Title: Stones in the Road
Series: Give a Little Bit
Author: Megan Faye
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here.
A/N: Sequal Give a Little Bit This song just reminds me of a picture of Mariska Hargitay, and inspired this story.
Don sighed as he flipped through the files. It was nearly midnight, and he still had more work than he cared to think about. The new detectives that had taken over for Olivia were good, but it had actually taken two to do the amount of work she did for the squad. Elliot liked his current partner, but the squad wasn't as cosey as it had once been. He missed the joking between Olivia and Elliot. All he had to do was stop by their home, but it was different the dynamic of his squad was forever changed, and felt less like home to him.
"I thought you'd be here," a soft voice said, pulling him from the depressing thoughts. There, in the door, stood Casey, with two cups; steam rising from both. "I figured you could use a coffee after today's hellish fiasco." Don stood and pulled a chair out for her across from his desk. Instead of slinking back around, he took the one next to her.
"You couldn't have said it better. At least when he was attacking you, he hung himself without hurting you."
"Well, I'm a strong girl."
"Really, Casey, I thought he was going to kill you."
"I'm lucky he's got a piss-poor shot." Don smiled weakly at her. "Look, its not like I've never been shot at before."
"True."
"But thank you for coming to my rescue." Don had seen the man going for the court officer's gun and had dove in front of her, knocking her to the ground. She sported a bruised cheek from banging it on a chair.
"Are you all right?" he asked, seeing the bruise. He touched her face gently. She hissed lightly. "Sorry. That looks pretty bad, Casey."
"It doesn't feel so great either. I'll be fine. I lived." She noticed his hands were shaking. "Are you okay?"
"I thought I was going to lose you today, Casey," he said, voice shaking. Don rested his hand on hers. "It scared me."
"Me too."
"So does this..." he whispered.
"Me too," she said, looking down at their hands. As much as the woman longed for any human contact, Casey also wanted to be safe from another broken heart. "What is this?" she asked.
"I'm not sure."
"When you pushed me down today, you saved my life."
"You don't owe me anything-"
"I owe you at least one coffee," she joked. He smiled, and looked down. "Don, last week, in the kitchen at your house, there was something...like now..."
"And every other time we're alone."
"Well...yeah..."
"Casey, I-" he stopped. After a moment, he took her hand and stood. "Would you like a ride home?"
"I would love that." She took their coffee and laced an arm through his.
"Elliot?" Olivia called into the dark living room.
"Hey, what are you doing up?"
"Why are you out here?" she asked, sitting next to him on the couch. "Rough day?"
"Guy pulled a gun in the court room. He tried to shoot Casey, but Don dove in front of her, threw himself on top of her...saved her life from where I was sitting." Elliot sighed as she snuggled down next to him. "You sure you wanna go back to work?"
"Computer geeks rarely pull anything stronger than a toy phaser."
"Don's in-love with Casey."
"How do you figure?"
"When he saw that gun, he risked his life to make sure she was safe. He could have been killed, and he was pretty damn scared." Liv looked up into her husband's eyes. "He was looking at her the same way I look at you. Hope she sees it."
"I hope so, too. They'd be kind of cute together."
"As long as I never have to see them making out..."Elliot said, shuddering. Olivia chuckled. "How are the kids?"
"Lizzie and Dickie are staying this weekend with Kathy. Kathleen is leaving next week with Rose and Alexander for Seattle, Maureen is still debating bringing Luke by, Allie is getting used to Eli, and pretended to read him a story today, and Eli has just...relaxed in general. God, Kathy really helped get me through those first two months." Elliot laughed lightly. "I know. I never thought it was possible either, but she did. So, how is Casey? Was anyone hurt?"
"Just casey, smacked her cheek on a table or something. Nasty bruise, but she'll be fine. Want to stop over tomorrow?"
"I really do."
"Okay. We'll stop over. Wanna go to bed now?"
"I really, really do," she said softly, kissing his neck.
"Hannah-banana," John called into her bed room. "Breakfast is on the table. No uniform today; its Saturday. We're going to watch cartoons all morning, eat unhealthy food, and then we're going for a boat ride in central park after lunch." He liked to tell her the daily plans as he woke her up. It made the mornings go smoothly for both of them. She should have made noise in her bedroom, but it was quiet. "Hannah-bear? Are you all right?"
"I'm still tired, Papa," she whispered.
"May I come in?"
"Yes," came a weak reply. John stepped into the room and sat on the edge of her bed. She was shivvering, but the room was warm. He touched her forehead.
"You've got a fever, sweetie. I'm going to get the thermometer."
"My ear hurts."
"Its pretty red," he noticed. "I'd like you to sleep a little longer while I make a doctor's appoinment for you."
"Can I still watch cartoons?" John smiled, scooped her up, blankets and all, and settled her on the couch. "Thanks Papa!" He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. ad turned the T.V. on and her favorite movie; The Little Mermaid.
"You rest here, I'll call your doctor." John went into the kitchen and spoke on the phone for a few minutes. He returned with her breakfast. "Dr. Warner is going to stop by in an hour or so. I know she's not your regular doctor, but he's out right now on vacation. Melinda is a good friend of mine. You'll like her. She's a medical examiner."
"Don't they look at dead people?"
"Usually, but she also works with the living occasionally."
"Cool."
"Its a weekend, you don't need a brain today, so I made fun food. These are a rare delacacy known as a S'More Pop Tart." Hanna giggled and pushed her glasses up. "Its chocolate and marshmellow surrounded in graham cracker. Sorry, no oatmeal and yogurt today."
"Are these Kosher?"
"Nope."
"Good. Kosher means no cheese burgers." John chuckled and broke a pop tart in half. "These are awsome," she said, taking in the sweetness of them.
"I like to think so," he replied, sending more crumbs out than she did.
"Papa?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think I could change my name?"
"To what, Hannah-bear?"
"Hannah Munch?"
"I'm working on it."
"Good."
"Why are you eager?"
"You love me, and Dad didn't. Dad never listened to me, never gave me anything, never carried me to the couch...you gave me everything-"
"I do tend to spoil you," he said, playfully.
"I'm not talking about stuff, Papa. You gave me hope. You gave me faith that there were people who could love me. You gave me strength to put my dad away. You gave me love when no one could love me right. You gave me a home. All my dad ever gave me was fear." Hannah spoke very softly. "I know I cried a lot at first, and I was scared, but I know you won't hurt me. You love me."
"That's right, Hannah. I love you." Hannah rested her head on his arm and closed her eyes. "My Hannah-bear."
"I love you, too, Papa."
Casey stirred in her sleep. The light from her window was definitely sun, which meant she needed to be awake. If there was sunlight, she'd overslept.
"Case, relax," Don said as she bolted out of her bed. "Its Saturday. We worked late last night, and you turned your alarm off so we could sleep in." Casey took a deep breath, and settled back into his bed. Don pulled the sheet around her naked form and snuggled her into his chest.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Very well, Casey," he said, running his finger tips across her back. "How about you?"
"Incredibly well." She arched her body and kissed him deeply. "You were amazing last night."
"You were pretty amazing yourself this morning."
"So," she said. "Can I cook you breakfast?"
"Why don't we cook together?" he said, rolling out of bed. He pulled on his slacks and watched her throw a silk robe round her pale skin. "You look absolutely beautiful, Casey," he moaned lighting, pulling her back towards the bed. She laughed and kissed his chest. His stomach churned with hunger.
"How about eggs?" she offered as she lead him into the kitchen. Don wrapped arms around her as she stared into her refridgerator, and kissed her neck gently. "Mmm...keep that up and we'll end up with Lunch," she moaned as his hands wandered. She closed the fridge and faced him.
"Sounds like a plan." He lifted her onto the counter and kissed her deeply.
"You know, I've wanted to do this for...a while now."
"You don't think I'm old?"
"No."
"I'm a grandfather...great grandfather."
"We've discussed this, you aren't my grandfather, or my great grandfather-"
"My daughter is 2 years older than you."
"And I'm barely 15 years younger than you, Don. You are only as old as you feel, Sexy. And you feel pretty young to me." Don chuckled again.
"I looked younger when I had hair."
"Overrated." She wrapped her legs around him as he allowed his hands to wander more.
"Casey," he moan as she kissed his neck.
"Oh My Dear Lord!"
"Olivia?" Olivia stared at Don and Casey, jaw floored. "Liv, its not what it looks like," Don started. "Well...ok...its exactly what it looks like."
"I'll give you guys a call later," she said, smiling, blushing and turning away from them. "Have a great morning!" Olivia chuckled in embarassment as she let herself out. Elliot, who was getting the kids from the stroller stared at her. "We need to go far away from here."
"Why?"
"Casey and Don are...mostly naked in the kitchen."
"Oh God!" He started fumbling with Allie's seat buckle. "Mental image...aaggghhhh! Pass the brain bleach!"
"Yeah. I wish to God I'd have knocked." Liv moved him out of her way and buckled the child back into her seat, and pushed the elevator button several times.
"Liv, wait-" Casey hurried over elevator. "Don't leave because of this."
"Is my dad still in there?"
"Well, yeah but-"
"Then why are you out here?"
"You aren't angry?"
"Why the hell would I be angry? I was hoping you'd start dating again. I didn't expect to see you half naked on the counter with my dad, I'm never eating here again by the way, but I think its great that you have someone. Go...cook breakfast with your guy." Casey gave her a playful grin and turned to go back into her apartment.
"Thanks, Liv. See you later, Elliot," she said, waving.
"Can't look...mental image," Elliot said, shuddering. Casey chuckled and went back in.
"Why don't we stop and see-"
"No! We're going where we're not going to walk in on anyone...especially the man we both look at as a father figure...ugh."
"You are such a baby."
"Was Olivia mad?" he asked, tugging at Casey's robe.
"She was amused."
"Why amused?"
"Situation." Don nodded, and continued futzing with her robe as they made their way into the living room. "Not hungry anymore?"
"Still hungry...not for eggs...for you..."
"Join me in the shower?"
"Oh, I would love that," Don moaned and followed her towards her master bathroom.
"Now the left," Melinda said as she looked at the little girl's ear. "Oh, Hannah, you have a little bit of an ear infetion. John, I'm going to write a prescription for amoxicillin. She needs to take it every 4 hours. Giver her yogurt for her stomach- this stuff is brutal. Where's the nearest pharmacy?"
"Corner."
"I'll stay with her if you want to go now." John nodded and grabbed his coat.
"Hannah, I'll be back in about 15 minutes. All right?" She nodded and snuggled down into her blankets. "If you need anything, ask Dr. Warner, and she'll call my cell phone." Hannah nodded again. She liked how her Papa reassured her of everything, and always told her exactly what was going on. "Bye sweetie." John grabbed his badge and left.
"John's a good guy," Melinda said to Hannah, still looking at the door.
"Papa rocks."
"Three years ago, I wouldn't have seen him doing this. I thought he'd given up."
"Given up on what?"
"Happiness."
"He wasn't happy?"
"Hannah, he was alone, and he didn't think anyone would ever love him."
"What happened?" Hannah asked.
"Olivia got pregnant, and her boyfriend walked out. Elliot, being the nicest guy in the world, and totally in-love with Liv, gave it a chance. Elliot gave Love a chance, and forced Olivia to give a little, who taught Don to relax, who told John to lighten up. Elliot and Olivia showed all of us that love is worth the chance we give it."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"John always wanted to have children, but he was afraid. After several failed marriages, he gave up on the family he always wanted. And one day, he was called in on a case that Fin couldn't handle. John saw a beautiful little girl was too old for quick adoption. She taught him to play, to dance like no one was watching, so sing like no one could hear him."
"Where is she?"
"She's sitting on his couch, snuggled in a big quilt, with an ear infection." Hannah smiled. "He loves you."
"Yeah," Hannah said. "I love him too. He's a great Papa."
"What movie are we watching?"
"Beauty and the Beast." Melinda turned the volume up a little.
After a while, Hannah dozed off. John had been gone over an hour now. Melinda called his cell phone, but there was no answer. She tried Don's cell, but again, no answer. Finally, she called Fin.
"Fin, I'm watching Hannah, and John's not back. He was supposed to be got 15 minutes, but its been two hours now."
"I'm on my way to the hospital," Fin said. "John was shot in a robbery at a drug store. Get Hannah."
Cliff hanger!