AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another BIG thanks to all of my faithful followers for keeping up with my stories. I write the stories for me, but it is your interest and support that keeps me posting new updates. (Even if it takes a while.) I apologize for taking so long to get back into updates. I recently lost a dear friend, ironically in a car accident and it has turned my world upside down. So I hope you will all understand that I have found it especially hard to bring myself to update this particular story. This personal experience has given me a new perspective and understanding of just how Elliot feels in this story, because I would give anything for just one chance to try and change the events that took place that day. I want to thank you all for being so understanding and to thank Twistflick, Roanie123, Frannielloyd, SVUjunkie2011, Raerae554, Claudstar and so many more of you, my internet friends, for the positive reinforcement and encouragement that you have given me in your reviews and private messages. And I dedicate this story to Shawn, the brother I never had. You are sadly missed and greatly remembered. Love and miss you forever.
~Detective Olivia Stabler ~
One More Day
(Chapter Eight: Lost Souls)
Elliot shot up from his bed in the dark, suddenly there it was. He moved through the apartment to start his morning coffee. It was barely after three, but if he was going to pull this off he had to make every second count. Moments later he stepped from the shower tossed on some clothes, grabbed his keys and coffee and headed out the door.
Four hours later…..
Olivia yawned as she walked through the door and into the bullpen. She draped her jacket over the back of her chair and locked her purse in her desk drawer.
"I cannot believe Cragen is making us work tomorrow."
"Crime doesn't stop for the holidays," Fin reminded her.
"But it is Christmas Day," she replied spinning around in her office chair to look at him. "Do you have any idea how long it has been since I had Christmas Day off?"
"Liv, you never do anything for Christmas. Stabler has his the dinner with his kids every year, Munch goes to see that crazy ex-wife of his….the one he swears is a witch," Fin whispered to keep his partner from hearing.
"I can hear you. It is one day a year and it is better to suffer through it and tolerate her and her family for a few hours than to take the risk," he clarified as Olivia laughed.
"And you and I spend afternoon serving Christmas Dinner at the homeless shelter, then buy each other beers at Joe's and reminisce about all of the great times we've had here at the old 1-6."
"Still, it is tradition. And I like helping out at the shelter. I really feel like we are giving back to society. And to see the looks on the faces of all of those people, many of whom have not had a good hot meal in a very long time, it reminds you what Christmas is all about."
"Well, there is always next year," Fin reminded her as she frowned.
"You were here awful early. Couldn't sleep?" Olivia asked shifting her attention to her partner who was carefully watching her every move.
"Too much on my mind," he said studying her tired smile. "Listen, Liv….I was thinking maybe we could have dinner together tonight, my treat. Then if you don't have any other plans, I could ….be your date to the office Christmas party tonight."
"I am afraid that Christmas party is going to have to be reduced to a Secret Santa gift exchange on our way out the door."
"What's going on?" Olivia asked standing at attention.
"We got a body dump that matches the description of the Davison girl you and Fin were looking for last month."
"The runaway socialite from that ritzy private school on the Upper East side?" Fin asked."
"Signs of sexual assault," Cragen added.
"I never have understood people with money," Munch stated. "Her parents pay more that you and I make in a year to put her in that school and for what, exactly?"
"Looks good on an Ivy League college application," Fin replied.
"It is supposed to be safer than public school," Elliot clarified. "These places have enough campus security guards to open their own police force."
"It's not safe," Olivia said softly. "Leslie Davison was last seen at her school's homecoming dance," she replied tossing the file down on Elliot's desk as the photo of the blonde haired blue eyed girl slid out to stare at him. "She disappeared hours after she was crowned homecoming queen."
"Well, this one is all yours," Cragen said looking to Olivia. "Casey called and their witness has recanted her statement. She needs Fin to meet her downtown as soon as possible to try to change this girls mind before court this afternoon. Otherwise the two of you will be spending Christmas Day combing over that list trying to find someone else who can place Romeo in that room the night Kelly Price was raped."
"Frat party gone badly," Fin replied putting on his coat and picking up his keys. "Thirty college kids in one tiny apartment and no one hears a girl screaming that she is being raped. We finally got this girl to come forward and now someone got to her too. Are you okay on this?" he asked looking at Olivia.
"Yea. I will see if I can't try to make some sort of identification before I drag the parents down to see the body. Nobody needs that image in their head, especially if their daughter is still out there somewhere. Seeing someone else's kid like this isn't going to help them at all."
"Stabler you can help Munch interview that group of gang members we brought in for running that child prostitution ring. Let's see if a couple nights in general population has anyone ready to spill their guts. Start with these two," he replied handing Munch a sticky note with two names on it. "They are being held in the infirmary after word got out they were trafficking children for sex. Looks like they didn't do too well at making new friends."
"Captain, would you mind if I went along with Olivia instead?" Elliot asked.
"Yes, I mind. I told you to go with Munch, go with Munch," Cragen barked.
"It's okay, El. I've got this," she assured him.
"John's guys are in holding cells. He can handle it on his own for a couple of hours," Elliot argued as Cragen's face began to turn red.
"Elliot," Olivia warned.
"Hear me out, please. I can help Liv with this. It will only take a few hours. Then we can both go to Rikers and the three of us can work together to get something out of these creeps."
Olivia bit her lower lip and waited for Cragen to rip into her partner, but it never happened.
"Fine. John, go to the prison. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum will be along shortly," he replied glaring at Elliot. "You two, get down there and look at the body. If you think it's Leslie Davison, then get the parents in for an ID. But watch them closely. My gut is still telling me this is an inside job. Pretty popular teen queen disappears homecoming night, sounds like the fairy tale was a little too good to be true. Get a list of her friends, enemies, boyfriends, and teachers. Anyone who saw or spoke to this girl on a daily basis, I want to know."
"We got it Cap," Elliot agreed as Olivia turned and headed toward the door.
"And Stabler," Cragen snarled, "I did not agree to this because you asked me to let you work with Benson today. And I sure didn't do it because I doubted your partner's ability to handle this case on her own."
Elliot blinked and stared at his boss.
"I agreed solely because you have daughters her age. I am depending on your ability to speak teenaged girl. If I didn't feel that your experience in your personal life could directly help us with this case, your ass would be riding out a one week suspension behind the desk for the way you just spoke to me. I am your superior. When I say move, you move. No questions asked. Consider this your ONE warning."
"Yes, Captain," Elliot agreed in his best apologetic voice as he backed out of the room.
"Are you brain dead? What the hell is wrong with you?" Olivia asked as he opened the car door for her. "You could have gotten in a lot of trouble back there."
"I know," he agreed.
"Why then? Why would you do it? You don't talk to him like that. You never disrespect him like that."
She paused for a moment to contemplate the situation.
"Unless….You don't think I can handle this on my own, do you?"
"I know you can. I just don't think you should."
"Oh, no? You think I am the one who should not be working this case?" she asked rolling her eyes in frustration. "You have a lot of room to speak."
"What does that mean?" Elliot asked.
"It means that maybe I am not the one who shouldn't be here."
"Why, because I have kids? You heard Cragen. He thinks it is an asset."
"Cragen hasn't seen these pictures, Elliot."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't think I didn't notice," she scoffed.
"Notice what?"
"Her, Elliot," she replied pulling an "8x10" photograph of Leslie Davison from the file and holding it up for him to see. "And the fact that she bears a striking resemblance to Maureen!"
Elliot shook his head.
"You know how many girls her age have blonde hair and blue eyes?"
"They could be sisters, El. Twins even. I get why you did this, okay. I really do. But this is too close to home and you shouldn't be here. If Cragen had known the truth he never would have let you in on this case. It is too close to home!"
"I just didn't think you should be doing this alone, that's all," he replied as he pulled into a parking space at the medical examiners building and shut the car off.
"I have done this before. Body identifications and notifying next of kin. I do this a lot more often than I would like to admit. What makes you think I can't handle it now?"
"Because she looks like Maureen," he confessed with a knot in his throat. "She looks just like Maureen and I saw the way you looked at that picture. You did this for me, so he wouldn't ask me to."
"Elliot," she argued as she shook her head.
"I saw you," he admitted with a smile. "Cragen walked in with the file and when he started to talk, you took it from his hand."
"Fin and I caught the original case."
"I know Cragen well enough to know he wouldn't send you to an identify and notify on a kid by yourself. He was going to send you with Munch, until you took that file from his hands and acted all interested in the case."
"It is my case, of course I am interested. This girl, whoever she is, deserves justice. And if she happens to be the girl in this photograph then hopefully we can solve two cases at once."
"You mean you actually hope the body in there is Leslie Davison?"
"Nobody hopes that, Elliot. But she and her family deserve some answers. And I intend to find them some. And if this girl is not Leslie Davison, then….then someone else out there is looking for their daughter. And they deserve answers, too."
"Thank you," he said handing her back the picture as she closed the file once more. "You can deny it all you want, I know you did it for me. You were trying to protect me. And I do appreciate it."
"You're welcome," she replied in the closest thing to a confession that he would ever get. "And for the record…."
Elliot turned to stare deep into her eyes.
"You, Detective Stabler, are Tweedle Dum."
"Oh, I am?" he laughed as they climbed from the car.
"Yes," she laughed. "That was a real bone headed move you pulled back in the precinct and I suggest you start thinking things through before you do them from now on."
Elliot exhaled. He knew she was right and didn't bother arguing with her about it.
"Let's get this over with," he said unbuckling his seat belt as he opened the car door.
Inside they stared down at a metal table containing the body of a teenaged girl. Elliot had a knot in his stomach the size of a Buick, realizing up close and personal how much this girl really resembled his oldest child. He held his breath and fought back tears, constantly reminding himself that this was not his daughter.
Olivia, however, had kicked into work mode and somehow managed to distance herself from any personal connection she may have felt to this case as she moved around the table to more closely examine the body.
"What do you think?" she asked without looking up.
"You were right. She looks exactly like Maureen. For a moment I was actually wondering if there was any way we'd had a second child that day and never known about her," Elliot said softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind the girl's ear.
"I meant about the dental records," she replied raising her eyes and looking past him as the medical examiner cleared his throat.
"I got your films and was able to more closely examine them," he explained. "I would like to compare DNA before I make a positive match, but…"
"But?" Olivia asked staring him down. "It is her, isn't it?"
"I believe so. The dental work in the missing girl's file is a near perfect match."
"That isn't good enough," Elliot said looking at the man. "We're about to go tell Leslie Davison's parents their daughter is dead. I would like to make sure this IS in fact THEIR daughter before we deliver that statement."
"Elliot," Olivia said in a stern voice.
"Near perfect is not perfect," he argued shifting his attention back to her.
"Let me clarify," the examiner began holding the films up to the light to show them. "By near perfect I mean that they are an exact match, with the exception of this one broken tooth. But this is recent. I am guessing it happened shortly before she died. The edge of the break is still jagged. And figuring the position of the tooth, if it had happened months or even weeks before time of death, the edge would have smoothed out more….worn down some from brushing and eating, the acid content in food and drinks would have shown an effect on the raw edge. There is none of that present. So I am sorry, Detective Stabler, the best I can do is to say that this match is nearly perfect."
Olivia exhaled.
"So is this," she said softly moving the sheet to reveal a tiny ladybug tattoo on the top of the girl's right foot. "It matches the one in the description."
"Millions of girls have tattoos, Olivia."
"But millions of girls do not have this exact tattoo in this exact spot. And this exact heart shaped birth mark on the back of her left shoulder," she rolled the body just a bit to show him. "Elliot, Leslie Davison is our Jane Doe."
She watched as Elliot tipped his head back and paced the floor for a moment. He spun around on his heels and kicked the trash can on his way out of the room.
"I'm sorry," Olivia said washing her hands as the examiner covered the girl's body once more. "Did you find any fluids?"
"Semen, no. I found spermicide in the vaginal canal, our guy or guys used protection."
"Guys? You thing there was more than one?"
"Judging by the hand print bruising on her wrists, I'd say at least two. One to hold her down while the other did the deed. Bruising and tearing, it was definitely forced. And I found traces of blood in her throat."
"In her throat? What did they gag her with that would make her throat bleed?"
"I tested it and it isn't her blood," he replied shaking his head. "She fought back and hard. My guess is she got a bite of one of our preps. I sent a sample to the lab for a DNA profile. I'll let you know as soon as I get the results."
"I'd still like to get some photos for a family identification."
"Sure," he said moving across the room and pulling an envelope from a file. "I know this seems a very odd thing to say, but at least we know who she is now. Many families never know what happened to their children and they just stay missing forever. I hope find whoever is responsible for this."
"So do me," she said forcing a smile as she headed for the door.
Olivia climbed into the car beside her partner and stared at him for a moment in silence.
"It's okay, you know," she said softly.
"What?" Elliot asked clearing his throat as he started the car and pulled out into the street.
"You wouldn't be human if it didn't get to you every now and then. That feeling, that hollow or emptiness and sorrow in the pit of your stomach….that is what keeps up grounded, Elliot."
"It is unprofessional, for you and for me….to let it get to us like that. She's a kid. Not mine, not yours. A dead kid. That is as personal as it should ever get. Feelings and emotions just cloud your judgment and get in the way of doing your job. I shouldn't have let it get to me," he replied staring out the window with foggy eyes. "You got the photos for the identification?"
"I did. And he is going to call me in a few hours with DNA results."
"What do you say we take an early lunch? I know they are wanting to have the parents ID for comparison, but I would feel better speaking to the family after we have those results and know for sure. No parent needs to see pictures like that, at least until we are sure that she is even their child."
"Sounds like a plan," she said softly dropping the file folder into a briefcase and laying it in the floor beside her feet. "And El…."
"Yea?" he asked looking over his shoulder into her beautiful brown eyes.
"Your secret is safe with me," she said blinking with a soft smile.
"Secret?"
"I know you don't want the guys thinking that Detective Stabler is just a big softie. But your heart is one of the things I admire most about you. You are focused and serious about your job, that's what makes you a damn good cop. Allowing yourself to feel what you are feeling right now….that's what makes you a damn good human being. Don't ever let this job make you stop being who you are."
Elliot studied the chocolate swirls and gold and green flecks in her eyes as he smiled.
"I won't," he replied returning her smile.
That evening as they wrapped things up for the day and prepared to go home, Elliot caught himself staring at the photograph of the smiley teenaged girl once more. Somewhere tonight, Mr. and Mrs. Davison were devastated and painfully grieving the loss of their only daughter. He drew a deep breath and felt a knot in his throat as he tried not to imagine how horrible this must be for them.
"El?" Olivia asked softly.
"Yea," he responded raising his tired blood shot eyes to look at her.
"Fin and I are going to go have a drink if you'd like to go with us."
He stared at her as she smiled a warm smile.
"Come on, I'll buy you a beer," she said squeezing his hand in hers just for a moment before letting it go and picking up her coat.
"We have to be in court early in the morning," Elliot suddenly remembered as he watched her flip her scarf over one shoulder and pull on a pair of white fur lined gloves.
"I won't keep you out late, I promise."
"I don't know, Liv. It's already pretty late. I am exhausted and this is one day I am ready to be over with. Rain check?"
"Well, I guess a hot bath and a good night's sleep does sound pretty good," she nodded in agreement. "Another night?"
"Definitely," he agreed as they walked out. "But I will give you a ride home."
"Thank you, but I can grab a cab."
"It is like two degrees out here. It is freezing. It will save you money. And it's on my way."
"You live in Queens. I am on the other end of town," she replied tilting her head to consider the geographical details surrounding his offer.
"Well, it could be on my way. Come on," he replied holding open the passenger's side door for her. "I've got frost on my nose in the three minutes we've been standing out here discussing it. It is too cold to stand out here waiting for a cab and I am not about to leave you out here by yourself."
Olivia laughed.
"Elliot, I carry a service weapon, a mean right hook, though it has been a while since my self-defense class I'm not too shabby at Tae Kwon Do and we are standing in the employee lot of the police station. I am probably pretty safe here until my cab arrives."
"You never know. Wait, you know Tae Kwon Do?"
"Some of it. I took a class a few years back with a friend. She liked the guy who taught our self-defense class, so she made me go with her to his Tae Kwon Do class as well."
Impressed, Elliot raised one eyebrow.
"Hey, I could take you down," she added confidently as she folded her arms.
"Oh, I don't doubt that," he laughed as she smiled.
"If you insist," she finally agreed climbing into the warmth of his sedan as he held the door for her. "You know…." she thought aloud as she stared out the window at the snowflakes beginning to fall once more, "you have got to be the only one person in the world more stubborn than I am."
Elliot laughed.
"You are right about that. I have five children, three of which are daughters….I have learned how to hold my ground. Sometimes you remind me of my girls."
"I'm not a child, Elliot."
"I know. I mean in the way that you are determined to do everything yourself, even when it would be much easier just to let me help you. All three of my girls are that way."
"And your boys aren't?"
"The boys are more likely to allow you to help, then step back and leave you to do all the work yourself. I don't ever mean to make you feel like I think you can't take care of yourself. I know you can. So when I push you to do something, it is because I truly think that it is what is best for you. I know I'm not your father and sometimes I….I know I can be overbearing and hard to put up with sometimes."
Olivia tipped her head and smiled at him.
"Yes, you can," she replied shifting her attention out the window. "But I am not the easiest person in the world to work with either. I am stubborn and set in my ways…."
"You're a peach," Elliot replied sarcastically.
She whipped her face around to stare into his eyes.
"And you are a stubborn old mule," she replied jabbing him in the chest with her index finger.
"Yea, but we make one hell of a team," he admitted as she smiled again. "You are an amazing partner, and a damn good cop. You are brilliant and amazing working with the victims. I have never seen anyone be able to reach them, help them the way that you do. The rest of us kind of take them as they come, we kind of stumble our way through these cases trying to learn things along the way. Things that might help us with victims in the future. But you…."
"Me?" she asked blinking her dark eyes at him.
"It comes naturally to you. That perfect balance of heart and brain that seems to provide everything victims need to trust you, to open up to you. I don't know how you do it. But you do. It never fails. You always seem to know the right approach to reach victims, almost instinctively. You show them kindness and earn their trust. You get them to open up to you and you help them in ways the rest of us only wish we could. They relate to you. Sometimes I watch you and I can't help but wonder just how you do it. You, Olivia Benson, are the reason the SVU is able to help as many people as we do."
"But we can't help them all, El."
He watched as she stared for a moment at the file in her hands.
"Young girls like Leslie Davison, it is too late to help them."
Elliot shifted the car into park as he turned to look her in the eye.
"It may be too late to save her. But it is never too late to help her. Everything we are doing is helping to build the case that will bring her killers to justice. It may be days, weeks or months….hell it may not even be in this lifetime….but God knows exactly who hurt her. He knows it all. And he will make sure there is justice for Leslie and all of the other girls like her. For all of the victims and the criminals who, because of loopholes and little mistakes got away with all of the terrible things they did. Those people will pay for the crimes they have committed and every single person they hurt. Justice will be served. He will see to it."
"I don't know, Elliot. Sometimes I wonder how you can see the things we see every single day and still believe there is a God."
"I trust my faith," he said squeezing her hand in his.
"I guess I am just not as strong as you," she said shaking her head. "I want to believe. I do. But I cannot help but wonder what kind of God would create a world so beautiful, that is so bad at the same time. What kind of God would say he protects his children, then allows things like this to happen to them?" She asked and he could see the tears rising in her eyes.
"The world isn't bad, Olivia. People are bad. And things like this, bad things, don't just happen, people make them happen. Don't lose faith because of the bad things we are faced with every day. Use those awful things to help you see the beauty, to help you see God in everything all around you."
"I don't know if it is really a question of losing my faith, Elliot. I'm not certain you can lose something you were never really sure you had in the first place. Like I said, maybe I am just not as strong as you."
"To struggle is human. You are strong, Olivia. More so than you think. Maybe your strengths lie in other areas. Maybe that is yet another reason we complement each other so well."
"Maybe," she said with a tired smile. "Maybe I am just too tired to see the good in anything right now."
"Would you like me to walk you up?" he offered.
"No, I've got it from here."
"Get some rest," Elliot said as she climbed from his car.
"You too. And thanks for the ride home."
"Any time. Listen, Liv, if you ever want to talk about anything… or if you would like to come along with me to church sometime…."
She smiled.
"I'm not trying to push you or preach to you," Elliot clarified. "It's just an offer. But sometimes things become a little clearer in the house of the lord."
"Yea, maybe I will sometime."
"Really?"
"Yea. I'd like that. I think it would be good for me."
"It is always good for you. Might even help you find some of the answers you have been searching for."
Olivia pulled her heavy coat tighter around her body as an icy wind began to blow. She took a deep breath and began to nod.
"Goodnight, Elliot."
"Goodnight, Liv."
That night as Elliot laid alone in the empty darkness of his apartment, he closed his eyes and once more prayed for God to help him find a way to save Olivia. He knew his days with her were numbered and he had to think of something big, something great, some huge event changing epiphany or he would lose her forever.
Eventually he would run out of chances. But he would never give up. In just a few more days her ill-fated accident would take place and this time, Elliot had to be better prepared. He hated to see her struggling the way that she was. He knew how badly she wanted, even needed something greater to believe in and he had made it his personal quest to help her find God. For only weeks earlier he, himself, was faced with these very same questions as he sat blood soaked in the middle of a crowded intersection holding her lifeless body in his arms. What kind of God would let something like this happen?
That night as he had climbed into his bed broken, physically and emotionally, so sure he would never forgive himself or any higher being for her loss he closed his eyes to pray one last prayer. In this prayer that began with anger fueled words of hatred and turned into sorrowful pleas, Elliot had asked God to forgive him of all of his sins, then begged for just one more chance to see his dearest friend. One more chance to make things right with her, to love her and protect her. Just one more chance.
Only God could possibly grant a wish this big. And it was God, himself, who had. Time and time again. Forcing Elliot to relive this tortured fate until he was able to see the truth that had been staring right back at him this entire time. He loved Olivia. He not only loved Olivia, he was IN love with her. And he would never stop fighting for her. He would do this as many times as God would allow him, until he found a way to save she or it killed him, too. He would never give up. Never give her up, not without one hell of a fight. The God he had so angrily doubted so many times before, had proven himself to Elliot each and every morning he woke to face one more day with Olivia, with each and every chance he was given to try and save her.
If he could only find a way to explain it all to her, to make her see. If he could only make her understand, then she would know without a doubt that there is a God and he is wonderful. That he can make wonderfully magical things happen and pull you through things you would never have the strength to make it through without him by your side. If he could only help her to see, then she too would be able to believe undoubtedly in a higher power.
Just as he had closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep, Elliot's cell phone began to buzz.
"Liv?" he said softly as he listened to her breathing on the other end of the line.
"I'm sorry if I woke you…."
"I'm awake."
"Me, too," she whispered softly. "I mean, I can't sleep. I have been laying here in the dark with my eyes closed and a thousand different thoughts are flooding my brain. I am completely exhausted and I cannot fall asleep."
"Maybe you just needed someone to talk to."
"Maybe," she exhaled. "I just feel like we are missing something. Something that is right in front of us. It has to be there, Elliot. The key to unraveling this case, it has to be somewhere in that file."
"Olivia, we have both been through it a hundred times. There is nothing there. Nothing we have not already seen, anyway."
"Elliot, I am not going to be able to sleep unless I can go over it just one more time."
"Okay. Get the file and walk me through it over the phone. Let's see if we can figure this out together."
There was a slight pause on the line for just a moment before what sounded like a soft yawn.
"That's just it, Elliot. I don't have the file. I must have left it in your car. I was sure I had it, but I have somehow made it home without it."
"You want me to go get it?" he asked looking out his bedroom window at the layer of snow now covering his parked car. "I could read over it for you."
She exhaled as she sat up and turned on her bedside lamp.
"Or…"
"Or, what?" he asked.
"Or I have I have a plate full of homemade sugar cookies I put out for Santa…."
"You want me to bring it over?"
"Please, Elliot. I would owe you big time. This is going to drive me crazy until I can flip through those pages one more time."
"Alright," he agreed slipping on a pair of jeans and pulling a black tee shirt over his head. "But someone owes me a very strong cup of coffee."
"I will start it now," she said as a smile slowly spread across her face.
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Thanks, El."
Elliot shook his head as he closed his phone. She was completely clueless about the power she had over him.
And hour later Olivia opened her apartment door as Elliot smiled and handed her the manila folder.
"Thank you so much."
She watched curiously as he entered the apartment carrying a brown paper bag.
"I stopped on the way and got us some breakfast," he said handing her a Styrofoam container and some plastic utensils.
"Double thanks," she replied sitting her food on the table as she disappeared into the kitchen only to return moments later with two cups of coffee. "So, I was thinking…."
"Liv, just breathe," he joked. "Take a few minutes to enjoy your eggs and coffee before we dive into another days work."
She smiled.
"Sorry. My mind is just running a hundred miles per hour."
"Maybe it's time you switched to decaf," he teased as he looked around the apartment suddenly noticing something different. "That's new?" he asked nodding toward a small pre-lit Christmas tree on a small end table.
"Yea. I guess I was feeling the Christmas spirit a little more than usual. Some neighborhood kids were selling trees for cub scouts or boys and girls club or….some kind of fund raiser. I explained that I didn't have the space for a real tree, but I was going to write them a check anyway. Then the boy pulled out a pamphlet of smaller artificial trees. This kind of seemed perfect."
"It's cute. But all of your lights are white."
"They had one with colored bulbs, too. But the white ones are my favorite. It has different settings. It twinkles in different light patterns and plays music, too. I also ordered the little clear glass ornaments and the star for the top of the tree. All together it only cost me about eighty bucks."
Elliot almost choked on his coffee.
"You spent eighty dollars on that?"
"I like it! I think it is pretty."
"It is pretty. But so is eighty dollars."
"It was for charity," she said rolling her eyes at him.
"Those little beggars ripped you off."
"Stop," she laughed. "They use the money to help provide meals for the homeless shelters on Christmas Day. It was for a good cause. And I had it to give. I probably would have just put it toward a pair of shoes anyway. Now I have to work tomorrow and can't help serve food, so I still contributed something. And it is very calming. Sometimes I will turn off all of the lights and just lay on the sofa in the dark for hours just staring at the glow of the twinkling lights. So serene and peaceful."
"And since when do you make cookies for Santa?" he asked popping the last bite of toast into his mouth.
"I do every year. It has been a tradition since I was a little girl. My mother and I used to do it every year together. Would you like some cookies?"
"I will have to confess, I was considering bringing you the file….but it was the cookies that sealed the deal."
Olivia smiled and made her way back into the kitchen as Elliot began to spread the contents of the file out on the dining room table for them to look at. A few minutes later she returned with a tray of sugar cookies swirled with candy cane sprinkles and two mugs of hot cocoa each containing a peppermint stick and a handful of miniature marshmallows.
"These are amazing," Elliot mumbled between bites as she patiently waited for her cookie to soak up cocoa from her mug.
"They are really simple to make. I can give you the recipe if you'd like. Maybe you could make them with the kids."
"There is something about the combination of the chocolate and the peppermint….so good."
"Thanks," she replied with a smile as she picked up a few pages from the file to study them.
Two hours later, Olivia laid passed out on the sofa as Elliot shut down her lap top. If he didn't at least catch a nap before going into work today he was liable to be the cause of her accident, himself.
He pulled two pages from her printer and closed the file on the table. He smiled as he pulled a blanket up around Olivia's shoulders, then settled into the chair across the room to catch a little sleep himself.
It was pushing ten o'clock in the morning when Olivia sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was Christmas morning, one of her favorite days of the year and she could hear church bells ringing down the block.
"Merry Christmas," she whispered pushing back the curtains to look at the freshly fallen blanket of snow that covered most of the city below. She tipped her head and squinted to focus on a strange object across the room.
Climbing from the sofa, Olivia made her way to the two foot tree. Tucked neatly there beneath the branches was an envelope with her name on it.
"What the…" slipping her fingertip inside she opened the envelope and pulled out the two pages neatly folded up inside.
"Looks like Santa came," Elliot said as she turned around to look at him.
"These are boarding passes."
"Yes."
"For a flight leaving tonight..."
"Yup."
"For Hawaii?"
Elliot smiled.
"Elliot, you bought me a ticket to Hawaii for Christmas?"
"You said you'd never been."
"I haven't."
"Neither have I. I figured now is as good a time as any."
"What about work? What about this case?"
"I have taken care of work. And this case will still be here when we get back."
"Are you serious? I mean, is this for real?"
"Yes," he chuckled. "It is very real. Look, you said you could use a break, I could, too. And we could both stand to get away for a few days and just clear our minds of everything about work. Munch and Fin are perfectly capable of handling this case while we are away and it will be here waiting for us when we return to pick it up again. Rested, with clear minds and fresh eyes."
"I guess you are right."
"You guess? Olivia, when was the last time you took a vacation? And I know you have a ton of days built up."
She thought about it for a moment then smiled a shy smile.
"We said we weren't going to do the gift thing this year."
"Yea, well I changed my mind."
Elliot watched as she walked down the hall and brought a small box from her bedroom.
"So did me," she said handing him the gift box. "It is no trip to Hawaii," she said with a smile. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Elliot replied opening the package to reveal the new watch he had been eyeing in a display in the mall.
"How did you know?"
"You have been late for about six meetings this month alone because your watch keeps sticking. And I saw you looking at this one last week on our way to the coffee shop to question the guy from the coffee shop who used to date Leslie Davison."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," she replied. "But it in no way compares to a trip to Hawaii. Really it's too much."
"I want to do this for you. You deserve it. We both deserve it. And there is no one else I would rather go with than my best friend."
Olivia stared down at the paper in her hands then squealed in excitement.
"We are going to Hawaii!"
"Yes, we are," Elliot laughed. "We still have a few hours of work I wasn't able to get us out of and our flight leaves in just under ten hours, so you better go pack."
"Thank you so much," she squealed throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.
Elliot watched as she disappeared down the hall toward her bedroom. He rubbed a sore spot on the back of his neck as he said another silent prayer.
"Eight days," he said looking down at the return flight information on his boarding pass on the coffee table. "She can't be in that car crash if she isn't even here to be in that car," he mumbled running his fingers through his hair. "This has got to work."