Chapter 10
Elliot rolled over and looked at the clock 0535 am. He picked up his phone he had two text messages from Olivia.
Hey, it's gonna be a late one will call when done, love you. Sent at 0139 am.
Still working didn't want to ring and wake you xxx sent at 0512 am.
Elliot dialled her number.
"Hi" she said her voice tired.
"Hey where are you?" he asked her.
"Still at the station" she yawned "Gonna be here for a while longer"
"How bad was it?" he asked knowing it had to be bad to pull an all-nighter.
"Bad, 2 kids abused then beaten by their mom's boyfriend off his head on drugs, I just got back from the hospital, they're both still alive…just" her voice began to break as she talked about it. "Found out one of the girls was 6 weeks pregnant by him…..she was only 11 yrs. old El"
"I know it's hard Liv, but those kids you need you, you're the one who is going to save them from any more pain, by getting that bastard locked up" she was silent for a while before she spoke.
"I wish you were here with me on cases like this"
"I know Baby" he sighed "I wish I could be there to"
"I need to go" she said "Warner is here with the lab results" Elliot heard her sniff and knew she was crying quietly.
"I love you, Liv"
"I love you to" she whispered before hanging up.
Elliot put his phone down and stared up at the ceiling "SHIT!" he cursed out loud. He should be with her, by her side working this case together. Elliot jumped out of bed and pulled on the clothes he got ready the night before and ran out the apartment.
Olivia sat at her desk looking at the photos of the two kids battered bodies, Warner had just left after giving her the results they got back from the hospital. They found out that the older girl who was 13 yrs. old had at some point had a baby, but where the child was no one knew. Both kids had old fractures and burn marks over their bodies from years of abuse. Olivia tried to read the report again but the writing blurred together as the tears formed in her eyes.
"Fuck" she cursed banging the file down on the desk. She felt someone standing beside her "I'm fine Fin" she said her voice low.
"Like hell you are" said a deep low voice. She spun round in her chair as Elliot crouched down beside her.
"Wh….what are you doing here?" she asked as a tear fell down her cheek.
"I figured you might need a hug" he said taking hold of her hand and standing up pulling her up out the chair.
"Yeah" she said fighting the sob that was trying to escape "I could" she cried as she fell into his arms. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders tightly as the other one stroked her head his fingers brushing through her hair. Her arms wrapped around his waist clinging onto him, her forehead resting on his shoulder, as she cried.
"I… can't do this anymore EL" she said between the sobs. "I can't spend every day looking at little kids who have been raped, beaten and murdered by bastards who are supposed to protect them"
"I know it's hard Baby…but if we don't do it then who does. You need to be strong Liv, strong for the kids who are too small to fight themselves" he whispered to her "And when it gets to hard I'm here for you okay"
Olivia nodded into his shoulder as the tears fell "Just hold me" Elliot pulled her closer to him. he looked up and seen Fin come in the room.
"She okay" he mouthed to Elliot, who nodded back to him. Fin sat at his desk and picked up a file.
Elliot pulled back from Olivia and put his hand under her chin lifting her head up, so he could look at her face. He put both his hands on her face and wiped her tears mixed with eye makeup away.
"You know Liv I don't think it's a good idea for you to wear eye makeup at work" he smiled; she sniffed and forced a smile back.
"Kiss me" she whispered "I know I'm at work, I know we are taking this slow, but I don't care I need you" Elliot leaned forward and gently brushed his lips across hers parting her lips as she slipped her tongue into his mouth and gently probed till she found his, moaning as she did. Elliot deepened the kiss his hand going to the back of her head pulling her towards him. Olivia's hand done the same her fingers lightly playing with his short hair and stroking the back of his neck, causing Elliot to groan as their bodies pressed together They finally broke apart Elliot resting his forehead against Olivia's a small smile on his face.
"I guess keeping this away from work has just gone out the window"
"I'm sorry" she said as her fingers continued to play with the back of his neck.
"I don't mind Liv, you needed me which is why I came" Elliot looked around and realised everyone's eyes were on them including Don Cragen. "Were being watched" he told her.
"I don't care" she said her voice low as her lips pressed against his again "let them watch"
"Dons here as well" he said in between the kisses"
"Shit!" she gasped pulling back and looking over her shoulder towards her captains door seeing him stood there a blank look on his face. He turned around and walked into the office.
"Benson! Stabler! In here now!" he shouted over his shoulder.
They both looked at each and smirked.
"Nice to see some things don't change" laughed Fin "You aint even started back yet and your already in the shit with the Boss"
Olivia looked at Elliot "What does he mean…. Back yet..are "
"You two now!" shouted Cragen again.
They both turned and walked into his office closing the door. Cragen was stood behind the desk his arms folded.
"What the hell was all that about out there?"
"We ….er ….well" said Elliot trying to think of something to say.
"I was upset with the case, Elliot he came by to see how I was"
"And that involved making out in the middle of the office does it. Jesus Christ Elliot I have only just done the paper work for you to come back and already you're in here" he rubbed his face. "what the hell is wrong with the pair of you, your back together for 2 minutes and already I feel my ulcer playing up and a headache coming on" he pulled his chair out and sat down.
Olivia looked at Elliot "Your coming back?" she asked "When were you going to tell me?"
"I was going to last night but you had to work" he explained. "But in the light of what we just done out there I guess I can't now, Tucker would have a field day"
"For fucks sake El!" she shouted "Why the hell didn't you say no to kissing me, you idiot"
"Well you asked, and you were upset I just couldn't say no" he looked at her trying to take her hand but she pulled away "Liv, I'm sorry but if I had to choose between comforting you and coming back to work, then I would choose you each time"
"But El …. Do you know how much I have wanted you to come back, and cause of one kiss I have blown that"
He took hold of her hand "Baby, I love you it doesn't matter where I work"
"Yes it does Elliot, I need you here with me"
"Ahem. Are you two finished now?" asked Cragen. They both looked and nodded. "Okay. Before I asked you to come back Elliot I done a bit of digging around or should I say I got Casey to do some digging. Now although relationships in the same squad are frowned upon especially between partners, it isn't actually in the conduct policy. I have been to 1PP and they have put it writing that as long as it doesn't interfere with the cases, and your professional relationship, then they are happy for you to work together. However the first time it comes between a case then one of you has to transfer"
They both stood looking stunned as the Captain spoke.
"But… Cap how did you know we were together? Its only just happened"
"I'm haven't made it to the rank of Captain by walking around with my eyes closed. I knew you weren't happy at Computer Crimes and it would only be a matter of time before you came back. I started asking questions over a month ago for when all this finally happened"
Elliot and Olivia both stood looking at their Captain with huge grins on their faces.
"However I warn you now if I walk into the office and catch you making out like teenagers again I will transfer the pair you so fast your feet won't touch the ground on the way out the squad room"
"Yes Cap" they both said smiling.
"Get out of here the pair of you….oh and Elliot you start back here in 2 weeks to give you time to sort out your personal life, I have wrote that letter for your Lawyer if you need it about your work pattern"
"Cheers Boss" he said.
"One more thing" he said stopping them again, they turned to face him "It's about time" he smiled.
"Elliot Stabler?"
"Yeah" said Elliot standing up and shaking the lawyer's hand.
"I'm Mike Shaw, Liz Donnelly explained your situation to me" he said as they walked into the office. "Take a seat" Elliot sat down at the large desk.
"I have spoken to my wife and she has so far agreed to everything I have asked her" Elliot told him.
"Yes, I bet she has" he said opening a file. "after I got the call from Liz and she explained what had happened I looked into things straight away so I had as much information as I could this morning, and I was quite surprised at what I found"
Elliot looked at him confused "I don't understand what you mean?"
"Your wife filed for divorce once before I believe" Elliot nodded.
"yeah 2 years ago, but we got back together last year when she told me she pregnant and I thought the baby was mine"
"Did you ever talk to your wife about the divorce after you got back together?"
"Well no, there was no need, we were back together"
"Well that's just it Mr Stabler legally you weren't"
Elliot looked at him "What do you mean…we weren't?"
"Your wife was the one who filed for divorce, she sent all the papers in that you signed, when exactly did you move back into the family home as husband and wife".
"It would have been when she was 6 months pregnant, what has this got to do with anything"
"Mr Stabler your divorce was finalised 14 months ago, that's 5 months before you moved back in with her"
Elliot just sat staring at the man behind the desk as he took out some papers and handed them to Elliot. " You must be wrong" he said "That's before she even told me she was pregnant" he said dates running through his mind "That's before I even slept with her that one time"
"Did you never get a copy of the final divorce papers"
"No nothing" said Elliot still in shock that she hadn't told him "I thought we were still married…..where does that leave me now? How could she do that?"
"Well the agreement you signed says you share everything the house all assets and joint custody of your 4 children"
"That is sort of what we agreed to this time, well you know when I went to see her, except she said I could have the family home and I would pay for another place for her. My oldest two live out now and the twins refuse to live with her after they found out she lied about Eli. She said she would move out"
"Mr Stabler I understand this is a lot to take in, what we need to do now is draw up a new settlement between you and your….Ex-wife. I will try and find out why you never got a copy of the final papers so we can use that as proof in case she tries to contest and say you knew you were divorced, I suggest you try talking to her to get some answers. She will know by now that you know the truth…. Do you want to take it any further and press charges against her she has misled you as well as tricking you into going back to her"
Elliot shook his head "No I just want that bitch out my life for good. I want my house, custody of the twins and joint custody of Eli. I will give her half the amount the house is worth, that's it" he said the anger and realisation of what she had done settling in.
His lawyer nodded "I'm sure after everything she has done it shouldn't be too hard to persuade her to agree to this" Elliot nodded.
"Good, I gave up everything for her, I can't believe she has done this" he stood up to leave.
"I will be in touch soon. I have the name of her lawyer on the copies of the divorce papers I will get in touch with them myself" Elliot shook his hand and walked out the office stunned by what had just happened. He had been divorced for 14 months. He jumped in his car and sped off towards his Ex-wife.
Elliot jumped out the car and slammed the door charging up the steps to his house not knocking he flung the door open and walked in.
"KATHY! KATHY WERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!" he shouted through the house. Kathy walked out the kitchen and looked at him.
"You know" she said quietly
"YES I FUCKIN KNOW, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN WHEN I WENT TO A LAWYER AND ASKED FOR A DIVORCE"
"Elliot please stop shouting Eli is asleep" she begged him looking scared
Elliot took a deep breath walking closer to her "You lied about everything, how could you do that, do you hate me that much, what exactly did I do wrong Kathy?"
"You fell in love with her"
"What? Your using my feelings for Olivia as an excuse for lying to me about Eli, for not telling me we were divorced so I would come back to you. You not only lied to me Kathy but our kids how do you think they are going to feel now knowing we have been divorced for the last 14 months"
"I'm sorry, I loved you I didn't want to lose you"
"You Loved me. You're the one who wanted the divorce, you're the one who threw me out and took the kids. I may have been in love with Olivia but I never acted on it even when we split cause I knew it was wrong. Christ Kathy…." He turned away from her not knowing what to say afraid he would lose his temper and lash out
"What happens now?" she asked shaking.
"My lawyer is speaking to yours as we speak. You will sign the papers agreeing to me having the house, custody of the twins and joint custody of Eli. I will help you find a place suitable for You and Eli to live in. If you contest anything I will file charges against you, and trust me I will ruin your fuckin life and find some way of getting you locked up. I'm sure there must be some law you have broken"
"Okay I will do anything you ask, I promise" she said scared at thought of being locked up "Anything else"
"Yeah I want you out the house, I'm moving back in go to your mothers until everything is sorted"
She nodded "I will go tomorrow"
"Don't even think about running with Eli cause I will hunt you down" he said getting right into her face "And just to be on the safe side I will be getting a DNA test for Eli and if I find out he is mine after all I will be filing for full custody… now give me my final divorce papers."
Kathy went upstairs and came back down a short while later with an envelope and handed it to Elliot.
"How did you get these"
"I told my solicitor you were still living here so he sent both copies to this address"
Elliot snatched them off her. "I will be in touch" he said walking out the house.
Couldn't have Kathy being nice and agreeing to everything. Not sure how divorces actually work but its fiction so in my little world I can do it anyway I want lol.
Well now Elliot is officially single there is nothing holding him and Olivia back now, bring on the love scenes.