Thanks for the reviews. The stories not over yet but I'm still trying to sort out how it's all going to go down.
True to her response, she'd gone back to work the next day. By mid-morning it felt like nothing had changed, unless Elliot was trying to talk to her. She'd answered him in one word sentences, or didn't answer him at all. When he'd gotten up to refill his coffee and reached for her cup, she swiftly and smoothly had picked up the mug to take an imaginary sip before he got to it. Then she got up herself to poor a cup the minute he'd sat down.
It was a pretty quiet day as far as the SVU went. Nothing out of the ordinary. No big new cases. Fin and Munch were catching anyway, thank goodness for that. Toward the end of the day she'd gone up to the locker room to grab a notepad she'd left there a few days before. As soon as she was up the stairs, Elliot jumped up and followed. Fin and Munch shared another glance.
"You wanna bet on whether or not we can hear the fireworks from here?" Munch asked.
Fin shook his head as he heard a voice behind him. "What fireworks?"
Captain Cragen had walked up beside him, handing him a couple of manila files. "Benson and Stabler probably about to have a showdown in the cribs." Munch said cryptically, figuring he'd hear about it soon enough. To their surprise, Olivia came jogging down the stairs at just that moment, notebook in hand, looking for all the world like nothing had happened up there.
"Everything okay, Liv?" Munch asked.
"Sure, John, why?" she asked. Elliot had followed her upstairs and had tried to start a conversation with her. His first words were not "I'm sorry" so she'd shut him down, telling him she had work to do and didn't have time to talk. She'd left him standing a little bewildered in the middle of the locker room. She kept her anger under wraps, kept it hidden. She couldn't hide it from Elliot though. He knew her too well. He could see her knuckles tense up, grabbing the pen a little harder when he spoke, saw her jaw clench before she spoke. He was never going to get through to her. He just didn't have any other options but to try.
The same pattern continued for the rest of the week. After being called in on Saturday morning for a Missing Child case that turned out to be nothing more than a girl wandering off from the ball fields in Central Park and getting lost, the detectives turned for home, leaving the building at the same time. Olivia was busy texting Shawn to meet her at the restaurant, not at work, because they'd left a little earlier than planned when he heard him call her name. She saw him walking towards her as they walked down the stairs. She gave him a quick smile in greeting and said "I was just sending you a message saying I'd meet you there."
"Ah, well, no worries, I'm here now." Movement at the door behind her caught his eye. "One sec," he murmured and he sidestepped Olivia and headed right for Elliot as he exited the building. Not saying a word, he pulled back and punched the shorter but stockier detective in the face. "I warned you, you asshole." He said quietly, as Fin immediately grabbed him and pulled him back.
"You crazy, man, that's assaulting a police officer!" he spat out as he swung Shawn's lanky frame toward the curb. Elliot had regained his balance and was rubbing his jaw and face. 'Shit, that was going to leave a bruise.' he thought.
"Stabler, you want me to collar this guy?" Fin asked, still holding on to Shawn's arm.
"Oh my god, you two knock it off!" Olivia glared at Elliot and then at Shawn as she grabbed his arm away from Fin.
Fin looked at Elliot for an answer to his question. "Nah, let him go. He did warn me." Elliot said, still rubbing his face.
"You wanna explain to me what that was about?" Fin asked, watching his colleague drag the man down the block. He went quite willingly and Fin couldn't help but think he had a giant grin on his face. As if to confirm his thought, he heard Olivia scold "Stop smiling you idiot. You almost got yourself arrested."
"Ah, well, Olivia and I had, um, an argument. I guess her boyfriend took her side," Elliot replied.
"That's Liv's boyfriend? The FBI agent? Not exactly what I expected." Fin said, still watching the couple down the block.
"He's an FBI agent?" Elliot asked dumbly. 'That explained the right hook on such a skinny guy.' he thought.
Fin gave him a look. "Where have you been, man?" he said as he walked toward the parking lot to pick up his car.
Elliot still stood dumbfounded, standing on the steps of the precinct when Munch came through the doors. He looked at Elliot and guffawed. "How'd you manage to get a shiner in the 5 seconds since you left? You're partner finally get sick of you?"
"Something like that," he muttered and stalked off towards the parking lot after Fin.
Midway through the next week, the freeze that Olivia was giving him still hadn't dissipated. He didn't know what else to do. She wouldn't even talk with him long enough to let him get an apology out. He'd tried a few times when they were in the car, trapped together. Her response had been to turn up the radio to the maximum level, assuring that she couldn't hear anything he had to say.
By that point, even Olivia was getting tired of it. It was so much work to avoid him. She was still angry with him, still hurt, but she knew he hadn't really meant those things. She didn't think 10 years of friendship could or should be thrown out based on one argument, even if it was the argument of a lifetime. The problem now was that she didn't know how to end it either. She'd be damned if she'd bring it up, but Elliot had stopped trying to apologize after the last time she'd raised the volume of the car radio. She'd never think of Green Day the same again. She grimaced and rubbed her ears just thinking about it.
They'd been working a kiddie porn ring for the past few weeks, one that finally went to court this week. It would go down in Olivia's memory as one of the most difficult cases she could remember working. Not because the case was so difficult, but because keeping one step ahead of Elliot was exhausting. The day the verdict came in, sighs of relief went around the bullpen. Everyone wrapped things up quickly and were heading toward the local bar for some celebratory drinks. Casey was meeting them there. The four detectives and their Captain headed out together, with Elliot and Olivia keeping their distance. As they walked, Captain Cragen pulled Olivia by the arm and slowed their pace, keeping them 10 feet behind the others.
He gestured up to Elliot. "Are you ever going to fix that, Olivia?"
She followed his gaze, watched Elliot walk in front of them, good-natured banter passing between the detectives. "I dunno, Cap, not sure if it can be fixed."
"Liv, look, I'm assuming he said something, because that is how these things usually start with you two. But let me give you some advice. Fix it. Do what you need to do. You'll regret it if you don't. That's an order, not from me as your Captain, from me as your friend, understand?"
"Got it," she said sullenly. The only thing less appetizing to her than fighting with Elliot was trying to fix the dysfunction they called a partnership.
Two hours later they were several pitchers deep and much more relaxed. The Captain finished the rest of his club soda and said his goodbyes as Casey and Shawn walked in the door. They made themselves fit at the booth, Fin got up to grab a chair as Casey slid into the booth next to Elliot. Shawn grabbed the chair vacated by Cragen and scooted it next to Olivia who was sitting at the end of the other bench. She introduced him briefly to Fin and Munch while Elliot and Shawn gave each other a cursory nod. A while later, Elliot got up to use the men's room and Shawn went to get refills on their drinks. As he was leaning on the bar, waiting to get the bartenders attention, Elliot approached him on his way back to the table. Her shrewd eyes noticing what was happening from the table, Casey nudged to Olivia and said "Red alert. Are those two going to throw down here in the bar?" She gestured to the two men with their backs to the table. Olivia followed her gaze and watched for a minute.
"I don't think so. I think if they were going to it would've happened by now," Olivia replied.
Over at the bar, Elliot stood next to Shawn but didn't say anything. Shawn looked over at him and asked "How's your face?"
Elliot turned his head slightly and without missing a beat said "How's your hand?"
Shawn grinned. "Not bad," he replied. "Look, I need to apologize for..."
Elliot stopped him. "Don't worry about it. I think we both, we all know, I deserved that. Plus, you did warn me."
Shawn tilted his head in consideration. "I did," he said. "Is she speaking to you yet?"
"Nope. I counted. 12 words today, including 'Elliot, phone call,' twice. I counted it both times." He grimaced to himself.
"Impressive," Shawn replied. "I'd always considered Casey the master at the silent treatment. I might need to reconsider..." and with that he returned to the tables, beers in hand. Elliot had no choice but to follow or stand at the bar alone.
After another round of drinks and some shared food, Shawn polished off his beer and reached over Olivia's shoulder. He kissed her cheek and announced his departure. "Early flight to DC in the morning. Duty calls!" he said with a grin. Casey slid out of the booth as well, saying they should share a cab partway home. Munch had left a while earlier, leaving only Olivia, Fin and Elliot. Almost choking on the silence, Fin made a lame excuse as he grabbed the empties and took them to the bar for a refill. He took his time. He didn't think any of them wanted another whole pitcher.
Alone in the booth and fortified by the alcohol Olivia looked at her partner. "I'm still mad at you, you know," she said, surprising herself. She kept going before she could think better of it. Damn the beer, or maybe bless it. She couldn't decide. "What you said was horrible. And you know it. And I can be mad at your for as long as I want, but I want us to start talking again." She looked at him defiantly.
"Olivia. I am so sorry. You have to know that. You have to know I didn't mean those things. I was just...I dunno..."
"Angry, selfish, defensive, overprotective, neanderthalish, irrational, insulting...Need I go on?" Olivia asked. Elliot held up his hands in mock surrender.
"No, you're right I was all of those things and I don't have any excuse. I would take it all back. You have to believe me that I would never think those things." He was almost pleading with her.
"I know," she said. She could feel the alcohol almost slurring her words, but not quite. They continued to talk, oblivious that Fin never returned. He had seen them talking when he'd turned to go back to the table, and instead had turned back to the bar, ordered the last pitcher and asked the bartender to bring it over. He'd left out the back door without them even noticing. They talked for hours, bouyed by the alcohol. He told her everything he could think of that had happened. She told him about Simon, what he was like, how they had met, and about Shawn. Everytime she mentioned him, Elliot reflexively rubbed his jaw. Olivia thought that was hilarious. He told her how Kathy had reacted when he'd come home with a black eye, how he'd had to explain to his son what had happened, and how, when he finally told Kathy what he had done to deserve it, she'd made him sleep on the couch.
"Then I had a sore jaw, and a sore back. That couch is not comfortable," he said, almost petulantly.
"Ha," Olivia replied. "We might be talking, but I don't feel bad for you yet."
"Yeah. I have to say he has a mean right hook and he did warn me," Elliot said.
"What do you mean he warned you?" she asked.
"That night, the night you got kicked in the face and I brought you home," he tried to jog her memory. Surely Shawn had told her what an ass he'd been, especially after what he'd said.
She shook her head, still drawing a blank. "I mean, I remember that night, but I don't know what you're talking about."
Elliot continued, "I ran into him in the hallway outside your apartment. I introduced myself and told him..." Elliot stopped, embarrassed by what he was about to say in consideration of the past few weeks. "I told him not to hurt you or I'd find him."
Olivia's eye's almost bugged out of her face. "You told him what? Elliot! What's wrong with you?"
"I know, I know, right? And then! And then, get this!" Elliot went on, forgetting their fight all together, the alcohol affecting him as much as his partner. "And then he tells me that I've been in your head way longer than he has, that you would never let a guy you barely met hurt you and that I better not hurt you or HE would FIND me! How's that for prophetic! The guys a genius."
Olivia still looked livid. He looked over at her, a little surprised at her reaction in his alcoholic haze. Warning signs were going off in his head. "He did what? What the hell is wrong with you two. A penis and a little testosterone and you are incorrigible. Seriously, how did you ever survive to adulthood, both of you!" She said to no one in particular.
Elliot relaxed a little as he listened to her tirade. She was pissy about it, but not really mad. He poured the rest of the pitcher and ordered another. Halfway through that last pitcher, he realized they were in big trouble. He'd never get home to Queens, and Olivia could barely contain herself either. They settled the tab, adding up the cash the others had left. Olivia hoped that their math on the tip was correct. She shrugged as they slid out of the booth and onto the street to grab a taxi.
They arrived at her building, paid the cabbie and climbed the stairs to her apartment, tripping over themselves multiple times. Olivia groaned as they entered the apartment. "This was such a bad idea," she said. There is no way I'm getting up for work on time. She looked at the clock, 3am. Elliot was already sitting on her sofa, tie loosened and coat tossed to the side. She pulled the spare blanket from the closet and tossed it at him, grabbing the quilt from him for herself. "Call your wife, El. She'll be worried. But don't tell her I got you drunk. Blame Fin," she called over her shoulder as she went into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed.
She awoke the next morning to her cell phone buzzing somewhere in her bedsheets. She fumbled around for it, bringing it to her ear before her eyes were fully open.
Shawn's voice on the line perked her up just a bit. "Shawn, why are you calling so early? Ughghh" she groaned as she sat up.
"I told you I'd call before I got on the plane and I'm about to get on the plane, so... It's 630am. You're usually up by now anyway."
"Yeah, well..." She replied halfheartedly.
"Oh my god," he exclaimed. "You're hung over! On a work day! Awesome. Your boss is gonna love that."
"Shut it," she exclaimed. "Make fun of me in a quieter voice. My head hurts."
"Sorry," he replied with a smile in his voice. He did not sound the least bit sorry, she thought. "So did you and Elliot make up?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," she replied. "I think he's passed out on my couch right now."
"Good," he replied. "I'm glad that worked."
"Glad what worked?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing. I mean, it was Casey's idea. She thought you wouldn't be able to stand not talking if she could get you together with a couple of beers in your system. She thought you'd either have a huge blow out or make up. Possible both. I was just along for the ride."
"Remind me to kill Casey later, when my head doesn't hurt so badly."
They said there goodbyes as Shawn got on the plane and Olivia dragged herself into the shower.
On the couch, Elliot heard the water running and swore under his breath. He grabbed his phone and noticed the time. Not enough time to get back to Queens and still be on time to work. He had a spare shirt at work, he'd shower in the locker room there. He waited until he heard the water stop. He hollered at Olivia that he was leaving and he'd catch her later. She hollered back her assent.
Twenty-five minutes later she was strolling into the 1-6 bullpen, her head still pounding and her mouth full of cotton. She had four large coffees in her hands. The other three detectives grabbed the coffees and muttered their thanks.
Fin eyed Olivia closely as he sipped is coffee. "How you feeling today, Liv?"
She squinted at him. "Fine, Fin. You implying something? Like I can't handle my alcohol?" she said jokingly.
"Maybe," he replied. "Not many people could the way you and Stabler were going last night."
"Hey," Elliot piped up, "We're here, we're awake, what more do you want?" He and Olivia shared a glance.
Half the people in the room noticed that glance and breathed a sigh of relief. A hungover Benson and Stabler for a day were better than a dueling Benson and Stabler any day.
Downtown in her office, prepping for her next case, Casey glanced at her cellphone as it buzzed with a text message: From: Shawn. "It worked."
She smiled and refocused on her papers with a grin.