Chapter 2
~oOo~
Brian winced as he shifted on the hospital bed. He hated getting shot. The only good thing from the entire fiasco had been Olivia Benson coming back into his life. Fuck.
Olivia Benson.
He hadn't seen her in years. The woman that he'd never been able to forget. He'd often found himself comparing his dates to her—and they'd never matched up to those expectations.
How could they?
His mood brightened when the door opened to reveal Olivia. She strode over to the bed, offering a smile and a kind word. That was Olivia.
"I'm like you, Liv. This job is the only thing I got." Brian grunted in pain when he tried to shift up on the bed a little.
"I'm not who I used to be." Olivia shook her head. She sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his arm.
"Sure you are." Brian had no doubts that the fucking Joan of Arc of the 1-6 hadn't changed at all. She was still the person championing victims and taking no shit from anyone around her. "You're the same damn person."
"No. I'm not."
"Maybe." Brian tried to lift himself up when she leaned in closer but hesitated when she reared back in surprise. "Liv? I thought…"
"I should go. I just wanted to check in on you since I was already at the hospital." Olivia put a little more distance between the two of them.
Before Brian could ask what she meant, the door to the room opened for a second time. The unwelcome face of Elliot Stabler peered inside. He motioned for Olivia, who immediately went over to him.
There was something about the look in his eyes. Brian knew he'd lost before he'd even had a chance to make another play for her. He barely got a wave of goodbye before Olivia was out of the room.
Stabler remained, stepping fully inside. Brian waited him out. He had no idea what the man could possibly have to say to him.
They'd never really been friends. The thing they had in common was Olivia. Their love for the saint of the 1-6.
"Cassidy."
"Stabler." Brian eyed the man cautiously. He didn't think it was a coincidence that the man had stepped in just as he'd been attempting to go in for a kiss. "I know you're not here to see me."
"I'd punch you for trying to kiss my girlfriend, but I imagine you've suffered enough for one day." Stabler had the same smirk on his face that Brian remembered from when Olivia had turned him down at the precinct. "I better go. Liv's waiting for me."
"She always was, wasn't she?"
"I was worth the wait."
Brian could only watch as Stabler strode out of the room. He scowled at the door. He thought about flinging something at it. "Lucky fucking prick."
