Influenza

Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: Nah, the show and the characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

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Nearly a week later, the papers were still being processed, and the divorce had yet to be finalized. Olivia hadn't made any indications of her feelings for him at work and she had still been avoiding him when she was away from the station house. In the almost one week time, they had crossed paths three times. Once, because of Kathleen again. It was the kids first night at their father's apartment, and Kathleen had begged her father to break in his kitchen for him– and Elliot wasn't going to say no to the offer. Kathleen's one condition was that Olivia come over as well. Elliot had mentioned that she was the only one who hadn't seen it yet, although he left out that the reason for that was because Olivia and he both were worried about what they would do were they alone in a room together. Olivia agreed to come over and have dinner with them, and then Lizzie had asked her to stay and watch a movie.

The second time, it was because of Maureen. The college student was home for the weekend and she had picked all the kids of from their house and drove to their father's apartment only to find that he wasn't there. After that, they drove to Olivia's to ask her if she knew where he was, since she was just a few minutes down the road. Olivia informed them that he was putting in over-time at work, and wouldn't be off for another hour and a half. The girls had invited her to drive around with them until they went back to their father's place, and Dickey just went along with whatever his three sisters said. They ended up shopping on Time Square, pretending to be tourists. When they headed back for their father's place Maureen wouldn't drop Olivia off, and instead they picked their father up and went out to eat. It was a good thing Maureen had a big car.

The third time, it was Munch and Fin who brought the two together, and that had a bit more consequences than the first two times did. They had closed a fairly high profile case and wanted to celebrate, but just the two of them getting drunk at O'Mally's didn't appeal to either man, so they invited the other two to come along. They had talked and laughed and joked around for a few hours before last call finally booted them out of the bar. None of them had that much to drink so driving home wasn't out of the picture. Fin ended up taking Munch home, since the man still hadn't gotten himself a car, and Olivia had begun to walk. Elliot chased after her, telling her she was in no condition to walk home alone at that time of night, and she had argued for a few minutes. She wasn't drunk and she was fully capable of taking care of herself. This he knew, but her place wasn't too far out of the way and he could drive her. She finally agreed, hesitantly, and got into the car.

"So..." she had asked, when he stopped in front of her building. "How are things going with the divorce?"

"It's not going to be final until Friday..." He shrugged, looking over at her. "Even so, it's taking a lot less time than most would."

Olivia nodded, looking ahead of her at the night-owls walking down the streets. "Will you wait for me? Until after the divorce?" His voice rang in her mind. "Can I count on you to still be there?" She hadn't realized that the wait would be this hard on her. Finally looking over at him she smiled faintly, "Thanks for the ride, Elliot..." and with that she pulled the handle and pushed open the door of the car.

"Wait," he called after her, causing her to turn back around and look at him. "Olivia I'm sorry I'm making you do this."

"Do what, Elliot?" she questioned, closing the door.

"Waiting like this," he said, reaching out and cupping her face in his hand. "You shouldn't have to."

She sighed at the touch and brought her hand to rest atop of his, "I want to. I told you I could, and I will."

He leaned forward, pulling her closer and catching her lips with his in a brief, forbidden kiss. After a moment he pulled away, "I know you will... it won't be much longer."

"I'll see you at work tomorrow," she replied, her voice barely a whisper. "Goodnight, Elliot."

"Yeah," he said with a slight smile. "Goodnight."

With that she left the car, letting herself into the apartment building and heading up the stairs, two by two. When she got into her apartment she quickly changed into a pair of drawstring pants and a tank-top. She slid under the cold covers of her bed and shut her eyes with a sigh. Within minutes she drifted off into a sleep void of dreams.

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Thursday night was spent signing papers and running through the last-steps before the divorce would go through the next morning. It was nearly ten o'clock by the time everything was finished and their lawyers left the office. Elliot and Kathy followed them out, but stood on the sidewalk of the building for a few minutes, talking. "So what now?" Kathy questioned, looking at him with uncertainty. "Do we stay friends, pretend like we hate each other and never say a word to each other again, or what?"

"Like I said before, I'd like to be your friend still. I mean, I won't be able to forget everything we went through together, Kath. Will you?"

She shook her head, "Of course not."

He sighed, "No matter what, Kathy, you're always going to my first love and the mother of my children."

"But you've moved on?"

Elliot nodded, "I never meant for things to turn out this way, Kath..."

"I know," she smiled briefly. "I'll see you when you pick up the kids?"

"Yeah," he gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Kathy."

As he walked off down the street towards his car she turned and went the other way, headed for hers. He started up his car and sat on the side of the street for a few minutes, thinking about where his life was going now that he wasn't going to be married anymore. Where his relationship with Olivia was really headed and how things would work out between them. He was afraid that he would make a mistake and ruin things between them like he had done with Kathy and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

With a sigh he took off down the road, headed for his apartment. He had a busy day ahead of him and he would need all the sleep he could get.

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Olivia strode into the station house early Friday morning, refreshed and ready for whatever case the Captain had to throw at her. She had gone to bed early the night before, for the first time in a while, and today promised to be one of her better days. Munch was already sitting at his desk, twenty minutes early, and the light in the Captain's room was on as well. A few others sat at their desks, writing down things or talking on the phone in hushed voices. She set her things down and looked over at Munch, "You're here early."

"I've been here for an hour," he mumbled, flipping through a stack of files. "Fin and I are working a rape-homicide... he's out getting coffee."

"Rather than you making some?" she questioned with a grin.

"Funny," he said, looking up at her. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I woke up before my alarm..." she admitted, "I figured since I had nothing else to do I could get started on some overdue paperwork."

"How much earlier than your alarm did you wake up?"

She smiled sheepishly, "Almost two hours... I couldn't get back to sleep."

He gave her one of his classic suspicious looks, "Elliot's divorce if final today."

"Yeah," she said with a nod, sitting down at her desk. "I was there when he told us."

Well, that was true. "Got any thing planned for tonight? I figured if things went well with our suspect we could go out for something to drink. What do you think?" he looked at her over the rim of his glasses. "Or would he rather be alone...?"

"I don't know, Munch," she said, nonchalant. "Why don't you ask him?"

"Because he's not here..."

Olivia sighed, "Then wait until he gets here."

He started to reply but his phone rang, "Detective Munch."

As he handed his phone call she turned to her stack of files and began on her paperwork. A few minutes later Fin walked in with a tray of coffee. He grinned when he saw Olivia and handed her a cup, "I figured you'd be here by the time I got back."

She took the coffee thankfully and smiled, "How's the case coming?"

"Suspect's coming in... oh, about twenty minutes from now."

"He agreed to being questioned?"

Fin shook his head, "Nah, we've got an arrest warrant for him– he can't be picked up until then though. Somebody's sitting on him right now."

"You two aren't?"

"We're working on the evidence to put him away," he informed her. "Have you talked to Elliot lately?"

She shook her head, "He'll be here in a few minutes, though."

He nodded and went back to his desk and got to work. Ten minutes later Elliot came in and sat down in front of her, wearing a grin. She smiled back but turned to her paperwork to hide it from Munch and Fin. The last thing they needed was more reasons to interrogate her about Elliot and his divorce. A few minutes after that, Munch and Fin were called off to question their suspect and Olivia and Elliot were left relatively alone. "So..." she asked, looking over at him. "How does it feel to be a free man, Stabler?"

His grin was suggesting, "Tempting."

Olivia's breath caught in her chest and she smiled at him, "Munch is thinking about taking you out for drinks tonight."

"Oh... I think I might have to pass on that offer."

"Really?" she questioned. "Why is that?"

"I'm planning on spending a nice quiet evening at home." he informed her. "Well... maybe not quiet."

She was about to reply when the Captain came out of his office and beckoned at them, a frown on his face. Olivia sighed and got out of her seat, Elliot doing the same, and the two of them headed off for the office. Cragen filled them in on their new case and they took off for the crime scene. "Well," Elliot said, getting into his car. "Maybe that evening at home will have to wait for a day or two."

Olivia sighed and placed her hand on his thigh, low enough to where it was strictly for contact and nothing further. "Don't worry about it."

Just what did he have planned for this nice, non-quiet evening at home, anyway? He smiled over at her and then took off towards their scene.

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It was almost eleven o'clock at night when the Captain came out of his office, sliding on his jacket, and informed them that they should head home for the night. There was nothing more they could do when it was nearly midnight, anyway. Both sighed, setting down the files they were flipping through, and complied. He was right anyway– they had been going over the same papers for nearly two hours, looking for some kind of clue they had missed the first time around. Munch and Fin had left a few hours before, having gotten a confession from their suspect, as Munch had predicted.

They gathered their things up and left the station house after Cragen. Olivia started walking home but Elliot called after her, "I'll take you."

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, "Nice, quiet evening at home?"

He shook his head, "Some other time. I've got an extra bed at my place though, if you would rather stay there."

"Tempting," she said with a grin. "But, I don't know... You promise to behave?"

"Would I ever not?"

"I don't know yet," she informed him, getting into his car as he turned it on. "Do you think you're trustworthy?"

His eyebrow climbed up his forehead, "I'm not sure... are you?"

"Of course I am." she said, her grin spreading. "But I don't have anything to wear."

"Your place then?"

She nodded, "Maybe some other time?"

"Oh," he said with a smile. "Most definitely."

This time it was Olivia's eyebrow to climb up her forehead. He drove to her apartment and parked across the street, since all the other spaces were full. When she moved to get out he grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned around to look at him and he pulled her close, crushing her lips with his. Olivia was taken off guard for a moment, but eventually returned the kiss, one hand coming around his neck to pull him closer and deeper into the kiss. When he pulled away he grinned, "Goodnight, Olivia."

Catching her breath she nodded, "Yeah... night."

With that she opened the door to the car, dashing across the street at an open moment. Before she let herself into her apartment building she turned around to look at him and he grinned, starting his car up again. As she walked into the building he took off down the street, the grin still on his face.

Maybe being divorced wasn't such a bad thing.

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A/N: I know what it sounds like, but no, they're not going to jump in bed together right away. A little shameless flirting is nothing bad, anyway. Well then, let me know what you think.