"How's the little girl?" Asked Olivia when Cragen and Elliot entered the room.
"She's fine." Said Cragen. "He didn't get a chance to hurt her." Olivia nodded and sighed in relief. "That was a risky shot, you took, Liv."
Elliot scowled at Cragn's words. "Can't that wait?"
Olivia held up her hand, signaling to Elliot that she was well enough to talk. "Its fine, Elliot." She said. "So I hit him?"
Cragen nodded. "Yeah, bullet was lodged in his back. He bled out in the middle of the street."
She sighed. "So I guess that means I'll be talking to IAB then?"
"I don't think so." Said Cragen. "This is a pretty clear cut case. Just write up your use of force report when you get the chance. No rush. Just try to take care of yourself and take a few weeks off."
Olivia nodded and with a concerned smile, Cragen left the room and headed to the precinct.
Elliot pulled up the chair next to Olivia's bed and sat down, once Cragen was gone. They were both quiet for a moment and Elliot wondered what to say to her. She didn't look mad but then again she had just been shot. She was probably tired, and scared, and didn't have enough room in her for anger.
Finally, Olivia broke the silence. "Deja vu, huh?" Elliot let out a hard laugh in a single puff of air. He was past the point of jokes. After all that had happened, all that could have happened, well, he couldn't say he wasn't on the verge of breaking down. He looked at her, his eyes full of emotion, and communicated with them; telling her that he thought he'd lost her, that he'd die if that ever happened.
That thought scared him.
It scared her.
"You took the shot." He said. "Even knowing what could happen, you took the shot."
"You chose me." The harsh reality hit them both. He had chosen her, knowing that little girl could have died, knowing there was little he could have done for Olivia anyway. He chose her. "Even knowing the consequences, you chose me." He nodded. "Why?"
"Because I knew the consequences." His eyes bored into hers. "I can't lose you. Liv, I don't know how else to say it." He stood up then, unable to contain himself in the chair. "I don't know what else I can do to prove to that to you."
"Elliot, the other night-"
"Why does that matter, Olivia?" He asked too harshly. "You said no. You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want me. Kathy did. She told me about your talk. She told me what you said and then she kissed me." He stopped then, trying to calm himself. "Ya, know I never would have even let her get that far if I thought I had a chance with you. I don't want Kathy. I just didn't know what else to do. How was I supposed to know you changed your mind?"
He looked at her and saw the tears glistening on her eyelashes, threatening to fall as she looked in her lap. "Olivia", he sighed as he walked over to her. He wasn't trying to make her cry. He was just trying to make things right. He sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her chin so she could face him. "I don't know what you want me to do."
Olivia jerked her head away from his touch but her eyes remained locked on his. "I'll tell you what I don't want." She said. "I don't want to fight anymore. Elliot, I'm tired of this game we always play." She reached for his hand and stroked it gently with her thumb. "You've said everything you need to say and now. . . now its my turn."
She got really quiet, as if mentally counting the seconds before a bomb went off. "The reason I went to your apartment that night was because Ben asked me to move in with him."
Elliot lowered his head and removed his hand from hers. "Oh." He said.
Olivia pulled his hand back in hers and smiled. "I wasn't finished." She said. "I told him no. I couldn't do it, El."
His hand covered hers now, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "Why not?" His eyes were on hers and he wore a smug little grin.
She smiled, recognizing and missing, the cocky little bastard that was her partner. "I didn't realize", she began, "I guess it took him offering me everything I ever wanted for me to realize that I didn't want it; not with him, anyway."
He scooted closer to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. "What do you want?" He asked.
She swallowed hard and met his smoldering gaze. "You." She whispered. "Elliot, its always been you."
And then his lips were on hers, smoldering, hungry, eager, as their lips parted and tongues intertwined.
He groaned into her mouth and pulled her closer to him, careful not to put any pressure on the bullet wound. "You're making this hard." He said when they finally pulled away."
She looked down at the bulge in his pants and smiled. "I can see that."
He followed her eyes and laughed. "No." He said, slightly embarrassed. "I meant waiting." His hand ran up her thigh. "You have no idea how long I've wanted you, how long I've been waiting for you."
She smiled and kissed him again before speaking. "I think I have a pretty good idea, El."
He laughed again and ran his hand down her face, caressing her cheek. "You need to get better and out of here soon." He said. "I've waited long enough and when you do get out of here, I'm taking you out to dinner."
She smiled, but found herself for once in her life wishing he wasn't a gentleman. "That sounds nice." She said. "But how about you come over and I'll cook."
He rose his eyebrows in disbelief. "I thought you couldn't cook." He said.
She smiled. "I said I didn't cook. Never said I couldn't."
"Alright", he said with a kiss, "it's a date."
She brought her lips to his again and her heart pounded at the contact. "Yeah", she said, "it is."
This was going to be the end but if you want the date then I'll write one more. Maybe some smut? Let me know.
Review.