Protégé

A/N: A short but necessary update, more to come.

A/N 2: IMPORTANT NOTE, I accidentally posted an unfinished chapter the first time, if you read this on the night of Tuesday April 4th then you may need to reread the ending! My sincere apologies!

Disclaimer: Law and Order would be a very different franchise if I owned it.

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Chapter 52

Monday Evening, Captain Olivia Benson's Office, 16th Precinct, Manhattan SVU, Summer 2013

Elliot sat in his girlfriend's office, nervously tapping his foot, and rubbing his hands all over his face, and head, he sat bent over, his elbows resting on top of his thighs. He missed the feel of his facial hair, he thought it made him look older, however if Serena kept popping up in his life he wouldn't need a beard, he had no doubt he would begin to age prematurely from stress. He shuddered to think that wrinkles, and grey hair could be in his immediate future, that's if he didn't lose his hair altogether. His Mother had gone white at a young age, whereas his Father was bald earlier than most, either way genetics weren't on his side, the last thing he needed was an angry Mother-in-law, hell bent on destroying his life.

Shortly after Serena left, Munch brought them back to their present case, leaving them no time to spiral privately, after she discovered that Elliot worked for Olivia, and she gave them an ultimatum.

"What are we gonna do?" Elliot asked, sitting up straight.

"I mean seriously, what the hell are we gonna do?!" he exclaimed again, getting up to pace in the small room.

Olivia barely reacted, hardly hearing a word he said.

She closed her eyes, and leaned back in her office chair, holding her hand against her belly. She could never imagine behaving like her Mother had, towards any of her future children. Then again her Mother never had treated her with any kind of love, or respect. She also knew from a very young age that her Mother wanted her to be alone, to only ever need her and nobody else, it's why she always scared away her friends, and why she seared it into her brain that men were awful creatures who would only use her, and abuse her.

"Call me naïve but I'm assuming there's no reasoning with her- Liv?" Elliot called her name, befuddled when she stood out of nowhere and started packing up her belongings to take home for the night.

"Do you wanna grab dinner? Talk about this?" Elliot tilted his head as he tried to make eye contact with her, she hadn't said anything since he had come into her office, after the squad had retired for the night.

"Ummm, no I've uh… I've got some things to do, I'm going to file your resignation and transfer request forms tonight, no sense delaying it any further, especially now, if that's alright with you?" Olivia's tone was unsure, as if she doubted Elliot would still want to go through with their initial plans.

"That's why I gave them to you, but do you really think she'll go to Dodd's? Would she ruin my career before it even starts?" Elliot asked forlornly.

Olivia shook her head, and chuckled darkly as she packed her purse, "This has very little to do with you, my Mother kills two birds with one stone-"

Elliot rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah you and me-"

"No, you're just an extra bird, consider it three birds, one stone. My Mother has wanted me out of this unit since the day I started, and she gets to control me, teach me a lesson while she does it," Olivia attempted to explain.

Elliot looked confused, "What are you talking about? Your Mother just threatened to get me fired if I don't leave you alone."

Olivia finally looked up, "Elliot how will she do that?"

"She told us remember? That she would tell Dodd's that I've been having an inappropriate sexual relationship with my… Oh shit!" Elliot's eyes widened as he suddenly realized that his girlfriend was right, he was nothing but a pawn, a means to an end, nothing but collateral damage in Serena's lifelong quest to control her daughter.

Olivia nodded, seeing her lover understand the real predicament that they were in, "She can't expose you without exposing me. I am the boss in this fucked up equation, and because of my transgressions-"

Olivia stopped talking as she covered her face with her hands, choking up unable to continue with her explanation. At the moment she was blaming herself for every little, and not so little thing they had done in the past few months. From giving in to the chemistry between them, to getting caught with him in the hospital by her, maybe if she had shown some poise, and public decency, carried herself like a lady as her Mother had taught her, they would never be in this mess; about to be fired, living alone, and knocked up.

Olivia couldn't prevent a sob from escaping, capturing it in her own hands, just as she had growing up, she learned from a young age not to cry because nobody was going to catch her tears.

"Hey, hey," Elliot quickly rounded her desk, and grabbed her elbows, bringing her body flushed with his.

He placed one hand on her hip, and the other on the back of her head, "I know it's not okay, but I'm here Liv, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, she can't scare me off I promise. It's you and me, and any of our future kids, including Baby B alright?" he whispered against her ear, his warm breath causing her skin to tingle with familiarity.

Elliot could feel the tension in her as he held her body close, he kissed every part of her head that his lips could reach.

Olivia tipped her head back, and grasped his shoulders. She kissed him slowly, three times, before taking a step back, "You're a good man, and I'm proud of the officer you have become."

"I have to go," Olivia grabbed her purse, and walked to her office door.

"Liv?" Elliot called from behind her, "Olivia please? What are you gonna do? You're-" Elliot laughed, "Liv you're not actually considering her demand are you?"

Olivia gave him a tight lipped smile, and opened her door, waiting for him to walk out first so that she could lock up behind him, and effectively ending their conversation, as other people were within hearing distance now. She covertly squeezed his fingers as she made her exit.

"I love you," Olivia mumbled quietly as she passed him on her way to the elevators, never looking back despite feeling his stormy oceanic eyes on her. She closed her eyes, unable to stop a few tears from sliding down her cheeks as the elevator descended.

Olivia heard the ding as the metal box arrived on the main floor of the 16th precinct, her precinct. The precinct where she had achieved all her career milestones. Rising in the ranks from low grade Detective, through the Sergeant and Lieutenant's exams, and up to Captain, after Cragen stepped down. She'd overcome sexism, and comments every year, and achieved success in areas no other woman had before her. For Olivia none of the job titles, awards, and recognitions meant anything, all she cared about at the end of the day, were the victims, and getting justice for people like her Mother.

As she took a deep breath and stepped off the elevator another thought occurred to her.

Her Mother was the main reason she joined SVU, and now her Mother was the main reason she'd be leaving SVU.

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Elliot stood in the bullpen by his desk as he watched the love of his life leave, he hoped just for the night. Looking around he noticed a few uniformed officers, and Detectives were still around.

He couldn't help glancing at Carisi and Rollins, Amaro, and Munch, it appeared Fin had already left too. Despite talking in a group he caught the way Sonny, and Amanda kept looking at one another. He reflected on their situation, and how Sonny had stepped up, doing what he needed to do to protect Rollins' job, and cement their future.

A lightbulb went off in his head, and he scrambled to grab his things, practically dashing to the stairwell, and calling a hasty 'See yeah,' over his shoulder to the remaining squad members.

He got lucky, and traffic wasn't terrible, quickly finding himself staring at the numbers on an unfamiliar door. He took a deep breath and knocked, hoping this conversation would help to change his fate, and possibly their future.

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It was just getting dark outside when Serena heard a pounding on her door, turning the TV off first she got up to check the peephole.

"Hah," she snorted, and pulled her door open. "Should've known you'd show up here," she said as she turned and walked back into her cluttered apartment, "Come in, I can't wait to hear what cockamamy words you've come up with to try to convince me to spare your job."

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A/N: What's Olivia gonna do?

A/N 2: Who do you picture playing Joe Stabler in 2013? I'm curious how other people imagine him.

A/N 3: On a separate note I'm going under the knife again on Wednesday April 5th, Chapter 53 is already written, myself or if I'm unable to my fiancé will post it in a couple days, either way I always look forward to your thoughts and comments when I recover