A parallel universe

Chapter Five

Olivia lay awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling, she kept reaching for her compass necklace that was no longer there, for comfort.
"You still awake Liv?" El muttered.
"Yeah" She rolled onto her side, meeting his eyes in the dark.
"Come here" he commanded softly, moving over on the bed, he lifted the corner of the quilt. Liv shot him a look and he rolled his eyes at her "Come here Liv" he repeated and Liv climbed out of her bed and moved into his bed, lying down facing him.
"I'm sorry" She apologised, a sad look crossing her face.
"What for?" She dropped his eyes.
"For baiting him. For letting him win" He grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers.
"You did nothing wrong Liv. I'm sorry that you had to do that"
"We didn't have a choice"
"You didn't have to come"
"Anaya was worried, I had to come and check on you"
"No you didn't-"
"I did. You've taken care of me enough, it was my turn to take care of you"
"We take care of each other"
"Always" she agreed.
"Get some sleep"
"I don't think I can" She admitted.
"I'll be here. You're safe Liv. You're always safe with me" he assured her, squeezing her hand lightly. Olivia closed her eyes, feeling Elliot's hand in hers and his body next to hers had her asleep in no time.

"Anaya knows the plan" Liv announced as Elliot left the bathroom.
They woke that morning to a text from Kurt telling them that the meet was set for 10pm that night, so for the rest of the day they relaxed as much as they could in the motel.
"That's good"
"She says they'll be ready two hours early in case they move up the time and they'll have a second crew waiting"
"How are you feeling after last night?" She dropped his eyes.
"I'm fine"
"How are you really?" She met his eyes again.
"I want this over with. I don't want to be someone I'm not" he nodded gently.
"This'll all be over with soon" she nodded.
"How long until Tweedle Dee and dumber, dumber show up?"
"Probably an hour or so. If you want a shower you might want to go now" she nodded.
"The sooner we stop pretending, the better" she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear as she moved into the bathroom. Stop pretending? Elliot couldn't fake what he felt for Liv, he couldn't fake any of it. Not at all.

Kurt and the others barged into their motel room exactly when El said they would, and thankfully both of them were fully clothed and ready to go. They all piled into a car and they drove back to the same warehouse that they were in yesterday.
Liv climbed out of the car first and El followed after her, slipping his hand into hers as they neared Dwight.
"No dress today?" He smirked, his eyes raking down her body. She chose to wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, hoping that it would keep their eyes off her, but it didn't.
"No" she grunted.
"You got the product?" Dwight asked, his eyes moving to Elliot.
"Our guy should be here any second" Elliot told him as an SUV pulled up and Reyes climbed out.
"What is this?" Dwight laughed "A parents conference"
"I'm Dominican" he bit, making Dwight laugh again.
"Okay then, let's do this" he announced, sending Reyes to grab the drugs from his car whilst Kurt grabbed the money case from Dwight's car. Dwight looked over the product in Reyes' hands "Is it pure?"
"Purest coke there is" El assured him.
"Pay them" Dwight ordered Kurt, watching as Kurt closed the space between them and swapped the coke for the money. Then the sirens came, Dwight pulled his gun but dropped it pretty quickly when Anaya pointed hers at him. They arrested Reyes, El and Liv for show too, loading them into the vehicles they were taken back to the SVU squad room.

Liv, El and the rest of the OC squad got off the elevator and headed towards the squad room.
"I kept this safe for you" Fin dangled her compass necklace in front of her.
"Thank you" Liv smiled, taking it from him, she clasped it around her neck as she moved into the squad room.
"So, how did it go?" Anaya asked, looking between the pair. Liv and El looked between each other, as if they were waiting for the other to answer.
"It was fine" Liv shrugged.
"Okay, well we'll get Dwight's crew processed tonight and all we need from you is witness statements" El shot Liv a look.
"What is it?" Fin asked.
"El's just wondering if I'm actually going to admit to the fact I stripped in a room full of men" Liv muttered as if it was the most normal thing in the world for her to say.
"You did what?" Liv registered the surprise on Churlish's face before her eyes moved to everyone else who seemed to be wearing the same expression.
"It was either that or wait for him to do something to me. Other than knocking me down a peg or two, I came out of it fine" Liv shrugged.
"I'm sorry Liv" Anaya frowned.
"It's fine. It's not like a loser hasn't seen me in my underwear before" she shrugged again "I'm fine. I promise" she assured them all "I'm going to write my statement" she offered a small smile before she disappeared off into her office.
"How is she really?" Fin asked him after the door to her office closed behind her.
"Okay I think, especially now that it's over. But, I'll keep an eye on her" El assured him.
"I'll do it too"
"I'd better get this statement written" El announced, grabbing a pen and paper, he sat at Bruno's desk and started writing.

Liv sat at her desk in her office, her completed statement in front of her. She'd finished it a while ago but, her eyes kept drifting to the window facing the squad room where she had an unobstructed view of Elliot. He'd been plaguing her mind for months and that had only gotten worse with their undercover work. His lips, his hands, his warmth. His kindness. He had touched her scars and said nothing. He didn't go crazy or run, all he did was protect her. And, suddenly, Liv couldn't think of a single thing holding her back.
"Hey Liv, I'm heading home for the night" El smiled at her from the doorway to her office.
"Goodnight El"
"You headed home? I can drop you off if you want"
"No thanks, I'm good" she smiled.
"Ok then. Goodnight partner" he smiled.
"Goodnight partner" she smiled, watching as he left. Liv picked up her phone from the desk and dialled a number before she brought the phone to her ear.
"Yes, I would like to book a room please. For one night"

When Liv had called him he was obviously surprised, he'd offered her a ride home and she declined and yet here he was meeting her at a hotel, which was even more strange. But after everything that had happened undercover, she had every right to act a bit strange.
As the elevator doors pinged open El walked along the corridor in search of the room number that Liv had sent him. When he found it he knocked on the door and waited a moment until Liv opened the door in nothing but a robe and her compass necklace.
"Hey El"
"Hey Liv"
"You came"
"You called. I wouldn't leave you hanging" she nodded "So, what's up?"
"You saw my scars and you didn't react"
"I couldn't. We agreed not to talk about what happened whilst we were undercover" she nodded "And if I did react I might have killed someone" he half-joked earning a smile "Do you...want to talk about it?"
"No. I don't want to talk"
"Then what are we doing here Liv?" He waited for an answer but she stayed silent "You said 'I don't want to pretend anymore' what does that mean, Liv?" She dropped her eyes to the ground for a moment before she met his eyes once again.
"I'm done pretending"