Wildest Deams

Chapter Two

It took Olivia a few days to start feeling a little better about Elliot leaving. She wasn’t as upset on the outside, but on the inside, she was still destroyed. 

“Benson!” Amanda Rollins exclaimed, when she saw Olivia walk through the squadroom doors for the first time in a few days. Cragen had forced her to go home the day after Elliot vanished, and today was the first day she felt enough like herself to actually show up.

“Hi, Amanda. I don’t know why you are excited, so relax.” Olivia sighed. She moved to her desk and settled down in her chair before doing her morning chores. She checked for paperwork, responded to emails, and made sure to read any lab reports regarding current cases.

“Olivia, can I see you in my office?” Cragen asked once Olivia had turned in some of her paperwork.

“Why, Captain?” Olivia asked nervously.

“Just join me in my office. Now.” Cragen smiled. 

Olivia put a few things down on her desk before going into Cragen’s office. He shut the door behind them before moving and sitting behind his desk. He looked at a stack of papers in front of him before hesitantly looking up at Olivia. A few days before, he was telling her that Stabler was leaving. Now he was telling her something nearly as bad.

“So, we have to get you a new partner.”

“W-what? I thought that Rollins was my partner…” Olivia frowned.

“Well, she was going to be. But now we are going to get another detective. Elliot took on a lot of slack that had developed, and now we need another detective to help us from drowning in work. If that makes sense.” Cragen spoke.

Olivia sighed softly before nodding weakly.

“Okay. Do you need me to find another desk or-”

“Liv, you gotta clean off Elliot’s desk. It can’t be a shrine to him forever, especially because we need the space. If you do this for me, then I won’t put you with the new guy for a few weeks. You can continue to train Amanda and then slowly start working with the new detective.” Cragen offered.

“You are going to reward me for being a good detective… but I don’t want a new partner either way. Might as well toss me a new detective that isn’t very good at their job.” Olivia grumbled. She stood up before turning and looking out the front window.

The squadroom wasn’t the same as before. She wished that she saw Elliot at his desk, but it would never happen again.

“Can I keep some of his stuff? Like maybe pictures and-”

“Anything that is left in his desk and locker can be yours. Just don’t get creepy about it.” Cragen said with a weak laugh.

“Creepy? It’s not like I was in love with that guy or anything.” Olivia smiled awkwardly.

///

Olivia packed up all of Elliot’s items before taking them down to her car. When she returned, a man was sitting at Elliot’s desk. He had a full beard, messy hair, and dressed in very unprofessional clothes. Olivia stared at him for a moment, before feeling as Fin gently touched her shoulder.

“That is Detective Nick Amaro. He’s fresh from being undercover, and I don’t think he will fit in very well. So don’t get attached to him.” Fin smiled as he looked over at Olivia.

“Well, I will go on leave, eventually.”

“Leave?” Fin asked, since he had forgotten about Olivia’s plans of starting a family.