Author's note: I actually have nothing to say. I just feel I should have an author's note.

Disclaimer: Still just having fun with them.

The next morning, the two detectives and two agents sat around the breakfast table nursing cups of coffee. Elliot had his head propped up on his hand, and Olivia leaned her head on her partner's shoulder, looking as though she might fall back to sleep.

The only thing good that could be said for Curry and Reynolds was that they were too passed out drunk the night before to be bothered by the noise of their A/C.

"Maybe we shoulda waited till after graduation to get sloshed," Curry mumbled.

Reynolds just giggled.

"Good morning, gents!" Smith called out to the room at large. The four of them groaned against the noise. "We're meeting in half an hour at the Quantico obstacle course. Don't be late!"

He turned and left the room, and a few groups got up from their tables and followed.

"Well," Elliot said, shrugging the shoulder that Olivia had started to snooze on. "We'd better get going."

They all stood up woozily, and Elliot draped an arm over Olivia's shoulders as she grabbed onto his waist for dear life.

"I'm never drinking again!" she whined.

"That's what you said last time we got wasted," Elliot chortled.

"On the plus side," Reynolds called out, "at least none of us ended up naked."

The rest of them were silent, and after a moment, Reynolds added uncertainly, "Uh…right?"

Elliot glanced back over his shoulder at the two agents and said, "Right." Then they all piled in Elliot's car for the drive to their day's activities.

"Alright, people," Smith called out to the congregated group, "today is gonna be the obstacle course."

"Haven't we already been doing that?" Elliot murmured.

Olivia snorted,and Smith locked his gaze on her. She was lucky, however, as he chose not to call her out this time.

He continued, "The course has been clearly marked, but some of you," here he looked pointedly towards Olivia, "may still need assistance. If this is the case, just call out to any of the training agents along the way, and they'll help."

"Now, there's one difference between this and other obstacle courses you may have run. This time, you'll be tethered to your partner." He picked up a rope with a carabiner clip on each end. "You have precisely four feet of rope connecting you to your partner. So one of you can't get too far ahead of the other. It's a team effort."

He looked around and his gaze zeroed in on Olivia and Elliot. "Stabler and Benson are gonna be the first pair out, and will give the rest of you a run-through of what you'll have to do." He held up their rope and beckoned them forward.

"Put these on first," he said, passing each of them a rope belt. After they had fastened them around their waists, he unceremoniously clipped the rope in place, restricting them to within four feet of each other.

"Starting point is the wall," he sneered, pointing to a fifteen-foot high construction of planks.

"Go."

They got off to a stumbling start as Elliot's reaction was a second faster than Olivia's. He jerked her and she lost her footing momentarily, but was able to keep her ground with a hand grasping his waistband.

He half turned and grabbed her hand, pulling her along. By the time they got to the wall, they were matched in pace. Olivia had no problem with skilled climbing, and Elliot—having been a Marine—also knew how to handle himself. They overcame the first obstacle with ease.

They reached a platform at the top of the wall, across which stretched two cables, with a net stretched out below. They grabbed one onto each and hooked their feet, flipping over so that they were dangling, pulling themselves along hand over fist to reach the platform on the other side. Two obstacles down.

Theyran down some stepsand reached another space between platforms, this time connected by two sets of monkey bars. Olivia took them two at a time, but Elliot's reach was a little wider. He pulled too far ahead, and with one particularly wild jerk forward, Olivia lost her grip and fellalmost tenfeet to the ground, pulling Elliot down with her. She landed hard and turned her ankle.

"Get back up and do it again!" Smith yelled, ignoring the pained look on Olivia's face. They both staggered back to the last platform and climbed the ladder to attempt the monkey bars again. This time, Elliot was mindful of how far he swung, even holding back so that his partner could lead. Third task, take two, was now complete.

Liv tried not to limp as they moved to the end of the platform. Two handlebars hung at the top of twin zip lines, leading down to the ground. Simultaneously, they grasped the handlebars and rode them down. Olivia gasped as she landed on her bad ankle, but she let Elliot pull her forward. They had gotten through the fourth task.

They ran to where ropes were strung low across the ground, and they dropped down and pulled themselves along on their stomachs. The area where they crawled was muddy from the previous day's rain, but all they could think about was getting to the end. They cleared the ropes and pulled each other up. The fifth task passed without incident.

The next task was a tire run. Olivia stumbled halfway through, and Elliot pulled her up. It was then that he noticed the pain etched on her face.

"Liv?"

"Don't," she commanded through gritted teeth. Then she pushed forward. Obstacle six, done.

Twenty paces ahead, they came to twin balance beams spanning a mud pit. They started across, but Liv started to teeter. Elliot reached out a steadying arm, and they were saved from another mud bath. Seven down, two to go.

The second-to-last obstacle was another wall, but instead of an inclined set of planks, it was a vertical wall with two climbing ropes. This time Olivia stopped in front of it, not sure if her leg would hold out.

"Liv, let's just call it quits. Nobody will think any less of you," Elliot said softly.

"We'd all like to get through this today, you two!" Smith called out.

She looked at him, then at Elliot. He glanced quickly at Smith before amending, "Nobody who matters will think any less of you."

"It's just two more," she said, taking a deep breath and grasping the rope. She started pulling herself up, and Elliot followed suit with the other rope. She lost her footing a few times, but she managed to reach the top. They flipped over the crest, and Elliot landed lightly on his feet, then reached out to catch Olivia. One more task to go.

It was only a dozen yards ahead that lay another mud pit, over which they were to swing on two ropes. Liv put on all the speed she could to get enough momentum to span the pit. She and Elliot were even with each other, and they both jumped at the ropes and made it across.

He landed in a semi-crouch, while she just sort of rolled, her tether with Elliot being the only thing actually stopping her from going far.

There were cheers from the other agents and detectives as they finished, but Olivia and Elliot didn't seem to notice. Elliot had moved to his partner's side, unclipping the rope connecting them and helping her remove the belt before removing his own.

He stood up and offered her a hand. She accepted it, but when he moved to support her walking, she gently pushed him away, giving him a warning glance.

Smith was watching.

To be continued…

Well, that one turned out differently than I'd expected, but it works. Let me know if you feel the same way.