"Come on, Liv, I'll give you a ride home," Elliot offered as the day drew to a close. Olivia was doing paperwork at her desk when Elliot approached her.
"Nuh," she declined. "Thanks. But I'm gonna hang out here for a while and finish this paperwork. I'll take a cab home." Elliot had been driving Olivia home since they started as partners nine years before. Occas-ionally she took a can home and there wasn't a problem. But since Richard White had been freed from the charges of rape and murder, Elliot worried that he might start stalking Olivia again, he wouldn't leave her to take a cab alone – NOT tonight.
"No you won't," he argued. Olivia looked at him and frowned. "I know your big enough and ugly enough to take care of yourself-"
"Good," she interrupted before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "So I'll see you tomorrow."
"Olivia," he sighed. "You know what White is like, we went through this last time, just… let me do my job, grab your stuff and I'll take you home."
"Your job?" she asked. "Your job is to catch the bad guys, Elliot."
"Yes, that too, but as your partner and best friend, it's always my job to look out for you… that's my job and in reverse when I have something going on in my life, you are there for me, aren't you?" Olivia didn't answer. "Get your stuff!"
Olivia knew it was out of care and friendship that he worried about her, but for as long as she could remember, Olivia looked out for herself. She didn't need a baby-sitter and she resented the fact that he thought she did.
"Go home, Elliot. Have Kathy and the kids seen you at all this week?" she questioned hoping to sidetrack him so he'd leave her at the precinct.
"Once or twice," he smiled knowing what she was doing. "And they'll see me in a while. I'll drop you off first and then head home to my family, stop arguing with me and get your stuff or I'll drag you out by your hair," he threatened playfully.
Olivia pulled a face. "Do you have to be a pain in the-"
"Yeap. Do you?" he shot back.
"Yes," Olivia sighed as she grabbed her paperwork from the desk and followed him out to the dark-blue Sedan. The two of them made use of the time it took to drive to her place, chatting animatedly about diaper duty and Kathy and the kids. And when Elliot pulled the car up in front of Olivia's apartment, she turned to him with a smile. "It's not that I don't appreciate your concern…" she started.
"You just want to be difficult," he replied. Olivia reached for the door handle as she juggled the paper-work in the other hand. "Blink the lights when you get inside," he ordered.
"You're gonna sit out here all night until I do, aren't you, you stubborn bugger?" she laughed.
"Yes I am," he smiled. She knew he would. He was tired, having a newborn child was wrecking havoc with his sleep patterns and he barely got enough sleep before his son was born, not that he ever complained. He loved his family and he adored his newborn son, which Kathy had insisted they name after him. And the added burden of worrying about his partner's safety was making him feel exceptionally old. "I'll pick you up tomorrow."
"I can take a cab in the morning, it'll be broad daylight," she argued. "I don't want Richard White to make my life hell a second time… don't help him, Elliot."
"I'm not," he assured her. "I'm only trying to-"
"I know what your trying to do," she snapped. "I get it. You're worried about me, I'm grateful that you care, but if he knows he's winning, if I change my life to suit him, then… I might as well give up now and deliver myself on his doorstep."
Elliot smiled. "Do you have to be so dramatic?"
"Do you have to be so overprotective?" she challenged. "You know White wants control, that's his goal in life, and he isn't getting it from me. I know what I'm doing. I'll see you tomorrow… at the precinct," she added as if he needed a reminder.
Elliot shrugged looking defeated. "Okay," he nodded. "Sleep well."
"Say hi to Kathy and the kids." She climbed out of the car, closed the door behind her and a few minutes later she blinked the lights in the apartment – she was inside.