Author's Comments: Spoiler alert—"Fault". I'm assuming all of you have seen it.
Oh, and OMFG it's still 28 days away til "Surrender Benson"! WTF? I can't write at this pace forever—y'all will have to have patience with me while a take a brief hiatus. But I do have another story planned, and I think it'll be pretty freakin' good. Let me simmer it in my brain for a few days.
Too Close
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Liv, are you sure about this?" Captain Cragan's eyebrows lowered, but Olivia was absolutely certain of what she wanted at this point.
"Yeah," she said. "I want to come back now, and I would really like to stay in the same unit as Elliot."
"Oh, and how does he feel about it?"
She waited a beat before answering. "He doesn't know I'm asking—"
"Uh-huh," said the captain. "So how do you think he's going to take it if I approve this?"
She sat unblinking. "You'll have to ask him that, Sir."
"And you're ready?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," she said. "It . . . it hasn't been easy these last few months, but I want to come back to work."
Cragan hesitated, and then said, "Liv, you don't feel like hurting yourself anymore, do you?"
Icy chills ran down the back of her throat at the thought of what she had done just six weeks earlier. "No. I don't."
"Okay," he said, with the closest thing to a smile that she would ever see on his face. "Let me talk to Elliot, and I'll make my decision."
As Olivia strode out of Captain Cragan's office, she noticed Elliot's gaze following her with trepidation. "Elliot, I need to see you," said the captain.
Elliot stood as Olivia passed by him without saying a word or looking at him. She poured herself a cup of coffee as the captain's door clicked behind her. As she took a sip, she tried to keep her hand from shaking. 'Shaking, why?' she thought. Could it be remnants of the PTSD? Or was she really that afraid of Elliot's reaction to her coming back?
It was true that she had not told him—she wanted this to be her decision alone. She had assumed he would be fine with it, especially after their make-up sessions lately, but what if he wasn't? They had run into this problem before—too close to be partners, but too enmeshed to work apart, and Cragan had nearly split them apart like a pair of Siamese twins. And that was before they had become lovers.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Cragan's door opening, and Elliot emerged looking as stoic as ever. Olivia shifted her feet as she tried not to act like she didn't notice him. Nick came from the other side of her and said, "Hey, Liv. How are you?"
Olivia blushed, remembering Friday night at the bar. Smiling at the images, but cringing at his blatant attempts to hit on her, she said, "I'm good," and then brought her lips tightly together.
"Good," he said, acting casual in the face of the awkwardness between them. "You coming back anytime soon?"
"Maybe," she said. "Still waiting to hear back from Captain Cragan."
"Ah," he said, nodding as he took a few sips from his cup. He smacked his lips and said, "Well, I hope you do come back."
"Thanks," she said, nodding back. Pointing a finger up and to the right, she said, "Well, I think I'm gonna—"
"Yeah, you do that—"
"—go check and see if there's anything in my locker—"
"Great, sounds good." He held up his cup. "I'll see ya around."
She hastily retreated, making a break for it to the locker room just to disappear for a while, only to startle when she realized Elliot was in it. His eyes grew wide, but his expression remained solemn. "Sorry for scaring you," he said.
"It's okay," she said. "You talked Cragan?"
"Yeah," he said, looking down at his duffle bag without offering more. Her chest clenched into a ball as she noticed he was packing items of clothing from his locker.
"And?" she said, taking several steps forward until she closed the distance between them.
He looked up at her, his mouth falling open. "And what?"
"Look, I'm sorry for not talking to you first," she said. "But what did you tell him?"
"I told him the truth," he said. "That you and I were too close to work together, and that our personal relationship was tumultuous at times, and if we were ever partners again, it would ruin us."
"Elliot—"
"But I told him we could work in the same unit together, and I would do everything in my power not to create drama in the workplace."
She let out a sigh. "But," said Elliot, "I also told him that I had no control over what you do, so I couldn't promise him that you wouldn't freak out at some point."
She punched him in the arm before allowing a laugh to escape her throat. "I know, 'cause I'm such a trouble-maker," she said, and he smiled now. "Can't take me anywhere . . . while I'm drunk, that is."
He stood tall and said, "Yeah, I can't guarantee that Friday night isn't going to come back to haunt you."
"I think it already has," she said. "Nick and I can't have a conversation anymore without squirming."
"Can you blame him?" grinned Elliot. "You being such a sexy lush and all."
She smiled back, not trying to be seductive but wondering if her expression was alluring anyhow. When he flattered her like this, she couldn't help but notice a certain glow about him, a glint of joy in his face that made him prime rib to her eyes. "Oh, yeah?" she said. "I didn't see you complaining about it, either."
His hand flashed up to her hair so fast she thought it must have been more like an impulse, but she didn't mind at all. They froze, staring at one another, as his hand began to massage the back of her neck. "No," he said, his voice seductive. "I wasn't complaining. Not that you remember anyway."
"You better not have," she said, moving in closer until their faces were a breath away. She parted her lips invitingly, and he closed the remaining gap with his mouth on hers, sending sparkles into her chest that spread into her arms and belly and legs.
In the blur of breath-taking exchanges of touches and kisses over the next few seconds, their tongues and hands groped one another until he ended up with his hands under her shirt. She resisted the temptation of his hands grabbing excitedly at her breasts, pulling her head away from his long enough to whisper in one outward breath, "We probably shouldn't do this here."
"Where then?" he exhaled onto her neck. "The bathroom?"
She giggled. "No, Elliot."
"An interrogation room? The elevator?"
"Ha!" she said, kissing his ear between words. "I'll meet you at home."
The End
Endnote: Oh, I know I know, no fair to end it there. You just got a hot, steamy love-making scene! What do you want from me, lol?