A/N: Our bodies are the only things we own, leave our kids with nothing when we die, we'll still be girls then, too, we'll still be pretty, still be loved, still be soft to the touch, pink lip and powdered nose in the casket, a dozen sobbing men in stiff suits, yes, even then, we are girls, silent and dead and still the life of the party. - Girl (Olivia Gatwood)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters as written on the TV show, but this version of them? All mine.
It had been two months since Elliot had helped his father by putting himself in danger, two months since he'd seen Captain Cragen, two months since he'd found out what had been happening at home, how sick his mother had become, how his family was falling apart. Two months since he'd decided he didn't care because he had a life of his own to worry about, now.
Making a disgusted face, he held up a hand and refused the red plastic cup that had been offered to him for the third time since he'd walked into the room, and he looped an arm around Olivia. "You sure you wanna be here?"
"They're your friends," she countered, raising an eyebrow. "I'm here because you wanted to come, you said you needed to relax, and you invited Langan and Carmichael, so unless you want to leave them alone in a room filled with drunk, high, horny hockey players…"
"All right, all right," he laughed as he rolled his eyes, then licked his lips as he dragged his hand down to her short, grey, pleated skirt. There was a sweet smell of vodka and gin in the air, a fragrance laced with top notes of cigarettes and pot. For a moment, he wondered if he was inhaling the fumes, if they were driving his lust, but he laughed at himself. Slipping one hand under the fabric, he caught her with the other as she gasped and turned, and with a smirk, he pushed her against the wall.
"What the hell, Stabler?" she hissed, but her short-lived protests died on his tongue. It was no use fighting him on it; she loved him and his kisses far too much. The floor beneath her feet thumped with the loud bass from the over-blasted music, the reverb carrying up through her body. It made it hard to tell what tremors were caused by Elliot's traveling fingers. "Not here," she whispered against his lips, "Too man people…"
"People who are drunk and slobbering all over each other and not paying one bit of attention to us." He wagged his brows and leaned into her again, his hands claiming the taut skin of her bare ass as he growled softly and kissed her roughly, taking advantage of the situation that allowed him to let the animal in him loose.
One of the perks of finding his niche in the upper echelon of the Northwood Jocks was that Elliot was bulletproof. Teachers would look the other way if he missed an assignment, give him extra credit or let him retake failed tests, not that he had ever failed any at all. Along with academic favoritism, he was not only expected to break a slew of school rules but was encouraged to do so. These parties, for example, were often thrown by a member of the team, held in a vacant dorm, and the alcohol, loud music, curious smells, and other goings-on were ignored by the building admin and floor RA. Coach Donahue put it simply, "The school knows what kind of pressure you kids are under, nothing wrong with blowing off steam at the end of the season."
He and Olivia didn't drink, didn't take part in any of the "candy bowl" games that abruptly ended when someone had to be rushed to the hospital wing to get their stomach pumped, and neither of them ever went into the basement at these parties. The string bracelets earned and exchanged down there were often in an assortment of colors they'd never want to wear. They preferred to find quiet, dark corners where they could talk or make out without an audience or hang out on the deck with a few people they did consider friends. Tonight, though, it seemed Elliot had other ideas. For the first time, he'd given in to his carnal desires in the dim red light of the packed living room, knowing full well that several sets of eyes were watching him devour Olivia whole.
"El," she moaned, her nails scraping down his back under his maroon polo shirt, "Please." She groaned and rocked her hips against his, torn between needing him now and wanting to move into an empty bedroom. "We should…"
"Do I need to get the hose?" Langan roared, practically throwing himself onto Elliot's back. He laughed as he slid off his friend and slapped him on the shoulder. "Didn't wanna interrupt, to be honest, but Carmichael over here told me to save your dignity." He leaned forward. "I'm totally up for watching this play out, if you wanna find a room up…"
"Shove it, Trev," Elliot gruffed, shaking his head as he pulled on the sleeves of his shirt. He noticed he and Olivia were the only ones wearing their uniforms, but it didn't phase him. In fact, he preferred the short skirt and loved pulling on her tie. Grinning, he hooked his hand around Olivia's waist again and said, "Out in the back. Firepit, apparently." He kissed Olivia's cheek and led the small group through the room, passing a few half-naked couples writhing on the floor and a few idiots doing keg stands and funnel chugs. It was hard to find any difference between this and a college frat party.
"You guys ready for finals?" Carmichael plopped into a wicker chair as soon as she made it through the sliding doors that led to the back of the building. She looked around and then kicked her feet up onto the glass table. "Who the hell gave these cavemen permission to light a fire in the courtyard of a school that is literally surrounded by nature?"
Olivia dropped into the seat beside her, but Elliot flew into her spot before her ass hit the wicker. Rolling her eyes, she sat on his lap. "Same people who let them wear sunglasses and give them Tylenol every Monday." She grabbed Elliot's roaming hands and shifted her weight, keeping him from making any other lewd move. Looking over her shoulder at the menacing look in his eyes, she knew he still only had one thing on his mind. However, she had far too many thoughts in her head.
They'd spent most of the last month filling out applications and writing admissions essays to schools in Virginia. They'd sent inquiry letters to second-choice schools in Maryland and last-on-the-list ones in New York, so if a miracle happened and they wanted to come home, they could. Elliot had prodded Olivia to build a portfolio of her best artwork and poems, hoping it would earn her more scholarships and open up some job or internship opportunities. It had occurred to him that no one else had ever supported or encouraged her talent, except the English teacher from their old school. He'd sworn it was his job to give her the kind of confidence he thought she deserved, and he'd try like hell to do it.
Leaning forward, he kissed her once, slowly, softly, feeling Trevor's eyes burning his skin as he cupped her cheeks. There was a sense of pride swelling within him, one that made him want to prove she was his and knowingly make the people around him envious. As he pulled away, though, he sighed and licked his lips, blinked a few times, and suddenly his heart sank. Outwardly, they'd be jealous of his relationship with a gorgeous, intelligent, talented, walking attitude. Still, no one besides Trevor and Abbie knew they were married, knew why, knew the whole sordid, tragic tale. No one would be jealous if they knew the truth.
"Yo, Stabler!" a voice called from behind the sliding glass. "Card swap! You and Benson want in?"
His stomach lurched as grotesque shock seeped into every pore. When he turned his head toward Hadley Jackson, he shook his head. He wondered if the asshole's millionaire parents knew they were paying seventy-five grand a year for their son to play Russian Roulette with drugs and STDs. "No fucking way," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you out of your mind?"
Hadley chuckled. "Just thought I'd extend the invitation," he looked slightly to the left and licked his lips. "Shame," he sighed. "I'd bid on your card, Benson, and I'd win." Winking, he turned and pulled his shirt off as he headed back into the apartment-like dorm.
"Man, do I even wanna know?" Abbie asked, the tilt of her head making her look more curiously uneasy than usual.
Elliot dropped his hands on top of Olivia's, laced their fingers together, and then spoke. "Everyone throws their key cards into a bowl, one by one, the, uh, host...one person pulls a card, then auctions it off to the highest bidder. Money, pills, jewelry...last week, Shane Layton gave his fucking car to Madison Tyler."
"In exchange for sex," Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Any way the buyer wants it, all night long," he leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the other on the glass table. "No rules, no negotiations, no objections." He let out a regretful sounding sigh. "Only two people I'd bid on aren't playing, so, uh, I'm sitting this one out."
"Please, your Ivy Leauge ass wouldn't risk it, even if we were," Elliot swatted at him, shaking his head. "I'm actually, uh, surprised you didn't know about that, Abs." He saw the look on her face and stiffened. "No, not that you'd ever...I just meant that you were the one who told us about most of the shady shit that goes on in this place. I assumed you…"
"I haven't been to one of these parties since…" Carmichael glanced at Olivia. A conversation from what seemed like a lifetime ago echoed through her. "Since my freshman year." Her head dropped; she pulled at the string around her wrist that had faded from red to a dusty rust color, a reminder of a mistake made three and a half years ago that she couldn't ever take back. "And back then, uh, sex just sort of happened...after a few drinks and decent conversation." Her head popped up, and she squinted as she peered through the glass doors. "Now it's a financial transaction between these trust fund jocks and their Barbie Dolls?" Her eyes widened. "No offense, I mean, you two are the clear exception here." She ping-ponged a finger from Trevor to Elliot and back again.
Olivia inhaled and wriggled against Elliot as she made herself more comfortable, the glow and heat of the fire engulfing the small group of friends. "I'm gonna miss you guys," she whispered. "Ya know, after finals...a week, then you're gone. It took me two years to trust you enough to consider you friends, and now it's…" she let out a sad laugh. "Just gonna be El and me again."
"Aw, no, Benson," Trevor leaned forward, "I'm hanging around until August. Doing a summer internship with the campus legal team." He smiled and ran a hand down his chest. "It looks good on the resume, right? With all the shit that gets swept under the rug and handled quietly in the legal offices around here, I'll have more experience than anyone else when I get to Harvard."
There were a few shared laughs, then Olivia looked at Carmichael. "I don't make friends easily."
"Really?" Abbie feigned surprise, slapping a hand over her heart dramatically. "I had no idea! You seem like such a people-person!" Relaxing, she shook her head. "I'm only a couple of hours away, ya know. You two could bus it in on the weekends, won't be hard." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "It's the year after that I'm worried about." Her eyes glazed over as she looked toward Trevor first, then Elliot. "Virginia? The Marines? The FBI? You two haven't had enough near-death experiences, you want to run into Hell willingly?"
"The chances I'll see actual combat are pretty damn slim," Elliot defended. "For a free ride, I can handle basic training and reserve duty. That Freedom Grant is only given to active corpsmen, and let's face it, it's the only way I can afford college." He eyed Abbie, then glanced at Trevor. "Some of us aren't trust-fund kids, and in case you forgot, we don't have anyone else to foot the bill. We're gonna have DJ, too, so we won't be able to afford to pay two full tuitions on top of making sure he has everything he needs…"
"You never told me why you're getting custody of the little booger," Trevor interrupted, sliding his chair closer to Elliot's. As he moved, the orange glow on his skin changed to a brighter yellow; the flickering flames illuminated him more directly now. "If it's a problem, just send him home."
Elliot's eyes narrowed and reddened. His lips curled into an angry spiral. "Over my dead body," he returned. There was a ferocity in his voice that sounded too intense for a seventeen-year-old, too pure and determined for it be simply just a figure of speech. "The only one left in the house to take care of him full-time is my mother, who can't even take care of herself lately. If I send him home, no one would be able to protect him from my father, so yeah, wherever I go, he's coming with me. With me and Liv."
Silence fell over the four of them like a heavy cloud, no one moved or made any eye contact, and when Elliot's cell phone rang, they all jumped at the sound. "Jesus," Olivia whipped, calming herself down. She felt herself rise and fall as Elliot dug into his pocket, and then her brows gathered when he answered the call.
"Hello?" He straightened and pulled on Olivia's grey vest, telling her to move a bit so he could lean forward. "Speaking. Sorry, who is this? Oh! Um, yes, Sir, of course, I remember you. Oh, well, I called him a few days ago, left a message, he never…" his eyes widened as he shot his eyes toward Olivia. "Uh, yeah, we can do that, but how did you…" his eyes closed. "Right, of course, he did," he breathed, then opened his eyes and let out a sigh. "Sure, okay, we will meet him at the train station tomorrow morning. Oh, she's fine. She's...great, actually. We're both...great. Yeah, still together," he chuckled. They would be together forever. "No, uh, he didn't tell me that. I will have to ask how that happened when he gets here. You're welcome, Mister Cassidy." He hung up and raised both eyebrows.
"Brian's father?" Olivia questioned. "What the hell did he want?" Her hands folded into themselves as she turned more fully toward him.
"Cass, uh, he's spending his senior year here," Elliot spoke, his words carrying his confusion with them. "Colleges he wants to go to won't roll over his credits from Bard, but he can transfer them here; they'll count as AP courses, which will give him what he needs…" he stopped explaining. "He's moving into his dorm tomorrow, taking some prep classes over the summer, and working in the counseling center. I don't believe this." He glanced toward Trevor, who looked oddly pissed off, and then as he scooped his eyes back to Olivia, he said, "Captain Cragen was the one that told him about Northwood."
"Sorry, who are we talking about?" Trevor spoke up, narrowing his eyes. "Someone Cassidy?" He folded his arms and screwed his body further toward Elliot, as if he'd been offended that he was not their first and only pal.
"Brian. An old friend," Elliot said flatly. "One of, uh, our best friends from...from home." He clicked his tongue and rolled his neck. "From Queens, from before we...uh, transferred here." With a scrunched-up face, he looked into Olivia's eyes. "Cragen knows that telling anyone where we are, or leading anyone to us, is risky. Especially Brian Fucking Cassidy." He knew the risks of even calling to talk to Brian were high; things could be passed to his investigative reporter father and criminal defense attorney mother. A restraining order or not, he knew Serena Benson had toes to people who owed her a lot of favors, and Joe Stabler had more enemies than friends.
"Bet you fifty bucks nothing is gonna piss me off more than knowing we have to deal with Cass on a daily basis again," Olivia intoned, trying to lighten the mood.
Elliot scoffed and held out a hand, "Pay up," he said, "Because I am about to tell you something that's going to make you flip your fucking lid."
Folding her arms, she bit her lip and shrugged. "Try me," she gave Elliot a nod and turned to shoot a victorious wink toward Abbie.
With a knowing smirk, he leaned forward and craned his neck, brushed his lips over hers, and said, "He told his girlfriend she could spend weekends with him."
"Okay, why would that bother me?" Olivia laughed. "Cass is a pig, I assumed he had more than one girlfriend, so I'm honestly relieved."
Kissing her once, he moaned softly and then whispered, "It'll bother you..." he kissed her chin, "...because his girlfriend..." he gave her a soft peck on the end of her nose, then looked directly at her as he whispered, "...is Kathy."
A/N: Cassidy arrives with a message and a gift from someone else. An interaction with Kathy, a conversation with Cragen, and a fight with Trevor...next.