Halloween Fright
Disclaimer: I don't own Elliot or Olivia but if I did, they might actually rise up against me for this one.
A/N: I have no clue where I got this idea. I just wanted to share a little spirit of the season with all of you. I just had to take a break from all the angst but I'll be returning to it very soon I promise.
"Hi kids," Olivia smiled at the auditorium full of elementary school students. She stood beside Elliot on the small stage. They had been asked by the police commissioner to visit a few elementary schools in midtown Manhattan and join the ranks of the Mayor's Ambassadors of Halloween Safety.
"We're here to talk to you about safety," Elliot too smiled. He had been more than eager to volunteer to talk to kids about Halloween safety. As a father and a cop he worried about his own kids almost constantly but Halloween was different. It was a day especially for kids. Kids were meant to have fun on Halloween but there were people out there who made that difficult.
"Can you kids tell us some of the things you do to be safe on Halloween?" Olivia asked.
A boy in the audience raised his hand and a teacher brought a portable microphone to where he sat. He smiled at the teacher and spoke clearly into the microphone "We go trick or treating in a group," he told Olivia and Elliot.
"That's right," Elliot told him with a grin "There is safety in numbers. Does anyone else know a good way to be safe on Halloween?"
This time, a little girl raised her hand and the teacher with the microphone moved to where she sat "It's really dark so we carry flashlights," she answered.
"Good," Olivia beamed "You kids are smart," she stole a quick sideways glance in Elliot's direction before looking back out into the audience "And what do you do when you get home with all of that candy?"
"Eat it all!" a boy in the back row called out. Several students around him began to giggle. The students were obviously this boy's followers. Another teacher made her way to the group and soon the laughter subsided.
"No," Elliot corrected gently "You and your parents should check it to make sure that it is all wrapped."
"Yeah, yeah," the boy in the back row grumbled.
"Right," Olivia turned and smiled at Elliot. She again faced the audience "What's another way to be safe on Halloween?"
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"Last school on the roster before Halloween," Olivia informed her partner as they sat down to eat lunch at a table in the cafeteria "Enjoy your free school lunch while you can."
Elliot laughed, taking another bite out of his macaroni and cheese. He chewed it thoughtfully and paused. He stuck his thumb and forefinger into his mouth and extracted something "What's this?" he asked aloud.
"Elliot," Olivia admonished "Just because we're at an elementary school doesn't mean you have to act like a child," she averted her gaze from whatever it was that he was now closely examining.
"Hey Liv, take a look at this would you?" he held out his hand towards her.
"Ew," she swatted his hand away "I don't want to see your half chewed lunch."
"I'm serious," he objected "Look at it."
Olivia grumbled and took a pair of latex gloves from her pocket. She pulled them on, not wanting to touch the object with her bare hands but not from fear of contaminating any evidence. She took the small capsule that Elliot handed her and stared at it for a long time "Uh-oh," was all she said.
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"Will everyone who had the macaroni and cheese for lunch, please report to the nurse's office in an orderly fashion. There is no cause for alarm. I repeat, everyone who had macaroni and cheese for lunch today, please report to the nurse's office. There is no cause for alarm."
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"Don't be such a baby," Olivia smacked Elliot playfully on the arm as they road to the hospital in the ambulance.
"Did they figure out what it was?" he asked as he sat on the stretcher.
"Not yet," she told him seriously "But it was probably just some over the counter thing. Some kid probably slipped it in as a Halloween prank. I'm sure what ever it is, you and all the other children who ate the macaroni and cheese will be fine."
Elliot felt a massive shifting in his lower intestines. He groaned and flopped back on the cot "Oh, I think I'm dying."
"Drama queen," Olivia muttered but when Elliot didn't move or respond, she became worried. She moved quickly to his side "Elliot?" she asked with just a hint of desperation in her voice. She saw that his face was screwed up in concentration and it appeared that he hadn't heard her the first time.
He opened his eyes and looked up at her "Liv," he groaned.
"I'm here," she reassured him "I'm here."
"Back off," he groaned as if he were in pure agony and indeed he was.
"What?" she asked.
"Can't… hold… it… anymore," he explained.
Olivia didn't understand what he meant until the overwhelming smell filled the ambulance "Oh Lord," she laughed in relief as she backed off to her previous position. She turned to the paramedics "Call the school and tell them we know what the mystery ingredient is."
"What was it?" the young man asked confused.
Olivia couldn't help the broad smile on her face as she looked first at her shamefaced partner and then at the completely baffled EMT. With one hand pinching her nose she suppressed a chuckle "Laxatives."
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Two days later, Elliot sat on the couch in his pajamas, watching TV. Two days of doing nothing but crapping his brains out had taken its toll on him physically. He hadn't been able to eat anything. He'd been too afraid that it would simply go right through him.
Olivia walked in and sat beside him on the couch. She curled her legs up underneath her and leaned against Elliot "You want me to make you some soup?" she asked.
He shook his head "Maybe later," he told her. Olivia had been taking care of him since he had first relieved himself in the back of that ambulance. He was grateful to her but at the same time, he was ashamed. He was a hard ass cop and he had been brought down by some punk kid who had slipped some X-Lax into the macaroni and cheese as a joke. They had caught the kid and it hadn't shocked Elliot greatly to learn that it was the heckler from the Halloween safety assembly.
"You really should eat something," Olivia told him, her voice and eyes full of concern for him. There had been one horribly frightening moment in the back of the ambulance when she thought that she was going to lose him.
"It'll probably just go through me," Elliot leaned back against the couch cushions and changed the channel. He found nothing good on and was about to turn it off when Olivia spoke up.
"Let's watch a movie," she suggested. She got up and returned soon after with 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.
Elliot stared at her "You're serious?"
"Yeah," she told him as she popped the DVD in. She settled into the cushions beside Elliot and pressed play. She leaned against Elliot and he wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders "I'm glad you're okay," she smiled up at him.
"Well, I'll get back to you about okay in another forty eight hours," he chuckled "But thanks, thanks for everything," he kissed her tenderly on the lips.
THE END
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think of this little piece of seasonal goodness.
Disclaimer 2: It is very mean and highly illegal to put laxatives in food. It is not funny and this story is not meant to promote any such behavior. The only thing funny is poor Elliot's suffering.