A/N: Someone has indeed guessed the correct movie this is based off in the comments. So if you know that, you know Dani and Ed aren't here for a long time (or even a good time). Have no fear.
And for caro1414 who asked where I find the time... I have no life, but at least this is fun!
Disclaimer: Still don't own the things.
"I can't wait to see you and SVU knock that ass Stabler down a few pegs," Ed said from his place on the couch while Olivia lazily unloaded groceries into the refrigerator.
"I'm not looking forward to meeting him," Olivia said.
"You mean they haven't introduced the squads yet?" Ed asked.
"No," Olivia said. "But he's already had plenty to say about me. Cragen relayed, in not so many words, that Stabler wants me off the case. Wouldn't give a real reason other than I'm still too new at the job, I've never been involved with a task force before. The usual."
"Well, guys like Stabler are threatened by you," Ed said. "You're smarter than him and you could probably do his job twice as fast with one arm tied behind your back. Don't let him get to you. But any harassment, send it straight to IAB and I'll take care of it."
"Thank you," Olivia said as Ed joined her in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and gently kiss her on the forehead.
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate that he looked out for her, but it was very hard to be a detective, a female detective no less, dating someone in IAB. It made it hard to make friends, and even harder to gain people's trust. Maybe Stabler knew she was Ed's girlfriend and that was why he wanted her off the case. It wouldn't be the first time, and likely wouldn't be the last.
As she heard Ed start the shower, she sat down to check her email quickly. She realized she hadn't replied to SemperFi's last email, some amusing story about an FBI agent who nearly got him blown up more than once.
SemperFi,
I'd love to say I'm on your side, because that agent sounds like trouble. But maybe she's just trying to prove herself in a male dominated world. Not to get too personal, but I've been running into quite a few obstacles on the job lately, people questioning my skill, knowledge, and performance simply for being a woman. And sometimes it makes me wonder, why am I here? What am I doing?
I love being a cop. It's the best job I ever could have lucked into without really thinking about it. But could I be just as happy as a social worker, still helping people? Maybe firefighting is more for me, or nursing. Sometimes I look at all these lives I could have and wonder if I'm really satisfied with my own, or I'm just too complacent and tired to try to fight for something new? Just imagine all the parallel universes out there you could be living, if only you took the time or patience to make a different decision.
I don't really want or need an answer to these questions. I just want to send them out into the world so that maybe I can get some clarity someday, whenever that is.
Be safe,
Persephone
Dani had been working overtime and he found the quiet of the apartment Saturday morning strangely calm, until his email chimed from the other room. He walked in to find a message from Persephone, then checked his watch and realized he had enough time to answer her before meeting his kids for the day.
Persephone,
I'm sorry things haven't been going your way on the job. Some of our so-called "brothers" can be real assholes for no reason other than they can. I myself work with a few female cops and they can outsmart, outrun, and outperform just about any guy they go up against. Some men can't take a strong woman, but that doesn't mean you should change who you are or how you do your job to suit them.
The next one who does you wrong deserves a swift kick to the balls. Though I've never seen you at work, based on what I know about you, I bet you're amazing at your job. If the men around you can't handle it, screw 'em. The people you meet day in and day out while walking your beat or helping victims and patrons and the citizens of New York are the important ones, and I have no doubt they look at you with honor and respect.
This is a time I wish we knew each other so I could go kick some ass for you. Not that you couldn't do it yourself, but you shouldn't have to do everything yourself all the time, right? That's what friends are for. I think that's what we are now, yes? Friends who don't know each other's names?
Hopefully next time you'll have something much happier to tell me.
Keep your head up,
SemperFi
After hitting send, Elliot had to get a move on. He was meeting Kathy and the kids down at the docks. Elliot's old man had been a bastard, but at least he'd left him the motorboat in his will. Today, Elliot, Dickie, and Kathleen were going out on the boat then heading to one of the carnivals Uptown. Maureen insisted she was too cool for boating, when really she just wanted to go to the mall with her friends, and Lizzie had a cold and both Elliot and Kathy thought it was better if she sat out the festivities today.
"But I want to come," she'd wailed on speakerphone from Kathy's house.
"But Lizzie Bear, Mommy is right," Elliot said. "Going out on the water could make your cold worse."
"But I don't want to miss a day with you," she said with a hiccup.
"We'll have a Daddy and Lizzie day soon," Elliot said. "Just the two of us. That sound good to you Mommy?"
"Sounds perfect," Kathy said.
So that's how she wound up parked by the docks with Lizzie pouting in the backseat and Dickie and Kathleen running down the board towards Elliot and the boat.
"Katie Girl, Big Guy," Elliot said, scooping them into a hug.
"Daddy, Dickie learned how to spell your job," Kathleen said.
"Did you now?" Elliot said.
"C-O-P," Dickie said, proudly.
"Impressive," Elliot said. "Lizzie okay?"
"Pouting but fine," Kathy said. "Kurt is sitting in there with her. You sure you're going to be okay with them all day?"
"Yes, Kath," Elliot said. "I'll be fine with my children all day."
"Just checking," Kathy said, holding up her hands. "Call me before you head back to the house."
"Bye Mom," the kids yelled after her as she went back to the car.
"You guys ready for the boat and the carnival?" Elliot asked.
"Yeah!" Dickie and Kathleen cheered.
"Thank you for doing this sweetie," Cecilia said to Olivia. "And on your day off, too."
"It's no problem, really," Olivia said. "This is the cutest idea."
Cecelia Kelly was one of Serena Bensons oldest and only friends. They'd grown up together and Cecilia was one of the few people who stuck by Serena after the rape and throughout Olivia's childhood and life. Some of Olivia's only good memories centered around coming to Cecilia's store to shop. Some days they'd stay and help behind the sales counter if it was busy, and Olivia was allowed to read all the books she wanted. Then when Serena died, Cecilia had been there to help Olivia pick up the pieces.
So when Cecilia called her and asked her to do the guest reading during the Storybook Lady hour, a special segment that featured pseudo-celebrities and idols for children, like firefighters or ice skaters, reading selections from children's chapter books, how could Olivia say no?
"We usually have quite the crowd, and with the street fair going on we're liable to have a packed house," Cecilia said. "You might want to start getting set up."
Elliot, Dickie, and Kathleen had had just about all the fun they could. Elliot carried a bouquet of balloons and a goldfish. Kathleen was munching cotton candy and both kids had their faces painted. Elliot was ready to head back to his apartment for a nap and then get the kids back to Queens, but Kathleen had other plans.
"Oh look, the Storybook Lady," she said, her eyes lighting up. "Can we go, Daddy?"
Elliot checked his watch. The program was starting in two minutes. He wanted to say no, but Kathleen had been their most reluctant reader so far. She had a hard time sitting still and focusing on a book, so the fact that she was taking some interest in it, well Elliot didn't want to squelch that. In they went to the small children's bookstore and staked out a piece of floor to claim. They'd missed the introductions about the speaker and she moved right into the story of the day, the first few chapters of the Nancy Drew book The Hidden Staircase. Kathleen was entranced immediately.
So was Elliot, if he was being honest. The woman was enchanting. She was beautiful for one, wearing that cute little princess hat while she read. And the lilt and tilt of her voice was perfect for the story, building up suspense where necessary and adding a teasing tone to the silly lines. Elliot could have listened to her talk all day, and judging by Dickie, who was sitting in his lap, and Kathleen to his right, they could have too.
She, of course, didn't finish the book. A perfect sales pitch to get listeners to buy copies. An older woman stood up and addressed the crowd.
"Thank you for coming everyone," she said. "We have copies of this book and others in the series for purchase on a table along the back wall. Feel free to browse and mingle. I'm Cecilia Kelly, owner of The Shop Around the Corner, so please ask me if you have any questions. And thank you again to our special reader today, Detective Olivia Benson. She'll be around to help you find things as well."
Did that woman just say "Detective Olivia Benson?" Elliot thought that couldn't be possible. There's no way this gorgeous woman was SVU's token female and the golden child trying to steal their operation.
"Dad I have to know how the story ends!" Kathleen said, turning to Elliot. "Can I get the book, please?"
Elliot turned around to look at the table with the Nancy Drew titles.
"Sure," he said. "Why don't you go get in line, maybe get a couple of them. I'll stay here with Dickie."
Kathleen ran off to the Nancy Drew table and Elliot was glad she found some books she was interested in. Kathy would love it too. He and Dickie found a picture book called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and read it while they waited for Kathleen.
They were nearly finished and he looked up to see why she wasn't back yet. She was talking to Olivia, both their arms filled with yellowed covered hardback books, and they were walking his way.
"I want all of them," Kathleen announced, approaching Elliot.
"Honey, I told you, these might be a bit much for your Dad to buy, let alone carry, all at once," Olivia said.
"But Dad said I could get a few," Kathleen protested.
"I said a few, not buy the entire store," Elliot said with a laugh.
"Maybe you can pick your three favorites?" Olivia suggested, arching an eyebrow at Elliot.
"Three is perfect," Elliot said.
"But which ones do I pick," Kathleen said. "Besides The Hidden Staircase? They all sound so good. Olivia, which ones would you pick?"
"Well, I think since the one we read today is the second book in the series, I'd get the first and third ones and read them in order," Olivia said.
"That's such a good idea," Kathleen said. "I'll do that."
"Okay, now you have to go put back all the ones you aren't getting," Elliot said.
"They're fine," Olivia said. "I'll restock them later."
"You work here?" Elliot asked. "I thought the owner said you were a cop?"
"I am," Olivia said. "But I help out here from time to time."
"My brother can spell cop," Kathleen said. "Dickie, do it."
"C-O-P," Dickie recited.
"Wow, that is amazing," Olivia said. "Can you spell cat?"
"C-O-P," Dickie said again.
"He knows how to spell it because Daddy's …" Kathleen started but Elliot put a hand over her mouth.
"Because Daddy has a lot of friends who don't know how to leave law enforcement alone," Elliot said, frantically looking around for something to distract Kathleen.
He didn't want her outing him as a cop. Not when he could get some intel on this Olivia Benson and what she might do to sabotage their task force.
"Why don't you take this over there and read it to Dickie," he said, passing her a copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and pushing them towards a chair.
"We'll take that too," Elliot said, following Olivia to the counter.
"I don't think I caught your name," Olivia said as she slid behind the counter and started typing prices into the cash register.
"El," he said. "Just call me El."
"Well, El," she said. "You have lovely children. I hope they'll come back here someday. I always love to see a child's face light up brighter in a bookstore than a toy store."
"And why is that?" Elliot asked.
"Because books help children become whoever they're going to turn out to be," Olivia said. "When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does."
"And who taught you that?" Elliot asked.
"My mother," Olivia said. "And Cecilia. They were the best of friends. They taught it to me and I'll teach it to my daughter."
"How old is your daughter now?" Elliot asked, glancing down and noticing she didn't have a ring on her finger.
"What?" Olivia said. "Oh, I don't have a daughter yet. But hopefully someday."
"So you must have read a lot of Nancy Drew to grow up and be a cop," Elliot said.
"And Hardy Boys," Olivia said. "And literally anything I could get my hands on. Why? What did you read that shaped your life?"
"Oh I wasn't much of a reader back then," Elliot said, taking the bag from her and accidentally brushing her hand. "Nobody was really there to teach me just how important it was."
"Well, then I'd say, no matter who was or wasn't there for you, that you're doing right by them," Olivia said gesturing towards Kathleen and Dickie reading in the chair.
"That's what I hope for every day," Elliot said. "Thank you so much for your help."
He corralled the kids who yelled bye to Olivia and she yelled bye back.
Elliot thought about his perceptions of Olivia as they walked back to his apartment. It was like something Persephone had mentioned about the book Pride and Prejudice. Maybe Elliot hadn't given Olivia a fair shake, judging her before he knew her. Maybe she wouldn't be so bad to work with after all.
A/N: This brings me extra delight because Jeffrey Scaperrotta who plays Dickie also plays the little kid in the movie, so I got double the glee out of writing this chapter. Review if you're up to it!