Operation Heart

Not-So-Secret Secrets Revealed

It had been two weeks since Noah's kidnapping, and he seemed perfectly fine, Olivia seemed better, like she didn't want to kill Fin and Amanda as much. Fin entered Olivia's office, having a question about their current case, but he froze in his tracks when he found the box of desk supplies sitting on top of her desk. "Please tell me you aren't leaving just because of the shit Amanda and I have pulled recently," he said, locking eyes with Olivia who had been looking at her cell phone when he walked in.

She raised her eyebrow slightly before remembering the box sitting in front of her. She chuckled as she shook her head. "No, God no, Fin. A. If I actually left, you and Amanda would kill each other. B. That stuff isn't even mine. I'm running over to OC on my lunch break to give Elliot the stuff from his old desk, I want it out of my closet," she explained, setting her phone down as she looked up to him.

"You good, Liv?" He asked kindly as he sat in the chair across from her, knowing that things had been rough with everyone she loved lately, and she exhaled slowly before she answered.

"I will be, thank you for asking." Before either of them could say another word there was a knock on the door that captured both of their attention. "I am so sorry, Melinda, I completely forgot about lunch. Can we make a quick stop on the way?" Olivia asked with a warm smile as she looked at her friend.

The other woman attempted to return the smile, but Olivia knew something was wrong when Melinda didn't even glance at Fin. "Yeah, that works for me. Don't forget, it's your turn to pay," she joked before starting to walk out. "Hi, Fin," she added at the last second, trying to be polite. She was wearing a wine-red blouse and a black pencil skirt that matched her black high heels, a very uncharacteristic mid-workday lunch outfit for her.

"Bye, Warner," he replied just as politely before he walked past her, headed to his desk, not looking at her either. Olivia stood up, still thoroughly confused by the coldness between the two of them. She decided she would get to the bottom of it at lunch with the ME, whether Melinda wanted her to or not. They were two of her best friends, and she wanted them both to be happy.

On her way out of the precinct, carrying the box of Elliot's things, Olivia turned to Fin and Amanda. "Don't burn down the precinct. Don't kill each other." She looked at Fin. "And don't let Amanda punch the coffee maker while I'm gone." Amanda's jaw dropped as she turned to Fin, who's eyes were on his paperwork. He forgot that he had told Olivia that little detail. Both said goodbye, and then Olivia and Melinda were in Melinda's car, following Olivia's directions to the Organized Crime building. "You should come in with me, in case I take a minute or two longer than expected," she said as Melinda parked.

The two women entered the building after Olivia punched the code in. "Jet, Ayanna, anyone here?" Olivia called as she entered the bullpen, Melinda only a few steps behind her. Both Jet and Bell waved from where they were sitting near Jet's computers. Elliot was sitting at his new desk, looking over paperwork, it was like he hadn't heard her, and he may not have. She took the few steps to his desk and plopped the box on it with a heavy thud before Melinda entered.

"What's all this?" Elliot asked, gesturing to the box, before he saw the photo he had kept of him and Eli on his desk before he "died."

Everyone heard the second set of footsteps, and Elliot, Ayanna, and Jet turned to the door immediately, though Elliot relaxed when he realized it was only Melinda, though he quickly tensed up again. "Who's she?" Ayanna questioned, on high-alert, briefly glancing at Olivia for an answer.

"Ayanna, Jet, meet Dr. Melinda Warner, an old friend," Elliot said with the smallest hint of a smile. "You get all dolled up just to come see an old friend?" He asked playfully.

Neither her expression, nor her tone were playful. "No, I have a lunch date with my friend here, who needed to make a quick stop to return your old crap." It was clear she hadn't known he was alive. She turned on her heel and left. Olivia said a quick bye to the other three before following Melinda back to the car.

"How long have you and Fin been on the outs, Melinda? And don't try and lie to me saying everything is fine. If you two were talking, he would have told you that Elliot is alive," Olivia stated matter-of-factly as Melinda drove to a diner they frequented when they went out to lunch together. Melinda didn't say a word for minutes that drug on like hours for Olivia.

"We're not on the outs. Being on the outs makes it sound like things can be fixed, and I don't think they can in this case," she stated softly as they entered the diner, picking their usual booth in the back corner where people usually didn't bother them. Olivia raised her eyebrow, just as the waitress appeared. "I'll take a Sweet Tea, and a BLT please," Melinda said.

"Sweet Tea for me as well, and a bacon cheeseburger, please," Olivia replied, and as soon as the waitress was out of ear-shot she pinned the other woman with a stern gaze. "You never dress up like this unless you're trying to impress someone, namely Fin, though neither of you would look at each other. He's seemed kind of off lately, even before Elliot came back from the dead, as have you, which I'm only just now realizing, I apologize. But something clearly happened between the two of you, so spill."

Melinda sighed, just as their beverages arrived. She took a long drink from hers, biding her time so she could figure out how to respond. The surprise of seeing Elliot Stabler was getting to her, as was the surprise of how direct Olivia was being, though deep down she knew it was only because Olivia cared about both her and Fin. They both started eating as Melinda spoke. "Remember how I said that marriage was a no-go for me, and Fin felt the same way? Both of us have a divorce on our records already, neither of us wants to risk a second one."

"Although with seeing the way he looks at you, I can't really see a break-up for either of you, though I do understand that fear," Olivia said, waiting for Melinda to continue with her explanation.

"Well, over the years with Fin my opinion has changed, and I casually asked him what he thought about the possibility of marriage. I didn't propose, I didn't ask him to propose, nothing like that. He said we should take some time and see if we, were what we both wanted. I haven't spoken to him since, and that was about a week before the tenth anniversary of Stabler's death."

Olivia's heart broke slightly as she looked at her clearly sad friend. "Has he tried to contact you since?" She raised her eyebrow when Melinda nodded and pulled out her phone, and showed dozens of missed calls from Fin, all late at night, no voicemails. "If you're awake the next time he calls you, answer him. If you're not, then call him back when you wake up. What you and him have is special, it's something that most people spend their whole lives searching for, and still never find." They lapsed into silence as they finished their meals, and for the entirety of the car ride back to the precinct. "Take my advice, please."

"Don't kill him. He still doesn't know that you know he and I were involved. Bye, Liv."

"Bye, Mel." With that Olivia entered the precinct, finding her two best detectives sitting at their desks, talking, but not arguing, which was good. She went into her office, hoping that Melinda would take her advice.

"You good, Liv?" Fin asked from the doorway, giving her a sense of deja vu because they had had the same conversation just a few hours earlier. She smiled, deciding to give him an encouraging shove, without him knowing it.

"I am perfectly fine, Fin. But after that lunch I just had, and the conversation I had with Warner, if I ever find out who her ex is, he's a dead man." Fin's pulse sped up with Olivia's words. Ex? Him. Dead man? Liv was pissed that her friend was hurting. He still didn't know what he had done, but he knew he needed to talk to Warner, and soon.

As soon as he could get away from Liv and Rollins for a minute, he dialed Melinda's number, listened to it ring, and then listened to her voicemail message. His voice was quiet. "Hey, Mel, it's me. I'm sure you're either staring at your phone, watching it ring, or doing an autopsy. I'm hoping the latter, but I doubt I'm that lucky. Can we talk, please. I really think that we need to. Well, bye, I guess." He hung up, staring at the screen for a minute, even after it had gone dark. Just as he was about to put the phone back in his pocket it lit up. His heart soared, thinking he was getting a call from her, but his heart didn't stop soaring when he realized it was a text from her.

Mel: Dinner, 8 tonight. That Chinese place near your apartment. Don't be late.

It was a start to finding out what had happened between them.