When Pain Doesn't Hurt Chapter 26
I don't own…blah blah blah
After sleeping half the day away and spending the rest with Elliot, Olivia was in much better spirits. It felt strange in a very comfortable way to spend time outside of work with Elliot. This part of their relationship was so new that Olivia constantly had to remind herself that it was real. This was the same guy she worked alongside for years. The same guy that she argued with, fought with and defended. The same guy she took a beating over. Olivia smiled as she admitted to herself that she'd endure Tim's wrath again if it meant she would be able to love Elliot this way.
Elliot left to pick his kids up for the evening giving Olivia some time to think about what was ahead of her in the morning. She replayed the scene in the warehouse over in her mind trying to see where she may have misunderstood Richard. No, there was no misunderstanding. Olivia wrapped her injured leg tightly and headed to the precinct gym. She loved to work out and found it cleared her mind as well.
Olivia was pleased to see Fin in the gym as well. It was well after his shift and he still had plenty of energy to burn. "Hey, baby girl. Gluten for punishment are ya?"
Olivia smiled at him as she boarded her treadmill. Fin continued to punch the bag throwing in occasional kicks. Olivia loved having Fin around. His presence made her feel comfortable in a non intrusive way. She was jogging at a steady pace, having worked up a respectable sweat when Fin appeared in front of her. He held up gloves and headgear and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"I need a sparring partner."
"I don't think so, Fin." Olivia had sparred with him before and he doesn't cut her any slack.
"Why not?" Fin asked pointedly. "Chest sore?"
"No. I'm fine." Olivia slowed the treadmill down. "Just…"
"Just what? Afraid?" Fin taunted her. He hated seeing her lack confidence in any way and he knew these past weeks had stolen so much of that from her.
Olivia glared at him. "No, I'm not afraid." Olivia lied.
The treadmill came to a stop and Fin shoved the gloves and headgear at her and cleared the equipment off the mat. She pulled on her NYPD t-shirt over her workout attire and strapped her headgear on. She slipped the gloves on and joined Fin on the mat.
Olivia raised her hands in a protective stance and watched Fin carefully. She effectively blocked each punch he threw until he landed one on her chin that pushed her off balance. She was stunned for a moment but immediately came back at him. "Take it easy, Fin. What are you trying to prove."
"What's the matter, Liv. You go soft on me?" Fin landed another punch and Olivia fell. Fin immediately followed up by approaching her only to receive a well timed, well placed kick to his abdomen. He fell back off balance allowing Olivia time to get to her feet. She was pissed, but not at Fin. She knew what he was doing and surprisingly it was working.
Fin watched Olivia carefully before coming at her with a series of punches that were all successfully defended. Olivia was breathing heavily, but felt good. She sparred with Fin for a bit longer before a few other officers entered the gym. Olivia had just removed her gloves to get some much needed water when she heard a grating, annoying voice behind her.
"Well, well. Detective Benson, playing with the big boys." Richard Gomes laughed as Olivia's posture stiffened.
Fin immediately came to Olivia's side. He had gotten the details on the warehouse situation and wanted to hurt Gomes as much as Elliot did. "What's your problem, man?" Fin growled.
"I got it, Fin." Olivia looked Richard in the eye. His face was bruised and swollen.
"Yeah, Fin. Let the little lady try to handle her own problems." Richard's buddies had joined him when Fin had gotten loud. "Whatd'ya say, Benson. Want to work out?"
"Screw you, Gomes." Olivia turned to walk away from him when he shoved her. Fin immediately got in his face, but Olivia grabbed ahold of him before fists started flying. She stood face to face with Richard and stared him down. "Yeah, let's go."
"Liv, what are you doing? You don't have to prove yourself to this idiot." Fin tried to reason with her. He was trying to help Olivia regain some of her lost confidence and now he worried he had put her in a position to get hurt. Elliot was going to kill him for this.
Olivia was focused as she slid the gloves back on. She walked around Fin and met Gomes on the mat. She threw a punch before he was ready knocking Richard off his feet. She immediately followed up with two more connecting shots while he was on the mat. Richard finally shoved her off of him, but Olivia was furious. Fin wanted to laugh, but was nervous about Gomes' retaliation. Sparring was just that, but this was personal.
Richard got to his feet and eyed Olivia. "What the hell, Benson?"
Olivia watched every movement Richard made until he charged her. She anticipated the move and easily sidestepped him landing another shot to his head. Richard definitely had the size advantage, but Olivia was trained to defend herself against and apprehend criminals twice her size.
Richard was pissed and Olivia knew it. Fin knew it as well and tried to intervene. "Liv, I think we're done here. Let it go, Gomes."
Olivia made a mistake and looked over at Fin. Richard capitalized and lowered his shoulder into Olivia's chest and drove her hard into the mat. Olivia's hands came up to protect her face and head from the blows Richard followed up with. She could barely defend herself, without any air in her lungs. Fin pulled him off of Olivia and shoved him up against the wall.
"What the fuck, man! Are you a stupid son of a bitch? Are you trying to kill her?" Fin was yelling at Gomes.
Olivia could barely hear Fin due to the sounds in her head. She heard the gunshot that wounded her. Tim's angry voice as he kicked her. The gunfire in the warehouse. Kylie's crying voice as she searched for her. She pulled herself to her feet and motioned for Gomes to return to the mat.
"Liv. Enough okay. You don't have to do this. Fuck him, he ain't nobody." Olivia stared into Fin's eyes. He had the same worried, scared for her look on his face as he did when he rescued her from Harris while undercover.
"I'm okay, Fin. I am a trained NYPD detective that has to be able to take care of myself. I'm not done with this son of a bitch." Olivia put her hands back up and Fin shook his head moving out of the way.
Richard laughed out loud before taunting Olivia. "Benson, women have no place in a man's world. You can't cut it. Got your ass kicked by your boyfriend, got yourself shot, now getting your ass kicked in the gym. Women are too weak." Richard pulled his hands up in front of his face as the two detectives squared off.
"Fuck you, Gomes." Olivia breathed out before charging him. Richard defended himself spinning Olivia around capturing her arms behind her back. In one quick, well timed move, Olivia threw her head back, catching Richard in the face. He stumbled back as his nose spewed blood all over the mat. Olivia followed up with a perfectly placed kick to the abdomen sending him flying back about four feet before he fell on his ass. She continued her assault on her asshole partner with repeated punches much like she had witnessed Elliot do to him in the warehouse.
She could hardly catch her breath when she felt strong arms pull her up off of Gomes. "Enough. Liv, enough." Fin wrapped his arms tightly around Olivia until she calmed down. Richard struggled to get to his feet. As he approached them, Fin turned so that he was facing Olivia's bloodied partner.
"You want more, Gomes, you get me." Fin wasn't a big man, but he wasn't afraid of anybody.
Richard eyed Olivia and walked off into the locker room. Olivia made her way over to the bench where she pulled her gloves and headgear off. She was sweating and breathing hard. "I'm sure I just made things a lot worse."
"Yeah, maybe." Fin couldn't help but laugh a little. "I do believe you kicked his ass, baby girl."
Olivia sat in silence before looking up at Fin. "Richard is bigger than Tim, yet I couldn't even react when…when…" Olivia couldn't finish her thought.
Fin locked eyes with her. He respected Olivia more than any other of the officers he had worked with over the years. "Liv, you loved him, right?"
"I don't know. I thought so. Thought maybe I could."
"You couldn't know he would attack you like he did. You weren't prepared. There's a big difference." Fin watched and wondered if he was getting through to her. "Nobody doubts your ability, Liv. You're a damn good cop."
Olivia smiled at Fin. Her chest was sore where Richard had plowed into her, but she felt so much better about herself.
"Nice shot with the head. Gotta admit, you had me nervous for just a second there." Fin laughed at loud.
Captain Cragen caught wind of the incident taking place in the precinct gym and hurried down. He got there in time to see Olivia squaring up with her partner. He fought with himself whether to intervene or not. He knew how it was and knew he should let the situation play out. He worried about Olivia more than any other of his detectives. He was hard on her, but he knew she could handle it. He carried a special place for her in his heart.
He felt his blood pressure rise dangerously high when Richard drove her into the mat out of anger. It was all he could do not to bust through the gym doors and shoot the asshole himself. He watched Fin pull Richard away and held his breath while Olivia regrouped. He went from feeling worry and concern to pure pride as he watched Olivia get out of Richard's hold with a perfectly placed head to the face. He laughed to himself as he headed back upstairs to his office. He dreaded tomorrow's meeting, but he so wanted Richard out of his unit. He intended to fight until he got just that.
Olivia arrived the next morning early. She started typing the reports from the case they just finished, plus updates on the previous unsolved case. She watched Cragen come in and head directly into his office. It wasn't long before Lt. Tucker arrived. He nodded at Olivia and headed into Captain Cragen's office as well. Olivia let out a long sigh and returned her attention to her reports. She looked up as Richard arrived and sat down at his desk, instantly plopping his feet up.
Olivia glanced up at him and couldn't stifle the grin that forced it's way onto her face. His nose was broken and his eyes were even more bruised then before he showed up at the gym last night. She leaned back in her chair and met his gaze. "You got something you want to say, Gomes?"
His eyes stayed locked with Olivia's. "If you're little protector wasn't there last night, I would've put you back in the hospital."
"Are you threatening me?" Olivia could feel the anger start to churn in her stomach.
"Benson, Gomes." Captain Cragen's voice interrupted what was sure to be a very heated conversation between the two detectives. Olivia stood and headed for her captain's office. Richard followed.
"Have a seat detectives." Tucker ordered. He waited until they were settled before he began.
"Detective Gomes. What happened to your face." Lt. Tucker looked confused as his injuries appeared too new.
"Nothing case related, Sir." Richard shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Olivia looked up at Cragen who was carefully studying Tucker.
"Detective Benson. Give me your account of the events from two nights ago as it pertains to the case of Anthony Reynolds."
When Olivia finished giving her statement, Richard was asked to do the same. Olivia listened to Richard lie his way though the warehouse scene and wondered how this would play out. She looked to Cragen who refused to meet her glance. The detectives were excused while Tucker remained to talk with Cragen.
"So what do ya think, Benson? Think they'll split us up?" Richard's eyes were arrogantly glued to Olivia's ass as she made her way to get coffee.
"If there's a God in heaven." Olivia answered more to herself than to Gomes. She turned around catching him watching her body. She wondered how much more disrespect she could take from this man.
"I bet your ex-partner assaulted me simply because I am now your partner." Richard stated as he sat on the edge of Olivia's desk after she had sat down. He leaned in to speak with a lower voice. "Probably knows how close partners can get and is worried."
Olivia leaned back in her chair and stared Richard down. "Get off my desk."
Richard ignored Olivia's demand. "You're such a tough bitch…make me."
Olivia fought the urge to swing at him. He was trying to provoke her into losing her temper.
"How long have you been doing your old partner? I'm sure those late night stakeouts weren't as bad as they're made out to be." Richard reached out to touch Olivia's face. She grabbed his wrist and bent his hand back until he was off her desk and on his knees in pain.
"Don't ever touch me." Olivia walked away and headed to the locker room. She ran cold water over face in an attempt to cool her temper. She refused to let Gomes or Tucker win by giving it all up, but she was so tired of fighting. When she returned, she noticed Gomes was in Cragen's office. It was a few minutes before he headed out and started packing up his personal belongings out of Elliot's desk. Olivia watched with interest before glancing towards Cragen's office. He motioned for her to come in and to have a seat, closing the door behind her.
Cragen sat back down behind his desk as Lt. Tucker moved to stand in front of Olivia. "Detective Benson, it has been brought to my attention that your partnership with Detective Gomes isn't working out."
Olivia looked between her captain and Tucker. "No comment, Benson?" Tucker seemed impatient.
"Wasn't asked a question." Olivia was hoping that Tucker was considering giving her Elliot back.
Tucker ran his hand over his face in frustration. "Relax, detective. I will be reassigning you." Tucker nodded towards Cragen and headed out of the office. Once he was gone, Cragen got up and closed the door.
"Gomes is being given the opportunity to retire, otherwise he will be disciplined. Severely disciplined; like fired. Loss of pension, benefits, ect."
Olivia watched her boss as he leaned on his desk in front of her, his arms crossed against his chest. "Olivia, I'm pretty sure I already know, but are you and Elliot involved…intimately?"
Olivia knew they wouldn't give her Elliot back, so she had no reason to hide the best thing that has ever happened to her. "Only recently."
Cragen sighed and walked around to his desk and sat down. "Okay."
"What happens now?" Olivia could feel the tension in the small office.
Cragen leaned back in his chair and smiled at Olivia. "It means you will be reassigned a new partner. It means Elliot stays in Queens and it means you finally have somebody that you deserve and that I am sure will treat you the way you deserve to be treated."
Olivia smiled and got to her feet. "Thank you, Captain."
"One more thing, Detective. What did happen to Gomes' face?" Cragen asked as if he didn't know.
"Well, I needed a sparring partner and who better than my partner at the time." Olivia reached for the door.
"If you say so. I need those reports before the end of day today." Cragen smiled telling Olivia he knew exactly what happened to Gomes' face.