Chapter 25: Catching You Up

Elliot walked out of the board room after a long morning of meetings. He was carrying a large pile of papers that needed his reviewing for a business partnership for his New York hotel. He also had to review the designs for the Florida hotel again so that he could fly out the week after next and attend the ground breaking for the building of the hotel. There were so many things on his plate today and yet he couldn't get Olivia off his mind. He'd not heard from her at all today and he'd been really surprised she wasn't in the classroom when he'd dropped Elizabeth off. He'd been meaning to try texting or calling her earlier today but then things got a little bit crazy. He wanted to know that she was ok.

Luckily, as he got back to his office, he found there was a message from Olivia asking him to call her, as she'd called and he was in the meeting. Elliot had turned his mobile off whilst he was in the meetings this morning and so Olivia would have called his assistant.
"Hello?" Olivia greeted as she answered the call.
"Hi beautiful, I'm sorry I missed your call earlier. I also missed you at school this morning, is everything ok?" Elliot asked, feeling like he was firing a million questions at Olivia right now.
"Oh hi, you're not calling from your mobile? I'm fine. I just couldn't be at school this morning as I had to meet with Detective Amaro again. I hope Lizzie made it alright? I called Clara and asked her to look out for Elizabeth today as I know it will be hard" Olivia explained, smiling when she realised it was Elliot on the phone.
"Yes sorry, this is my desk phone and yeah there were a few initial bumps at school this morning but she was fine. You had a meeting with Detective Amaro though? Is everything ok?" Elliot asked, suddenly feeling a little concerned that something more was going on with her. Elliot knew that if Olivia was having to meet with the police again then things couldn't be good.

"Actually…No I don't think it is. Dani is fighting our charges" Olivia stated.
"What?" Elliot was confused, how could Dani be fighting the charges when she was the one who did it and there is video.
"It's a really long story but basically she's fighting the charges on terms of mental incompetence"
"Have you got time for lunch? Or are you heading home or to school now?" Elliot asked, they needed to discuss this further but not over the phone.
"I…I don't think I'm going to make it to school today but yes, I've got time for lunch"
"Where are you right now? I'll come and pick you up"
"Yo-you don't have to do that, I'll meet you wherever we go" Olivia declined, Elliot didn't want to fight her today on that, he just wanted to see her. They agreed to a diner to meet at and then ended the phone call, Elliot was glad Olivia was going to meet him for lunch, he wanted to know what had changed in the case, to require her to meet with Detective Amaro.


Olivia walked into the diner, it had been a rather short trip from the precinct to the diner but she was almost certain Elliot would be waiting for her. There was something about the way he always wanted to pick her up or give her lifts to places or even do things for her, which was new for Olivia. It was something that would take some getting used to, as Olivia had never been with a man that was like this before. Brian had been very chivalrous when they first started dating, but that really hadn't lasted very long, and Olivia couldn't help but wonder whether things were going to be the same with Elliot. She also didn't want to develop this dependency on Elliot, she was a strong independent woman living in a huge city raising her daughter, she didn't want that to change in this relationship with Elliot. Olivia knew that relationships take work though and she knew it would be a bit of give and take, so she couldn't just keep rejecting him or they wouldn't work out.

Sure enough, Elliot stood up the moment Olivia walked into the diner, so she could find him. He smiled softly at her as she walked over and Elliot remained standing till Olivia was seated. The waitress came over shortly after and took their meal orders. Olivia wasn't feeling overly hungry and so she simply went with chicken and chips whilst Elliot ordered a burger.
"So, how was your morning?" Olivia asked once the waitress had finished taking the orders and left.
"Busy, I hardly had a moment to myself from the time I walked in after school drop off, right till I called you back" Elliot explained, he'd had a real busy morning that was for sure but Mondays were often super busy.
"Wow, business must be good then?" Olivia enquired and Elliot had to agree to that but he really didn't want to talk business, he wanted to talk about Olivia and about the case.
"It is, but I really don't want to talk about business, I want to talk about you and the this case. What is the story now? What did Detective Amaro have to say?' Elliot asked, diverting the conversation to something else.
"Jumping right to it then shall we…Basically Dani is apparently trying to fight the charges we have on the attack, by claiming she is mentally incompetent. She also wanted to talk with me, apparently, she has something she really wants to say" Olivia tried to explain.
"What? There is a video of her screaming at you and Richard crying in her arms. The same video shows when you go to help my boy, she just unleashes and who knows what else was done outside of the video recording" Elliot said, he was not going to let this whole thing go further than it needed to. Dani had attacked Olivia and his kids, and he would make sure she got the consequences that she deserved for her actions.

"Apparently there were numerous mental issues leading up to that point and there is evidence to support her claims with that. So, she's fighting the charges because of that. Detective Amaro says that we could end up taking this to court if an agreement cant be met outside of court and I really don't want that. I want Dani to get the consequences she deserves but not in court like this if I can help it. So, I'm going to go, talk to her and hear whatever it is that she wants to say…to work out what the next step in all this is" Olivia explained and Elliot was almost speechless. He didn't want Olivia going anywhere near that woman. Right now, he wanted to reach out and hold Olivia's hand to his, to provide some sense of comfort for her in this distressing situation. But they were in a public place right now and there were people around so he couldn't be sure whether this was really the right time or not. He didn't want to further upset Olivia.
"Is that really wise? Why don't we just take this to court and see what happens? I'll pay all the fees and get a lawyer if we have to. I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to go and see Dani" Elliot expressed his concerns.

"She's in prison, she can't hurt me again and she's willing to compromise or work on a deal so we can stay out of court. If we go to court, we're only going to drag this out longer than needed and not to mention it is going to stress your kids out more" Olivia explained, she'd definitely didn't want to drag the kids through court proceedings and testimonies and everything.
"Believe me, I want this to be over as much as you do but I really don't feel comfortable with you going to see Dani. The last time you two were in the same place, she hurt you and I can't bear the thought of that happening again. I could come with you? And talk to her together?" Elliot suggested. Olivia appreciated his concern for her with contacting Dani but he really didn't need to come with her.
"She wants to talk alone, it's the only way that we might be able to get her to cooperate. So, I need to do this, it'll be better for everyone if I go and talk to her and I do it alone. Detective Amaro is going to call me when there is a time and a day but he's pretty confident he can get it tomorrow. It does mean I'll have to take another day off work though" Olivia explained and Elliot wanted to say he understood but he didn't. He didn't agree with her going to see Dani. He knew that she was doing this to protect him and his children, which he was grateful for but he hoped she'd be safe. He trusted Olivia but he didn't trust Dani and he didn't like the sound of Olivia meeting with her privately.

"Will you at least let me escort you there and back again? Please? I'll wait in the car the entire time you're there"
"Alright, I suppose we can do that" Olivia compromised, she knew Elliot wouldn't stop until she made some kind of compromise. She also knew that he was simply trying to look out for her and she really appreciated that. She could let him come in the car to the prison and take her home again. It might be nice to have the additional company like this – especially after she'd spoken with Dani.


Elizabeth Stabler had to admit that she'd honestly had a great day at school, even with Miss Benson not here at all. They had done an art lesson after lunch, for the remainder of the school day and Elizabeth's favourite subject was art so she'd loved this activity. Miss Anderson had been there when Elizabeth was feeling a little bit strange with this new teacher, but things had gone much better after recess when Elizabeth felt settled for the day. Now, she was going to get to go to dance lessons this afternoon and with her daddy especially. They would go to Basketball first for Dickie but then they would go to Dani and Elizabeth felt excited for that. She stood near the teachers at afternoon pick up time, and scanned the playground for her father. The minute she laid eyes on him Elizabeth took off across the playground, excited that he had indeed stuck to his word and he was here to get her.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth cried out.
"Hey princess! Did you have a good day?" Elliot asked as he embraced the little girl.
"Yeah, we got to do art after lunch and I love art" Elizabeth explained as she pulled away from her father again.
"I know you do, and you're really good at it too" Elliot complimented.
"But Miss Benson never came to school, so we had the other teacher all day. She isn't as nice as Miss Benson but Miss Anderson told me Miss Benson is coming again tomorrow" Elizabeth explained as they waited for Dickie to join them. They had spotted him across the playground, talking with one of his other friends but Elliot knew the little boy had spotted them also and would be over shortly.
"Well, I'm glad that you had such a good day. I've got a surprise for you" Elliot stated to which Elizabeth had to admit that she was intrigued to what her father had brought her.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked
"I can't tell you because it's a surprise, it's in the car though and when Dickie comes, we can go see what it is. I think you'll like it though"
"I want to see it now!" Elizabeth protested and Elliot just shook his head, the little girl had no patience.
"We need to wait for your brother before we can go, why don't you go and get him if you want to leave sooner" Elliot requested, and Elizabeth just took off to get her brother. The sooner he was over, the sooner they could get to the car and she'd know what the surprise was.

Elliot walked to where the car was waiting for them, with the twins. He had a special surprise waiting inside for them and it was one that he knew they were going to love, especially Elizabeth. The twins had been trying to guess what the surprise may have been the whole walk to the car, but they had not actually guessed it yet. Elliot knew this was something they were unlikely to get.
"Now, my surprise is waiting for you inside this car and Elizabeth, since you waited so patiently for your brother, why don't you climb in first" Elliot said as he handed their school bags to the driver and held the back door of the car open. Elizabeth moved over and climbed inside finding, to her complete surprise, the woman she had missed all day.
"MISS BENSON" Elizabeth squealed before cuddling in close to Olivia's side. Shortly after, Richard did the exact same thing and whilst there had to be a bit of re-shuffling, both twins ended up cuddled up to Olivia in the back of the car. Elliot on the other hand had been made to sit in the front seat next to the driver, a position he very rarely took. But this surprise for his kids had been worth being made to sit up the front and he was glad that he and Olivia had pulled it off.

A/N: So Olivia's going to meet with Dani? I wonder how that's going to go. You'll find out in the next chapter :) Also, Elliot really must feel strongly for Olivia if he's prepared to give up a day at work to go with her. I wonder how that's going to go? Is he being too protective or is he simply trying to show love for those he cares about. Who knows.

I wanted to get a chapter up for you quickly as I'm moving countries today and so it may be a while till I manage to get another chapter up for you all but i'm writing like crazy. So it's just the editing i need to do. Let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review. I'll try update again sooner rather than later. Until Next Time ;)