Title: Streetlights and Skylines
Author: Sara and Lizzie
Rating: T for language, a little violence and little sex
Disclaimer: Dick Wolf is God, obviously, since he really does own Law and Order, but since he'd never stick this on at 10 pm Tuesdays, we took the liberty of doing it for him.
Summary: Four years ago, Elliot attended Olivia's funeral. Little did he know, the casket was empty, and Olivia was in a condo in Los Angeles, calling herself Lucy. But, when the man who forced her from her life dies, she comes back to New York, and the 1-6, to find her former partner and boyfriend, engaged.
Author's Note: The more reviews we get, the longer chapter we will post in return.
June 13, 2006.
Hollywood doesn't lie. All the cliché movie moments about how time stops, you can't breathe, and the world spins? All true. Elliot felt more emotion in the time it took that voice to say those three syllables than he had when Andrea said she'd marry him.
And that was the first thing that he thought of. That time really had stopped. The entire city had slowed, just to let him take in that moment. The second thinghe thought of was that all that mattered in life were a couple of key nanoseconds.
The fraction of time in his life it took for the voice to reigster. He would never, ever, be able to erase the memory of that voice. Just like the couple of seconds it took for it to register with him that she was dead, she was suddenly back to life.
Elliot turned around, slowly, and there she was, clear across the roof. She wore jeans and a long sleeve gray shirt. Her skin was tan, and her hair was streaked with a little blonde. And he didn't know what to say.
It was too much to decipher everything that was going through his head. Everrything from I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life, to isn't she dead?
"Elliot." She said again. It wasn't a question or an answer, and it just hung there between the two of them.
Olivia stood, rooted to the roof. She couldn't believe the havoc the last twenty four hours had wreaked, and it all ended here. With Elliot. Just like it always had. She looked at him and still felt everything you could feel for another person.
She surveyed him. His face was still strong, and his eyes were still startlingly blue. She felt an itch in her fingers and she knew she wanted to touch him. She moved a few steps closer.
"Liv." He finally whispered. She could barely hear him, but it was there.
She smiled tentatively. "Olivia, what the hell is going on?" he asked, his voice a little stronger.
"Come on, El." She whispered. "Gonna take more than a bullet to the chest to kill me." His eyes told her he wanted to hear more.
"They patched up the punctured lung. I was in a coma for three days, and when I woke up, they told me I was dead. I didn't really have a choice. Next thing I knew I was in Los Angeles."
Elliot shook his head, as if to clear it. He stepped closer to her, as if he could make himself believe it by mere distance.
"And now you're back?" he asked in the same hushed tone. "Why didn't you tell me?"
She wanted to stand on that roof and answer all his questions. She really did. But she couldn't. Technicalities would ruin this intricately complicated moment. So she did the only other thing she could think to do.
She closed the gap between them, and kissed him. And she was surprised when he kissed her back. Deepened it, even. He pulled her closer to him, and before she knew what was happening, he had one hande tangled in her hair.
Olivia felt her hands inching up under his untucked shirt and feeling the skin there. She pulled back slightly. "Elliot, I'm-"
Sorry. She was going to say sorry. But before it could come out their lips were fused together. Maybe she moved toward him first because her unwavering pride wouldn't let her say it. Or maybe he moved towards her because he wasn't quite ready to forgive her.
It was definetly him who reluctantly pulled away. "Jesus." He muttered, more to himself than her. "Olivia, I'm engaged."
She nodded calmly. "I know."
"So that's it?" he demanded. "You just show up after four years? Just cruise back in one day?"
She sighed. "I was in Witness Protection Elliot. It wasn't exactly a vacation."
They stared at each other, faces inches apart. Tears welled in her brown eyes, but she'd be damned if she let them spill over. It wasn't until he reached for her again, and put his arms around her, and hugged her to him that one finally fell down her cheek.
"I missed you." She whispered. It was silent. Really silent for a long time. She could hear the cars flying by on the street below.
And Elliot was thinking about losing and gaining and how everytime he settled into something, his life got completely turned around.
"Jesus, Liv. Of course I missed you." He said, answering her unasked question. He ccouldn't let go of her. It seemed more logical to hold her close, for fear if she got too far away, she'd slip out of sight, and none of this would be happening.
He looked over shoulder, at the sun rising ever higher in the sky, illuminating the skyline for another day in New York. And for the first time in a long time, Elliot appreciated the sight. He felt the promise that it held and he remembered why people came there.
It was all about new beginnings.