Work Text:
Normally the squad wouldn't blink if you walked in with someone. It was normal to find each other outside or end up in the elevator together. Sometimes you ended up listening to Munch ramble, or asking Finn about his son, or talking with Olivia about her plans for the weekend but it wasn’t anything to lose cool over.
Until, after being called in on an emergency child abduction, you walked out of the elevator with Elliot Stabler. That wouldn’t have even been a thing if your team wasn’t so damn perceptive. When you two walk into the office, all eyes are on you in greeting and to get you filled in as soon as possible, and everything stutters for a brief second. See, you were on a date. Elliot was on a date. It was painfully obvious that you two were on those dates together.
As in out to a fancy restaurant, wearing all black outfits with accents of green that match so, so obviously. To anyone that could see the two of you, process what they were seeing, and extrapolate information… It’s clear you two were out together when the call came in. It doesn’t even matter that Elliot doesn’t stop when he realizes everyone has figured it out, heading straight for Olivia to get filled in - leaving you standing by the door in the fanciest outfit you own. You clear your throat, face heating up, and head for where Finn and Munch are standing over a map.
“Hot date?” Finn asks, one eyebrow-raising and a smirk on his face. He barely dodges the light punch you try to land on his shoulder, chuckling in a rare moment of happiness seeing two of his teammates together and happy. When your eyes fall to the map, where several large, red circles are drawn out in marker, the mood sobers again.
“She was taken from a birthday party,” Munch informs you, eyes narrowed in your direction, “We think her older brother took her, but we’re still working on an ID for the perp.” He slides a grainy photo over to you - clearly a screencap from a security camera, taken from a distance.
“How long ago?”
“An hour,” Olivia’s hand lands on your shoulder, “I know we’ve got work to do, but you need to change. I’ve just sent Elliot to do the same.” You tense at the mention of your date - you’re not ashamed of being with Elliot, especially since you know you’re the first real relationship since he divorced Kathy but… It’s one thing to date your co-worker, another to date your co-worker in secret and then be outed because you decided you wanted to wear matching outfits for date night.
“Speaking of,” Munch leans around Finn to give you a knowing look, “You just let these schmucks call me a conspiracy theorist for telling them there was somethin’ going on between the two’a’you?”
“Munch,” You say, voice high and tight, “You are a conspiracy theorist.” He scoffs.
“I know the truth, but that’s not the point. When were you goin’a’ tell us?” You shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny of your team. It’s a brief respite in the tension of a missing child and you know that’s why they’re focusing so hard on you, but still. It makes your skin crawl to have to figure out how to put the feeling of keeping your relationship a secret and therefore secure into words. You don’t want to explain that you kept the relationship a secret because it felt like Elliot was all yours, then, and you could separate work from home - making your relationship stronger at home and at work. You start trying to hedge around that when a jacket is draped over your shoulders - warm, smokey, and distinctly denim.
“We didn’t tell you because it doesn’t matter,” Elliot speaks up - you hadn’t heard him join your group, “I’ll explain everything after this case, but right now we have a bigger priority. I was the one who wanted to keep it a secret, Munch.” There’s a brief staredown before Munch shrugs, leaning back and looking at Finn. Elliot looks to you with a soft smile on his face, one reserved only for you. “Go get changed, we’ll get working out here.”
“Okay,” You nod, wringing your hands nervously in the hems of Elliot’s jacket. You step away and he follows, ducking his head to press a gentle kiss against your cheek before you head to the locker room.
“We’ll find this little girl and then I’ll take you out, again, okay?”