What am I supposed to do, Z? She called me for help! " She ran a hand through her hair stopping at her neck and rubbing at the tension gathering there.

"And what are we going to tell the Captain?" he nodded toward Elliot's office. A couple of unis were in there with him.

Olivia looked over at Elliot, then back at Jake and shrugged, "Nothing. At least not yet."

"Liv…" Jake's exasperation bled into his voice.

"She's a young girl, Jake! She wants help! She wants to talk!" her voice was getting dangerously close to calling unwanted attention to their argument.

"Yea? And her mother said we were not to talk to her! And so did Stabler. She's a minor. This won't end well, Olivia. We'll end up with out butts in a sling," Jake leaned closer to her taking care to keep his voice low as he warned her.

Olivia stared into his green eyes and noted the worry in his expression. "Oh, I get it, now," she snorted and shook her head, stood up and grabbed the keys to the sedan, "Don't worry. Stay here and finish the reports. I'll take care of this." In less time than it took for him to blink, she was headed for the door walking faster than she usually did and Jake knew she was mad.

Rolling his eyes and exhaling a sigh of surrender, he pushed off from the desk and ran to catch up with her. He slid into the passenger side of the brown sedan and pulled the seatbelt around his waist just as she turned the key in the ignition.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, glaring at him, her hands gripping the steering wheel.

"Watching my partner's back," he grinned at her, "What are you waiting for?"

Staring at him for a second, she asked, "You sure?" She couldn't help but show him a small smile.

"Yea, I'm sure. Nothing better to do. We finished the reports, remember?" he cocked an eyebrow at her, then looked out the window. "I trust you, Liv. I'll back your play." He looked back at her and tipped his head, "Let's go."

Corner Bodega, Loisaida Avenue • Tuesday, September 2nd • 3:43 p.m.

"There she is," Jake pointed toward Jade leaning against the brick wall of the pharmacy near the bodega. She wore fashionably tattered jeans, a red tank top and red flip-flops.

Olivia pulled the sedan over, parking across the street. "Hang close, but let me do the talking. I don't want her to be any more uncomfortable about this than she already is."

"Okay," Jake agreed although he was still convinced this was not a good idea. His gut told him this was going to come back to bite them in the butt.

Crossing the street a bit ahead of him, Jake watched Olivia go to Jade. Though he could hear their voices he could not make out what they were saying. He bought a couple of bottles of iced tea at the bodega and dutifully stood guard over the area.

"Jade? You okay?" Smiling, Olivia walked toward the young girl.

"Not here…can we…uh…talk over there?" she pointed toward a bench in a clump of trees outside the bodega.

"Sure," Olivia followed her and took a seat to her left. Close but not too close.

Jade nervously surveyed their surroundings as Olivia watched her and looked around, too. "Would you feel better if went to get a soda or something at the diner?"

Quickly bringing her eyes to meet Olivia's, Jade shook her head, "No. This way it looks more like a chance meeting, don't you think?"

Smiling slightly, Olivia had to admit the young girl was smart, and she agreed, "Yes, it does."

"Mom will kill me if she finds out I talked to you," she brushed her hair behind her ears and looked away.

"Jade…I don't want you to go against your Mom, but there are times when you know it is the right thing to do. This is one of those times," Olivia tried to provide a balance of assurance and support for her.

Jade looked at Olivia for a long moment, her dark brown eyes searching Olivia's and finally deciding she could trust her, she smiled and nodded. "Mom thinks if I tell these things, that it will ruin me and Sierra and our family, but I don't see it like that…because…because I…I haven't done anything wrong. So why would it ruin me?" Jade questioned as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie…" reaching out, Olivia patted her shoulder in comfort.

"Jade Madeira Delgado! Cuáles son usted que hace?! Vaya a casa! Ahora! Vaya!" The angry voice of Lupe Delgado crackled in the air around them.

Jade jumped up from the bench just as Lupe grabbed her by the arm and shoved her in the direction from which she had just come.

"Mama! Déjeme por favor decir Benson detective. ¡Por favor, Mama!

"Lupe…please…let Jade talk to…" Olivia stood and held her hands out toward Lupe in a calming gesture.

Lupe turned to Jade who had stopped about ten feet from them, and told her again, "Vaya a casa!¡Vaya! ¡Ahora!" She then whirled toward Olivia, shaking her index finger at her, "I tell you not to talk to my daughter. I tell you to leave us alone." She was shaking with her anger.

"Mrs. Delgado, Detective Benson is only trying to help," Jake was suddenly at Olivia's side also attempting to calm Lupe.

"We do not need your help! I will speak to your superiors about this! You stay away from my daughter!" Lupe backed away from them, her eyes jumping with anger.

Olivia and Jake watched as she caught up with Jade, snatched her by the arm pushing her along as Jade looked over her shoulder at them. They could hear her chewing her out in Spanish all the way down the street.

"Well, that went real well," Jake said what he was thinking, dreading Lupe following through with her threat and wondering how they would explain this to Captain Stabler.

Dragging her hands through her hair, Olivia glared at him, "Shut up, Jake."

She headed for the sedan, Jake running once again to catch up with her.

SVU Squad Room • Wednesday, September 3 • 10:07 a.m.

The morning had been relatively calm. Jake had been holding his breath waiting for the Captain to call them into his office for a royal dressing down because Lupe Delgado had finally contacted him. Olivia didn't seem phased at the possibility of getting reamed out at all. They had talked to Elliot about CSI's preliminaries of the evidence found at the scene of the attack in her apartment. When they were finished, Jake left the office but Olivia hung back. She had decided to try again to talk to Elliot about Sunday.

"El?" she was standing and anxiously twisting the ring on her right ring finger. She bit her lower lip while she waited for his response.

"Yes, Detective?" he answered as he merely glanced up from the report he had gone back to reading and then quickly turned his attention back to it. She was so nervous, he thought. Not at all like the Olivia he was used to dealing with on a daily basis.

Detective. Okay, so he was still peeved. He answered his nickname with her formal title. She pulled a chair close to his desk and sat down, "Can we talk about Sunday?"

Laying the report down, his eyes met hers, his face was stone, his voice emotionless, "I got nothing to say."

Nodding her head, she looked down at the floor and then back at him, her eyes narrowed. She licked her lip as she released it from its hold between her teeth, "So, we just…never going to talk again?"

"We're talking now," he answered, chewing on he inside of his cheek.

Noting that this was a habit he did when he was extremely upset, she knew this was still bothering him whether he had 'nothing to say' or not.

"Elliot," she rolled her eyes, "that's not what I mean and you know it."

"Well, I already told you…I got nothing to say," he picked up the report and started reading it again.

She could not believe he was doing this but she got his message. Loud and clear. He was through with her. She sighed and stood up. She stared at him as he continued to read, ignoring her. Just two days ago she was ready to spill her guts to him about her feelings and now he was completely shutting her down. They were so screwed up it was a wonder that they had ever managed to stay partners so long. Maybe, just maybe she was through with him, too.

She left his office unaware that his eyes never left her as she made her way across the room and to her desk. He heard the heaviness of her sigh; saw the slump of her shoulders, and the listlessness of her walk. He knew she was hurt by the way he was acting. He knew they should talk it out and they would, but he was not ready just yet. He was still too hurt and angry to deal with her rationally.

The image in his mind that had played over and over since Sunday evening was now seared in his brain. It seemed every time he closed his eyes he would see her kiss Jake. He reminded himself it was just on the cheek. But then his alter ego reminded him that all he saw was when she kissed him on the cheek. He was not there for the real action. Bottom line…he was still too jealous over whatever it was going on between her and Zoumberis to be able to calmly discuss what had happened Sunday. That Olivia was at least as upset about Jessica, for some reason, never entered his mind.

The ringing of his phone demanded that he turn his attention away from Olivia and their relationship problems to answer the offender. Anything would be better than thinking about her right now. "Special Victims Unit. Captain Stabler."

eoeoeoeo