AN: Did this episode stick with anyone else since it aired (or whenever you saw it)? Like, I had to include it because it's one of the ones I can still remember so vividly after all this time. Anyway, hope you're still enjoying! Next chapter will be a major turning point for these two (with a twist, of course)... bet you can guess which one it is ;)
Chapter 8 – 2007
The tension between Elliot and Olivia only grew the year following the Gitano case, though they never spoke about it again after the hospital. Elliot was eventually able to fall asleep without seeing the little boy's eyes every time he closed his eyes. Olivia, on the other hand, still can't look at Elliot without seeing a gun pressed against his temple.
It was difficult for a while after that, both having hurdles to get over in their own heads. Olivia considered asking for a new partner, because she thought that was what Elliot would want, what he had basically said that night at the hospital. In the end, she didn't really have a chance to because the FBI needed her help for a case outside the city.
Working undercover in Oregon was definitely an experience, one she was glad was over when she returned to New York. When she was summoned, she was actually glad to go away, but after a while, she realized how much she missed her unit and her squad. She missed them, missed her sense of belonging with them.
However, when she returned, it didn't seem like she had been missed at all. She arrived late one night, earlier than originally planned, to talk to Captain Cragen about returning to her role. She was also going to talk to Elliot while she was there, see what he was working on, potentially apologize for not reaching out, gauge if he was concerned at all.
As usual, nothing went as planned. Cragen briefly mentioned in their meeting that he had brought in another detective for the time that she was gone. What he failed to mention was that it was a young, beautiful woman, whom Elliot seemed to be already comfortable with… too comfortable with.
Olivia watched from the captain's office as her partner and this new woman walked into the squad room. The two walked close together, the woman laughing animatedly at something Elliot had said. What really made Olivia's heart drop was watching the woman take a seat at her desk, and Elliot coming up behind her, looking over her shoulder… touching her shoulders.
It was almost shocking to Olivia, to watch Elliot blatantly touch this woman in the middle of the squad room. She knew Elliot by now, well enough to know that this wasn't a coworker touch, or even the way he would touch his partner… well, at least not the way her would touch her. This was something more and the gleam in the blonde woman's eye only confirmed. Olivia's stomach lurched.
She decided not to talk to Elliot.
Elliot and Olivia had only worked a couple cases since Olivia returned to the unit, but it was different, awkward. They still just couldn't seem to get it right.
Olivia was… bitter… about what she had seen with Elliot and Dani. She told herself it was because she had been with Elliot for so long that they should be able to be that comfortable with each other…well maybe not that kind of comfortable with each other, but still.
Elliot didn't know why Olivia was being standoffish toward him, but he was feeling guilty all the same. He shouldn't have kissed Dani; it was a line he told himself that he would never cross: never get involved with someone you work with. His conscience leaves him thinking back to Olivia's first year, all but reprimanding her for sleeping with Brian Cassidy. Look where he is now.
The newest case was no different for the two of them. A woman had called the day after allegedly being raped by her ex-husband. During the initial questioning, they learned she had waited until the next day to report to make sure her daughter never found out about it. She all but pleaded to make sure the young girl never knew such a horrible thing about her father.
Both detectives knew they would eventually need to talk to the girl, but they tried to hold off as long as possible, starting first with trying to get any information they could about the relationship between the two parents: Valerie and Miles Sennet.
Their initial investigation led them to talk to a judge who had held previous trial who had awarded Valerie a protection order against the accused... it also was the beginning of yet another case where Olivia and Elliot would end up fighting the whole time.
It was getting routine by this point, the back and forth: he said-she said, and Olivia was still unable to figure out how to communicate effectively with Elliot on these types of cases… or really on anything in general since the Gitano case.
She knew his style by now, she could almost tell his thoughts and what he was going to say before he said it. But even then, she couldn't let that stop her from getting mad at him. They knew each other's weakness - each other's soft spots - by now. They knew how to put in the knife and twist it.
The judge they talk to is uncooperative, at best. He won't give them any information on the previous findings and when Olivia tries to get any sort of evidence for a behavioral pattern, she receives a firm, "There's no history of violence." This is obviously the judge's roundabout way of saying that Valerie was trying to cheat the system and get her husband in trouble.
"It's our job to believe the victim." Olivia countered quickly. She's irritated, which is nothing new since she's essentially been irritated since she got back from Oregon.
"I work in family court, it's my job to believe whoever's lying the least." The guy replies haughtily.
"Valerie has no reason to lie." Olivia counters.
"Sure, she does, for the spoils of war. Accuse your spouse of abuse and tip the balance in your favor."
"The Silver Bullet Strategy." Elliot chimes in, trying to shift focus from Olivia who is getting worked up.
"Also called sexual assault in divorce. It's very popular these days. You have personal experience in that area?" The judge is being cheeky. Elliot stays calm, Olivia gets more irritated.
"A divorce lawyer suggested my wife go in that direction, but she didn't hire him." Elliot counters with deadpan sarcasm.
The more they speak to this guy, the more he makes Olivia angry. This judge is being completely obstinate, standing in the way of their investigation. However, when she pushes further, the arrogant prick slaps a threat to have her thrown in jail… Coward.
She's not able to say anything before Elliot is grabbing her by the forearm and thanking the honorary for his time. She almost scoffs, this is the way he would touch his partner.
He waits until they are outside the courthouse to speak to her. "You don't bait a judge."
"Valerie Sennet was raped. End of story." She's firm in her words.
"You seem awfully convinced of that."
"And your current situation is clouding your judgement." She twists the knife a little. She knows Elliot has no idea why she's so cross, but she goes there anyway.
"My current situation?" Elliot questions, making sure she wants to go down that path.
"Well, you don't usually sympathize with the suspect."
"It's not sympathy, it's outrage! The guy never touched his wife." Elliot's voice has raised now, per usual. He always thinks that will make her back down, but it never does.
"Until last night, Elliot! You saw the bruises."
"Miles never touched his wife, or his daughter and he gets punished for it anyway, now how is that right?" he doesn't back down either.
They always come to this impasse, neither of them completely stepping over the line that would take them past bickering. It's like edging, but much more unenjoyable.
Olivia looks at him incredulously for a long moment before getting in his patrol car with a roll of her eyes.
The whole team is up in arms when they get back to the station. ADA Novak is trying to discuss the case with the detectives after Dr. Warner confirms that Miles Sennet has been in Valerie's house at some point, even though both Valerie and her daughter have claimed to not have told Miles where they live. Novak and Olivia have taken sides together, concluding the evidence shows he was there that night, that time… that he was guilty of what he was accused.
But Elliot is still in opposition with Olivia. He can't see this small evidence as proving anything. And now they're arguing again… this time with an audience.
"I'm the longest relationship you've ever had with a man! You have no idea how bad things can get when a couple goes south." It's his turn to twist the knife.
"And 8 years in the unit tells me that I don't need to be married to know when an abusive man is escalating." She's stares him straight in the eye, knows he gets the undertones of her statement.
They're locked in a stare-off when Cragen chimes in, before either of them can say anything. "You two think you can work this together? Because if you can't I will reassign it."
"Fine." Olivia whispers as her eyes return to the ground. A part of her wishes he would reassign but she's invested in the case already.
Coming to more roadblocks, they are forced to interview the daughter. Dr. Huang is sent in to make sure no one crosses any lines, and since he's the best at reading body language. The girl gives up that her father was there to talk to her mom about moving. She had told her dad that her mom had been talking to a headhunter out of Dallas. They were both afraid that they would never see each other again, that Valerie was going to try and keep his daughter away even more.
It turns out that Miles had found where the two women were staying by bugging their social worker's car with a GPS unit. When they go to arrest him, Olivia is on a high horse, thinking for sure that this means Valerie isn't lying as Elliot believes. While placing cuffs on him, she pushes Miles into the wall and straps the cuffs on tight.
She hears Elliot snicker beside her. "You got a problem?" She whips out.
"Just nice to see someone else with an anger issue." Elliot's smirking at her and she has half a mind to punch him in the face.
"You want to read him his rights?" Olivia shoots back not willing to look unprofessional but is cut off by Miles, pleading his case. Olivia's already had enough of this whole situation.
"I swear, I didn't touch her…"
"Swear on what? The Bible? God? Your Daughter? You have the right to keep your mouth shut." She says as she walks him out to the car. She doesn't bother to acknowledge Elliot's judgement.
During the interrogation, Miles places himself in the house and admits to pulling his ex-wife out of the shower but he claims from there he only wanted to talk to her. He wanted to talk some sense into her about leaving and taking their daughter away from him. But then he swears he left.
His story is consistent with the bruising that was found on Valerie's arms and also matches the fact that was no evidence of a struggle between the bathroom and bedroom. So, the team all comes back together to discuss following the interrogation. Elliot voices his concern about the lack of evidence. Huang chimes in about the lack of any sort of behavioral pattern, which earns a collective groan from the group, knowing they can't use that in the prosecution.
Elliot comes back in to suggest that maybe the victim had sex with another man that night, hence why there is evidence of sex but no fluids… why would Miles have taken the time to put a condom on.
Cragen notes this as a possibility before assigning tasks. "Olivia, re-interview the victim. Elliot dig discreetly into her background, make sure there are no surprises."
"Oh, so now we're putting victims on trial. Good to know." Olivia's sarcasm is back in full force.
"Well, a statement with this many red flags, no good coop would overlook it." Elliot, of course, interjects.
"Especially not one with a dying marriage and a history of violence." Olivia fires back.
They both hear Novak whisper to the Captain but keep their eyes remain locked. "I thought you said they were working it out?"
What is he going to do with these two? Cragen thinks.
Elliot is the first thing on Olivia's shit list but the last thing she wants to talk about. So, when Kathy Stabler calls her out of nowhere, she has half a mind to ignore the call all together. But something in her wants to hear what Kathy has to say, so she goes.
Olivia meets up with Kathy in central park for what should hopefully be a quick chat. It's awkward, of course. Olivia knows that Kathy never really cared for her, as most cop's wives don't when a woman spends more time with their husbands than they do.
Kathy tries to start some small talk, pleasantries… Olivia follows the lead but gives few details. There's a moment of silence before Kathy brings up Dani Beck, which makes Olivia cringe outwardly. "Well, it makes me feel better to know you didn't like her either."
Olivia didn't mean for Kathy to know how she felt about Detective Beck, but continues the conversation anyway: "Why do you care? You're getting divorced."
Kathy lets out a small sigh before stopping and turning to her. Kathy catches her eyes before she speaks. "Do you have any idea how much I worry that he prefers spending time with you than me and the kids?"
Olivia opens her mouth to protest, to say something about how distant the two really are, that Kathy shouldn't worry about something like that.
"Truth is, you know things about him I would never understand. That's what I'm counting on." Kathy beats her.
"You want me to try and get him to sign the divorce papers?"
"You're his partner. You give him stability. Elliot can't move on until he feels like he's on solid ground."
Olivia's unsure what gave Kathy the impression that she gives Elliot stability at all. At the moment, all she does is fight and argue with him. Surely, she has to be more harm than good.
But there's a part of her that knows that isn't true. Prior to Gitano, she and Elliot were stable. She had noticed the change in behavior from his last partners, as had other people, which she guesses had made its way to Kathy. He was calmer, more grounded, clearer. After Rickett, there had been no incidents with perps, no meetings with captain, no write ups. They were solid… until Gitano ruin it.
Or maybe they ruined it themselves.
She tells Kathy she'll see what she can do and leaves.
In the arraignment hearing, Miles is placed on a $500,000 bond, set by the judge and not the people. With the active protection order, the judge felt as though the man was more of a perceived threat than originally thought. The team can tell that Valerie is relieved by the number, mentioning that he would never raise that much money, but after Miles snarls at her, she leaves the court quickly.
However, Miles did manage to make bail.
Later that night, Elliot and Olivia receive a somber phone call letting them know that Valerie had been drenched in gas and set on fire, presumably by Miles, and is in route to the hospital.
The pair race to the burn unit at the hospital to talk to Valerie. She's not in good shape when they get there, however, she is able to confirm that it was Miles who dumped gas on her and set it on fire before passing out.
Outside the unit, Elliot can't help but feel like shit. "You said he was escalating, you were right." He says as he rips his hospital PPE off.
"You think that's what I want to hear? He set her on fire, Elliot. Who could have anticipated that?" She's calmer now when she speaks back, the weight of what happened too heavy to throw any sort of anger on top of it. There is a part of her that wanted to hear that she was right, but that's neither here nor there now.
"If I had listened to you, we could have prevented this."
"How? Miles Sennet chose gasoline and a match, not you. He didn't just want to kill her, he wanted her to suffer."
"He said he wanted her dead. I just wasn't listening."
"You weren't the only one in that room. I was there, too." She comforts. Somehow, no matter what happens, she'll always have this man's back.
They find out that Miles is meeting his daughter in Central Park, they think he's going to take her and make a break for it, but it happens that he just wants to see his daughter one last time.
Elliot's arrives with Fin, which is all a part of the makeshift plan they had made on the way over. By the time they get there, the young girl is clinging to her father. He's told her that he killed her mother but that doesn't stop her from caring about him all the same. She's sobbing now, trying to get her dad to leave with her. It's a heart wrenching scene.
But Miles thinks… knows… he's not going to make it out of there. It was part of the plan all along. He pushes the crying girl away and yells for Elliot to come grab her, which he does swiftly.
By the time the girl is pulled away and tucked safely into a squad car, Miles is surrounded. Fin has taken the lead by now, telling him to just come forward, it doesn't have to end like this. But Miles thinks he knows how all of this works, that he's going down. The man pulls a large knife from his pocket and holds it at eye height, right in Fin's direction.
What Miles doesn't know is that it's all a diversion. Fin is able to distract long enough so Olivia can make her way around the back of the fountain, unseen by Miles.
Miles has stalled long enough, he thinks, why delay the inevitable. He takes one exasperated step forward, amping himself up for what's to come. He doesn't even see Olivia who shouts his name as he proceeds forward.
In the time it takes him to turn toward the sound, she has shot him in the chest. Three plastic bullets, enough to put him on the ground, but not enough to hurt him. Olivia walks over to let the shocked man know that his chest will hurt for a while but it's only temporary.
When it's all over, Elliot and Olivia go back to the hospital to share the good news with Valerie: Miles has been caught and her daughter is safe. Unfortunately, she's not in good condition and the doctor is not hopeful about the outcome. But they're going to try anyway. He tells the detectives of the treatment so casually but as soon as they leave the room, Valerie's screams overtake the hallway.
Valerie's screams are haunting - will be haunting for a long time - so Olivia can't sleep. Her first thought is to go back in to work, but she's had about enough of that place today. Instead, she finds herself on the outside stairs of Elliot's apartment.
There's a long moment she contemplates just sitting there, that he would never even know that she had come all this way. But she's spent a couple bucks getting him a coffee, she's come all this way, and she knows he's probably awake too so, she texts him: Come Downstairs – Liv
He arrives quicker than she had readied herself for. She raises the cup she brought for him as a small peace offering.
"Is that a flower in your cup? Elliot tries to break the tension as he sits down beside her on the stairs.
"Valerie wasn't raped, she was sleeping with a law firm investigator attorney, he stopped by after you left. She really put her husband through the ringer." Her voice is distant to her own ears.
"She died 20 minutes ago." Elliot says gently, he knows Olivia well enough to know she's blaming herself for the way this case ended.
"She knew that she was gonna die and she still lied to my face." Olivia is a million miles away when she speaks, staring at the empty road in front of Elliot's apartment.
"When love warps into hate, there're nothing you won't do… That's why I signed the divorce papers, didn't want Kathy to regret me." This is Elliot's way of comforting both of them, showing his own disaster to make her feel better and rationalizing it out loud to her to make himself feel it too.
There's a moment of silence between them. Olivia's mind is swirling with everything that has happened the past few days, hell, the pat year, and she knows now why she came.
"Are we okay?" She says hesitantly, almost nervously.
"I just need space to disagree with you so that I don't feel like it's going to cost me our partnership." He lets out as easily as he can.
She breathes a sigh of relief, but she's unsure if his response really responds to what she was actually asking. It feels like progress all the same. "You've never been gun-shy before."
"Yeah, well, you know, things change."
"Well, like you said, you're the longest relationship that I've ever had with a man. Who else would put up with me?" She pauses and gives a slight chuckle, hoping her self-deprecation works to her advantage here. She doesn't dwell, thinking that maybe they'll work it out in the long run. "You want to get some food?"
And this time, he goes.
