From Hell To Heaven
A/N I know, I've actually updated on time for once lol
Gold stars for my fantastic reviewers; iRang, courtneylovejason, 70s80sfanficlover, Miyu Ca, Lesya74, maerae93, DeLene, SteffieDawn, Amber77 & spacekitten2700. Another big thank you to those who also added story alerts- iRang, 70s80sfanficlover, liviabenson17 & gabbie; and thanks to those of you who already have x MAJOR thank you to Jennifer Catlin DiNozzo (love the name lol) for adding to favourite story, favourite author, author alert, story alert AND a review! ^.^ Have a kiss from Tony as a reward *God he's so cute :P*
Spacekitten2700 mentioned it was time for the baddies to go and for Liv to heal...as much as I love Olivia, I'm afraid there's a bit more heartache to come before she possibly gets her happy ending. This chapter is more domestic based- Elliot and Olivia have always worked well together, they're the perfect partnership. But even soulmates have arguements sometimes, this chapter reminds them how great they are together and puts E back with O.
Chapter 25- Recover What Is Precious
Elliot sat in the car for a second, debating if he should drive past the coffee shop, just for a second, just to see if she was ok.
'If you don't trust your partner, Elliot, it's time to get a new one.' her voice sounded in his memory.
He turned the ignition. He sped off around the corner. 'She's capable of taking care of herself.' he reminded himself.
xXx
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Elliot turned to see Cragen frowning and striding across the squadroom to him.
"I'm pretty sure I work here." Elliot chuckled. "Or did I get fired while I was out?" he joked.
"Why aren't you with Olivia?" Cragen asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"We were just at the lab-"
"Liv filled me in on everything." Cragen interrupted.
"And then she went for coffee." Elliot shrugged.
There was an awkward pause.
"What? What is it?" Elliot demanded. 'Let me guess, you're pissed at me too for upsetting her?'
"Elliot, Olivia's taking the rest of the day off." Cragen said.
"What?"
"She told me what you found on the note, I figured she needed a break. I assumed you'd be with her." Cragen shrugged.
"Well, she's got her gun, she can protect herself." Elliot said awkwardly; Olivia was his partner and he didn't even know where she was, it was just embarrassing.
"Even Wonderwoman needs time off now and then." Cragen joked, heading for his office.
Elliot grabbed his phone and automatically dialled the number. It rang once and then went to voicemail.
"Hey Liv, er- I spoke to Cragen." he paused. He had no idea what to say; if she was still angry anything he said would simply annoy her more. "Just...give me a call when you get this...I love you." He hung up, knowing she had probably ignored the call.
xXx
Olivia sat in the coffee shop, furthest from the window, but facing it. 'See them before they see you,' as Munch would say. She had a cup of coffee in her hands. It had been nearly 45 minutes since she had left Elliot at the car. She knew she had scared him, but that note had scared her. Every hurdle she had faced, she had defeated. Only for another one to appear. She felt helpless. She felt isolated. She felt shameful, especially now she had told Elliot every disgusting detail of what Harris did, and how her mind was torturing her with nightmares and panic attacks. 'God, he must think I'm such a wreck.' but the little voice in her head spoke for her. 'No, he loves you.'
She smiled a little. but she rolled her eyes as she saw Fin approaching.
"Back of the shop, you turnin' in to Munch?"
"Fin, what're you doing here?" she challenged.
He dropped in to the seat opposite her. "Ain't it obvious? What the hell'd Stabler do now?"
"Nothing. He didn't do anything." she defended.
"Huh." Fin merely grunted, doubtfully.
They sat quietly for a moment. "He put his foot in it." she blurted.
"Don't he always?" Fin muttered.
"He's trying to make it better, he really is; he's giving it his all..." she trailed off.
"But he just doesn't understand?" Fin finished.
Olivia ran her hand through her hair and finally looked at him. After a moment she nodded defeatedly.
"He knows what happened. I told him."
Fin nodded knowingly.
"He understands in the way you understand when a victim reports something; he knows the facts and details...but he didn't see the basement. He didn't see me being thrown around and beaten. And he didn't see me cuffed to those bars with Harris standing over." she shivered. "But you did." she added hesitantly.
"Don't remind me." he muttered, hating the image in his head just as much as he had that day. "Liv, you can work through this, Elliot's just tryin' to help. And, don't tell him I said this...but he's good for you. No matter what he accidentally says when he's angry." he said, giving her a knowing look.
'So he heard what Elliot said? Oh God!' she panicked. But as she looked at him, she knew he wasn't looking at her differently.
"Thanks Fin." she said appreciatively.
Fin checked his watch. "It's getting late-"
"It's only 4." she laughed.
"Exactly; dinner time." he uncharacteristically smirked.
She smirked back. 'Men and their food.'
"Come on, you can come back to my place and get some food in your stomach." he said, standing up.
"You can cook?" she asked in surprise.
"No, but I can order."
She chuckled; they had the same cooking ability.
xXx
7.25PM "Hey Liv, I just got home, just checking you're ok. Love you." ~beep!~
8.34PM "Liv, it's El again. It's getting late; just need to know you're safe." ~beep!~
9.13PM "Liv, it's El, please call me back. Love ya." ~beep!~
10.02PM "Liv, where are you? You're starting to worry me. Just call me. Please. Or text me, anything, please?" ~beep!~
10.52PM "The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please hang up and try again later." ~beep!~
Elliot hung up in defeat. If she had turned her phone off, she was still ignoring him; she was still safe. He dropped his cell phone on to the bedside table and dropped back on the pillow.
xXx
Olivia edged along the corridor toward's the apartment. It was 11.58; she had stayed at Fin's longer than expected. She was surprised how watching TV with a friend could be such a relief, but Fin's view on the guests on Jerry Springer were hilarious. Fin had offered her his bed for the night (while he slept on the couch of course). She had seriously considered it, not because she didn't want to go home to Elliot, but because it was late, cold out and she honestly felt too tired to move. At least that was until she rummaged for her cell phone to call Elliot and she knocked her wallet out. It was until she picked it up that she saw the key tucked inside. She knew instinctively that it was to his- now 'their'- apartment. Fin had drove her home, politely not asking why they were at Elliot's.
She turned the key in the door but it wouldn't budge. She frowned and wiggled it in the lock. Nothing. She took it back out and hesitated. She turned the handle and the door opened smoothly. He had left the door open for her. She closed it and locked it behind her. She headed straight to the window. Fin's car was still idling on the curb. She waved down, he flashed his headlights and then drove off.
She headed towards the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. She opened the refridgerator to find a yellow post-it stuck to the jug. Scribbled in Elliot's handwriting was: "Chow mein in the oven. Went to bed, love you"
She couldn't help but smile and look longingly at the bedroom door.
'He's probably been out of his mind; never pegged him for a hopeless romantic.'
What he said was out of line, but Fin was right; he's just trying to help. She had yelled at him, cursed at him and ignored him nearly all day. But he was still here. Still waiting for her to come home. She flicked off the light and headed for the bedroom.
She opened the door as quietly as she could and closed it equally as quietly. From the dim light pouring through the window she could see he had picked up their dirty clothes from the previous nights together. She quickly stripped down to her underwear. She grabbed one of his white undershirts from the pile of laundrey and slipped in on. she peeled back the covers and carefully edged herself in. Elliot was lying on the far edge of the bed and the distance between them seemed huge; she hated it. She leaned across and ran the tip of her finger down his back, following the natural curve. His skin was hot to the touch. She smiled and moved closer, longing for his strong arms around her.
"Elliot," she called quietly. From his deep, even breathing she could tell he was still asleep. As she reached out to touch his arm, he tossed in his sleep, shifted roughly on to his back beside her. She smirked.
She lowered herself down and kissed his chest. She glanced up to see it had had no effect. She kissed a little further down, the base of his ribs. He shifted a little. She pressed her lips delicately just above the waistline of his shorts, flicking her tongue out across his hot skin. She ran her hands up his strong thighs, caressing the firm muscles that wrapped around them. He twitched a little, her saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. She smirked and continued her hands up his thighs until her fingertips grazed the muscles that join his leg to his hip. he jumped awake in an instance, bolting upright. She instinctively wrapped her arms around him as he did the same, blinking in confusion at finding Olivia kneeling between his legs in the middle of the night.
"Liv?" he frowned, she felt his warm breath on her skin as his chin rested on her shoulder.
"I came home." was all she said.
His hands were under in his own shirt in seconds, his fingertips following the path of her spine. "Liv, I'm so sorry-"
"You don't need to apologise." she cut off, her eyes wandering appreciatively across his face, one side glowing from the streetlights.
"No, I do. What I say...it was stupid, I didn't mean it. You were pushing me away and my instinct was to lash out."
"I know." she smiled.
"You know?"
"Elliot, I've been your partner for years; do you really think I wouldn't know that about you?"
"I didn't mean to hurt you." His hands trailed up her ribcage.
"You didn't." she said, her tone faint as she murmured appreciate of his actions. "Is it my turn to apologise?" she asked as he helped her remove his shirt.
"No," he murmured, nuzzling at the crook of her neck. "You don't have anything to apologise for." He nipped at her skin, smiling when she jumped a little.
"I do," she insisted.
"Oh yeah?" He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, she could feel him pressing against her thin panties. "What would that be?"
"1) I didn't consider your feelings."
'My feelings? Is she serious? After everything she's been through- still going through- she's worried how I'm feeling?' he thought. How could a person be so selfless?
"I forgot that you're in this with me-"
"'Til the end." he added, kissing down her chest. She thrusted against him with every delicate kiss that fluttered against her skin.
"2) I-er..."
"Losing your train of thought?" he chuckled, having just unclipped her bra. He guided it down her arms, before tossing it to the floor.
She leaned in for a kiss but he turned his head. "You're still apologising." he teased, dying to capture her lips against his own. She heard her moan of pleasure and frustration. "2)?" he urged.
"2) I'm sorry for scaring you; I should have called." He noted how she met his eyes in sincerity, irrelevant of how much they were trying to roll back in pleasure. His thumbs were skipping across her breasts, deliberately avoiding the spot she wanted him to touch most.
"And 3)-" she faltered as his tongue flicked across the raised bud of her nipple. "And 3)" she pressed on, her nails clawing at his bare back. "To think I spend the last two hours watching Jerry Springer when I could have been here with you in our apartment."
He had no clue what she meant about Springer but chuckled anyway; seeing her smile was like sunshine. In one swift moment he had her on her back, her legs high on his waist and their cores brushing against each other.
"I take it you found my gift." he said in a husky bedroom-voice tone. She merely nodded with a wider smile and tugged at his shorts. He smirked.
"I don't know about you, Detective Stabler, but I'm feeling awfully warm with all these clothes on." she said ironically, seeing as she was only in her panties and Elliot was barely wearing shorts; as she continued easing them down. They both smiled endeeringly. It took precisely 3 seconds for both of them to get completely naked. But 3 seconds were only a little sacrifice of time to waste when they had the whole night ahead of them.
A/N I had to have Olivia reacting to the note in someway but I didn't want tears; God knows she's had enough of those. I really wanted to address that although Elliot is so understanding, he'll never fully understand what it was like for her, only Fin knows what it was like down there. And yet Elliot tries his best (he's so amazing), and of course I had to bring them back together.