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Chapter Text

Once again life had got the better of him, Elliot had shouted at Olivia again over absolutely nothing. Things at home weren't great, Kathy and he were just starting to settle in with the idea of the new routines of when each other had the kids or took them to school or from school or had the baby, and it was hectic.

Elliot sat with his head in his hands wiping the sweat from his forehead, he had to come up with a good way of apologizing to Olivia, he couldn't believe how many times she'd let him off for being a dick. He would take her out to dinner he decided, they hadn't been out together since Elliot Jr had arrived, and the pizza place a couple of blocks away would suit. A nice calm evening with an old friend might do him good.

"Hey, look I'm sorry for getting mad at you, you didn't do anything it's just me being a prick, again!” Elliot apologized.

"You can say that again!!” Olivia smiled.

"Alright, alright, no need to get cheeky,” Elliot enjoyed their little flirting around the office, it made his day, "so, I was thinking, to say I'm sorry I’ll take you out for a pizza. It'd be nice to go out together, hasn't happened in a while."

"Um, yeah, why not? Might have some fun!” Olivia replied with a cheery smile.

They got finished up a little later than usual but neither of them cared, they didn't have anywhere else to be, Elliot's kids weren't with him tonight and Olivia just had some crappy paperwork to do so they could stay out as long as they liked.

"It's quite warm outside, do you wanna walk?” Elliot asked.

"Uh, sure, not too far away, do I need an umbrella? You know what the weather's like,” Olivia sneered.

"Nah. We'll be fine. Let's go,” Elliot smirked.

They were walking along the empty side walk, it was about quarter to ten or so when they arrived at the restaurant, the journey was long but peaceful. There was a bit of tension between them, neither were sure why but it felt weird, a nice weird.

"So, how's your life been then?” Elliot asked trying to shrug off the tension.

"Eh, fine I suppose nothing major just work, eat, sleep and repeat,” replied Olivia.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the feeling! Any relationships then?” Elliot asked awkwardly. He wasn't quite sure why he asked and he kind of regretted it now but he had a sensation of need-to-know.

"No. Strange question to ask, you jealous?!" Olivia sniggered.

"Hahaha! No, I just haven't been around mentally lately so just needed an update, and you wish!!" Elliot laughed but for some reason he felt like he was kind of jealous, or was it jealousy, he was confused. He had no reason to be jealous, she was his friend he would support her in any decision she made, usually.

They finished up their meal and Elliot grabbed the check before Olivia had any time to argue. As soon as they walked outside the rain began to pelt heavily from the skies, Olivia then realised they had walked to the restaurant and Elliot told her not to bother about the umbrella.

"Shit! Liv, I'm sorry, you stay here and I'll run down to the station and grab the car,” Elliot began as he started to jog down the street.

"El! Wait!” Olivia shouted

"What?” Elliot asked as he stopped and began to quickly return to his position.

"My apartment is closer than the station, we'll get a little less wet and we can get cleaned up and put some of the clothes on the radiator or something,” Olivia said

"Good idea. Here take this, you only have that sweater on, you'll catch the death of cold!” Elliot said as he removed his jacket and wrapped it around Olivia's head and shoulders.

"Thanks, but you’re gonna be freezing now too!!" Olivia smiled. His warm touch soothed her as he gently placed his jacket around her. She had never realised before but the rain really brought out his eyes, wait what was she talking about? They were best friends he was just taking care of her, being caring, but he'd never even buy Fin a proper coffee never mind a whole dinner and offer to run at least six blocks in the rain just to get his car. Just let it slip okay, there's nothing going on, you're being hormonal, she told herself.

They began a quick jog to her apartment, then not realising, Olivia felt a warm grip on her hand Elliot had grabbed hold while jogging and laughing through the rain, it felt nice, she felt an instant shock of goosebumps run up and down her body. She shivered. They reached her apartment in ten or fifteen minutes, completely drenched and still holding hands. Elliot reached her door before he realised that he had been holding her hand the whole time, it felt real, like his hand belonged there, he never wanted to let go but Olivia pulled her hand away to put the key in her door.

"You coming in?" Olivia asked smoothly

"Um, uh, yeah sorry, yeah,", Elliot stuttered as got caught up gazing into her eyes, they were so beautiful he'd seen them before of course but never really seen them, like looked completely and absolutely at them, lovingly.

He blushed ever so slightly as he made his way inside...

Chapter Text

Elliot walked into the apartment, it was an unusually large space for just one person who was hardly ever home but he had always liked Olivia's place, it was cozy and worn, like someone had lived in it forever but it had always stayed the same clean, warm place.

"Just take your jacket and all off here, I'll grab some towels and stuff,” Olivia said. She was hoping he would stay for a while, it was nine o'clock, not too late to stay for a coffee. His clothes were too wet for him to leave yet, she reasoned to herself.

"Um, okay. Where do you want me to put them?" Elliot asked. He was still so caught up in himself and how he never realised how beautiful Olivia was until now. It had been over ten years since they had met and he never noticed how great she actually was, she was kinder than Kathy, more generous and caring, always knew how to defend herself and stand up for herself in an argument, she was perfect and somehow he had never even noticed.

"Just leave your shirt on the radiator and if your gonna take your pants off, I'll chuck them in the dryer,", Olivia hadn't seen him with this amount of clothes on since that incident where she got caught visiting him when he was undercover and just waltzing around in his boxers. She had to pretend to be a prostitute to get out of that one, not that she minded, it was a weird sensation being so close to him and both almost completely naked. Her heart melted.

"Sure." Elliot stated. He began to wonder whether he should take off his pants or what, they'd both be semi-naked and sitting there, wet and lonely. Anything could happen but, so what if it did? They were two consenting adults, neither had relationships going on but what if it jeopardized their friendship, he couldn't bare losing Liv, he would die inside. Elliot figured he may as well put the pants in the tumble dryer, what happens, happens?

Elliot looked up to find Olivia placing towels on the couch and begin to undress, for some reason, he couldn't let himself look away, he kept staring as slowly she removed the white sweater to reveal a beige tank top underneath. It was completely soaked, he couldn't look away, and she grabbed the wet ends of the small vest and smoothly lifted it up over her head. Elliot's eyes widened, he gulped down the excessive saliva hibernating in his mouth, her bra was showing; it was a dark, sexy pink colour with lace around the rim. Olivia had removed her shirts and looked up to find Elliot watching her with a strange face.

"Hey, you okay?” Olivia questioned.

"Yeah, yeah", Elliot mumbled, realising he looked really creepy staring at her like that but he couldn't help himself she was irresistible to him right now, he didn't know if the divorce had spurred this on but he had a gut feeling he always loved Liv, somewhere inside. He had to get a grip! If he didn't something might happen and he wasn't sure what.

He began to take his shirt off and reveal his toned body, he went to the gym at least twice a week. He decided we would take his pants off, he didn't want to catch a cold at this stage of the game with the baby only recovering from one. Elliot unbuckled his worn out leather belt and caught Olivia doing the same, un-doing her zip on her work trousers, God he couldn't hold back much longer.

"Here, thanks for this," Elliot began to try and get his mind off the whole underwear issue.

"No bother. You bought dinner so I can at least let you dry off your clothes," Olivia smiled. He always loved that smile, it was a cheeky grin she'd pull every so often.

"Can I have a towel over please?" Elliot asked as he was now just in his dark blue boxers and he tossed his jeans next to his shirt.

"Sure," Olivia looked up to find him almost the exact same way she found him that night, the feeling she had returned, it made her blush.

Elliot wrapped the towel round his waist and sat down on the couch waiting for Liv to settle down too. Olivia made her way into her bedroom and put on an old t-shirt. She had a strange feeling of like when you met your first crush and every time they'd walk by with that smile on their face you'd just turn to mush and that's exactly what she felt like. She so badly wanted to give in to herself and just run out there jump straight onto him and confess her unbound love towards him. She knew now that that's what it was, she loved Elliot, and she always had, even when he was married. She'd get so hurt and annoyed by Kathy over her having him and having all his children, she wanted that, she wanted his everything. Olivia couldn't believe Kathy had just thrown him out like last night's take away, he was way too good for her. Or maybe only she could pull him back to earth, keeping him from exploding all over the place?

"Do you want a coffee?" Olivia asked when she walked out of her bedroom.

"Eh, nah, I'm good thanks, I think I ate too much," Elliot said rubbing his stomach.

"Okay. Do you just wanna talk then?" Olivia pondered.

"Yep, sure, whatever you want,” Elliot said.

What she wanted right now was him, and only him.

"How's the kids getting on?" Olivia asked trying to ditch the subject in her mind.

"Good. Eli just recovered from a pretty bad cold there, the twins just finishing up there exams, Dickie worked his butt off, looking to stay on the football team. Not much going on with the other two I suppose," Elliot replied.

Half an hour later...

"Yeah! Hahaha! Yeah," Elliot laughed at his and Olivia's conversation.

It was nearly midnight and just as they stopped laughing the beeper to the dryer went off.

"That's your clothes done, anyway," Olivia shuffled over to her kitchen.

"Thanks, I'm really glad we did this, I needed it!" Elliot cheered.

"Me too, glad to have the company, you know," Olivia said.

Olivia handed him his clothes, they were toasty warm. He began to get dressed. Olivia stood in the kitchen leaning against the counter admiring the view, he really was quite handsome, and she knew he had to go now and she didn't want him to, she wanted to tell him everything so they could finally be together. Little did she know that he felt the exact same way, he wanted to just grab her and kiss her all over and never let go, he wanted her to be his and his only, even if it brought him to the grave. Finally he buttoned the last button on his shirt and made his way to grab his jacket.

"Let me walk you out," Olivia pleaded as she put on some sweat pants.

"Sure," Elliot was grateful, he enjoyed her company.

They made their way to the door of her building and Elliot walked out and stopped at the start of the steps, he slowly turned around to say goodbye when it hit him again, those eyes, those beautiful eyes sucked him straight in. Olivia was the same, she gave him the same look in return. After what seemed like forever, Elliot realised he couldn't hold his nerve anymore, all of this had been too much, he had to kiss her, he had to. He stepped forward never looking away from her eyes leaned, in slowly and began to close his eyes just in time to see Olivia do the same in return.

Their lips met and everything was perfect, faith and belief and life and everything in between was restored. They had gave in and everything was perfect. After about 10 seconds, Olivia pulled away to wrack through her brain and digest what just happened, she couldn't and before she thought straight her hand was reaching for the door and closed it in Elliot's face. Elliot was confused and over the moon and every emotion possible right now, he did it, he just kissed the love of his life. He needed time, they both did, he started to walk away once Olivia had closed the door and made his way home forgetting about the car.

Olivia had a huge grin stapled to her face and it felt like it was never going to leave, she leaned her back against the closed door and slipped her way down to the ground and onto her ass and Elliot did the exact same thing when he walked into his apartment against his door, both thinking the exact same thing;

What the hell do we do now?

Chapter Text

Elliot was awake the rest of the night just lying there on his couch, staring at a blank TV. He tossed and turned and tried to sleep but couldn't, he had just kissed Olivia Benson, his partner for over ten years, his best friend, the love of his life. Elliot couldn’t get his mind off it, he was trying to work out what to do before he had to go to the precinct, which at this stage was in two hours, and he was still awake at four a.m. and had to be at the precinct for six.

Olivia lay curled up in a ball in her bed with her eyes closed tight, not sleeping, how could she sleep at a time like this? The smile was still glued to her face, she never wanted to get out of bed again, and she wanted to savor this moment for all that she could. She had to get up in an hour and go to work and see Elliot, she wasn't sure that she wanted to, she could just call in sick, she hasn't been off sick in a while it would be believable, she did run around in the rain last night and could've caught a cold. No, she decided she'd be strong and go to work and try to act like nothing happened, until she had time to herself to talk to Elliot.

Elliot was driving in his car to work in complete silence, no radio, no nothing, he needed silence to process. He would go into the precinct, be himself and grab Olivia when no one needed them and talk to her, there we go, great plan, he encouraged himself. By the time he walked in Olivia was sitting at her desk filling in some old paperwork, she didn't even look up at him. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it, maybe she just wants to forget it ever happened, he couldn't bare that not when he had finally plucked up the courage to kiss her, and no way would he let her forget about that! Elliot decided he'd be the first person to speak, he started it;

"Hey," Elliot said.

Olivia looked up and grinned, his blue eyes full of wonder, she could look into them forever.

"Hey, no cases today, just piles of paperwork," Olivia replied looking down again.

"Okay, I need to talk to a suspect on Fin's case quickly, I'll be back," Elliot mentioned walking away.

“Okay," Olivia tried not to kiss him all over again, it was very tempting.

Elliot was surprised at her reaction, no "I need to talk to you" or "I can't do this" or "forget about it". He went into the interrogation room to talk to one of Fin's suspects because Fin thought he could do with a bit of 'bad cop'.

Olivia was bored she wanted to talk to Elliot but he was in interrogation, maybe she'd go and see if he was done yet. She walked in to find him sitting down at the metal desk across from a homeless man, they were having a calm conversation so far, then that's when she heard it;

"Drop this right now and no one gets hurt, Detective,” the homeless man instructed.

"Uh, was that a threat, you do realize your threatening a police officer and I don't see how anyone but you can get hurt right now,” Elliot laughed.

"Okay, maybe I can't hurt anyone but let's just see what you're laughing at when I contact the rest of my followers and your pretty little girlfriend out there gets hurt," the man sniggered.

"I don't have a girlfriend,” Elliot stated.

"Sure, I've seen what you’re like around that hottie out there, your little 'partner'!" the man gestured.

Elliot's blood boiled over, he wouldn’t let this low life bastard hurt Liv. He stood up.

"I swear to God, if you or your ‘posse’ even think about going anywhere near Detective Benson's house you can be sure that I'll be the first officer on scene and shoot every single last one of you dead! You go anywhere near her and I'll rip your head off with my own hands and use it as a pot to make soup! Do I make myself clear?!" Elliot shouted with pure hatred in his eyes.

"Is that a threat, Detective?" the man laughed uncontrollably.

Elliot reached down and grabbed the man's neck with one hand and his jacket with the other and shoved him up against the wall of the small dark room.

"I said, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?" Elliot screamed into the man's ear one more time before Fin and Cragen ran into the interrogation room and yanked him off the man, leaving him lying frail and white on the floor.

"What the hell were you thinking Elliot, you've just given him a right to log in a complaint of police harassment!!! You could have just lost us the case!" Cragen warned Elliot.

Elliot looked to the right of Fin and Captain Cragen to see Olivia standing there in complete astonishment. He couldn't let her get hurt over some scumbag!

"Sorry Cap, he said he was gonna hurt Liv, can we at least get some security around him and Liv? I promise not to go near him again!" Elliot pleaded.

"You're damn right you won’t!!" Fin exclaimed.

"Maybe, it's up to Liv if she feels she wants some bodies at her door but you go near him again and I'll have to suspend you, now go before his lawyer turns up!" Cragen waved him on.

"Alright, thanks," Elliot thanked him and walked out of the room followed closely by Olivia.

"Hey, Elliot can we talk?" Olivia asked realising this might not be the best time but when would it ever be a good time?

"Uh, yeah, sure,” Elliot nodded as he followed her into the empty team room.

Elliot closed the door behind him and sat down opposite Olivia at the table.

"We need to talk about what happened last night,” Olivia began.

"Yeah, I agree,” Elliot followed.

"It's up to you, I know you’re only getting used to your divorce and all and you might not be ready, but Elliot..." Olivia was interrupted by Elliot.

"I love you,” Elliot proudly exclaimed.

Olivia's face dropped and she looked up to find him moved right in beside her, her dream had come true, Elliot Stabler loved her.

"Whu-wha-what?" Olivia mumbled

“Olivia Benson,” he stood up and spoke, "I love you!! I always have and always will, I needed ten years, a wrecked marriage, five kids, a cold, wet night and an angry homeless guy to realize it, but I do!!! And I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so damn long and for being the biggest idiot on the planet, okay, I'm sorry and I love you."

"Elliot...” Olivia began once more to only again be interrupted by Elliot, not by speaking though. Elliot had grabbed hold of her face pulled her in close, looked straight into her eyes and kissed her once more. It was magical, Olivia gave in to his soft lips and let him hold her close with his strong hands. Soon enough they both had control over each other finally being together, nothing could destroy this, nothing.

*Knock, Knock*

Chapter Text

Captain Cragen walked in to find Elliot against Olivia both shoved up against the wall with his lips enclosed with hers in full embrace. Cragen stood there as his mouth dropped wide open, so many things began to run through his head and not at some random jogger speed at full Usain Bolt, speed of light speed, he couldn't speak or move just barely blink and just as soon as he did Elliot and Olivia realised what happened. Elliot leapt back off Olivia and tripped over his own feet, missed the chair and landed straight onto his ass. Olivia wiped the saliva and excess lipstick from her face quickly and stood straight and faced Cragen, not even giving a second glance to Elliot laying on the floor.

"Wha-uh-um-what?" Cragen blundered out as Elliot picked himself up and dusted off his suit trousers.

"Capt..." Olivia began to Elliot finishing her sentence.

"We can expla..." Elliot was too cut off, by Captain Cragen this time.

"No, no, get into my office right now!" Cragen whispered, but not gently, more like that angry whisper when someone's so angry that they don't shout because they're afraid of losing their voice or murdering someone.

They both slumped over like grumpy school children being led to the principal’s office, everyone turned and stared straight at them walking shamefully into the Captain's office.

"Wonder what's happened here?" Munch asked,

"Maybe it's about that cat fight Elliot had with my witness,” Fin inquired.

Cragen waited for the two of them to walk into his office, as soon as they did, he slammed the door shut. He tried to think of an appropriate thing to say without sounding like an angry father or an unruly elderly man.

"Tell me now or IAB needs to know,” Cragen began, that was probably the best he was going to come up with so roll with it, he thought to himself.

"Cap, look, we've only started to talk about this, the first time we kissed was last night and we think we're going to take this further, so that's what that kiss was,” Olivia explained.

"Yeah, it's barely been 24 hours," Elliot agreed with a smile, now he knows Olivia agrees with what he said in there before all the making-out business.

"24 hours or 24 seconds, I should've been notified about this before anything I just walked in on happened!!! What if that had been someone else to walk in on you two, huh?" Cragen questioned.

"Well I know a few who would've stayed for a show,” Elliot grinned smugly as Olivia elbowed him in the chest to tell him to wise up, he made a jokingly cry of pain.

"Listen to me the both of you! If you're gonna take this relationship or whatever further then I need to know, this might threaten your partnership and the whole integrity of the team, tell me now so I can transfer one of you,", Cragen demanded.

"Captain! There's no need for transfers, if this gets rocky we'll leave it at the sidelines when we enter this building!! You know us, you can trust us!" Olivia begged.

"Yeah, come on Cap! You've known me for over twenty years," Elliot stated encouragingly.

"Yeah, Elliot, exactly! I've known you for bringing in your emotions when it hits hard, when you see young kids get murdered or abused by scumbags it chips away at you and then that one case every so often just wrecks that last nerve you have and you lose it, threatening suspects, getting suspended! What do you think's gonna happen if you and Liv break up? You'll just drop it will you? Not get your emotions stuck in to perps and destroy your reputation? I know you,", Cragen harshly, yet with emotion, shouted at Elliot, trying to keep eye contact but finding it hard because he didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings, he was like a son to him and Olivia, a daughter but he couldn't let them hurt each other. He was completely torn.

Elliot looked at the ground shamefully, he knew that if one of them had to get transferred he would go, he wouldn't let Liv get shoved out of her home, and she loved this place, as much as you could love a police precinct. Elliot had to prove somehow that they could work together and be in a relationship, but how?

"How about we sign a contract or some sort of dependent agreement that insures that our relationship would never negatively affect our working environment etcetera, you know, get Cabot to draw up a load of crap like that!" Elliot exclaimed proudly.

"I'll agree to that, no problem,” Olivia said, thankful of Elliot's cheeky ideas.

"Alright, I'll think about it, but what about the rest of the team, you’re going to have to let them in on it at some stage or do you want Munch being all paranoid about some sort of government controlled brain wash thing, again!” Cragen reminded himself of the total craziness that is John Munch.

Elliot looked over at Olivia and Olivia glanced at Elliot they both knew they would have to spill it at some point but Elliot had an amazing idea, or that's what he thought.

"Okay, how about we tell them after our first date!" Elliot was so chuffed with himself.

"Wait, what? Elliot, we've never had a first date!" Olivia surprised at his outburst.

"Exactly! Olivia Benson, it would be my honor to take you out on a date tonight, it's up to you,” Elliot smirked as he got onto one knee and grabbed hold of Olivia's hand.

"Okay, but it's a little early to get down on one knee El!" Olivia giggled.

"Alright, alright, sorry,” Elliot was so pleased, now just to get the 'nod' of approval from the 'father', Cragen.

Cragen gave it a long thought, he knew somewhere inside himself that these two were meant to be together, they just took so long to realize, it was amazing how daft some young people could be, they can look the love of their life straight in the eye and look straight through them. It was sad, they were too caught up in life, in work, in new trends and fitting in to realize how great the girl in front of their eyes is. He nodded his head in agreement, he couldn't see a great couple and some fantastic people go down the wrong path.

"Go ahead, let us know how you get on,” Cragen said.

Elliot grabbed hold of Liv's hand, led her out of the office and straight down the stairs.

"El, I need to get changed and washed and we haven't even finished our shifts yet! Where are we going?" Olivia questioned him.

"We don't need any of that, all we need is you and me, just wait and see." Elliot glanced up at her hesitating on the stairs, he knew how stubborn she was, if only she knew how much he loved her and how much he needed her in his life, but there was no words for what he felt, just actions and that's what he was going to do tonight. Take action...

Chapter Text

Elliot was really excited for their date, he had finally, after long last, got Olivia Benson to go out on a date with him. He was getting changed in his bedroom to go out to the restaurant he had reserved for them, Olivia being the stubborn woman that she was, could not go out on her first date with Elliot without getting washed and changed so he let her go home and sort herself out. Elliot was kind of glad he did now because it gave him time to reserve a nice restaurant and book a fancy room in an expensive hotel, but he didn't care about the money. Money never really mattered to him but he wanted to make everything perfect for Liv, she was perfect so he had to make sure their first date the same.

Olivia was doing the same in her bedroom, she had decided she'd wear her new red dress, it was probably the nicest and most expensive dress she owned, it just reached her knees and had thick straps that loosely clung to her shoulders. It then came round to a heart shaped rim that complimented her cleavage. She was just putting on the finishing touches of her make-up when she heard a knock at the door, she just blended in her blush and did a light jog in her slim line black heels to the door of her apartment. Elliot was standing there, he had on a sexy black tuxedo, it made him look like James Bond, which was the first thought that came into Olivia's head, she blushed.

"Wow, you look, wow,” Elliot said, completely speechless at her beauty.

"Thanks, same to you, Mr. Bond!" Olivia laughed, she had saw him in some work suits and stuff but never in a proper tuxedo, he never wore a tuxedo out on a date or event with Kathy.

"Ha-ha, thank you. Will you join me?" Elliot asked as he raised his arm for Olivia to hold.

"If I may,” Olivia said, curious to see where the night would end up.

Elliot, like the gentleman he was, opened Olivia's door for her and helped her into the passenger seat of his car, he ran around to his side of the car with the biggest grin on his face, after closing Olivia's door, he couldn't believe what was going to happen tonight and he couldn't wait either.

"So, where are we going then?" Olivia asked kind of nervously, she'd never been nervous around Elliot before, there was gigantic butterflies in her stomach, not even butterflies, massive dragons.

"Well, I booked a fancy restaurant on 69th, it's called Silver Linings, it does the best steak in town,” Elliot commented.

"Have you been before?" Olivia queried, she was afraid he had brought Kathy before her and she's only going to be used. She didn't want to think of El like that, her heart was just trying to find ways to back out, like self-destruct mode to prevent outside harm.

"No, well not inside, but Kathleen brought me home some leftover steak she had when she went here with her friends and it was so good, just never got a chance to try it out myself. Until now,", Elliot looked over at her and smiled, he loved that she was so conscious of herself and independent but she had to learn that she was going to have to let her guard down at some stage and stop looking for ways out.

"Oh, okay,” Olivia gave him a small smile.

They arrived at the restaurant at 7:20pm, 10 mins before Elliot had the reservation booked. He once again opened her door for her and took her inside the restaurant, it was so large and romantic, the place was quiet with about four or five couples scattered around the room. It had one big crystal chandelier as the centre light in the middle of a large open area down three or four steps from the entrance, then the chandelier was accompanied by several dim lighted shell shaped lights along the walls to create a romantic dim lighting around the smaller tables seated purposely for two. The tables and chairs were antiques, hand crafted with a red or white table cloth majestically drooped over each and the cutlery was a smooth, modern material cut. It was beautiful.

"Oh, Elliot, it's wonderful!" Olivia stated, amazed and in awe.

"Thanks, I'm pretty impressed myself,” Elliot smirked proudly.

"Right this way, Sir,” the waiter ordered.

Elliot led Olivia down through the amazing scenery of fine art and hand crafted varieties and pulled her chair out for her and then sat down himself.

"Elliot, you didn't have to do all this!" Olivia whispered in shock.

"Oh, but I did, it has to be the perfect night for the perfect woman,” Elliot smiled.

Olivia blushed and looked down at the menu the waiter had set in front of her.

"Ooo, it all sounds so good!" Olivia said.

"Well, I know what I'm having, good old steak and fries. How 'bout you?" Elliot asked.

"I think I'll have, oh, the tagliatelle,” Olivia grinned.

"Fantastic choice, wine list this evening Sir?" the waiter asked.

"Yep, white wine Liv?" Elliot asked her just to make sure.

"How'd you know, yeah,” Olivia sounded surprised at all the things he knew about her and how romantic he could actually be, very pleasantly surprised.

Elliot smiled, "Pinot Grigio, please,” everything was going to plan.

"Woah, El, how did you know my favourite wine?" Olivia questioned.

"How could I be a partner for over ten years and not know my partner's preference in wine, huh?" Elliot laughed.

"Well, I suppose,” Olivia agreed.

Their food came fifteen minutes later and they both dug in, it'd been a long day and they were both starving. The main dishes and all the wine had completely stuffed them, there was no room for desert, now Elliot had to lay the special secret he had onto her.

"Liv, I know this is a special night so I have a little secret to confess,” Elliot commented gingerly.

"Um, okay,” Olivia was a little confused.

"I booked us a king size suite up in The Legacy Hotel next door,” Elliot confessed.

"Oh my gosh, El! That place is so expensive!" Olivia shouted completely shocked, in a good way.

"It's nothing for you and I want this night to be special, so, are you coming or what?" Elliot asked, knowing she was of course going to say yes.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!" Olivia jumped up, gave him a small peck on the cheek and hugged him tightly.

Elliot paid the waiter and they both began to walk next door to the fancy hotel, Elliot walked over to the reception desk and confirmed everything and got their room key while Olivia sat comfortably on one of the leather sofas in the waiting area. She looked around, she couldn't believe herself, going out on a date with Elliot Stabler and now going up to a king size suite in an expensive hotel to share a bed with him; it was unbelievable. She looked across at the hotel restaurant it was packed full of elderly couples, a live jazz band and young families, she saw one family with a young boy and his two parents, the boy was sitting on his knees at the small footstool playing with his power ranger toys, acting out fight scenes and the giant lizard be stomped on, his parents sat together on the sofa opposite, cuddling, the woman resting her head on her husband's chest and the father with his arm around her. Olivia thought to herself that could be her one day; that could be her. Elliot walked over to her and saw what she was staring at.

"That could be us you know, if you wanted,” Elliot smiled hopefully.

Olivia looked up from her trance to see him standing looking down on her with his sweet smile.

"What?" Olivia asked, hoping that she'd heard him right.

"That could be us, we could be a family, if you wanted,” Elliot once again smiled.

"Oh, Elliot!" Olivia grabbed him and hugged him, she never wanted to let him go.

"Come on, we'll take this to the bedroom,” Elliot laughed.

They reached their room at around eleven, room 1873, Elliot unlocked the door with his pass key and walked inside and into a luxurious room with a king size bed, twin bathrooms, HD TV, leather sofas and exotic plants decorating the room, it was amazing.

"Wow,” was all Olivia could say.

"Yup,” Elliot agreed.

He turned around to see her closing the door, finally after so long, they were alone together in one room with no interruptions. Elliot walked over to her and grabbed her soft face and kissed her, he couldn't hold back any longer. Olivia returned the kiss, they took the kissing into the bedroom, all of a sudden there was a large bang resonating from the room below theirs.

"What was that?" Olivia asked, coming up for air.

"I dunno, let's just leave it, it came from downstairs. They probably knocked something over,” Elliot said in a hurry, not wanting to stop.

They resumed kissing, Elliot started gently kissing Olivia's neck and reached around to the back of her dress, at this stage Olivia was lying at the edge of the bed as Elliot lay on top of her, he began to slowly un-zip her dress. Then again, another bang.

"Elliot, wait, seriously, something's going on downstairs. Go check if someone's hurt." Olivia pleaded.

"They're probably just a big klutz down there, they'll be fine!" Elliot commented, he couldn't leave now, he didn't want to leave her.

"Please El, check for me,” Olivia begged him.

"Fine, fine, I'll go,” Elliot huffed. He fixed himself up, re-buttoned his shirt and threw his already undone bowtie, which was just barely clinging to the right hand side of his neck, over onto to a chair in the lounge area of the room before making his way downstairs.

He was annoyed he had to leave but if it would settle Liv, he'd do anything. He reached the door of the room, which he'd worked out to be directly under his and Liv's room, as he was about to knock on the door he heard small screaming noises. Elliot, using his police instinct, stepped back and kicked the door in. A man with a black outfit and ski mask on was standing opposite the end of the bed and directly in front of Elliot, on the bed lay a woman in a pale pink dress, it had massive rips down the front of the dress and she was covered in scratches and blood.

The man pulled a gun and pointed it in Elliot's direction...

Chapter Text

BANG!!!

Upstairs-

Olivia jumped up from her position on the bed.

‘That was a gunshot’ – “ELLIOT!!!!" Olivia screamed in terror, she ran down the stairs as quickly as she could.

Downstairs -

"Hmmmmmmnnnnn!!!!!” the young girl attempted to scream for help, but her mouth was still covered with duct tape.

Elliot lay on the floor, he was bleeding, the girl saw him get shot. Elliot had tried to jump out of the way of the bullet but he was too late to move into the ajar bathroom door, he went to put a foot forward and felt a searing pain in his chest and fell heavily to the ground. All he could see was darkness.

Moments later, Olivia arrived to find Elliot spread on the floor and covered in his own blood, the girl was wriggling and scratching at the rope she was tied up with when she saw her enter the room, she once again tried to scream and Olivia stared at her.

"Just wait right there, okay, don't move you might hurt yourself! I'm a cop! Listen to me okay, this is my partner I need to check him out first, I've called my co-workers and an ambulance, okay?" Olivia spoke gently, which was the total opposite of what she was feeling. She was on her knees beside Elliot clutching his chest and putting pressure on the wound to stop him from bleeding out, she was trying so hard not to cry, she couldn't stop herself, one small tear made it's way out. She blamed herself. ‘Hold on, where'd the perp go?’ She got so caught up in Elliot she'd forgot about the guy that shot him!

"Where's the guy that shot him? Where did he go??" Olivia questioned the woman. The woman nodded her head in the direction of the open window and the curtains flapping violently from the wind.

10 minutes later...

The ambulance arrived on scene about two minutes before the cops and Cragen.

"He's unstable, losing a lot of blood, we need to move him now! Call the Mercy, tell them we got a cop vic, nicked lower artery, gunshot wound to the chest, shrapnel hit shoulder and missed left lung, go, go, go!" the paramedics quickly loaded Stabler onto a roller and wheeled him from the scene.

"Wait, I'm going with him!" Olivia shouted at the medics, her hands were covered in blood, she had no shoes on and all her and Elliot's stuff were up in the room; which she just realised she'd left wide open.

"Liv, look at me, the meds need the space in the bus to keep Elliot going right now! We'll get you cleaned up now and take you over and as soon as Elliot wakes up we'll get statements, okay?" Cragen stopped her in front of him she was shivering with fear and sadness, she needed to sit down and get cleaned up.

The second set of paramedics had put the young girl, whose name was Lindsay, onto a roller and had finished taking the ropes and tape off her for evidence, they were going to take her in for a rape kit and testing.

"Thank you, I'm sorry about your partner," Lindsay thanked Olivia for coming to her rescue.

"It's okay,” Olivia said quietly, not in the mood for talking, she wanted Elliot, she wanted to be with him right now; it was her fault he was in this mess! If she hadn't made him come down here, he'd be fine and they'd be together up in that beautiful hotel room, not dying in hospital; she needed to go to him.

"Liv, go,” Cragen nudged her, she was shocked as though he'd read her mind.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift,", Fin offered, she was in a CSU suit now, they'd taken her dress off and cleaned her hands, she nodded at him in thanks.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, I'm not leaving this crime scene until we've got every last inch inspected to convict this bastard!" Cragen blasted.

"Okay, I'll ride with you, is that okay?" Munch asked Fin and Liv, they both nodded. The three of them headed out of the crime scene and ran to the elevator. They reached the police registered car at the front of the antique building and Olivia was almost in tears again.

Fin put on the lights to get to the hospital faster, Munch and Fin both looked at each other, they were both thinking the same thing, what was Elliot and Olivia doing here; together and all dressed up? They knew they weren't undercover, so that pretty much left one conclusion; they were on a date. Olivia had all sorts of thoughts running through her head, but the main one was; what if he doesn't survive this?

"He'll be okay, right?" Olivia asked the two men in the car for reassurance.

"Of course he will Liv! It's Stabler, he's got shot before, thrown off buildings, beat up, he can get through this no problem!" Fin made her feel better, he knew she needed to know that he was going to be okay but none of them were sure. She needed to know that it wasn’t her fault, he'd been through this stuff himself and if someone had just told him it wasn't your fault, it would've changed his whole attitude.

"Yeah, the man's a living, breathing miracle. I know people who didn't survive a small car accident never mind being thrown off a damn building!!" Munch joked.

They reached the hospital in about 5 minutes, Liv was the first one to run inside and straight to the Nurse's Station, closely followed by Fin and Munch; they'd all just ditched the car out front, no time for parking.

"Elliot Stabler? Cop victim wheeled in from a shooting, about 20 minutes ago?" Olivia hurried the woman.

"Calm down, calm down. He's in surgery to stop the bleeding and repair the internal wounds, he's very unstable and could crash, but we've got the best surgeon to offer in there, are you family?" the nurse made Olivia worry even more but her question about family made her unsure of a reply, she wasn't his sister or anything but, was she his girlfriend, if she was going to reply with that answer what would Fin and Munch say?

"Um, no, I'm his partner, cop partner, police partner, thing...” Olivia veered off, she realised she sounded very suspicious and Fin and Munch gave her a strange look.

"Okay, take seat, he won't be out for hours yet, this is a very delicate operation,” the nurse demanded. Olivia sat down on the awkward hospital chair, about six chairs were facing each other outside the entrance to the surgery room.

Fin and Munch also took a seat on the opposite chairs from Olivia, they all sat in silence, Olivia stared at the floor holding her head in her hands, Fin sat up straight in his chair staring at the wall and Munch was laying back in his chair with his arms folded staring at the ceiling.

Cragen walked in, it was one in the morning and Stabler still wasn't out yet, Olivia was worried.

"Any news?" Cragen asked.

"Nope, they said he won't be out for hours and he lost a lot of blood,", Munch replied.

"Right, well we gathered all the evidence we could from the hotel room, we got DNA and prints from the window, he was scratched by the vic so more DNA and a description from both Elliot and Lindsay will put this scumbag behind bars,", Cragen gladly told them.

Surgery Room...

"Stitches, scalpel, stats?” the lead surgeon asked for Elliot’s blood pressure and oxygen levels.

“180,” the attending replied.

*Beep Beep Beep*

"Stats dropping, 120, 100, 60, he's crashing, get the cart!!!" another attending shouted.

*Beep*

Waiting Room...

The lead surgeon walked out of the surgery and into the waiting room, he was surrounded by cops, they all stood when he entered.

“Well?" Olivia asked nervously.

"I'm..."