When Pain Doesn't Hurt Chapter 29
I don't own the show or the characters except the supporting ones I've created. (Does anybody else miss Mary?)
Olivia emerged from the bathroom feeling a bit guilty. She knew Elliot wanted to help her deal with all she was feeling right now, but she had shut him out. She sighed as she sat on her coffee table watching him doze. He had waited so long for her to get out of the shower that he had drifted off. This was all so new to her, to them. So much had transpired between her and Elliot these last few months and she couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. As thrilled as she was to be able to love Elliot the way she had dreamed of for years, she was even more afraid of losing him. She knew her tendencies when she felt this way was to push the man in the picture away. She definitely didn't want to do that with Elliot.
She realized how long she had been in the shower and couldn't help but feel sorry for Elliot. He had made himself a sandwich and was nursing a beer that had since grown warm. She took the beer bottle from him and carefully placed it on the side table before leaning in towards him. She could smell the beer on his breath but that didn't stop her from pressing her lips to his. It only took a few seconds before Elliot was awake and fully participating.
"I'm sorry I took so long." Olivia apologized after pulling back from him.
"I told you…take as long as you need." Elliot kept eye contact with her until his mouth was on hers again. His hands were in her damp hair holding her still so he could make her feel how much he wanted her. He still found it so hard to believe that he was kissing Olivia Benson, his partner. She would always be his partner, they both knew that.
Olivia effortlessly undid and removed his tie before starting on the buttons of his shirt. She ran her hands over his chest while she continued to explore his mouth with her tongue. Elliot pulled Olivia up with him as he stood from the couch. He took her hand and led her to her bedroom. He slowly undid her robe and let it fall open exposing all of her to him. He was so mesmerized by her beauty that he had frozen where he stood. Olivia moved her arms to cover her chest, making sure to hide the ugly reminder of how close they had come to never having this.
"Don't." Elliot whispered gently moving her arms from her body. He closed the distance between them taking her in his arms. He held her tightly against his body instinctively knowing what she needed. She had a tough, emotional day and he wanted to make sure she knew he was there for her. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his own with every breath she took.
"I love you." Elliot's words were soft, yet strong as he cupped her face making her look him in the eye. There were tears forming in Olivia's eyes as she stared at him.
A smile began to appear on Olivia's face as she continued her assault on her partner. She made fast work of his belt and unbuttoned his pants. Elliot took control at this point lowering her to the bed. His mouth was on hers again and his hands roamed her body. Being together like this was still new to them, but Elliot felt confident he could read his partner well enough to know if she wasn't comfortable. He lowered his lips from her mouth to her throat. He could feel her tremble underneath him, and he briefly wondered if he should slow down. He noticed her breathing pattern was changing and he looked up to make sure she was okay.
"I love you too, El." Olivia whispered as her hands held his face until he reached for them with his own. He continued his trail down to her chest starting at her scar. It was a scary reminder of what he could've lost, but it's also why he was here, about to make love to her.
And that is what he did. They lost themselves to each other for hours before exhaustion claimed them both. He would wake to see her peacefully sleeping next to him and he simply stared. He said a silent prayer thanking God for letting her live. For giving him the opportunity to love her. His thoughts went to that terrible night when she should have died. The blood running through his fingers as he tried to stop it. The fear and panic that wrecked his body as he frantically called for help. How on earth did she survive? How did she put up with him all these years? She stood up to him and took him on when he was out of line. She propped him up when he was ready to cash it all in. She let him hurt her with his angry words when he was mad at everything, but her. She took it…for him. She took it, the bullet from Williams that would've surely killed him.
"You think loud." Olivia murmured without opening her eyes. Elliot was startled from his thoughts not realizing she was awake. He smiled at her as his hands reached for her body yet again.
Olivia yawned as she poured herself her morning coffee. "Late night?" Fin startled her as he came up behind her to fetch his own coffee.
Olivia gave Fin a friendly smile as she made her way to her desk. She carefully placed her coffee on the desk and pulled out her chair. Fin had followed taking the opportunity to talk with her before the others arrived.
"Good job yesterday…in court." he knew it was a tough day for her.
"Thanks, Fin. I'm just glad it's over."
"I take it you heard about Gomes?" Fin watched as Olivia's facial features showed that she hadn't.
"Served the suspension, but fought to stay on board. They moved him back to homicide."
Olivia just shook her head. "It's just as well, I suppose. He's got no business dealing with victims; especially children."
"I hear that." Fin agreed. He greeted John as he made his way to his desk.
"How'd it go yesterday?" John smiled at Olivia as he settled in.
"It went well, John, thanks." Olivia really liked her new partner. She would have rather still had Elliot side by side every day, but John was holding his own.
The new partners worked together on following up on leads on their current cases. John had a knack for this division. He was compassionate, yet tough. He was likable and even traumatized female victims didn't always shy away from him. Every now and then he'd tease his partner with a joke about Elliot, but all in all he respected Olivia. He knew he could stand to learn a lot from her and he took his position as her partner seriously.
Cragen knew they had found a sufficient replacement for Stabler with John Sims. He was sold as he watched Olivia and John in the interrogation room with a suspect wanted for three uptown rapes. Olivia worked her magic while John played along. They seemed to feed off of each other naturally. Olivia was frustrating the suspect and finally got him to snap. He lunged for her, but John had him pinned faced down on the table before Olivia could even react. Cragen smiled as he watched the exchange between Olivia and her new partner.
Cragen praised him for his alertness and reaction, but John shrugged it off. "She's my partner, Sir. Simple as that." He had leaned in so that nobody else could hear him. "Besides, Stabler says he'll kill me if I let anything happen to her. I believe him."
Cragen smiled and shook his head as he headed into his office. Sims was definitely no Gomes. Olivia deserved to have a partner she could trust.
Elliot was doing well with his new partner as well. He missed Olivia terribly, but found it different working with a male after so long. He continued to put in long days, but the longer nights he spent with Olivia were worth it. Elliot was glad she was now partnered with Sims. He liked the guy and could tell he meant business. He trusted him to have Olivia's back in the field, without in any way demeaning her abilities as a very seasoned NYPD detective. Things were going well for them and they were happy. Elliot was in love again and it felt so very different this time. He figured he knew her so well after so many years as partners, but he couldn't possibly know how she would capture and keep his heart. He cursed himself for waiting so long to confess to her, but was genuinely thankful for what they had.
Olivia and John headed out to follow up on a lead on a guy suspected in their latest rape case. He was a mechanic by day and a suspected rapist by night. Olivia read over their notes, while John drove. There really wasn't a struggle for power, like with Gomes, and Olivia was glad for that. She read out loud a few things she had written about this particular suspect when they had first spoke with him.
"How do you want to play him?" John didn't like this guy from the beginning, but wasn't so sure about him being the perp. Olivia on the other hand was sold, just needed a bit more evidence before they could bring him in for formal questioning.
"Short and sweet. We know it's him, we got proof, we just need him to slip. Either way, I think it's time to bring him in to talk at the house." Olivia gave her opinion and waited for John's opinion.
He nodded in agreement as they approached the local repair shop. There were lights and police vehicles already there and quite a few cops on scene. Olivia pulled her sunglasses on top of her head as she flashed her badge to the uniforms blocking entrance into the building. John did the same as he followed her in.
Olivia stopped dead in her tracks as she came upon the scene. She identified the murder victim as their prime suspect. Richard Gomes turned to acknowledge the two detectives that had just arrived onto his scene.
"Well, well, well." he smirked at Olivia looking her up and down. He was intentionally trying to make her uncomfortable. "What brings you here, babe?"
"It's Detective, and we were following up on a suspect of ours. What happened?"
"Uh, he was murdered." Gomes had no interest in helping Olivia. "Not your case, so unless you want to hang out with me a while, get lost."
"This is still very much our case, and yeah I do intend to hang out a while." Olivia had no intention of backing down from Gomes. John couldn't stand this man and he watched his every move carefully.
Richard put his finger into Olivia's chest as he demanded her back from the scene. He was quick and had her backed up against a wall before John could close in. "I said it isn't your case."
John grabbed Gomes and spun him around to face him. "You got a problem with our being here, talk to me."
Olivia hadn't yet seen John so angry. He wasn't a big man and was considerably smaller than Gomes, but his anger made him that much more intimidating.
"Ah, so you're the new boy assigned to protect this bitch."
John's fist met Richard's mouth before Olivia could pull him back. She had gotten in front of John to stop him from continuing. "I got it." she looked into her partner's eyes. "Okay?"
John relaxed but only a bit as Olivia turned to face Gomes again. She couldn't help but smile knowing that Elliot would've done the same thing, if not worse. "They should've fired you already. I will get this case from you and find out who is behind this murder. He was the prime suspect in our rape/murder case, making this belong to Manhattan SVU."
"You try sweetheart." Gomes wiped the blood from his split lip. "I should of killed your ass when I had the chance."
Olivia had stopped at his words and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm the anger she felt brewing within. Her thought went to the darkened building and Richard forcing her to give up her weapon.
John started towards Gomes again, but was yet again restrained by Olivia.
"You tapping that too, kid?" Gomes laughed as John and Olivia left the building. Olivia paced a bit before settling down enough to call Cragen. She had to fill him in on the events of the murder and force Homicide to turn the evidence and the case back over to them. She left out the part about Gomes.
Olivia didn't want to leave the scene. They were all supposed to be on the same side, but yet this happened frequently. Not usually with so much animosity, but Olivia refused to let this case go. She owed it to the victim who no longer had a voice. That is who she was and what she worked and stood for.
"You shouldn't have done that." Olivia was finally calm enough to speak to her partner.
"Maybe not. I'm not going to just stand there while that idiot threatens you."
"I can handle him, John." Olivia was trying not to get annoyed with her partner, but Gomes just brought that out in her.
"I know you can. However, I can't handle standing by while he gets in your face. Doesn't work too well for me."
Olivia looked him in the eye before calling a truce. She wasn't mad at John, not at all. She was just mad. Her phone rang and she answered Cragen right away. "We're in." she said to her partner as she turned to head back inside.
Gomes was pissed as he made his way into the small parking lot. He immediately approached Olivia while his partner stood in front of John blocking him from helping her this time.
He reached out grabbing her by the face and shoving her against her own car. "Little bitch gets her way again with one call to daddy."
Olivia brought her arms up in a defensive maneuver she had learned at the academy years ago. It worked surprisingly well against someone who should've expected it. The action pulled his arms away from her and left him exposed for Olivia's hands to come down hard on his nose. Richard stumbled back wiping the blood now from his nose. Olivia pulled her gun on him as she anticipated him to retaliate from that hit.
"Not exactly by the book, now is it Benson?" Gomes glared at her.
John was frustrated as all he could do was watch as his partner was forced to defend herself. "Not much is by the book when it comes to you, Gomes."
Richard continued to glare at Olivia. "You'll learn in time, sweetheart. This is a man's world, you don't belong." Richard let his eyes travel Olivia's body. He made sure she understood the threat that was being implied. He made an obscene gesture with his tongue and reached down and grabbed his crotch.
He laughed as he walked away with his partner, getting into his car.
John stared at Olivia until she finally relaxed and looked his way. John immediately put his hands up in a mock surrendering position. "Bad ass." he whispered.
Olivia rolled her eyes at him as she headed into the building. John wasn't sure, but he thought he saw her rubbing her jaw where Richard had grabbed her. He made a mental note to fill Stabler in, just so he would have the heads up. John was not as experienced as he or Olivia, but his instincts told him that Richard was coming for her. He hoped that Richard was all talk, and he hoped that Stabler would keep today's events to himself. He believed Stabler could and would hurt him if he let anything happen to Olivia. He also didn't want Olivia mad at him for running to Elliot with a situation she obviously was handling; her own way.
