As I walk into the squad room, I can already see Elliot sitting at his desk. Looking at him from a distance he seems unbothered. Part of me wants to turn around and leave but I know that I can't let this affect our work. Were partners before anything else. That can't change, no matter what happens off the clock. Moments from last night flash through my head and I push them to the back of my mind, making my way to my desk.
"Hey." Elliot flashes me a weak smile and I can tell its forced. We sit at our desk in silence quietly sifting through the stacks of paperwork on our desks. After about an hour of uncomfortable silence Cragen comes out of his office.
"You two, I have a call downtown. Can you two deal with it?" I flash a quick glance at Elliot who barely looks at me.
"Yeah, we got it. Whats up?" He stands up from his desk grabbing the keys to the squad car.
"A body behind a dumpster. CSU combed the crime scene and found multiple DNA samples. I need you two to ask around and see if anyone recognizes the vic or can tell us what the hell happened." He drops the file on the desk and I glance through the crime scene photos before closing it and standing up from my desk.
"We're on it." We head out to the car in the same awkward, uncomfortable silence.
"You good?" I look at Elliot before opening my door. "You havent said a single word to me all morning".
"Yeah, I'm fine." I slip into my seat and close my door.
"Look El, if this is about last night, just forget about it, okay? It was a mistake, I get it-" Before I can even finish, he cuts me off.
"No Liv, you really don't get it." He sighs heavily before looking over at me. He pauses before continuing. "I really do love you Liv. I know you're too good for me. I know that my life is complicated. A part of me will always love Kathy. I know she's the mother of my children. I loved her for a long time Liv, it's hard to walk away. But I'm not in love with her. It really is you. It's been you for years. I knew I didn't love her, but I couldn't tear my family apart to be with you. It would have ruined everything. My marriage, our partnership, it would have ruined you. I didn't want to make you that person. I didn't want to make you the other woman. I shouldn't have come over last night, I know that. But it wasn't a mistake. I wanted to be with you, I wanted you to know how I really felt, it just wasn't the right time." He looks at me and half smiles and half looks as if something inside of him is genuinely broken. I don't know what to say to him. I knew I'd always be the other woman anyway, we all did, including Kathy. That wasn't news to me, but I couldn't allow myself to feel that type of hurt again. I'd been vulnerable and I knew it couldn't happen again because the ending would always be the same. At the end of the day, he'd leave to be with his family and I'd be alone again.
"Elliot." My mind wanders and I know we cant do this right now. "We should really get going. Cragen is going to want us to get this done" I avoid looking back at him but he drives without another word about it and I look out my window until we get to where were going. The crime scene is a small back alley behind a restaurant. One side is hidden behind dumpsters and the back of an old building and the other is shaded from the shadows cast off the buildings overhead. We walk the crime scene looking through the file.
"How does someone dump a body in this small of a space without being seen? We need to see if the restaurant has any working security footage from the back door and then see if anyone saw anything in the windows that face the dumpsters. There's no way to get in and out of here without being noticed." Elliot surveys the back of the restaurant looking for cameras and I try to walk through what could have gone down. There's one body, more than one DNA sample, no obvious murder weapon or motive and no identity on the vic. It makes it kind of hard to get answers. I take my cell out of my pocket dialing Melinda.
"Hey Warner, its Liv. Hows the autopsy coming on our newest Jane Doe?"
"Inconclusive. All I can tell is that there's DNA from more than one person including Jane Doe's. I did a tox screen and found traces of multiple drugs, but none at a lethal level. There's no obvious cause of death."
"What's your verdict? Are you ruling this a homicide? You can look at her and tell she clearly didn't kill herself or put herself in this alley." I pace the alley waiting for her response.
"Visibly yes, it looks like a homicide. There are no existing fractures, no broken bones, no sign of any serious type of illnesses and no obvious signs of a struggle or a fight. I can't rule it a homicide with the evidence we have right now. If you want this to be labelled as a homicide, you've got to bring me more."
"Bring you more? You're starting to sound like Alex. We don't have anything more to bring you. We have no suspects, no witnesses a Jane Doe who is dead and can't give us any answers. I need you to find something, please." I pause for a moment awaiting a response, I know I was too harsh, but my frustration is rising and I know this case isn't looking like it's going to be closed very easily.
"I'll take another look. I can't promise anything, you know Im always thorough Olivia." With that she hangs up and I put my phone back in my pocket. I enter the restaurant to talk with the owners or whoever was working last night.
"I'm Detective Olivia Benson. My partner and I are investigating the discovery of a body behind your restaurant. Do you know anything about that?" The man behind the counter looks completely unphased by my presence and is less than helpful.
"No, we don't know anything about that." He doesn't even bother to look up at me or say another word.
"Okay, well then why don't you find me someone who does. Who was working last anytime between 10:00pm and 1:00am?"
"Look, detective. This isn't a fast food joint. We open at 7:00am and close at 9:30pm. The latest anyone is here is maybe 11:00 for cleanup."
"We're going to need all the security footage you have and a list of all the staff. If it's necessary we can come back with a warrant and have CSU tear this place apart for evidence."
"Lady, those camera's haven't worked for years, best I can do is give you a list of employees, but don't none of us know anything about a murder. Don't you know anything about true crime? No one would dump a body somewhere that's linked to them" I roll my eyes, scoffing at the idiocy not caring about my level of professionalism.
"I'll take that employee list, thanks" He walks out from behind the counter into a small back room. I can see him in the back opening an old filing cabinet digging through old envelopes and files. After a few more minutes of rifling through the back office he comes back out with a folder. It looks about as old as the restaurant itself and just as filthy looking.
"Too much work to go digital. Here's your employee list. I'm gonna need that back."
"Don't worry, I'll make a copy. You'll get your list back." I take the folder and exist the restaurant making my way back to the car where Elliot is already waiting leaning against the drivers side door.
He looks at me. "I hope you did better than I did because so far everyone's seen and heard nothing. No one recognizes her or seems to recall anything out of the ordinary last night."
"Great. I got a list of employees from the restaurant. The security footage is useless because there is none." I open my door and get back in the car.
"Cragen isn't gonna like this." Elliot starts the car and doesn't say another word.
Maybe I was wrong, maybe this would ruin our partnership.
YOU ARE READING
My Little Love
FanfictionHe stands outside the door to her apartment wondering if he's about to make a mistake. He knows this isn't the right thing to do, but right now he doesn't care. He's spent the last thirteen years longing for a relationship he'd never be able to have...
