Author's note: Sorry about the slight delay in this post. I'm making it up to you by posting the next chapter shortly.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

"Morning, guys," Elliot said cheerfully as he and Olivia approached the table where Reynolds and Curry were nursing cups of coffee.

"Uhhnn…"

Olivia hesitated before sitting down slowly and asking, "Did you not sleep well?"

Curry answered, "The air conditioning unit in our room sounds like a freight train. It was either deal with the noise in atmospheric comfort or drown quietly in our own sweat."

"We tried both," Reynolds added.

"Sounds like a tough night," Liv said sympathetically.

"Yeah," Curry answered. "What about you? How's your room?"

"Our A/C purred like a kitten," Elliot answered, pouring a cup of coffee. "The only distraction was that Liv likes to sleep in the nude," he deadpanned.

There was a collective choking from the four tables within earshot. Elliot nonchalantly sipped his coffee. Olivia punched him none too gently on the arm.

"Hey!" he protested, breaking into a grin. "I was just messing."

Curry and Reynolds were laughing, and Elliot nudged Olivia. She settled for shaking her head disapprovingly and fixing herself a cup of coffee.

The sky was bleak when they pulled into the parking lot at Quantico. By the time they had trekked the half mile to their scheduled activity site, there was a light but steady rain.

"I can tell today is gonna be fun," Elliot muttered, swiping at the water dripping down the bridge of his nose.

Olivia was twisting her hair up into a hair tie. "Yeah, well, it's gonna get worse before it gets better. Not sure if you saw the weather report, but this system over us is huge."

"Maybe the activity will get called on account of rain," Elliot said hopefully.

But one look at Agent Smith, standing atop a tree stump looking unfazed by the weather, told them that a day off from training would be unlikely.

They were right.

"Alright, guys, this weather provides us with the perfect opportunity to work together in adverse situations," he announced with the air of one declaring office-wide raises.

"I'm giddy with anticipation," Curry quipped.

"Alright, first task, to get the blood flowing, is gonna be a three-legged race."

There were bewildered looks all around. Smith appeared not to have noticed. He just started passing around ties to bind their legs together.

Elliot accepted the ties from Smith, then handed them to Olivia to attach. She bent down and moved her leg right next to Elliot, then tugged his a little closer to hers. He teetered a little, then steadied himself with his hands on her back. She, in turn, was throw off balance, and grabbed onto his leg.

"You two are off to a good start," Smith muttered sarcastically as he passed them.

Olivia made an irritated noise in the back of her throat and straightened. Elliot looked at her with an amused look on his face.

"Did you just growl at him?"

She attempted an intimidating look in Elliot's direction, but his expression just made her laugh. She leaned into him as he draped his arm around her shoulders. She snaked her own arm around his waist and they walked together to the starting line marked by cones.

"Ready?" Smith called. "Go!"

A few partners tripped at the first step, not having coordinated the starting foot. Olivia and Elliot had decided to start with their unconnected feet. They got off to a good start, and despite a few awkward stumbles due to their uneven strides, they ended up crossing the finish line third.

"Okay," Smith said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them excitedly, "next thing we're gonna try is the balancing ropes."

He led them over to where three thick poles were set up, with two thick cables tied in a vee between them.

"You're both gonna start at this end," Smith instructed, pointing to the narrow part. "Then you're gonna use each other's body weight to walk along your respective cables as far as you can."

He pointed to the nearest pair and said, "Alright, you two first."

Everyone else watched as they struggled along the ropes. Their palms gripped each other as each pushed against the other in an attempt to maintain balance. They made it halfway before one of them slipped.

"Alright, now let's learn from others' mistakes. See how they were bowing at the waist? Try and keep your backs straight. Okay, next pair."

Four more pairs went, and they all struggled as the rain continued to pour down, making the cables—and everything else—soaked.

Next, it was Olivia and Elliot's turn. Smith watched them unblinkingly. They pulled each other up onto the cables, then pressed their palms together and locked their fingers.

They slid along the cables, moving further and further apart, but keeping each other balanced. They passed the furthest point anyone else had gone, but they started shaking too much on their cables. The two of them reached a point directly over a growing mud puddle.

"Oh, this is gonna end badly," Liv muttered.

"Yeah," Elliot agreed.

Nevertheless, they continued moving. But Elliot finally lost his footing right as they were passing over the deepest part of the mud puddle. If they had slipped when they were nearer the beginning, they could have caught themselves. Unfortunately, they were stretched too far out.

The two of them landed in a tangle of limbs with a splash. Elliot landed on his back, and Olivia ended up sprawled across his chest.

They were dripping and filthy and laughing hysterically.

"Stabler! Benson! Quit fooling around and move out of the way for the next partners!"

Well, they enjoyed it while it lasted.

To be continued…

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