Influenza

Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: Not my show, not my characters.

XXXX

((Two days later))

Olivia sighed as she slid into her chair, finally able to take a break. Their perp was currently en route to Rikers and they had a full confession to work with. But after having only half an hour of sleep in the crib– which had been spent tossing and turning as she mulled over the case– to last her for the last 28 hours she was exhausted. Paperwork was calling her name, however, and until it got finished she would have no rest.

Across from her, Elliot was leaned over a stack of paperwork, seeming working. However, from the low snore that escaped his lips every so often she knew that he was asleep. After his snoring caught the attention of Fin, who was a good ten feet away, she saw fit to wake him with a quick kick under their desks. He flinched, sat up, and looked around sleepily, confusion dancing in his barely opened eyes.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead." she whispered. "You were snoring."

He rubbed his face with his hands in an attempt to wake himself further, "What time is it?"

"It's a little bit after noon," she informed him, wishing that she was able to fall asleep in awkward places, as well. "Much just went to get some sandwiches and chips for lunch, so I figured I'd wake you. Otherwise, I think Fin would have eaten your food."

Elliot glanced over at the man, and Fin shrugged, "Hey man, if you wanna sleep through lunch, who am I to wake you? I ain't your momma, you got Olivia for that shit."

His last statement caused Olivia to snort, "The hell he does– I was just tired of hearing his loud ass snore." She smiled sweetly at him, as if she hadn't been talking about him just then, and turned her attention to her paperwork. The sooner she finished it, the sooner she got home, and the sooner she got home the sooner she got sleep. Some weekend this had turned out to be. At least Cragen had given them Monday off, in light over them working overtime.

Since he was awake and lunch was on the way, Elliot decided that he might as well get some of his paperwork done and over with. There was a lot on his mind, concerning his day off– and he had to be well rested and refreshed for it... so that meant he needed to be home soon, like before four o'clock. Three hours or so was enough time to get done with his work, he hoped, and he really didn't have to be there, it being a weekend and all.

A few minutes and half of a page later Munch came through the door of the station house, holding a large paper bag in his hands. He set it down on his desk and began to rummage through it, handing Fin a wrapped sandwich, a bag of plain potato chips, and a coke. Then, after doing the same for himself, he tossed the bag over towards Elliot, who caught it gracefully, grabbing his lunch before handing the bag to Olivia. Soon they were all starting on lunch and reading over their paperwork.

Hours later, Olivia dropped the last file into her 'out' box and sighed, "Well... that's it for me."

Elliot glanced up at her and frowned slightly, he still had at least another half hour of work to do, "You gonna head home?"

"Oh yeah," she said with a nod. "Straight for bed."

He nodded, "I'll see you Tuesday?"

"Uh," she said with another nod, "yeah."

After grabbing her jacket and keys she nodded towards Munch and Fin to let them know she was leaving, then headed out the door. She braced herself for the cold, and walked against the wind, taking quick, long strides as she pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Why again, had she neglected to buy a car?

Minutes later she let herself into her apartment building, sighing as the warm air hit her as she entered. After getting her mail she headed up the stairs for her apartment, taking two steps at a time in an attempt to make it sooner. When she opened up her apartment door she sighed, happy to be home. As she entered the apartment, she slid off her jacket, letting it drop to the floor and land in a heap next to her discarded shoes. Olivia made her way into her kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, then headed for the living room, whereupon she stretched out across the couch and flipped on the TV. She channel surfed for a few minutes, before switching to Court TV, and then closing her eyes and letting the low glow of the screen and the soft voices from the speakers lull her to a much needed sleep.

XXXX

When she finally woke up, it was much later and much darker outside. The TV was still going, so there was a small amount of light in the living room, but other than that, it was completely dark. A loud clash of thunder broke through her musings about the absence of light and she was suddenly aware of what had waken her in the first place. Outside it was storming– whether it was snow or rain, she did not know, but the fact that a storm was in the works was plainly clear. A flash of brilliant white light broke through the inky black of her apartment, and the TV suddenly snapped off. When she glanced around her livingroom she noticed that her clock was off, as well. The power had gone out.

She cursed under her breath and immediately set out to find a few candles and flashlights in the kitchen. They were in an easy access area, so she was soon lighting a large candle in the living room, her flashlight sitting on the coffee table and turned in a way that it brought enough light for her to see the wicks. When her apartment was glowing with the soft flames she sat back down on the couch, cursing the Captains poor timing. Some day off tomorrow would be, since it was fairly probable that it would be storming for awhile.

The now softer rumble of thunder and occasional flash of light eventually began to further her into the sleep she had been so rudely pulled from. She would have fallen asleep, if it hadn't been for the fact that as soon as her eyes had closed a different kind of boom was brought to her attention. Somebody was at her door, knocking loudly. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled to herself, "I'm coming... I'm coming."

The knocking ceased, and she forced herself off of the couch and towards the door, sighing to herself. Another loud crack of thunder tore through the recent silence and caused her to flinch, it was really getting bad out there. When she opened the door, flashlight in hand, she wasn't surprised at all to find a sheepish looking Elliot on the other end. "Are you crazy?" she questioned, stepping aside to let him in, "it's really coming down out there and you're driving around?"

"It wasn't this bad when I left my apartment..." he informed her with a shrug, dripping water onto her hardwood floors.

"Yeah, well, obviously that didn't last long. Come on... you need to change into some dry clothes. I think you left some behind when you had the flu," she led him into her bedroom and then began searching through her dresser, until she found the sweat pants and t-shirt that he had left. When he went off to the bathroom to change she went into her kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge, hoping that the power wouldn't be out too long and all her food wouldn't spoil.

By the time she reached the living room he was already changed and sitting on the couch, waiting for her to enter the room. She smiled lightly and handed him the water, "So... what on earth provoked you to head out during the middle of a storm?"

He shrugged, "I'm still not used to the silence in my apartment– I called the kids, but they all have school tomorrow and couldn't come over. I guess I just wanted some company..." he shrugged and took the water from her, "you don't mind, do you?"

Olivia shook her head, "No, of course not. I was just wondering." She glanced out the window just as a flash of lightning brightened the room, "I don't know when this is going to let up, though... you're gonna be stuck here for awhile."

Elliot smiled, "No objections here," he glanced around the dimly lit apartment. "You really come prepared, eh?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "You know the cliche, better safe than sorry." A smile spread across her lips, "Well, obviously you don't... since you're partial to driving in the middle of a torrential downpour."

The sheepish look returned, and he grinned lightly, "You think we can forget about that...?"

"I'll try," Olivia told him with a grin. "So... now that you're here, we have no TV to watch and no lights to see with... what do you suggest we do?"

"I've got a few ideas," he said with a devious grin, "but they're not very Catholic like..."

"Elliot Stabler," Olivia cried, smacking him, "you can just forget about those thoughts, buster."

He frowned playfully, "So do you have a better idea?"

"Well... actually, I do. It's what... almost 10 o'clock? It's late, storming outside, and all the power is out. I don't know what you're gonna do, but I could do with a full nights sleep." She shrugged, "It's been awhile since the couch-bed has been broken in."

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he realized exactly what she was referring to. During the time that she had been sick, as well as when he, himself, had been sick with the flu, the two had spent most of their time sleeping on the couch-bed, wrapped up in each others arms. Then, it had been awkward and neither of them had acknowledged their closeness, because of what it would eventually have brought to light. Nevertheless, they did end up having the conversation that they had been trying to avoid, and now there was nothing to stop them from allowing that small bit of closeness.

"I haven't had a full night's sleep in a long time..."

She smiled, "I thought you'd say that."

XXXX

Olivia sighed in content as she slid under the covers of the newly made couch bed, the coolness of the sheets pulling the heat from her body. A snap of thunder broke through the silent room, shaking the windows, and a flash of light cast a shadow on the man standing next to the bed. "You just gonna stand there all night, Stabler?"

He shook his head, then climbed into the bed as she had. Almost immediately she found herself in his arms, surprised at how soon they had moved towards each other. A smile present on her lips, she turned so that she was facing him, her head lying on his arm. "This is nice," she murmured sleepily, as she scooted as close as she could. "So you got your nice, quiet evening at home?"

"Not exactly what I had in mind," he replied with a hint of a smile in his voice, "but, this is good. I like this, too."

"I'm wondering what it was you had in mind, Elliot Stabler." she said, looking up at him.

His bright, blue eyes sparkled with humor, "Not that... but I'm sure I'd like that, as well."

"I'm sure you would," she replied, her own eyes dancing with laughter. "What am I going to do with you, Stabler?"

"You could kiss me?"

Well, as far as she was concerned, there was nothing wrong with that statement. With a grin she leaned in closer to him, capturing his lips with her own. Since he had suggested it, he was ready for her, and he brought his arms around her waist to pull her as close to him as possible. She smiled into the kiss, parting her lips slightly to deepen it. Elliot complied, his hand slipping under her shirt to rest on the soft skin located at the small of her back. She arched in surprise at the touch, a chill running down her spine before regaining her composure and returning the kiss.

A few minutes later they two finally broke the kiss completely, Olivia resting her head against his arm once more. "Did I mention that this is nice?"

"Yeah."

"Really nice."

"I know."

"Elliot..."

"Yeah?"

"Where do we go from here?"

"We go to sleep..."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah..." he sighed, squeezing her briefly, "I'm not sure yet, Olivia."

"What if things don't work out."

"They will."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"Like you knew about you and Kathy?"

He paused for a second, "We're gonna be just fine, Olivia."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"We're gonna be fine?"

"More than that, we're gonna be great."

"I hope so."

"I know so."

"So..."

"Hey, you wanna have dinner with me tomorrow?"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Like a date?"

"Like a date." he confirmed.

"Really?"

Elliot chuckled softly, "I would like nothing more than to take you out on a date, Olivia Benson."

"Well, I would like nothing more than to agree."

There was another pause. "Really?"