Disclaimer: I do NOT own Law & Order:SVU. All that credit belongs to Dick Wolf and his crew…lucky people. Do they realize how lucky? Anyway, yeah…moral of the story: DOESN'T BELONG TO ME. grins
Summary: What happens when a perp's family member comes in search of his own form of justice?
I'm dedicating this story to Kelly of the midnight dawn because she has inspired me to write my very first SVU fanfic…and she's been oh so helpful. Thanks for helping me Kelly!
Chapter 2:
"Okay," Elliot started, pushing open the doors of the precinct. "Park or food first?"
Olivia thought for a minute before replying, "Why don't we grab food and take it to the park?"
"That sounds like a great idea," he smiled warmly. "Let's grab some take-out from our usual Chinese place."
She nodded, tucked her hands into her pockets and walked along next to her partner. Lost in thought, she didn't hear him when he called her name. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up, startled. "Huh? What?"
Elliot smiled and held the restaurant's door open for her. "I just said, 'we're here.' Want your usual?"
"Sure," she grinned, standing next to him at the counter. As they gave the man behind their order, Olivia turned to face Elliot and asked, somewhat concerned, "How have you been doing lately? I mean, obviously you had that date but we haven't been talking like we used to."
Elliot shifted uncomfortably and glanced off to the side. "Well, the date wasn't that great but let's not talk about me. What's going on with you?" he rushed on quickly.
Olivia shook her head. "El, I want to know what's going on with you. Why do you always have to avoid me like that?" she asked, frustrated. She sighed and pressed her fingers to her temple as if warding off a migraine. "I wish you would just confide in me," she whispered, "You should know, by now, that I'm always here for you."
He watched her carefully, following her every movement. "Liv," he started carefully, "maybe, I just don't want to talk about things right now. How about I'll let you know when I need your shoulder to cry on?" he asked, trying to make light of their situation.
She allowed him a small smile. "Okay. But don't wait too long," she warned.
Their moment was soon interrupted as the food made its presence on the counter. "Well, I'll let this drop for now since you're buying lunch," she said teasingly. "Let's just go enjoy our afternoon then."
He nodded as he lifted the bag of food off the counter, paid the man, and escorted her out the door. Deciding it was too nice of an afternoon to grab a taxi, they decided to walk the seven blocks to Central Park. As they leisurely strolled down the sidewalk, they discussed menial things from the latest Nicks game to the latest, stupid theory Munch devised about the government watching them through their computer screens.
Entering the park, Elliot led them to a nice shady place beneath a tall oak and plopped down in front of it. "This is a nice spot," he stated matter-of-factly.
Olivia chuckled and sat next to him and crossed her legs, Indian style. "Sure. Now give me my food," she demanded playfully. As she went to open the bag, Elliot snatched it from her playfully.
"Let me pass the food out," he requested, a silly grin on his face.
Rolling her eyes, Olivia wondered how they could be dead serious one moment and ridiculously playful the next. Shrugging herself out of her thoughts, she accepted her cartons of orange chicken and beef with broccoli. "You know," she began thoughtfully, after a few bites, "I haven't played basketball in forever."
Elliot raised an eyebrow. "You?" he questioned. "You play basketball?" he continued incredulously.
She shot him an indignant look. "Yes," she huffed. "I play. Just haven't played against you," she emphasized, waving her fork at him. She poked it back into the beef and broccoli, stabbed one of each and lifted it back to her mouth.
"Are you challenging me then?" he wondered around a bite of his moo shoo pork. He snuck his fork into her orange chicken and stole a bite.
Glaring at him playfully, she answered, "Yeah, I am. Got a problem with that?" she took a few more bites and continued to stare at him.
Elliot swallowed hard as he felt himself falling into the depths of her dark chocolate eyes. "N-n-no," he stuttered. He cleared his throat and tried again, "No, I just don't want you to be sorely disappointed when I kick your ass."
Finishing off her beef and broccoli, she calmly chewed the last bites and then chucked the empty container at his head. "Let's play and then we'll see who can kick whose ass." She stood and dusted her pants off, offering a hand to her partner.
He grasped it and hauled himself up before squatting down to gather up their trash. They headed back down the way they came and he tossed the bag into a nearby trashcan. "Meet me at the park by my place in thirty minutes," Elliot said, referring to his new apartment. He checked his watch. "We'll have a few hours before school gets out and all the high school kids come flocking to the courts."
Olivia laughed as she hailed a taxi. "I'll be there. Be sure you bring an ice pack!" A taxi pulled up to her and she got in.
He watched her, confused. "An ice pack, for what?"
"Your bruised ego!" she called out as the taxi drove off as per her directions.
Shaking his head, he watched the taxi drive off. He faced on-coming traffic and hailed his own cab. When the cab pulled up in front of his complex, he tossed some money at the driver and ran up the steps, sticking his key in the lock. Once inside, he ran the three flights up to his apartment and burst inside, excited about playing a game of basketball with his gorgeous partner.
Olivia rushed into her building and didn't bother to wait for the elevator, taking the stairs, two at a time. Once she reached her door, she excitedly unlocked it and rushed into her room to change. Pulling on a pair of track pants and a spaghetti strap tank, she ran to her hall closet and dug around for her Nikes. Locating those, she plopped down in the hall and pulled them on and laced them up.
A quick glance at the clock on her DVD player told her she needed to hurry up – she was wasting valuable game time. Grinning to herself, she made sure she had her badge, keys and gun with her. Satisfied, she locked her door and quickly left the building in search of a cab.
When she arrived at the park, she saw Elliot warming up on the farthest court. Paying the driver, she jogged over to her partner. "Hey," she called out.
"Took you long enough," he teased, before running up and executing a lay-up. Retrieving the ball, he met her halfway, dribbling the ball. "Ready to lose?"
"Nope," she said smugly. "But I hope you are." With that she stole the ball and ran towards the basket, executing her own perfect lay-up. After a few more practice shots, the two started a pick-up game and two hours later they were sweating and the score was tied, 22-22.
"Damn woman," Elliot gasped, taking a long swig from his water bottle.
Olivia looked up, her hands supporting her weight on her knees. "Did you just call me woman?" she said with a mock glare.
Elliot squirted some water at her. "Well, you are!" he defended, lamely.
She took deep, cleansing breaths and laughed. "Good one," she mocked. She grabbed the bottle from him and took her own long swig. "Keep going or call it a tie?" she asked, capping the bottle and tossing it at him.
He caught her toss and set it on the ground between his feet. "What do you think?"
"Keep going?"
"Okay, whoever gets 30 points first, wins," she declared, standing up and motioning for the ball. She caught as he stood and tossed it to her. Starting to dribble the ball, she slowly moved for the basket.
Elliot watched her movements carefully, the way her lithe form danced around the court. Keeping an eye out for her tricky moves, he started running toward her just as she was jumping up to dunk the ball.
"Hey!" she protested as he stole the ball out of midair. She darted after him and proceeded to block most of his shots. Every now and then she would snatch the ball and score some points for herself but Elliot was dangerously close to winning.
Unbeknownst to them and their child-like fun, a dark, hardened-to-the-world pair of eyes watched them from the foliage that surrounded the northeast corner of the park. Shrouded in the cloak of mid-afternoon shade, he moved a tad bit closer to observe the pair. He glowered as he watched Olivia grin, almost lovingly, at her partner. He wanted revenge against these two…and soon he would get it.