Chapter Twelve

The next day, Elliot headed off to work again, having promised Olivia that he would try to get along with Cassidy. He knew that it was what she wanted. It was going to be hard for him, he didn't easily admit that he was wrong. He didn't like to, it showed weakness.

When he got to work, Cragen was yelling at Munch and Fin for some reason. Elliot walked in, trying to ignore them as he went to his desk. Usually, Cragen yelled at them all in his office, this must have been big. He was turning purple in the face, and Munch and Fin both looked like little kids who had done something to make their father mad. Elliot would have shared a laugh with Liv if she had been there.

''Cap, we've looked everywhere for him. He disappeared. Besides, he hasn't done anything else, and we think he may have skipped into Jersey, and you know that they never really want to help us much.'' Munch knew that didn't help their case any, if at all, but he didn't know what else to say.

''I don't want to hear your excuses, but since we've got lots of other cases on our plates, just leave it for now. Don't think that I haven't forgotten about this, you two.'' He took a deep breath and turned to Elliot. ''Until Olivia's back to work, you're going to partner with Fin. I was going to make you work with Cassidy anyway, but Cassidy and Munch are going to work together for awhile. Just don't get comfortable with the arrangement.'' He headed off to his office as Elliot heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn't help it.

Fin smiled wearily at him. ''Cap's mad because Rook's still out there. He's just too smart for us. We're pretty sure that he escaped to Jersey. I'm sorry. I know you really wanted to find him.'' He followed El's eyes to Liv's desk, where Cassidy had set up shop. Fin saw El's face start to turn red. ''El, calm down. Lake's desk is where he's going permanently, it's just not completely cleaned out yet. There's a lot of stuff we're still sifting through. That's still Liv's desk.''

Elliot took a deep breath, trying to control his rage. This definitely fell in the getting along with Cassidy promise that he had made with Olivia, and he intended to keep it. ''I can do this. I can do this.'' He said a couple of times to himself and got out some paperwork he needed to finish.

Speaking of the devil, Cassidy joined them, carrying coffee cups. He handed one to Fin and one to Munch, and placed one on Elliot's desk, before going to sit down at Liv's. Elliot didn't want to drink the coffee, but didn't see any way to get out of it while still keeping his promise, so he reluctantly took a sip. He snuck a glance at Cassidy, who smiled slightly to himself.

They all got to work, not really talking to each other much, Munch and Fin both had a lot of calls to make. Elliot was half-way through his paperwork when he got a call. He answered it reluctantly. ''Stabler.'' He said, as he continued to look over his file.

It was Olivia, and she sounded very excited about something. ''Baby, it's me. Guess what? We're having twins. I went to the doctor today, and he apologized to me for not noticing before that there's another baby. We're having twins!''

Elliot was only half listening, he was still concentrating on his work. ''I thought you had to call him to make an appointment.'' He said, as he started a DD5 for a case they had just finished.

Olivia said, ''Yeah, I had an appointment made with my new doctor, but Dr. Taylor had me come in to make sure that everything was still going OK, and he did an ultrasound when he did that. He told me that we're having twins. He was just glad that I wasn't angry he missed it.'' She got herself some water.

Elliot finally heard what she was saying. ''You've got to be kidding me. I must have the best sperm in the entire world. That's seven children I have fathered.'' He said, and felt every year of his forty-seven. It was going to be a bit exhausting to have that many kids running around. Especially since that by the time the twins were born, Eli would be crawling and everything. It was a bit daunting when he thought about it.

Olivia noticed his tone. ''El, what's wrong? Why aren't you more happy about the twins? I mean, I thought you wanted to have more children with me.'' She could feel her heart sinking. Had she totally misread him? Was she going to lose him? She couldn't handle that after waiting years to have him.

Elliot instantly reassured her. ''Of course I do, Livvy, don't be silly. I wouldn't lie to you. Well, unless it was necessary to keep you safe. This isn't one of those times. I know how badly you wanted a baby. I wanted to give you one. Now, it seems, I'm giving you two. Please don't think that I didn't want to have a child with you.''

Olivia almost felt herself crying. ''Good. You just didn't seem that excited, it made me wonder, is all. Look, I have to go and get Eli his bottle, but call me later and let me know what time you think you'll be home, OK, baby?''

Elliot agreed to that and after telling her he loved her, he hung up the phone. He caught Cassidy looking at him. ''What's the problem, Cassidy?'' He asked, as he got up to get himself more coffee, hoping that Munch hadn't been the one to make it.

Cassidy asked, ''I just noticed that you must have been the one to say it first. With Kathy, she always said it first. You must not have loved her. You always let her say it first.''

Elliot took a deep breath, trying not to make a face at him. This being nice to Cassidy was going to be harder than he had thought. ''I really love Livvy, she's my fiance. What are you trying to get at?'' He set Cassidy with a stern look, hoping that it wouldn't be misconstrued as a glare. He didn't want to break his promise to Livvy.

Cassidy shrugged. ''I'm not trying to "get" at anything, I'm just making an observation. You really don't have to get so uptight, you know. I'm not here to steal her from you. I just wanted to come back as a change of pace. Plus, I was seeing this woman, Dani Beck, and it didn't really work out.'' He stopped as Elliot looked at him in surprise. ''What?'' He asked, feeling self conscious.

Elliot groaned. ''You've got to be kidding me. That's two of my partners that you've had a thing for. Man, oh man.'' He really hoped that Dani wasn't going to come and try to get Cassidy back. He really didn't want to see her. ''Who broke up with who?'' He asked, hoping that Dani had ended things.

Cassidy looked surprised, but he answered, ''If it's any of your business, I decided that she wasn't what I wanted in the end. She's way too emotional for my taste.'' He was further surprised when Elliot stormed over to Cragen's office.

Elliot yanked Don's office door open, angry. He didn't even know why he was taking it this way, it was a little too much for the situation. Just because Brian had ended things with Dani didn't mean that she was coming back, but he was just so mad. Things with Olivia had been really great, despite everything that had happened, and this had the potential to really screw things up. ''Don, Cassidy's ex is Dani Beck. Dani Fucking Beck.'' He tried to keep from yelling. That wouldn't help.

Cragen gave him a stunned glance. ''What? What are the odds of that happening?'' He mused out loud, not really noticing the look Elliot was giving him. Even though it really wasn't his fault, Elliot was going to take it out on him, since he had no other option.

Elliot waved his hand in front of his boss' face. ''Did you hear me? Dani Beck is Cassidy's ex. He broke up with her, not the other way, she could come here to get him back. I don't need anything else trying to come between Liv and I. We have to do something, get Brian to transfer. I don't care what it is, I just don't want that woman back here.'' He could hardly believe that this had happened. It was one of the things that he had never guessed would ever happen in a million years.

Cragen finally focused on him. ''You know what, Elliot? You and Liv are going to be fine. Dani Beck possibly showing up at the station isn't going to make a difference because you're finally with the person that you're supposed to be with. You and Olivia are going to get married and be fine. Dani won't be able to effect you if you don't let her. All this is totally in your head.'' He hoped that all this wasn't going over his dectective's head and it was sinking in. He didn't want to continue to have this conversation.

Elliot knew that Don was right, but it just didn't feel that way. He just shook his head and left the office, running straight into Fin, who had been standing outside the door. ''What's your damage, Tutuola?'' He asked, a little angrily.

Fin hadn't been able to hear the entire conversation El had had with Cassidy, but he had heard the shouting he'd just done. ''Look, I don't know what's come over you, but Dani being Cassidy's ex won't have anything to do with you and Liv unless you let it. Just calm down, Stabler. It's going to be fine. Just remember, you love her.''

Elliot knew he was right, it was just going to take a moment to sink in. He headed back to the cribs, just wanting a minute to calm himself down. He went to his locker to see if he had any of his little stress balls in there. Liv was always making sure that he had some, and they always ended up in his locker.

What he did find was an envelope with his name on it. He pulled it out, recognising Olivia's handwriting. He wondered if she had enlisted Fin to help her put this in here. Of course, it could have been there for awhile, he hadn't opened his locker for awhile. What was written on the paper inside made his eyes water.

E is for the encompassing way that I love you, l is for the love that you give back to me, l is for the life you gave me, i is for how incomplete I would be without you, o is for only you by my side forever, and t is for all the time that we're going to spend together. Please have no doubt that you're the one I want for the rest of my life. I love you so much, I used your name to write a poem, and that is been done to death. I LOVE you, you idiot. Love, Liv

Elliot laughed through his tears when he was finished reading. She must have had Fin sneak this up here. He was so glad he was finally with her. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed the new house number, hoping that the baby wasn't taking his nap. She answered on the first ring. ''Stabler residence.'' It almost started him crying again. ''Hey, baby, it's me. I just got your note.''

Olivia grinned. ''Good, I was hoping you'd find it today. I thought you'd need that.'' She knew that he was taking this Cassidy thing too seriously. She thought he needed to be reminded of what waited for him at home in Queens.

Elliot felt himself smiling, Dani Beck almost completely forgotten. He talked to his fiance about their new life together, letting himself get lost in her. It was a good place to be.

Sitting in Port Authority, Dani Beck was pondering what she should do next. She had lost whom she had thought was the love of her life. How should she go about getting him back? She knew that he had gone back to the Special Victims Unit, and she wasn't sure that she could go back there. Elliot Stabler was there, and he had made a fool of her. Maybe she should go back, get revenge on them both. Kill two birds with one stone. Maybe take care of that girl they both loved so much. It wouldn't be hard, and then maybe she could sleep at night.

THE END, TBC????

Author's note: This will be continued in The Return of the Bitch From Bitchville. All questions will be answered. In the meantime, you know you want to leave a review! Thanks for reading this far!