Disclaimer: NOT. MINE. PERIOD.
A/N: Ah, the much awaited chapter. Will it go the way you want it to? Read and find out!
A note to obsessedwithstabler: I will put your idea in, just maybe not in the way that you think….
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
Olivia showed up at the precinct 15 minutes early, despite the hurried rush to take a shower and dress. She fidgeted as she waited for the elevator to reach the floor. As soon as the door opened, she was out and looking for Don.
She found him in his office. "Don, thank you."
He looked up, slightly confused.
"For escorting me home last night."
He smiled. "You're welcome, Liv." He studied her face. "Something happened last night. You look as if you got no sleep."
"I didn't." She agreed with a hint of a smile.
Cragen was confused, and then recalled a conversation he had had with a certain former ADA. "You saw Alex last night, didn't you?"
Olivia just smiled and left his office.
Good for you, Alex. I had hoped you that you would go see her.
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
Olivia collapsed at her desk. She was all alone in the precinct except for Don being in his office. A note was stuck to her computer screen. You have another appointment with Huang. –Don
She sighed. Yay for another mental shakedown from New York's finest psychologist. Just what she needed to top this day off. Maybe if she was lucky, she'd discover that a root canal was in order and that the dentist had run out of Novocain. Sarcastic much? She questioned herself. Duh. She sighed. Oh well, time to see if I can effectively evade all uncomfortable questions from Huang.
She looked at the clock. I got a few minutes. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a book, The Da Vinchi Code.
Let's solve this mystery, shall we? Olivia thought to herself, opening the book to the marker and resuming her reading.
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
George Huang, FBI psychologist. Olivia read the sign that graced his door and made a face. Here I go again. It's dinner time for the head wolf.
"Hello Olivia." As usual, the office was clean except that his desk today was cluttered with papers.
And there he is, the head chef of grilling. "Hello, Huang. What's on the menu today? A trip down memory lane? Or perhaps some grave digging. Or even spring cleaning of the closets!" She feigned excitement.
Huang just smiled his calm I'm being patient smile. "That's all up to you, Olivia." He sat there waiting for her to take a seat.
She did finally, and toyed with the arm rests as she leaned back and watched Huang. The silence hung like a thick, uncomfortable blanket over them. Finally, Olivia couldn't stand it any longer.
"I saw Alex last night. She was asleep on my couch when I got back to my apartment." Huang was surprised but nodded his approval for her to continue. "We talked all through the night. She asked me about my time in Oregon, and I asked about her life in the WPP. She finally hit the question that I didn't want to answer."
"And what question was that, Olivia?" Huang asked when she didn't continue.
She sighed and looked down. "'How are you really, Olivia?' How was I supposed to answer that?" She gave a humorless laugh. "I answered truthfully, and somehow got to telling her about the first day I saw Elliot, about a week after I got back."
Huang nodded, his fingertips touching each other. "I'm sure that was very therapeutic. How did you feel after telling her the story?"
Olivia hated that question, and how did that make you feel but answered it anyway. "I was crying, of course. But we were also laughing. You remember Elliot and I talking about how we got rid of Dani by hiding him in the interrogation room." When Huang nodded with the hint of a grin that he did indeed remember, she continued. "Well, Cragen gave us all the rest of the day off, saying that if he needed us, he'd call…"
Flashback (yes, it's another one)
Elliot was shocked. "Can you believe that Cap gave us the rest of the day off?"
Olivia, Elliot, Fin, and Munch were all exiting the precinct together and were wondering what to do with their free time.
"That was strange." Munch commented, but was interrupted by three other voices chorusing together it's not a conspiracy, Munch! "Fine, fine!" He muttered, defeated momentarily. Then he brightened up. "Hey, there's a carnival at Central Park this month! What do you say we go and liven up their party?"
The three others just gave him weird looks, Elliot with a stunned expression, Fin with a what the hell expression, and Olivia with a raised eyebrow. They turned to each other and all shrugged.
"Why not?" Olivia asked. "It's not like we have anything else to do with our time."
"It's settled then!" Munch cheered. "To the carnival!"
End Flashback
Huang shifted in his seat. "What happened at the carnival?"
Olivia glared at him. "I'm getting to that. Be patient!"
He held his hand out in surrender. "Apologies. Please continue."
Flashback (yup)
"Please tell me we aren't going to the carnival that I took my kids to last week!" Elliot moaned as they came in sight of the carnival.
"Shut up, Elliot!" Olivia smacked his arm before looping her arm through his. "Besides, I've never been to a carnival before!"
The three men stared at her in disbelief. "No way." Both Fin and Munch gasped.
Olivia just rolled her eyes. "Guys, it's not like I was deprived." Blank stares greeted her. "I wasn't!" She received more blank stares, although now they were laced with skepticism. "Okay, fine! So I was deprived! Nothing can be done about it now."
"C'mon guys. It's time we show Detective Benson here how to have fun!" Elliot said slowly, a grin crossing his face.
Why did Olivia suddenly feel slightly worried at the gleeful look that crossed her partner's face?
SVUSVU…still in flashback form though…
"So what is the point of this game again?" Olivia was staring at the rows of bottles and rings in confusion.
"Toss the rings. Hence the name 'ring toss.' Ouch! Liv!" Elliot rubbed the spot where she had hit him, and glared at her playfully.
"I'm confused as to the POINT, not the objective, El!" Olivia snapped, and then shook her head. "Sorry, just a bit stressed out still, I suppose."
Elliot just wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to his side. "That's what I'm here for, to relieve your stress." He released her and nodded at the booth keeper his apology for bothering him. Liv grinned at El and the pair walked off.
Meandering through the crowds, Olivia was trying to take in everything. "There are so many people!" She exclaimed, dodging around a kid running from another. She could hear the mom yelling after them. The little girl tripped and went flying.
The boy chasing her stopped and looked horrified. "Kate, I'm sorry!" The little boy went running to his sister.
Kate looked up from her sudden stop on the pavement and blinked a few times before looking back at the blood seeping through her skirt. "It's okay, Matt. It's just a little bit of blood." But the tremor of the lips told Olivia and Elliot that she was hurting.
Olivia knelt down beside the little girl, Kate. "Hello there, Kate. I'm Olivia."
The girl smiled at her. "Hi! I'm Kate and I'm 6 years old! That's my brother. He's Matt and he's only 3. But I watch out for him." The little boy in question was still standing wide eyed at his sister.
Smiling, the detective bent her head to be eye level with the girl. "Can I see your knee?" When Kate nodded, Olivia pulled the skirt up enough to see the damage. "El, can I have my bag?" Having had the bag handed to her, she brought out a water bottle, a clean bandana, and a Band-Aid. Olivia began to tell Kate and Matt about her job, leaving out the rape victims. She then proceeded to rinse, dry, and cover the wound.
Elliot just watched her interact with the children. She'd make a great mother was the thought running through his head.
The mother stood behind Elliot. "Excuse me; can I have my children back?" Her voice wasn't stern; it was said in more of a joking manner. Olivia jumped up, Kate bouncing up with her.
"Hi, Mama! This is Olivia! She's a cop! She catches the badguys!"
Does that little girl's energy never end? Olivia wondered, amazed.
The mother smiled her thanks as she led her jabbering daughter and her tired son away.
Olivia sighed. Those kids are adorable. She didn't know that almost the same thoughts were running through Elliot's as well, only with him, he couldn't stop the thought of having a little girl that looked just like Olivia and a little boy that had his eyes.
Their eyes met, Olivia's filled with joy, and Elliot's with tenderness. Olivia refused to think that it could be love.
Instead of talking, Elliot just reached over and laced his fingers with hers and they began to walk again, this time a bit closer than before.
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
Olivia's voice broke. "That was the first time either of us admitted that there might be something more to us." She looked up to meet Huang's eyes, afraid that pity would be shining through.
Instead, Huang's eyes were filled with compassion.
"I am very sorry, Olivia." Huang's heart was breaking at the sight of this strong detective crying. "What else happened that day?"
She sighed. "Well, we continued to wander, wondering where John and Fin and run off too…
Flashback
Unbeknownst to either Olivia or Elliot, Munch and Fin were trailing them.
"I'm telling you, there is nothing going on between them, Munch!" Fin was insistent.
"And I'm telling you there is. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife."
"Yeah, and you would know about that, seeing as you haven't been laid in God knows how long." Fin muttered, not liking having to spy on the other detectives.
"Look!" Munch pointed. "Liv's helping a little girl."
"Awww." Fin exclaimed sarcastically. "Her motherly instincts DO show through!"
They watched her interact with the child before the mother came and took the two kids away. Olivia and Elliot were looking at each other before Elliot took her hand and led her off.
Munch and Fin looked at each other in shock. "20 bucks says they kiss before we leave the carnival." Fin said.
"40 dollars. And I say after we meet Don for dinner."
The two men shook on it. "Deal!"
They kept following the pair through the carnival, each wanting to win the bet.
SVUSVU in flashback form
"Let's go on the Ferris wheel, El." Liv said softly, leaning her head on his shoulder. She wanted to keep the moment between them and make it last as long as she could.
He smiled at the dark haired beauty and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, Liv." His hand tightened on hers slightly. He never wanted to let her go.
They never heard the "you so owe me!" and the reply "that doesn't count!"
Luckily for them, the line for the Ferris wheel was rather short, and in 10 minutes, they were slowly making their way to the top, with the wheel stopping every 10 seconds to let another group of passengers on.
By this time, Elliot had moved his hand from hers to placing his arm protectively around her shoulders. Her hand had made its way to his knee and she maneuvered herself so that she was leaning on his shoulder once more. He smiled down at her and wrapped the other arm around her so that he was hugging her against his chest. Looking out over the city, he sighed. "I love you, my Liv." He whispered, looking back down into her eyes.
Olivia looked back up at him, unshed tears filling her eyes. "Oh, El. I love you too."
And down below, with our other two favorite detectives, one was paying the other 40 bucks, shoving the binoculars back into his bag. "Man, that was cheap."
End flashback
Olivia shook her head, the tears streaming down her face. "I don't think that I could handle much more." She looked around, trying to find a way to escape. There was none.
Huang took pity on her. "Go, Olivia. Same time tomorrow unless something comes up, which I understand is part of the job. But Olivia." She paused from her hasty retreat. "Come back."
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
All Olivia wanted to do was collapse in her chair and sleep. She was emotionally drained. She stopped suddenly when she saw her desk.
"Okay, guys. What's going on?" Olivia stared in shock at the arrangement of lilies on her desk that weren't there when she went in to talk to Huang. Both Munch and Fin shrugged.
"They were here when we got here." Fin announced, just as perplexed as Olivia.
Munch broke in. "Is there a card?"
Liv parted the flowers carefully, extracting the card. "Yeah." Opening it she paled considerably. "It can't be!"
SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU
HAHAHAHA!!! ANOTHER CLIFFY! I am SO evil! And I absolutely LOVE it!!! Who is it this time? Will it finally be Elliot? Or has Richard White come back to haunt our lovely detective? You know how to find out! This time I want at least 10 more reviews! I love reviews; they are like tasty bits of chocolate! Okay, that was weird. Maybe reviews are just ego boosters. That's it. Boost my ego! Many surprises are in store for our wonderful SVU family. I've already started chapter 5! YAY! And I still love idea's!!
Oh, and I have NO idea if carnivals can be held in Central Park….never been there….I know, I'm sheltered. Give me a break, I'm from Colorado and go to school in Nebraska! Nebraska is a really pretty state, actually. It's just different. You kinda hafta like cornfields…haha!