A/N: "Hands raised. Offense, defense. He shoots. He scores. I win. " Paul Forthern, Age 13. Untitled Poem
DISCLAIMER: Credit for inspiration and original creation goes to Dick Wolf. This version of the characters, events, and written story belongs to me. ::Evil laugh::
Olivia stared blankly out the window, the shouting voices behind her nothing more than muffled white noise. Her arms, folded across her chest, were covered with hives and goosebumps, a sign of pure panic, her nerves getting the absolute best of her. Her head was reeling, thinking of so very much and nothing at all. "I should…" she spoke softly, and she turned, realizing that her meek words had silenced the entire room. She cleared her throat, rubbed her lips together, and shifted her eyes as far away from Elliot's as they could get. "I should go."
"What?" Elliot's voice cracked as he pushed his father out of his way and took hold of her. "Go where? Why would you…"
"She found me!" she yelled, the fear in her voice clear. "She was here, okay? Your family already had to move once, and I don't even have the address of this place memorized, so how the hell she found me…" she shook her head and tried to push herself away from him. "I can't be the reason you're in trouble."
"Hey, hey," he tightened his grip on her, pulled her back to him with all of his strength, and bowed his head to look into her eyes. "You are in the safest place you could possibly be, right here, with me." He licked his lips. "She's lucky my brother opened the door, because if I did…" he stopped and flattened his lips.
She saw something in his eyes, something frightening, and she knew. He didn't have to say it. "I can't stay here. She knows…"
"Ryan told her she had the wrong place," Elliot whispered to her, his hands swept over her shoulders, down her bump-riddled arms. "She didn't have a clue who he was, she didn't see me, and she never saw you." He kissed her quickly. "You're not going anywhere." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, closing his eyes in relief and fear. He blinked them open and glared at his father, his chin resting on Olivia's head. "How?" he asked, his blue eyes darker than they've ever been.
Joe Stabler shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he whipped back. "I didn't fucking tell her! The only people who even know we moved are the rest of the family, couple of guys from work…obviously the real estate agent and a couple lawyers. The old neighborhood, uh, the Cassidys, the Malones, the Cabots." He rubbed his head and let out a grunt. "God, I picked a bad week to quit smoking."
Elliot tilted his head, then, causing Olivia to move and look up at him. She knew what the expression on his face meant, having seen it a million times before whenever he figured something out or realized something. "What is it?" she asked, knotting her hands up in the cotton of his tee-shirt.
"Did you tell anyone to keep their mouths shut?" Elliot practically barked at his dad. "Did you tell them not to give our new address to anyone else?" He shook his head and tightened his hold on Olivia. "You know Serena showed up at school, right? She was in the office, if she convinced them to give her our old address and then went there looking for us…"
"Fuck," Joe spat, grabbing his coat. "I gotta go back to the station, make a few phone calls, I will…" he looked around and then his eyes landed on his wife. "Plan B?" he questioned, and he sucked his lip between his teeth, waiting for an answer.
Bernie took a deep breath, turned and looked at Elliot and Olivia, and then blinked once. She swiveled her head around to look back at Joe and nodded slowly. "Plan B," she replied.
Joe leaned in and kissed her once. He smiled and looked lovingly into her eyes. He remembered a time not too long ago where all they did was argue, when conversation turned to confrontation, when everything Bernie did was somehow endangering the entire family. Now, he had the woman he fell in love with back, strong-willed, a devoted wife and mother. He didn't know how long it would last, but he thanked God for every second of it. He looked over his shoulder. "You two...you finished unpacking?"
"Not hardly," Elliot said, and then he raised an eyebrow. "Should we?"
Joe shook his head. "No, uh, actually...everything you got unpacked? Re-pack it. When I get home...we're gonna take a ride." He left the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"Mom?" Ryan called. "What does that mean? We're moving again? We just got…"
"Not all of us," Bernie said, and she moved quickly and sat down at the breakfast nook. She wrapped her thin hands around a mug of hot cocoa and sipped slowly before saying, "Plan B, as your father had mentioned...is sending the two of you," she looked over at Olivia and Elliot, "To boarding school." She saw their eyes widen, their mouths gape, and she raised one hand to halt any protests. "Now, listen, we were going to discuss this during dinner, that's why I cooked so early, to have time to…" she brushed the thought away with a waving hand, "But that woman showed up, and no, we don't know what she wanted. She may have come to apologize, she may have come to wish our Liv a happy early birthday, but those are chances we aren't prepared to take." She sipped her cocoa again. "The odds are good that she had less honorable intentions and the only way to be sure she can't get any closer...because this was too close…" she closed her eyes and brought the mug to her lips again.
Elliot looked down at Olivia. He brushed her hair back, kissed her forehead, and said, "She's right. This was…" he lowered his voice. "This was too fucking close."
"Boarding school," Olivia whispered, and then she shook her head. "They'll split us up, we can't share a room in a place that…"
"Your father already had a nice long chat with the good people at Northwood," Bernie said, a smile beginning to form on her wethered lips. "Under the circumstances, and with direct orders from the NYPD, you two will be sharing a dorm," she angled her head and raised a finger. "You will be right across the hall from your house RA, so don't get any ideas."
Elliot rolled his eyes. "Ma, we aren't having…"
"Boarding school," DJ's small voice intruded on Elliot's somewhat embarrassing confession. He blinked his small blue eyes up at his big brother. "You're leaving?"
Elliot looked down at him, then over at Olivia, and he knew her heart was breaking with his. He cleared his throat and knelt down, and brushed DJ's hair back and forth a bit. "Not forever," he said, "Just, uh, for school. We can...come home on the weekends, or you can get Ry or Laura or Christie to drive you up to see us. We'll call you every day, and…"
"And I'll send you your comic every week, as promised," Olivia dropped to her knees and was stunned when DJ hurled his little body into hers. Her eyes closed as she hugged him back. "Sweetheart, what's…"
"I know it's because that lady wants to hurt you," DJ whispered to her. "If you need to go to be safe, then I need you to go." He kissed her cheek and kept his arms looped around her as he turned his head and looked up at his big brother. "You're responsible for her now, Quantum."
Elliot's heart cracked again and he nodded. "I know I am," he said. He took a breath and said, "You need to stay here, protect Metropoville, DanMan."
"I will," DJ said, and he dropped his head to Olivia's shoulder. "When are you leaving?"
Olivia looked over toward Bernie.
"Tonight," Bernie said with a sad sigh. "I didn't think it would…" she shook her head, refusing to cry, she didn't handle emotions well. "Well, at any rate, you'll be there for the beginning of the term. I was worried about you having to transfer in, that you'd fall behind, but it seems fate stepped in and you'll be there from the start." She cleared her throat, sipped her cocoa, and said, "You should go gather your things."
Elliot nodded, scruffed DJ's hair again, and then pulled Olivia toward the stairs. Once they got to the top, he caught her as she fell into his arms, and he slipped down the wall as he held her suddenly wracking body. "What...honey, what is…"
"I'm sorry," she sobbed, and she shook in his arms as she tried to curl up and wrap herself further around him. "I'm so sorry…"
"Don't," he told her quickly. "I would go anywhere, do anything, if it would keep you away from her, and damn it, this will." He smirked as he cupped her face and brushed away her tears as he said, "You know, I always had these crazy ideas of running away to get away from my family...this is perfect. You and me, a new start, no one has to know anything about your past, or mine, we're far enough away to not have to deal with any shit, not far enough to where we can't come home if we want."
She nodded and said, "No, I just...I was holding this in, I saw her and I froze. I haven't seen her, talked to her, and I just…" she looked into his eyes. "Why does she still scare me?" She dropped her head forward, leaning it against his.
"You spent your entire life bearing the brunt of her anger, the things she did to you, said to you," he kissed her forehead. "You're traumatized, she represents a part of your life you want to forget, but...like I said, what you went through made you who you are, made you so much stronger, so much smarter. You're always gonna remember being afraid of her, but you don't have to worry about any of it ever happening again. As long as I'm with you, she won't…" he kissed her again, deeper. "She's never gonna hurt you again. I swear."
She nodded and kissed him once more, letting the fear and uncertainty fall away. She stood with him and walked into their room, and she sighed. Embarking on a new journey, in a new place, alone, it all seemed overwhelming, but as she picked up half-empty boxes and set off on the task of repacking things, she realized the truth. She smiled.
Sophomore year at a boarding school miles away in Lake Placid, alone, with Elliot would be so easy given everything they went through when they were merely freshmen.
A/N: Sophomore year starts...soon? If you want it to, that is.
