Close Calls

Summary: See ch1

Disclimer: Not mine

A/N: Loving the reviews, I was bored, so decided to update again! Didn't think you'd mind though!

A New Victim

After about a week the doctors told Olivia that she could return home. Elliot was able to live on his own. It would still be about another three weeks before he would be able to return to work though.

Olivia had tried returning the key Elliot had given her, but he wouldn't allow it. She deserved to have a key to his place. She in turn had one made up for him as well.

When she got to work that morning there was a bouquet of roses on her desk. She placed her stuff in her locker before returning to open it.

"Liv,

Thank you for everything.

I don't know what I would have done without all your help.

You have been so good to me, it's about time I was good to you.

Be ready by eight tonight. Semi-formal.

Love,

Elliot"

Olivia smiled at the thought. She hadn't done anything special. He was hurt because he had saved her life. He didn't owe her anything, but she knew fighting him on it would be useless. Besides, this was going to be their first real date, and she was excited.

"You holdin out on us Benson?" Fin asked from the doorway of the bullpen when he saw the flowers on her desk.

"Maybe." She smiled, realizing that this was going to be a tough one to talk her way out of.

"Who's the lucky man?" He inquired.

"Just a guy." She answered, tucking the card away in her coat pocket. She couldn't have them finding that.

"It's okay Olivia. You can tell them about our relationship." Munch quipped from behind Fin. He had heard the entire conversation.

"But John, we swore we would keep it a secret." Olivia said, playing along with him.

"You two are creepy. Ya know that?" Fin mocked, taking his seat. "But seriously Liv, do we know the guy?"

Olivia silently made a mental note to thank Elliot for such a public display of affection when she got to the restaurant tonight. That is, if she would be able to explain the flowers without telling everyone that it was Elliot who she was seeing.

"What guy?" Cragen asked as he entered the room.

"The guy Liv is seeing." Fin answered.

Cragen stopped in his tracks. "They can't be." He thought to himself. When he saw the look of complete desperation on her face, he decided to help Olivia out. The truth was, if Elliot and Olivia were seeing each other, he couldn't know about it, and if they weren't, he didn't want to know about it.

"I'm sorry; I thought I was running a police precinct here, not a sorority house." He scolded. "Now, do we have any real cases, or are we going to spend all day trying to interrogate Benson about her boyfriend?"

"We've got nothing on the Anderson case." Fin answered.

He was talking about the latest case to hit SVU. A few days after Elliot had been shot, a woman by the name of Beth Anderson had come forward reporting that she had been raped. Three days later, she disappeared. They still didn't have a lead on her location.

"You might not have anything, but I think we might." A familiar voice said from the entrance of the precinct.

Olivia's face dropped when she saw Andy Eckerson, one of her past boyfriends standing there with his signature cocky grin on his face.

"Eckerson." Munch smiled, getting up to shake his hands. "It's been way too long."

"Good to see you again to Munch." Andy smiled, taking John's hand. "Olivia." He smiled once Munch stepped back.

"Hi Andy." She smiled.

"I don't mean to break up this little reunion, but what do the Marshalls have to do with this case?" Cragen asked. It always annoyed him when another branch of the NYPD knew something about his cases, and kept him on a need to know basis.

"Can we talk in your office?" Andy asked.

"Please." Cragen answered, showing him the way. Because Olivia, Munch, and Fin were all lead detectives on the case, they too piled into the office.

Cragen sat behind his desk, while Andy took a seat, and the other three detectives stood around the room.

"Well?" Cragen asked.

"We've moved Beth to a secure location." Andy simply explained.

"And by 'we', I assume you mean the Marshalls?" Cragen asked for clarification.

"Yes." Andy answered, again very simply.

"You wanna tell us why?" Cragen pushed, his annoyance becoming more apparent. He hated the cloak and dagger policy of the US Marshalls.

"Beth was an informant for us. She was getting us information on a known drug lord. A few weeks ago she gave us enough information to finally make an arrest. After the arrest, his men scattered, so we kept Beth under to try to locate them." He began explaining.

"This guy's men knew that there was a rat amongst them, and you still left her in there?" Olivia asked.

"They had no way of knowing it was her. We thought she would be safe." Andy defended.

"Obviously you thought wrong." Fin stated.

"One of his men found out it was her. He found her, and raped her after beating her. The only reason he didn't kill her was because she got him first." Andy told them, although they already knew that.

"Maybe I'm just ignorant, but why did you have to move her if who ever this drug lord is, is in jail, and her attacker is dead?" Munch asked.

"Because his other men are still on the loose. We can't risk them finding her." Andy answered.

"Don't you think you could have told us this three days ago? Before we logged the man hours looking for a woman that was never missing in the first place?" Cragen asked clearly angered at this point.

"We couldn't risk it." Eckerson explained.

"So why tell us now?" Fin asked.

"Because my bosses thought it would be more dangerous to let you continue. It looks too suspicious." He answered.

"I don't suppose you can tell us where Beth is?" Cragen asked, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.

"I'm sorry Captain, but I'm not at liberty to disclose that information. All that I can tell you is that she's safe." He told him.

"She was just raped Andy. She needs counseling." Olivia said sternly. "Or at the very least to be around people she can trust."

"We've moved her whole family, and we're seeing that she talks to someone about what happened." He assured her. "Trust me Liv; we've taken care of her."

Olivia just sighed and shook her head. No cop liked their cases being pulled out from under them by another unit.

"I don't suppose there's anything else you'd like to share." Cragen noted.

"No. That's all." Andy responded.

"Then thank you." Cragen said, indicating that he wanted him to leave.

Andy just nodded his head and left the office.

"So I guess that's that." Fin sighed.

"How can you guys say anything about my theories when you see how the US government can just make people disappear like that?" Munch asked.

Everyone just rolled their eyes at him.

"I just wish they would tell us before we waste our time looking for people that aren't meant to be found." Olivia sighed.

"Well, there's nothing more we can do here. Get back to work everyone." Cragen ruled, sending everyone out of his office.

When Olivia got back to her desk, she found Andy standing over it.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Just admiring your roses. Someone must really love you." He inferred.

"Yeah, he does." Olivia smiled.

"Guess this means you wouldn't wanna get a drink tonight, huh?" He tried.

"Andy." She sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets. "We've been over this. We'd never work."

"I've grown up a lot Liv." He pushed, sitting on the corner of her desk. He was careful to keep his voice down to keep their conversation private. "I've changed. Just one drink."

"It's never just one drink with you." She smirked.

"Is it because of this guy you're seeing?" He asked, indicating the roses with a shake of his head.

"He means a lot to me. I wouldn't want to do anything that would put our relationship in danger." She answered truthfully.

"What if you're meant to Liv?" He argued, standing. "What if I'm the guy for you, and sending me away tonight screws up fate?"

"I think, that I already may be with the guy for me Andy." She said quietly, admitting to herself for the first time. "I'm sorry."

Andy just nodded his head. "Okay. But if it doesn't work out, you know my number."

"Bye Andy." Olivia smiled.

"Bye." He answered before turning to leave.

TBC... just couldn't resist an Andy chapter. This is the begining of a new case, and a twist!

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