A parallel universe

Chapter Twenty Three

"Do you feel like running yet?" Liv asked, looking up at Elliot, finally meeting his eyes since this whole thing started.
"I'm not running anywhere Liv, not ever again" He assured her.
"Even though it hurts? Even though there are scars on my heart?"
"Even then" He assured her as her phone rang again.
"You need to answer that Captain" McGrath reminded her but she made no effort to move. When the ringing stopped then started again Liv sighed heavily and answered the phone, putting it on speaker.
"You told him all about me. How sweet" Liv's jaw twitched "He's seen my marks on you, he knows our history so I did some digging into yours. Elliot Stabler, married to Kathy Stabler, father to Maureen, Kathleen, Dickie, Elizabeth and Eli Stabler, blah, blah, blah. Why did you give yourself to him, Olivia? Why did you let him see my work? He's not the only one that seen what I've done to you but, he's the one that's seen the worst, the one that knows your deepest darkest secrets. Or was it an accident? An undercover mission turned true love, or a seduction maybe?" He laughed "After all, you did book that hotel room, Olivia. You knew what you wanted and you took it" The computer screens went black again before a video of Elliot and Liv in the hotel started playing.
"Do you...want to talk about it?"
"No. I don't want to talk"
"Then what are we doing here Liv? You said 'I don't want to pretend anymore' what does that mean, Liv?"
"I'm done pretending" The Liv on the video took a few steps back into the room "Come in and close the door, El" The Elliot on the video stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The camera switched to one inside of the room.
"Why are we in a hotel Liv? What are we doing here?"
"Getting it out of our systems" Elliot closed the space between them, one hand threading through her hair, her eyes rolled shut.
"You will never be out of my system, Olivia, you never left it. But, I need to know what we're doing here" Her eyes opened but stayed on his chest.
"You know about the scars, you know about my worst days. Nothing else matters, not anymore, not after so long of waiting. The past doesn't matter anymore El"
"How sweet" His laugh made the video stop but the image of them in each other's arms was still on the screens "And what about this?" Images of the two of them in the hotel bathroom popped up onto the screens. He had blurred out Olivia's naked body but they could all see Elliot's hand around her throat.
"Enough with the games" Liv bit and he laughed.
"There's that bite. I blurred out the important parts, I couldn't let anyone else see what belongs to me-"
"No part of me belongs to you" She bit.
"But you belong to him? Do I need to remind you of what you said? I bet your friends would love to hear it" She remained silent as he laughed "That only he could have that kind of power over you, but that's not true is it Olivia? Because I know what makes you tick, what makes you squirm, what makes you cum-" Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, trying to bite back the bile in her throat "It's so beautiful, it really is. The way you say his name and curse, they way you back arches and you try to keep quiet for Noah-" Liv hung up the phone seconds before she dropped her head above the nearest trashcan and emptied her stomach. Her vision blurred and clouded over as her eyes filled with tears. She could feel him. Him, tugging on her hair. Him, grabbing at her, anywhere he could reach. She could hear his voice and see his smirk. She was hyperventilating, her eyes still squeezed shut as she tried to make it all stop, but it wouldn't stop. Elliot moved to her side, placing his hand on her back when she jerked away from his touch, throwing herself on the floor, her back pressing against the wall of her office.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" She muttered, managing to open her teary eyes to meet his before she squeezed them shut again.
"Hey, hey. Look at me" Her heart was pounding in her chest, she couldn't breathe.
"Don't touch her" Fin warned but Elliot brought their foreheads together.
"I can feel him everywhere" She cried harder, her breathing ragged.
"He's not here, I'm not going to let him hurt you" Her breathing began to slow "You said that I would never hurt you. You said that Liv" Her eyes met his as she placed a hand on his cheek.
"I know that, but my body doesn't" Her admission broke his heart and caused more tears to fall down her cheeks, he wiped them away with his thumbs.
"Tell me what to do, Liv. Whatever you need, I'll do it" She didn't take her eyes off his.
"Jet, put the pictures back up"
"Liv-"
"The camera angles. I called the hotel less than an hour before I showed up there, so he either set up the cameras before I got there or he did it whilst I was there. I was alone for an hour before you got there. William Lewis would've taken me right there under your nose just to spite you, and he sure as hell never called me beautiful. He wanted to ruin me, to show me that I was just as worthless as he was through my humiliation. This isn't William Lewis, this is a copycat" She said finally, wiping away the tears staining her face.
"Liv-"
"I watched him die, El. He made me watch him, he tortured me. This isn't him"
"Liv, you have to be sure, but either way-"
"I'm not going to let you kill him. Real or not I am going to watch him rot in an eight by six cell as I live a life with everything that he tried to stop me from having" Elliot leaned forward, connecting their foreheads as his hand went to the back of her neck.
"That's the Olivia Benson I know and love" He could feel her smiling under him.