Tornado

By

18lzytwner

It had been a long few days and things were getting to the point where they seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Morales' betrayal had just been the icing on the cake. Angela was not in a good way at the hospital and IAB had been breathing down their necks. Elliot's phone chirped as he exited the OC headquarters. He grabbed it out of his pocket and looked down at it.

We need to talk, it was Olivia. The short, seemingly curt, message told him all he needed to know. She was in Momma Bear mode and he could not blame her. At first, he thought Wheatley was just yanking his chain - But, plot twist… Wheatley whispered, there's someone else. Another woman… he was mocking both Angela and Elliot. Who's the one true love of his life. Every time he was looking into your pretty brown eyes, touching your face, or wherever else he was touching you; I'm willing to wager he was thinking about her.

Elliot quickly responded to her text with: Where?

Right here, Olivia's reply came fast and Elliot whipped his head around to see her police issue SUV pulling up to the curb. She unlocked the doors and he climbed in. As soon as he was in the SUV, Olivia left the curb, locking the doors, convinced that it was better to be a moving target than one that was standing still.

"Shouldn't you be at home with Noah? It's late," he pointed out.

"Noah is staying with Fin and Phoebe tonight. I figured he was safer with two cops and besides Rollins has her hands full," she said, turning the corner. Elliot watched her. She wasn't checking her mirrors a lot, but it was more than normal. She was obviously more concerned than she'd let on earlier.

"Liv…" he started.

"Elliot – if it were just me, I'd be fine. I can take care of myself, but I have Noah. I can't subject him to this. What happens to him if something happens to me?" Olivia demanded. Elliot heaved a sigh. He wasn't sure what to say – with the exception of Eli, his kids were basically grown-up. While he worried about them of course, the likelihood that they'd be targets were probably lower than Olivia's – at least with Wheatley calling the shots.

"If it was part of my job, that'd be one thing. I'm not involved in your case, but somehow I am now," she said. Before he could get a word in edgewise, she continues,

"What happens to me if something happens Noah?" The SUV is now stopped at a red light. Elliot doesn't even know where they are, but he says,

"Pull over." The light changes and she complies, despite not wanting to.

"Kill the engine," again she obeys before turning in her seat to look at him. He can see the look on her face – it's a mix of "I'm ready to kick someone's ass" and "I'm worried as hell".

"Wheatley was literally having me surveilled before I had even realized there was a case. He managed to dig into my life and everything that is hidden in the smallest of places. I had no idea how deep he had dug though until he made that comment in front of the US Attorney's office," Elliot explained. The words played over in his head - Liv? Captain Olivia Benson. Wow. Elliot, now I completely understand. She's a knockout. Poor Angela though, huh? Such a pleasure to meet you, Liv. His former partner doesn't miss the involuntary shiver that Elliot's body does.

"You drop me like a hot rock. You leave and never contact me again. I thought I was passed all that but then in the five minutes you're back in the city, both of our lives get completely turned upside down. I promised myself that I wasn't going to let this happen, but it's been out of my control the entire time," Olivia said.

"Wasn't going to let what happen?" He wanted to know. She heaved a sigh, regretting her choice of words. There was probably no way to put the cat back in the bag, despite admitting back when Kathy was in the hospital that he was the most important person to her, back when they were partners.

"Liv, I know this has been like a tornado. One minute everything is right with the world and the next there is nothing but destruction. You have to know though; I would never let anything happen to you. I meant what I said at the intervention," there it was. The "I love you" was true and she had yet to say it to him. She knew that the words were there, but she couldn't bring herself to flat out say it – Kathy had only been buried weeks ago and Elliot had been under considerable stress. While some of that stress had been self-imposed, her former partner needed her help. Their shared bond had not yet returned to what it once had been, but at the same time, it was almost like slipping on a favorite pair of slippers – the familiarity and comfort was there.

"Someone got ahold of my cell phone number, cloned your number, and sent me a fake text. I'm in the cross hairs. I need more than just your promise. I need my former partner. It is something I have no right to ask for given what has happened and all the time that has passed between us. You know that I'm not asking for myself. I'm asking for Noah," Olivia told him. Elliot reached over and took her hands in his. There was a lot running through his head but what he said was this,

"Wheatley may have all the information in the world, but he what he can't get, off a piece of paper or a computer screen, is what we have. There has never been someone who could read my mind like you and there has never been anyone so attuned with every fiber of being than you. I'm not about to lose that now, not after everything that has happened. I know that I'm not the same as I used be, but I know there is one thing I will never stop being and that is your partner. Whatever that means now."

"I'm not the same either. When this is all over, we really do need to catch up. There are things… some stuff you need to know," she stopped herself before mentioning the one thing she knew would probably break him. He didn't need that now.

"So, the first thing to do is talk to Slootmaekers. Someone found a way to clone my phone and get your number. It wasn't Wheatley directly, so it has to be one of his minions," Elliot told her. Olivia turned back around in her seat, her hands immediately feeling the loss of the warmth from Elliot's hands. Buckling in, she fired up the engine, and turned the SUV around. There was work to be done and there was no way this team was going to stop until it was done. Whoever was targeting them had no idea who they were messing with.

The End