Author's Comments: C'mon, where are all the rest of my EO'ers to back me up? Just to be clear, I never said that Olivia actually slept with him on the show. I said she had feelings for him, that she loved him. She didn't act on those feelings out of respect for Kathy, but you can bet that if his wife ever did divorce him, Olivia would jump his bones in a heartbeat. Brother/sister, my ass. She would totally tap that, lol. Even Mariska said they had "chemistry" right from the get-go. You don't say that about a family member.

O.M.G. I think September is never going to get here. Anyone been following the tweets and pictures from the SVU production team? I am a ball of nerves—Save Benson!

Too Close

Chapter Three

Part 1.

As the week marched on, Olivia developed an uneasy truce with Elliot—he observed her from a distance but left her alone, and she kept her nose down and didn't even pretend to flirt with anyone from work. She thought maybe she could prove to him that she had no interest in anyone but him, and he would relax.

By Friday, she had gotten so wrapped up in her routine that she had almost forgotten all about their troubles earlier in the week. Almost. Because, although he was friendly to her most days, and civil on others, he still came home after midnight most nights, after working late or hitting the bar. Not much time was left for connecting with her, but she consoled herself with the fact that at least he wasn't starting crap with her.

"Liv, you ready to go pick up our suspect?" said Nick, just before the elevator doors opened and deposited a tired and possibly hung-over Elliot onto the floor.

"Yeah, let's go get him," she said, scooting her seat out to stand.

Nick lifted her jacket to help her find the arms, and Elliot looked at them for a little too long. She ignored him, smiling at Nick and whispering, "Thanks."

"Hey," said Nick, "I'm going out with Rollins and Fin after work tonight for drinks, you wanna come?"

"I don't know," said Olivia, conscious of the fact that Elliot was now within earshot, but not wanting to be controlled by his jealousy. "We'll see if I'm still up for it at the end of the day—it's been an exhausting week."

Elliot brushed past her and stumbled to his desk. She thought she smelled a hint of alcohol on him, and wondered if he had already thrown back one or two this morning. Shaking her head, she fumbled around for her keys and bumped her desk, knocking a folder and all its contents on the floor. "Son of a—"

"Here, let me help you get that," said Nick, kneeling beside her. As he shuffled papers from the floor, Olivia was aware of Elliot's eyes boring a hole into her back.

Nick reached across in front of her to pick up a paper, and Elliot's chair scraped across the floor. Nick stood and held his hand out to help her up, and she accepted. When she stood, Elliot was in her space, crowding her with his presence. They glared at each other while Nick watched, perplexed, until Elliot turned his attention toward the junior detective.

Nick lowered his eyebrows and said, "What?"

Elliot rubbed a hand over his face. "You might want to slow your horses, cowboy," he said, and pointed to Olivia. "This one's a little too wild to rope into the corral."

Nick cocked his head to the side and said, "What the fuck are you talking about, Stabler? Speak English."

Elliot stepped out of Olivia's circle of comfort and into Nick's face. "I'm saying, it's better for all of us to keep a clean workplace by not mixing business with pleasure. So keep it in your pants, is all."

Nick steadied himself, unflinching, and said, "You got a lot of nerve, Stabler. What's your fucking problem?"

Olivia started to grab Elliot's arm to pull him back, but he jerked it out of her hands. "I don't have a problem. I'm just saying—I'm watching you."

Nick's mouth fell open, and he said, "What? You're a real piece of work, Stabler. You know that?"

Olivia strode past Elliot and said, "Forget it, Nick. He's on the rag or something. It's not worth it. Let's go."

"No, I'm not—" started Nick, staring Elliot down. Glimpsing Olivia's pleading face, he stopped himself and shot one last glare at Elliot before turning away. "You need help, man," he mumbled as he walked away.

Part 2.

In the car, the tension piled up so thick that Olivia thought it would take a miracle to find words to cut through it. Nick broke through while driving, saying, "Something going on between you and Elliot I should know about?"

Olivia sighed, debating how much to tell him. On the one hand, she wanted to build trust with her partner by sharing details about her personal life. And yet, she knew that nothing but trouble could come out of revealing the fact that their relationship had evolved way beyond playing card games on a Saturday night. She shook her head, saying, "He's angry at me for letting our perp get away—"

"This is about more than just a hump," said Nick.

"And, I think he's a little jealous that I'm not partnered with him anymore."

Nick paused, and then said, "Do you think he's mad that I didn't invite him to go out for drinks?"

Olivia stifled a laugh. She couldn't imagine a more awkward scenario than the three of them chumming it up at a bar. "Nah," she said. "He's on edge lately. He'll get over it."

Part 3.

That night, she worked late to avoid hanging out with the gang from work. She hoped it wouldn't be too obvious that she wasn't going because she feared Elliot's reaction.

She expected to come home to an empty apartment, but was surprised when the lights were on as she entered. She stopped, hairs standing up on the back of her neck, even though she knew the likelihood that someone could penetrate this place was next to none due to the superior security in the building. But she had been fooled into a false sense of safety once before, and it had led to the worst of all possible consequences.

She finally breathed again when Elliot stepped out of the shadows in the living room. "Did you go out?" he asked.

Noticing a half-empty bottle of rum sitting on the coffee table, she said, "No. You decide to stay home to drink tonight?"

He took a few steps toward her and said, "Heck yeah. Let's bring on the party right here."

She frowned at him, saying, "That was a stupid move you pulled on Nick today."

She had not noticed the shot glass in his hand, but now he brought it to his lips and downed it in one fell swoop. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he said, "He'll get over it."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Elliot," she said. "Do you not care anymore if they send us to different units? Because I don't know about you, but I don't want to leave SVU."

"I care more about him fawning over you," he said, his words slurring.

Olivia pursed her lips. She was about tired of this angry drunk routine. "Elliot, you have got to get over this," she said. "What I did was wrong. But it does not give you an excuse to watch over me like a possessive asshole."

"Asshole," he said, folding his arms. "I'm an asshole?"

"Yes," she said, keeping her voice steady. "And you're drinking way too much lately."

He sniffed, his shoulder twitching. "Okay, now Miss Independent is going to tell me what to do. Mind your own business, Liv."

Her mouth fell open, and her voice rose as she said, "Mind my own business? You guard me like you own me, but I'm supposed to let you do whatever the fuck you want, even if it means trampling my dignity into the ground?"

He stood solid, rolling his eyes away from her, but she was not done with him yet. "You better back the fuck off and start giving me some space."

His eyebrows shot up. "I gave you space. But if you're going to stay with me . . ." His lips formed a thin line. "You know what? You want space, fine."

He picked up her shoes off the ground and hurled them against the door, and then looked around for more of her stuff to throw. Seeing none, he pointed to the door. "Take your shit and leave," he said, moving his face to within inches of hers.

Seeing only ugliness and hatred in his eyes now, she shouted at him, "You are impossible, Elliot Stabler. No wonder Kathy left you."

The two of them froze, and then his knuckles flew up to meet her jaw so fast that she had no time to react. The alcohol must have blocked any inhibition, because the contact was hard enough to knock her backward, almost to her feet. She brought a hand up to rub her tender mouth, and recoiled when she saw fresh blood on her fingers. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as the idea that someone she loved so much could have actually done such a thing.

It only took a second for the shock to wear off and her animal instincts to take over, and she charged him, arms flying. His eyes grew round as she aimed blow after blow at him, only to be blocked by his flailing arms. Just now she heard the primal scream coming from her own throat, a battle cry that she could not seem to shut off. Unable to reach his head with her fists, surprised by his superior strength and speed even while drunk, she went for a painful ambush and brought her knee up to his groin.

He bent over for a few seconds, grabbing at his crotch, his mouth open in anguish. And then he stood and came at her, spitting through clenched teeth, "Bitch!" His hand wrapped around her throat and he pushed her back until she slammed against a wall. She clawed at his fingers, gasping for breath but unable to find it as his hand tightened around her esophagus.

The room seemed to close in, and she couldn't tell whether it was because she was losing consciousness or if it was just panic. Unable to speak, she tried to wordlessly plead with him through her eyes, but his were wild like a carnivore taking down a kill. And then his hand softened, and he slowly pulled it away, fear flashing in his eyes and dissipating quickly as he turned away from her.

He gulped deep breaths as if he was the one who had been choked, and said, "I'm out of here." Grabbing his jacket, he left without a further glance in her direction, leaving her alone to figure out how control had vanished so quickly and left her in the grips of chaos.