Prompt #57: New Year's Eve midnight kiss

New Year's Kiss

~oOo~

The holiday season was always busy, often one of the busiest times of the year, which meant time together was limited. It had been five months since Elliot got back from his latest undercover assignment. He promised Olivia it was his last, and told Ayanna it was his last. He needed to be at home, letting the younger detectives go under especially for long periods of time. Olivia and Noah spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Stablers.

It was the day before New Year's Eve and both teams caught a new case. Much to both of their disliking, they have only had time for a quick call or text and hadn't seen each other, both hoping they'd still be able to spend New Year's Eve together.

The McCanns asked if Noah wanted to come for New Year's Eve but he declined, wanting to have some "sibling" time with the Stablers, before Eli goes back to Colorado. Olivia loved how well Noah fit in with Elliot's kids.

McGrath was in her office reiterating for what seemed like the 100th time, that they needed to find their suspect before he hit again, but the lab was backed up, and victims couldn't give a good description. Her head was hurting from his ranting, as she agreed that the sooner they caught who was doing this, the better. The team was short-staffed and doing the best they could.

She finally ushered him out of her office, closing the door, and sighed. Her phone pinged and she groaned, picking it up only to see a video from Maureen of the boys playing and a message. The boys love Noah. Kick ass, Liv, we love you. Liv smiled and responded. Love you all too. Thank you for helping.

Across town, Elliot was deep into his case files when his phone pinged. He saw Liv's message. I miss you. He smiled and typed back, I miss you too, love you. She responded back with Love you.

Jet then spoke up. "I got something."

Elliot got up and went to see what she found. Turned out, the two cases they've both been working on separately, were actually the same suspect.

An hour later both teams were in Liv's squadroom, reviewing case files.

Elliot loved watching Liv in Captain mode, she was made for this job. He couldn't help being proud of her. She and Bell made the assignments so they could catch this guy and close their cases. Elliot ended up with Fin to go re-interview one of their earlier victims.

On the way, Fin asked, "So, are you and Liv good?"

Elliot smiled. "Yeah, we're good. I appreciate you being there when I couldn't for both her and Noah."

"I've always got her back. She's been smiling more. It's a good thing," he told him.

Before they made it back, they had a lead on their suspect.

It was now early morning and their suspect was not cooperating with interrogation. Everyone was tired, Bell and Liv agreed everyone needed to take a break, so they put the suspect back in lockup.

Everyone was headed home to get a few hours of sleep before meeting back at 8 to try again. Elliot knocked on her door before entering. "Can I drive you home?"

"How about we stay at my place? It's closer? Unless you need to get home," she asked, putting her laptop in her bag and grabbing her coat.

He helped her with her coat. "Nah. Eli is with Dickie."

He drove them to her apartment, opened the door and she locked their guns and badges up in her safe. She went through her nighttime routine quickly before getting into bed.

Elliot climbed into bed next to her, pulling her in his arms. "Love you," he said before kissing her.

She smiled and kissed him back. "If we weren't so tired and didn't have to be back in a few hours, I'd suggest we take advantage of being alone."

He kissed her again. "I'd love that, but sleep." He wrapped his arms around her tighter.

Just a few hours later, they were back in the interrogation room. Bell, Jet, and Fin were watching behind from the glass.

"Benson and Stabler in action," Fin stated.

Bell chuckled. "They're getting him to talk."

Fin looked her way. "They were always the best team to get a confession," he said as Liv and Elliot came out.

"Alright, we can let Carisi know we have the confession, but we know that nothing will happen until after the new year. We can wrap up paperwork this afternoon and be ready for his arraignment," Liv said.

The teams dispersed to go do their paperwork. Bell was the last to leave. "Nice work Captain, you and Stabler make a hell of a team."

"Thanks, Ayanna," Liv said.

"Happiness looks good on both of you," Bell said before she left the office.

By early evening, all the paperwork was complete. Liv walked out with her coat and bag.

"I know we were supposed to go out but what would you think about picking up Chinese and spending an evening with our boys," she asked.

"I think that sounds good as long as I get to kiss you at midnight," he said, taking her bag and hand.

They went to Elliot's apartment with enough Chinese for everyone. They curled up on the couch together while the kids played games until Bernie turned on the TV to watch the ball drop.

At midnight, Elliot kissed Liv. "Happy New Year, Liv," he said, smiling.

She kissed him again. "Happy New Year, El. 2024 will be even better."

He leaned in and kissed her. "I love you."

The author of this SVU - Heart for the Holidays story will be revealed in January