"Morning," Elliot said, smiling at her.
"Good morning," she replied, "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty," he said, "We should get ready for work." She nodded, climbing out of bed.
"I'm going to take a shower," she informed him.
"Okay."
When she finished, she came out into the kitchen, dressed for work.
"Coffee?" Elliot offered. She accepted the mug gladly.
The phone rang.
"Hello?" Elliot answered. He listened, then, "We'll be right there." Olivia looked up at him sharply. "I mean," he continued, "Yes, she's here. We're having coffee. Is there something wrong with that?" He hadn't thought about it before, but it came instinctively to hide and defend himself. Olivia shook her head in exasperation as he hung up.
"They're going to find out eventually," she said.
"I know. I just don't think we have to release every little detail...." He smoothed a piece of her hair back and she smiled.
"So, what was the call about?" She asked, snapping him back into reality. She grabbed their coats and handed his to him.
"We got a message from yesterday's perp."
**********
"The envelope arrived here at seven forty-five. Latent came up empty," Cragen briefed the four detectives. "The message was typed on a computer." He posted a blown-up photocopy on the bulletin board. It read:
"Elliot,
I did not kill the baby. It was already dead. I killed its murderer.
Surely you will understand why I had to do this. It is God's will. They will be cleansed."
Cragen passed Elliot the envelope, where he read his own name in thick, black print over the precinct address.
"It's personal," said Olivia, looking at him, concerned.
"I've got Huang coming down to take a look at it, so I want you to stay here, Elliot. Munch, you and Olivia go down to forensics. Sit on Warner until she gives you the report, then canvas again," Cragen delegated. They all nodded. When Munch and Olivia had gone, Fin pulled Elliot aside.
"So.....you and Olivia?" He was grinning
"How'd you know?" Elliot asked.
"John told me she was at your place when he called you this morning. You went home together last night. I guessed. Elliot didn't say anything. "I've gotta give you one piece of advice before you screw it up. I dated my partner in narcotics. It lasted about a month. Take your time. The worst thing you can do is go too fast." Elliot wasn't sure what had provoked the sudden brotherly counsel, but it make him think.
He had never really dated Olivia, but they went straight from a friendly relationship to sex. Now they were practically living together. He didn't want to scare her off or anything.
"Thanks," he said to Fin.
**********
Colin wondered if Elliot would answer the message. He guessed not. He wondered if the clinics would shut down. That would certainly save him the trouble of shutting them down himself. He turned to his plans just in case.
**********
When Olivia returned from the ME, she noticed something slightly different in Elliot's manner, something standoffish.
"What did the Doc say?" She asked worriedly. He shook his head.
"He said that I must know this guy. That I've met him before. He thinks that the mother was killing the baby and he was doing justice. Somehow, he thinks I agree with him," he said.
"What kind of a freak is this?" She said. He wanted to hug her, but he remembered Fin's advice and crossed his arms.
"Did you find out if our victim was planning on getting an abortion?"
"Her boyfriend didn't even know she was pregnant. Her mother said she knew, but she hadn't decided whether or not to keep it," Olivia answered.
"So this guy has to be someone she knows. We're looking at an isolated incident," he mused.
"I don't think so. The attack was carefully planned, but this guy won't stop until we catch him. I don't think "they will be cleansed" was talking about the victims," she argued.
"We should warn the abortion clinics," he stated.
"We won't be able to get access to that information without more evidence," she countered, "We don't even know if she was going to get an abortion."
"What? Does he have to kill someone else to prove that he's a risk?" Elliot snapped. Olivia took a step back, then regained her ground.
"I didn't say that. We just need to prove that she was having an abortion and told someone. We need a definite motive."
"I'd say that was pretty obvious," he said.
"Not to a judge. We'd need a subpoena to get a list of abortion providers." He nodded. She had won.
Seeing his clouded face, she said, "Do you want to get something to eat?" He tensed, immediately guarded.
"Actually, I'm sort of busy tonight," he excused.
"Okay," she said, disappointed. What had happened to 'You are so beautiful'?
It's probably nothing, she reasoned, it's not like I own him.
But when he refused her invitation to come over the next night, she wasn't sure anymore.
And when she woke up the morning after and rushed to the bathroom to throw up, she got scared.
**********
We're both super busy with school. (exams and such)
So we thought we'd leave you with this cliffhanger for a while.
Patience, please.