Tarnished

Chapter Two

Kathy Archer's Home

Yonkers

6:45 PM

After the divorce, Elliot kept their old house, and Kathy moved back into her mother's house. They both had room for the younger Stabler children. The divorce was amicable, and Kathy agreed to alternating weeks with the kids. It wasn't Elliot's week yet, but he still came over to have dinner often.

He was glad that they remained friends through the whole process, which made the transition easier for everyone involved.

Elliot walked into the house via the back door. The kitchen was bustling with activity and Lizzie was the first of his children to greet him.

"Dad!" She exclaimed as she knocked the wind out of him when she hugged him.

"Hey," he said, hugging her equally as tight. "Were you good this week?"

"Yep," she said. "Will you help me with my science project?"

"Sure," he sighed as he sat down at the table with her. Dickie sat next to him.

"Hey dad," he began. "How to you tell a girl she's pretty?"

"Uh, well-"

"Olivia's pretty, how do you tell her she's pretty dad?"

"Dickie!" Kathleen chided. "That's private."

"Hey El," Kathy greeted her ex husband. "You in the mood for spaghetti?"

"Yeah," he said, just feeling happy that he got to be around his children. "Where's Maureen?"

It had been close to three months since Maureen got married to Chris Johnson, and Elliot missed her so much. She wasn't his little girl anymore, she hadn't been for a while, and he knew the day was coming that she would get married and live in her own place and start a family. Right now, he was still getting used to her being married. Giving her away was the most heart wrenching moment of his life because he didn't want to let her go, but Chris loved her more than anything.

"She's in the bathroom," Kathy answered. "Hey, where's Olivia? I thought you said she was coming?"

"Uh, she called me and cancelled at the last minute," he explained.

"Oh," she said, sounding slightly disappointed.

Kathy and Olivia had gotten along well over the last few months, and Elliot was eternally grateful to God for that because he didn't think his heart could take the bitterness of his ex-wife over Olivia. His relationship with Olivia was still on shaky ground, but they were getting there. They'd waited so long, what was the hurry now?

Maureen came down the stairs with a bright smile on her face. Her wedding ring flashed and shimmered as she waved at her father.

"Hi daddy," she said sweetly.

"Hey baby," he said, glad that she was able to come spend some time with her parents and younger siblings.

"Chris couldn't make it tonight," she said as she took her place at the table next to her mother. "He had dinner with his parents tonight. Weird huh?"

"I guess," Elliot said, going into cop mode. "Does he leave you alone like this a lot? Does he tell the truth?"

"Dad!"

"Elliot!" Kathy growled. "Stop trying to find reasons to intimidate Chris. He's our son in law now. He's family."

He made a face before he passed around the garlic bread. Maureen piled salad high on her plate.

"How was school?" Kathy asked the twins.

"It was okay," Lizzie said. "We have to do a stupid science project. Typical that dopo over here would pick the hardest project."

"Hey, hey," Elliot broke in. "Don't talk about your brother like that."

"Well it's true," she defended.

"Well, why didn't you pick another one?" Dickie asked. "Besides, it's always good to challenge yourself. We have to do a model of one of the elements off the periodic table for earth science. I chose Uranium."

"Good choice son," Elliot said. "I'll help you two out."

Everyone ate in silence for a few moments before Maureen spoke up again.

"Where's Olivia?" She asked.

"She cancelled," Elliot said. "She's going through a rough couple of weeks."

"Is she okay?" Maureen asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "She just needs some time to herself to think."

Maureen nodded.

"So, how are things between you and Olivia?" She asked, wanting to know the latest developments. She was glad that both of her parents, especially her father were moving on, being themselves and able to grow.

Elliot looked at his eldest daughter and smirked.

"Not at the dinner table," he chuckled.

"C'mon dad," Kathleen broke in. "It's not like we're twelve."

"We're twelve," Lizzie spoke up happily for herself and her brother.

"C'mon daddy," Maureen begged. "Please?"

Kathy smirked at how a twenty year old woman could still act like daddy's little girl. She didn't mind that Elliot was with Olivia because in the back of her mind, she had always known, since the first day she met Olivia. They had this strong connection, and it was almost tangible. She was slightly jealous that he gave all of attentions to his partner, but as a cop's wife, she knew that it happens, and if being with Olivia meant that he wasn't so angry all the time and finally finding some semblance of peace within himself, then she had no reason to keep him away from that. Of course, that didn't make it any less painful, but they were able to move on.

He was in love with Olivia, but he would never admit that out loud.

"I don't think Olivia would appreciate that," he said. "C'mon, on to something else. How's school coming Maureen?"

"It's fine dad," Maureen said, rolling her eyes.

"Is Olivia still coming to my game on Saturday?" Lizzie asked.

"Yes," He nodded. "And Casey's coming too. Remember her?"

"Yeah, she's awesome!" Lizzie exclaimed. "She likes the movie Bend it Like Beckham too! She rocks!"

Elliot wasn't expecting that kind of reaction out of Lizzie, but now he had something to tease Casey with.

"I'm glad you like her," Elliot said, looking over at a grinning Kathy.

Olivia Benson's Apartment

10:30 PM

Olivia took another bite out of her sandwich as she wrote down some notes from a previous case. There were papers and photos spread out on her desk as she wrote. She had a feeling that she wouldn't get much sleep tonight because there were so many things on her mind.

She sighed as she took another bite out of her sandwich. She didn't have much of an appetite so she pushed her plate away and sipped at her cup of tea. She got up and sat on the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head atop of them. Some days, she just felt like quitting all together. One time, she almost did, and Cragen reeled her back in. As much as she wanted to sometimes, she knew that she couldn't because she was finally at a point in her life where she knew why she was on earth. She had learned to embrace her past rather than try to fight it; only because she was sure that she had no one else connected to her.

Her father's emergence in her life threw her for a loop, and she wasn't sure if she could ever get up the courage to face Daniel Roman. When she was younger, she envisioned how she would meet her father; she always pictured it being a random meeting. A subway car, a cab, at the grocer's. She always knew that a shock of slight familiarity would course through her when their eyes met, she would know him instantly. He would look at her and look away, wondering why this woman had his nose, his hair. She would keep her eyes on him, her heart pounding.

But nothing like that had ever happened. She received a two paged letter, memos, and phone calls from the man claiming to be her father. Maybe he was confused. Perhaps if she ignored him long enough, he would just disappear from her life just as quickly as he was trying to enter it.

She heard the lock tumblers in her door and she turned. Elliot entered, looking equally as glum as she, and she got up and greeted him with a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey," she whispered. "How was dinner with the kids?"

"It was alright," he said quietly. "But I was worried about you."

"I'm okay," she sighed, touching her forehead to his.

"No you're not," he whispered, holding her tighter. "I know that this thing with your dad is bothering you."

"I don't even know if he is my father," she said indignantly. "This whole thing may be a mistake. I didn't think about it until now."

"'Livia, Cragen gave me the letter," he admitted. "He thought that maybe I could convince you to read it. We can read it together Olivia."

She pulled away then, and she ran her fingers through her hair as she sat on her couch again.

Elliot took off his jacket and pulled the letter from the pocket before draping it across the love seat in Olivia's living room. He sat down next to her and he opened the letter. She could hardly look at the letter, and she certainly didn't want to read it.

"El, I don't want to read it, not now, okay?" She almost whined.

"Okay," he said, putting the letter back in the envelope. "What do you want to do with it?"

"I don't care," she snapped. "Throw it away, burn it, let it fly away in the wind! I don't care!"

Olivia got up and went into her kitchen to clean up. She took her frustrations out on her dishes in the sink because she knew that if she opened her mouth again, she'd say something that she might regret and hurt Elliot in the process. All she wanted to do was do her job. She didn't need all this added stress in her personal life.

Just when she was finally getting comfortable in herself, something else came along to shake up her world. She was glad that Elliot was so understanding and surprised that at this point, she hasn't run him off.

They were trying so hard to make their relationship work. Between Elliot's struggle with the divorce, and Olivia's fear of relationships in general, they had to work through their own issues and help each other understand exactly what they were feeling.

For now, it was a very well guarded secret because they knew that the brass would be all over their relationship like bloodhounds and possibly try to separate them.

Olivia put away her dishes angrily and she saw that Elliot was approaching her. She huffed a breath and continued to put away her dishes. She nearly fainted when she felt him wrap his arms about her and hold her close. Her eyes closed and rested her head onto his shoulder, enjoying the warmth and intimacy of the moment. It was still overwhelming, but it also felt like they had been doing this for years at the same time. She could feel his heart beating against her back, and she was keenly aware of his lips on her neck, feeling little jolts of electricity running through her body. Her heart beat love for this man, and she became so dizzy at that knowledge.

I love Elliot, she thought to herself. I'm in love with my partner.

Her skin still burned from his embrace, even though she was slowly getting used to it.

The first time he tried to just hold her, she couldn't let him because she'd never had anyone do that for her. He came for her slowly, placing one arm around her waist, then the other around her shoulders from behind, and she remembered feeling his heartbeat against her back and her own beats matching his. Tears ran down her face at the intimacy of the moment, and she never wanted to leave his arms. No man had ever done that for her, and her mother certainly didn't hold her enough when she was a girl.

"My kids keep asking me about us," he chuckled. "Especially the twins. They love you."

Olivia smiled.

"Yeah, unfortunately, we don't have any sordid details," she laughed. "Lord, we are patient people, aren't we?"

"No, we're old, that's what it is," Elliot said as he helped her put away dishes. "Too old for the dating game and the sexual tension. We waited seven years, we can wait a little longer for the right time."

Olivia nodded her agreement.

She dried off her dishes and handed them to him.

"Liv?" Elliot inquired.

"What?" She asked, noticing the smirk on his face.

"Haven't you heard of a dishwasher?" He asked with mirth.

"Yeah," she retorted, handing him the rag and the soap. "Have fun."