Disclaimer: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is not mine, has never been mine, and will never be mine, so help me God. Honest. I can wish, though, right? Besides, you'd know if it was mine – Alex would be back, Casey would be her partner, Elliot and Olivia would be married with a kid on the way, and Munch and Fin would still be driving each other nuts! (shakes head sadly) So you see? They're not mine. (sniffs) Anybody have a Kleenex?
Maraudergrl99: Thanks!
tria246815: Yes, I agree. Olivia is a great friend to Elliot! And he needs one right now, even if he won't admit it!
emotionless04: Here's another chapter! Hope you like it!
tapmastaflash22: Thank you!
kathleen: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, too!
Spikey the Neon BlowFish: I know! I was going NUTS for days afterward, bouncing off walls! I was so excited! I still am! I am hoping that Dick Wolf will have at least a minor change of heart, and give us a little Olivia/Elliot shippyness to make us happy! We can hope, right?
Tia: Thank you very much! I think so, too! Here's more of the story for ya!
April Brown: Thanks so much for your review! And having Olivia yell at Kathy is a good idea, but I'm focusing more on the relationship (or lack thereof) between Elliot and Olivia. Maybe myself or someone else can have that idea in another story though! (Believe me, I would like to yell at her for what she did to him, too!)
bluejaybaby2010: Eventually I will get to the point of them admitting their love for each other, but first they will have to suffer a little longer because they're both too stubborn to admit how they feel about each other! Anyways, Elliot doesn't realize he said "I love you" out loud, and Olivia thinks he was dreaming about Kathy. Hmm… I wonder what he was dreaming about?
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CHANGES
Chapter Two: Tired
Elliot awoke several hours later, feeling truly rested for the first time in ages. He froze. Lifting his head, he peered up into the face of his partner, and had to force himself not to jerk out of her grasp. She was sleeping rather soundly, but her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying. Why would she be crying? He realized then what had awakened him. She was shivering violently, her coat lying in a crumpled heap on the ground beside her. He withdrew from her arms, and pulled her close, drawing the jacket up and over her shoulders. He then threaded his arms into the sleeves of his own coat one at a time, and stood, cradling her carefully as he made his way back down to the squad room. Only Cragen remained there, the lights dimmed and the room eerily quiet. He came out of his office, mid-way through the motions of shrugging on his overcoat, and spotted Elliot standing in the middle of the large room, his sleeping partner in his arms. He moved immediately to the younger man's side, gesturing that he should hand over the unconscious woman. Elliot opened his mouth to argue, but the look on Cragen's face was enough to make him reconsider the argument he'd been about to start, and he was quickly relieved of his precious burden. Cragen then led the way outside, to the parking area, and he gently loaded the sleeping detective into the back seat of his car, while herding Elliot toward his own vehicle. When he finally got the distraught man sent off, he started his car, and drove slowly through the streets of New York until he reached Olivia's apartment building. He pulled out the key that Eliott, Fin, Munch, and himself now had copies of – Elliot had originally been the only one with a key, but by now all four men in the unit had keys to her apartment. That might seem a bit odd to some, but they were family – Olivia was like a daughter to him, and a little sister to John and Fin; he wasn't sure how to classify Elliot's feelings for Olivia in this equation. They were protective of her, and, naturally, they had each managed to con a key out of her. He retrieved the exhausted woman and climbed the stairs to her apartment. He let himself in – a process made difficult, at best, by the fact that Olivia decided to wriggle around in his arms to find a more comfortable position – and quickly acclimated himself to his dark surroundings, bumping his shins several times as he made his way to her bedroom. Opting out of changing her into more comfortable clothes – he knew that it would only embarrass her – he simply tugged off her boots and socks, tucked her into bed, and left a note on her counter.
With one last look at the woman he thought of as the little girl he'd never had, he left.
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Elliot pulled into his driveway, got out of his car, and dragged himself up the walkway. He stopped on the front porch, staring at the door. Finally, he let himself in, climbed the stairs slowly, and fell into bed in the guest room, where he'd taken to sleeping since Kathy had moved out. He often walked through the house at night, sitting for what sometimes turned into hours in each of the children's rooms. Tonight, he was tired. Too tired. He stripped, dropped his clothes in a pile on the floor, pulled on a clean pair of boxers, and fell into bed. As he drifted off into a troubled sleep, he thought he heard the sound of a car in the driveway.
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Cragen watched the shadow of one of his best detectives move around the upstairs bedroom. A few moments later, the light went off, and he knew Elliot would be all right, at least for the night.
He just couldn't be sure what was going to happen next.
And that worried him.
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AN: REVIEW! Tell me what you think! (Sorry for the short chapter by the way! The next one will be much longer! Promise!)