I know it's been almost a year since I last update. And for that I apologize. I have a lot happen in the past year. I moved twice. I was sick for a while and even spent a few days in the hospital. And I had a lot of other stuff going on. But nevertheless, here's the latest chapter! Enjoy!
Location: Starbucks Coffee Shop. NYC.
"Sorry, I'm late," Elliot called as he entered the coffee shop and spotted Olivia at a nearby table. "Ran into a little trouble on my way here."
"It's okay," Olivia waved him over. "It's not like I'm going anywhere. Just home. And not anytime soon."
"You should be sleeping," Elliot told her as he joined her at the table. He noticed she was no long wearing the scrubs she had on earlier. She was now wearing gray sweatpants and a dark blue NYPD t-shirt under the gray hoodie he had let her borrow at the precinct earlier that day.
"I tried and I couldn't," she said, handing him a coffee cup. "Here. It got a little warm waiting for you."
"Can't say I blame you," he understood how she felt. He had more than his share of restless nights too. He sipped his coffee. "Warm, my ass! This is ice cold!" He threw his coffee in the trash. "Oh, well. I'm not really in the mood for coffee anyway."
It had only been a few hours since she'd been released from the precinct after a rather lengthy interrogation with Tucker. She had gone home, but couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Calvin. So she went out for a walk and ended up at Starbucks. She called Elliot and told him to meet her here after he went to the hospital to check on Calvin. While she waited for him, she ordered a coffee for Elliot and for herself, a green tea, a yogurt and a blueberry muffin. However, Elliot came later than expected, so his coffee had gotten cold. And she had finished her yogurt and muffin, but was still slowly sipping her tea.
"It would've been hot if you'd gotten here sooner," Olivia teased him.
"I told you I ran into a little trouble," Elliot reminded her.
"What kind of trouble?" she inquired. She hoped it didn't have anything to do with Calvin.
"Nothing to do with Calvin," Elliot said, as if reading her thoughts. "But I don't want to talk about it. At least not here. And don't worry. Calvin is fine. There's a cop posted outside his hospital room door. He will have a police escort when ACS picks him up tomorrow. And he will have around the clock police protection at the group home. He's perfectly safe. You have my word no harm will come to him."
"Thanks, El," Olivia reached out her hand and held his. She knew she could always trust Elliot. He never broke a promise.
"You could thank me by getting some rest," Elliot prodded. "Come on. I'll give you a ride home.
She was too tired to argue with him so she accepted his offer. Together, they left Starbucks and went across the street to where Elliot had parked his car. Once they were inside, Elliot buckled his seat belt, put the key into the ignition, and began to drive. As Olivia buckled her seat belt, her elbow bumped into something in the back seat. She checked to see what she bumped and noticed a couple of suitcases and a duffel bag on the floor of the back seat. Her elbow had bumped into one of the suitcases.
"Ran into a little trouble on my way here."
Elliot's words echoed in her head.
"So," Olivia turned to him. "Exactly what kind of trouble did you run into?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Elliot tensed up, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
"You said that in there," she pointed in the direction of Starbucks. "As I also recall, you said you didn't want to talk about it in there. We're in here now. So start talking."
He knew she wasn't going to give up. But he also knew, he could trust her more than anyone in the world, including his wife, Kathy.
Elliot swallowed hard. "Kathy cheated on me."
"Oh, El," she said, stunned, yet still trying console him. "I-."
"I caught her with him," he spoke, his voice filled with pain and resentment. "After I checked in on Calvin, I stopped home to shower first before meeting up with you. And I found the two of them in bed. My bed. Our bed. Whatever. I don't care anymore. Anyway, Kathy and I got into an arguement. Then I packed my bags and left."
"How could she do this to you?" Olivia became angry with Kathy, but at the same time sympathetic toward her partner.
Elliot took a deep breath. "Apparently, she started seeing this guy when we were separated. He's the CEO of a dairy company. Her friend set her up with him. But she stopped seeing him when we got back together. Then six months ago she ran into him, and it started up again."
"The milkman?" she felt even sorrier for him. "Ouch! Sorry, El. So where will you stay?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Hotel for tonight. Then tomorrow, who knows?"
"Stay at my place," Olivia offered.
"What?" Elliot raised his eyebrows. "No, Liv. I appreciate the gesture. But I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."
"Why not?" she asked. "You can have the couch. It's comfortable. I slept on it enough times to know."
"What if Cragen finds out?" Elliot asked. "We'll both lose our jobs."
"I won't tell him," Olivia assured him. "This will stay between me and you. No one else has to know. And besides, it's only for a little while."
"Alright," he reluctantly agreed. "But just for a little while."
When they arrived at Olivia's apartment, she helped him with his bags and got him settled in. She grabbed some blankets and a couple of pillows out of the hall closet and set them on an armchair next to the couch. Elliot stared at them from where he sat on the couch. His bags lay at his feet, untouched since he and Olivia brought them up. She knew he had a lot on his mind, so she decided to press him any further. It had been a long enough day for both of them. She watched as he stood up, grabbed one of his bags, and into the bathroom.
"I guess I don't have to give you the grand tour," Olivia teased, trying to ease tension. "You know where the kitchen and the bathroom are. And everything else."
"I think I'll be alright," Elliot joked, emerging from the bathroom in gray sweatpants and a black wifebeater. He walked into the kitchen. "I'm sure everything is where it was the last time I was here. And if I recall, this is your liquor cabinet."
He opened the cabinet to reveal several bottles of wine, and single bottles of rum, bourbon, scotch, tequila, and other different liquors.
"And you would be correct," Olivia opened up another cabinet, revealing clean empty glasses.
She handed a glass to Elliot, who filled it with bourbon. Olivia grabbed a second glass for herself and filled it with white zinfandel wine. Then they both sat back down on the couch and sipped from their glasses.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Olivia set her glass down on the coffee table, removed her gray hoodie, and offered it to Elliot. "Here's your hoodie. Thanks for letting me borrow it."
"Why don't you hang on to it for now?" he gave her back the hoodie. "You know, since I'll be staying here for a while. A little while."
Olivia smiled. Elliot was cute when he was nervously courteous and considerate. How could Kathy cheat on such a sweet gentleman? She put the hoodie back on, but not because she was cold, but because Olivia loved the smell of Elliot's cologne that still lingered on the collar. She must've been more tired than she thought. For she had yawned twice before even realizing it.
"Go to bed already," Elliot insisted.
"I'm not tired," Olivia lied as she yawned again.
"Liar," Elliot smiled.
Olivia smiled and blushed. "Okay, I'll go to bed after I finish my wine."
"Agreed," Elliot said, feeling tired himself.
They sipped from their glasses and talked about their new temporary living arrangements. Before they knew it, they had both finished their drinks and had fallen asleep together on the couch. Elliot awoke to find himself sleeping on his back with Olivia sleeping on his chest. The clock on the cable box read 3:45 AM. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful and peaceful Olivia looked while she slept. Her long brown hair fell in strands around her face and on Elliot's chest. He wished he could date her, but he was still in a battle with Kathy. And he could never treat Olivia like a rebound.
Suddenly, Olivia's soft breathing became labored as she moaned in her sleep. Tears began to stream down her face. She started to fight and kick.
"Calvin!" she moaned. "I'm coming! Hang on, Calvin!"
Elliot realized she was having more than just a nightmare. She was having a night terror. He worked with victims long enough to know he might not be able to awaken Olivia from her nightmare, but he could try to calm her down. He wrapped his arms and legs around her and pulled her close. Meanwhile, Olivia was still flailing from her night terror.
"Liv," he whispered into her ear in a soothing tone while gently stroking her hair. "It's me, Elliot. Everything is going to be alright. Just focus on the sound of my voice."
At first, it seemed as if it wasn't working, but after about fifteen minutes, Olivia's flailing and moaning began to subside. Her crying and moaning had reduced to a whimper. Within another ten minutes, she was calm and sleeping peacefully upon Elliot's chest as if nothing had ever happened. Elliot stopped whispering in her ear, but continued stroking her hair. It smelled wonderful. Like honey and wildflowers. He gladly let that amazing scent send him off into a sound sleep.
The next morning Olivia woke to find herself laying on Elliot's chest. She was awakened by the sound of his steady heartbeat. Meanwhile, he lay sleeping soundly with one arm around her. How much did she drink last night to end up in this position? She looked over at the clock. It read 8:20 AM. Elliot was late for work. She knew she should wake him, but she was actually enjoying the comfort of his strong, yet gentle embrace. Then again, she didn't want Elliot to get in trouble. So Olivia gently nudged him until he awoke.
"Mmmm," Elliot grumbled as he opened his eyes.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," Olivia nudged him again. "You're late for work."
"What?" he lifted his head to look at the clock. "Oh, fuck!"
Forgetting that Olivia was still on top of him, he sat up and sent falling to the floor. Only when he went to help her up did he realize his right leg had fallen asleep. Thus causing him to fall on top of Olivia.
"Sorry," Elliot apologized.
"It's okay," Olivia assured him.
Neither could take their eyes of the other. It was as if they were hypnotized or a spell was cast upon then. They remained transfixed, gazing into each other's eyes. It was Olivia who broke first.
"El?" she blinked her eyes. "Elliot? You need to get ready."
"Huh?" he snapped back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."
Elliot got up first, then he helped Olivia up off the floor. She lounged around a bit on the couch as he went to take a shower. She wanted to talk to Elliot, but she had too many mixed feelings and wasn't sure how to explain it. Olivia had feelings for Elliot and wanted him to kiss her when they were on the floor, but she knew she could never put him in that kind of position, especially with what he was dealing with Kathy. So when Elliot got out of the shower, she asked him the one question that had been bothering her since she woke up.
"So...um," Olivia stammered. "What happened last night? I mean, how did we..."
Her voice trailed off as she pointed to the couch. But Elliot knew what she meant. They both knew nothing had happened because they were both still dressed. But they were still both just as curious.
"End up on the couch together?" Elliot finished her sentence. "I'm not exactly sure. I don't remember much from last night. I guess we both got pretty drunk and passed out. I do remember waking up in time to see you have a night terror. How long have those been going on?"
Olivia felt embarrassed and ashamed. "Oh, God. I'm sorry. Did I hurt you at all, El? I started having them after I saw Calvin beaten unconscious in the hotel room. And it's always the same nightmare. It starts out like that day in the squad room when Vivian took Calvin away. Then Vivian and the social worker turn into the Dreckers and they start beating Calvin. And no matter what I do or how hard I try, I just can't save him."
Olivia was in tears by the time she finished telling Elliot about her nightmare. He wrapped his arms around her and began to console her.
"Calvin will be fine," Elliot reassured her. "He's got you and the whole squad looking out for him. The Dreckers will never hurt him again."
"Thanks," Olivia rested her head on Elliot's shoulder.
She found the smell of his cologne to be strong, yet warm and soothing. Just like him. Olivia wished they could stay like this forever, but he had to leave. She reluctantly let him go, watching him with longing as he left for the precinct.
Location: SVU Squad Room.
"Any leads on our missing witness?" Cragen looked up at the evidence board. He wanted to clear Olivia's name just as badly as his other three detectives.
Cragen, Munch, and Fin had arrived extra early that morning to work on narrowing down the list that Warner had given them, determined to find their witness.
"Not really," Munch began. "I was able to narrow down our list a little. Of the forty-two possible witnesses, twenty-seven of those matched fingerprints in the system. I went through each one's file and found that nine of them are in prison, six for drug possession with intent to sell, and three for assault and battery. And five of them are dead, all overdoses."
"That leaves thirteen names unaccounted for," Cragen said.
"Let's not forget about our twenty-nine unnamed semen samples," added Fin. "And our witness's urine and blood at the crime scene."
"True," Cragen remarked. "It's possible the urine and blood could belong to one of our fingerprint matches. Track down our lucky thirteen and use your powers of persuasion to get them to volunteer a DNA sample."
It was at that moment that Elliot walked in, accompanied by Warner, who was carrying two file folders.
"Sorry, I'm late," Elliot rushed over to his desk.
"Save it," Cragen told him. "We've got more pressing matters." He turned to Warner. "What's up, doc?"
"Me," Warner wisecracked. "Since the crack of dawn. I've been running tests. Of the twenty-nine semen samples, none were a match to the urine and the blood from the crime scene. But I did get hits in the system for eighteen of those samples."
She handed one of the file folders to Cragen. He looked it over then handed it to Munch.
"Compare this list to yours," Cragen ordered. "See if you can narrow the suspect list even more."
Munch compared the two lists, which took him only a few minutes. The he turned back to face his captain with a solemn look.
"They're all on this list," Munch said glumly. "Which completely eliminates our suspect pool. Looks like we're back at square one."
The three detectives, along with Cragen and Warner exchanged confused, yet frustrated looks.
"Damn!" said Fin, angrily. "We just can't seem to catch a break!"
"What do we do now, Captain?" Elliot asked.
"Canvass the neighborhood," Cragen suggested. "And sit on that house while you're out there. The homeless and junkies are always looking for a crash pad. Maybe he'll come back."
"I can help narrow down your search area," Warner held up the other file folder she was still carrying. "As I said before I've been running tests on the blood and urine samples. I ran tox screen, which came back positive for crack, cocaine, heroin. There was also a significant amount of antiretroviral meds and methadone in his system."
"He's HIV positive," Elliot realized. "And he's been getting treatment."
"Okay, new game plan," Cragen said. "I'm going to send a uniformed officer to drive by the house every hour. As for you three, I want you canvass all the local methadone clinics in that area. He's bound to come back for another fix sooner or later."
Stay tuned! More exciting chapters to come! Please feel free to read and review!