The Affair

Fifteen

Its been hard on Kathy and Dickie since Kathy's rape. She was making a slow, yet steady recovery. Dickie was making very good progress in therapy, still not back to himself though. It hurt Elliot every time he looked at his son. He used to be happy, and now, he seemed a shell of who he was. School had officially ended and while Liz was using the time to help babysit her young brothers at home with an police escort sitting outside the building and have fun with friends. 

Dickie seemed to have retreated to his room permanently. He turned to art as an outlet, encouraged by his therapist.  His room was littered with half finished drawings, paint splotches over the floor and walls, dirty paint stained clothes used as rags, and dried paint chippings everywhere. Elliot both loved to go into his room and hated it. It wasnt' like a teenage boy that loved games and girls anymore. He had an agenda to do. Feelings to get out. Liz tried to be there for her brother, feeling some of the pain her twin brother was going through. Yet, she couldn't really feel it, and it made her angry and guilty. 

Cragen watched as Liv talked to Elliot about not bringing the younger boys to work with them. It finally was decided that the older girls would stay at the apartment to watch them. Maureen and Kathleen were about done with college for the summer and could help Liz watch the two young ones. Maureen was trying to go see her mom, but Elliot and Kathy had decided it was best to limit the kids outside activities from the apartment to basically house arrest. It killed the older girls since they were used to their own lives now. Nevertheless, they loved that their father cared so much that he would order so much security for them. 

"El, why do I feel dad eyes on me?" Liv asked as they walked to get anther cup of coffee. Ethan had the wide awakes last night and slept in their room in his old crib. Elliot groaned as he quickly glanced behind them. 

He gave a snort of laughter. "Because proud dad is watching us."

Liv nodded in acceptance. "At least its not mad dad. Can't tell you how much of a relief it is to not hear 'Benson Stabler my office' five times a day." She took a drink as they went to their desks. 

Elliot smiled, "We will soon, after we catch the bastards that are threatening our family."

"Mm, by the way, Munch says Stout is starting to make noise online again. He must have a new plan." Liv sighed in relief as the coffee hit her system. "Coffee makes the day better."

"Like I said before, you are a coffee addict." Elliot smiled at her. She threw her stir stick at him and he dodged it, laughing at her. 

Cragen had been watching them even closer now that there wasn't a baby or toddler to look after in the office. He had to so that they could continue to work together as partners. It was part of his deal personally with the Brass to keep them here. Even 1PP had not wanted to break up the partnership, with their track record of closeouts on cases. 

They hadn't changed that much except a few looks and touches, which as soon as Cragen made his presence known, the two split up. That was always a trusting factor for Cragen. He knew that there would be times the two wouldn't be able to help themselves by letting their couple feelings, as he put it, out at work. However they had to be careful, while the team didn't mind their being together, the Brass still frowned on it slightly. 

Cragen watched as Elliot watched Liv walk away to the file room. A separate case they were working on had caught a break just now and she had to fish something out. "Elliot!" Cragen called out. He jumped slightly, turning around to his name. Cragen gave him a look, which was met with a smile from Elliot. 

"Hey, can't I at least look now and again?" He asked slightly genuine. He got up and walked over to Cragen. "It's been so long since we did anything, Cap. Give me a little look now and again."

Cragen snorted with laughter. "As long as you get your work done, Elliot, look all you want. Just don't look too hard, you might hurt yourself." He smiled at Elliot before leaving him to his work to do his own. 

"Stabler." Elliot listened for a moment and then hung up. He quickly went to find Liv in the file room. She was humming to herself in the very back corner in the Y's looking at the paperwork. "Liv, Munch just called. They were talking to a member of the W.D. and they might have given up Stout's holdup area."

She folded the file and slammed the cabinet closed. "Are you serious? Do they need help?" 

Elliot shook his head. "No, they don't want us to get involved right now unless we have to. Considering our history."

Liv groaned. "I so want to get him so we can interrogate him." She had a look in her eye. "So the kids could have a normal life again. Maureen and Kathleen could go back to college, Liz could hang out with friends instead of them always coming over."

He understood her. She wanted an empty nest for a little while. Peace to have time to themselves. They can't have any moments for themselves. She looked at Elliot, a hunger in her eyes. She wanted him. Elliot glanced around, and scooped her into his arms. He cupped her face and gave her a kiss. Slow and sweet, telling her without words what he knew they both wanted. 

"Me too, Elliot," She whispered, leaning her forehead against his and closed her eyes. She kissed him again, this time lusting after him. She ran her fingers through his short hair, pulling slightly, inciting a moan from Elliot. 

He was getting excited. They needed to stop or they could get into a lot of trouble. "Liv, we need to stop," he muttered around her attacking lips. His eyes were closed, enjoying the feeling of her lips against his hot skin. 

His cell phone started to ring. Moaning in regret as he gently pushed her away, but holding her close still, he answered. "Stabler."

"You did? That's awesome. Okay, thanks." Elliot looked at Liv, her dark eyes dilated with lust. "They got Tyler."

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Hey so I dont' know if we got tyler or not. I will reread and see what i have and make adjustments afterwords. Keep reading and pass the story along. Let me know what you all think of it so far. Its my first Bensler fan fic.