Elliot sat at his small kitchen table. He ate the soup in front of him messily. Nothing was more depressing then this. He couldn't get past the fact that he didn't know where Olivia was. She could be anywhere. Anyplace. Alive. Dead. Hurt. He wouldn't know the difference.
Finally he just flipped the bowl of soup in an outburst. It went flying off the table, cracking as it hit the hard floor. He didn't care. His new partner angered him. Cragen always insinuating that Olivia wouldn't come back angered him. Fin and Munch angered him because he couldn't have that relationship with anyone. Only with Olivia and she was gone, for god knows how long.
He pulled a beer out of the fridge, he popped the top, ready to down it in one gulp. But before he was able to feel the cool liquid on his lips the phone rang.
"Stabler… hello?"
"Elliot," A soft voice echoed through him.
He frowned, "Olivia?"
He heard a small laugh, "You can call me Rebecca."
"Rebecca?"
"My undercover name," Olivia shook her head.
"You're not a Rebecca," Elliot shook his head as well.
"Tell me about it."
There were a few moments of silence. Neither knew what to say.
"How's the case going?" Elliot asked.
"Ok. We're making substantial progress. How's SVU?"
"Lonely," Elliot stated blatantly.
There was another wave of silence.
"I have a new partner," Elliot broke the ice again, the silence was killing him, it left too many venues open, it left him too much space to say anything.
"A man?" Olivia asked.
"Woman. She's young. She reminds me of Maureen."
"How are your kids?"
"I haven't seen them in awhile."
"Why not?" Olivia asked curiously.
"I've been pretty down lately."
A wave of silence crashed down again.
"Well Elliot, I just wanted to call, see how everythin-"
"I miss you."
Olivia paused, "What?"
"I miss you. A lot. I feel like someone's reached inside me and taken a piece," Elliot closed his eyes, he hated saying these things. He knew it made things awkward. But he had to say them.
"Elliot, I will be back. As soon as this is over."
"And what if that means that when the case is over, you're over?"
"Are you saying I'll die?"
"I'm saying it's a possibility. Then again, you could decide not to come back. But, I'm not in any position to make this decision for the both of us. I want you back here, with me. But it's up to you. You need to make the decision to stay there or come back."
Olivia was quiet for a few moments, "what would it mean if… I'm afraid to come back?"
"Why would you be afraid?" Elliot asked.
"I'm safe here, Elliot. I don't mean from crime or rapists, or any of that. I mean I'm safe from us."
"Us?"
"You know what I mean. Sometimes the tension is too much to handle. We're too afraid to become any closer then we are. So where does that leave us? Stuck? In a rut?"
"We could make things work. You know we could. It'll just take some strength and will power. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it," Elliot picked up the beer bottle, but set it back down again.
"If I come back, and we try to make things work, and they don't, then what?"
"You can't think about it that way. If it's meant to happen, it will. One way or another."
Elliot could almost feel Olivia, like she was sitting right there next to him.
There was a long wave of silence this time.
"I don't know when I'll be back Elliot, but I will be back."
"I can't wait," Elliot stood up from the kitchen table.
"This is probably goodbye for awhile," Olivia lost her voice, she spoke in a whisper.
Elliot made his way over to the trash can. He pressed the lever with his foot, "it's never goodbye," he dropped the beer bottle in the trash, "it's till we meet again."
Olivia smiled, "Till we meet again, Elliot."