Disclaimer: Law & Order SVU/OC and its characters don't belong to me. This story has been written for fun only, not for money.
Spoilers: BTS photos of OC S2.
Summary: Elliot goes to see Liv before leaving for an undercover job with OC.
Context: This formed in my head after seeing the bts photos of Chris as an EMT (and undoubtedly undercover).
Enjoy and please review!
Disobeying Orders
by musical-Aven
Three soft knocks at her door woke her up. Alerted, she stayed in bed and made sure she hadn't dreamt them. When two other knocks came, she got up from under the covers. She grabbed her weapon, just in case. As she crossed her living room toward the door, she glanced first at Noah's bedroom and then at the clock.
She approached the peephole with precaution, but wasn't so surprised to see who was behind it. Of course, it had to be him. Who else would be at her door at 4 am?
Even though she had missed *him* in the last ten years, she hadn't missed those late-night visits. First, she was getting too old for them. And second, they usually always came with bad news.
Unlocking the door, she put her weapon down. She rubbed her eyes once before opening the door enough to greet him, but still using it to lean on.
He looked up and she saw relief in his eyes.
"Hey." She greeted softly.
"Hey." He replied, simply.
"Everything ok?" she asked right away.
"Yeah." He nodded. "I'm sorry to wake you."
She knew him. He was here to tell her something. Something important enough that it couldn't wait. Important enough to silently ask to come in. She moved to let him. He walked a few steps into her apartment, but didn't go far. She closed the door and turned to him, bracing herself for whatever was coming. She then noticed his attire. He was dressed in casual clothes, but they felt more like traveling clothes. Something stirred in her and her heartbeat raised a bit.
"Is everyone ok?" she asked, breaking his silence.
"Yes, everyone is fine. I…I needed to talk to you about something."
"At 4 am?"
He offered a small smile.
"It's the only time I had."
She frowned at that.
"I'm not supposed to say anything…the kids don't even know…and Bell even warned me about telling you…" he hesitated.
"Elliot?" she hated the suspense.
"I'm going undercover." He stated, looking intensely into her eyes.
She stopped breathing. Undercover? Weren't they too old for this? Of course, Elliot was in his best shape ever, but still…
"Why?" she forced her first question out of her lungs.
Elliot sighed.
"We have this dead-end case, our boss thinks it's the only way to move the pieces of the puzzle."
She swallowed with difficulty.
"For how long?"
He shrugged.
"They say a couple of weeks, but you know, it's UC…"
And she did know. She exhaled slowly to take in the news. She knew she couldn't say or do anything to stop this. But at the same time, all she could think about is that she could lose him. Again. She looked back at him and saw in his eyes that it wasn't his decision but he was going to do it nonetheless, out of duty.
So why was he telling her this?
"You want me to look after the kids?" Maybe that was the reason, since Kathy wasn't there anymore.
He shook his head.
"That's not why I'm here." Olivia frowned. "The kids are adults now, they're going to be fine. And Bell knows what to do if…there are problems."
Neither of them wanted to think down that road. Seeing the confusion on Olivia's face, Elliot decided to tell her exactly why he was here.
"They want me out quickly and I'm going to be unreachable for a while…I didn't want you to think…you know…" he couldn't quite form the words.
But she got it. He didn't want her to think that he had left without a word, again. He didn't want her to relive through the fear that he had walked away.
Olivia released a long breath she didn't realize she was holding. She nodded once.
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
They looked at each other for a long time. And then Elliot glanced at the floor, inhaling, preparing himself.
"When do you leave?"
"Half an hour ago." He smiled.
Olivia felt guilty that he took the time to disobey an order and come talk to her. She was grateful for it though, because she didn't know how she would have reacted if she found out he was gone without saying anything. She nodded.
Elliot moved towards the door slowly, neither of them wanting him to leave just yet.
"I can reach out to the kids after a few days, just to make sure they know they can contact me at anytime." Olivia offered.
His hand on the handle, he looked back at her gratefully.
"Thanks."
He opened the door and Olivia couldn't let him leave without saying anything.
"El…" she almost whispered. I can't lose you again, she implied.
He turned to her, knowing what was coming.
"Be careful. Please."
He felt the desperation in her voice. And he understood it completely.
"I will." He replied seriously. "I'll be in touch when I get back." He tried to reassure her. I'm coming back, he wants to say.
"You better." She tried to lighten the conversation, but her request was loud and clear.
When he closed the door behind him, leaving her in the middle of her space, the silence was deafening.
Hope you enjoyed! Please review!
musical-Aven, August 2021
