Adding Fuel to the Fire: An Elliot Stabler Story

Chapter Three

Elliot knocked on the door in front of him and his partner, Olivia Benson. "NYPD, open up!" When no one responded, Elliot knocked a couple more times. After a few seconds of no answer, he sighed, and he and Olivia went back down the stoop and onto the sidewalk.

"They're never home when you need them to be, are they?" Olivia retorted, shaking her head. "I'm gonna give a call to Casey and tell her to start preparing a search warrant to bring to us. We're going to sit here until they come home."

"Might be a long night," Elliot stated leaning back against the car they drove to the house.

"It's already 7PM, they can't be gone for too much longer," Olivia commented as she walked away to speak to Casey on her cell phone.

The two partners were out on a job, questioning people related to one of their hotter open cases, and trying to gather evidence – the evidence they believe is behind the locked door in front of them.

"Novak is working on the search warrant and she said she'd bring it to us as soon as the judge grants it," Olivia informed her partner when she walked back toward him.

"I have a feeling this is going to take all night," Elliot sighed as he sat back in the car in the driver's seat to get out of the chilly late-October air.

"It might," she responded as she sat in the passenger seat.

"I'm gonna call Johanna and tell her I might be a little late tonight," he said as he pulled out his cell phone to dial her number.

"You have her number now?" Olivia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"For situations like this," Elliot answered matter-of-factly. "So she's not waiting at the bar by herself all night if I'm not coming."

His partner just smiled cheekily at him.

"What?" He dialed the number of the beautiful redhead, but didn't call just yet.

"Nothing," Olivia shrugged still smirking.

"Just say it, Liv."

"It's nothing," she shrugged again. "You two have been meeting up weekly to play pool for over a month now. You have her number; you call her to keep her updated. And I see your subtle smile when she sends you texts."

"And?" Elliot pushed.

"And I think you like her, whether you want to admit it or not," she answered. "I think it's a good thing."

"Come on, Liv. It's not like that," he protested.

"It doesn't have to be, El. But it also can be."

His partner was right. It could be like that. But it just wasn't.

Every Thursday night for the past seven weeks, he and Johanna have been meeting up at the bar down the block from the precinct to play pool, have a few drinks, etc. One night after Elliot arrived to the bar an hour late, they decided to exchange numbers so they could keep in touch in case he had to work late. On occasion, they'll send each other a funny text or two about something that they had joked about during one of their pool games.

But that was it. There was flirting, but nothing more. There wasn't any touching, any kissing, anything to indicate they were more than just friends. He knew Olivia was right, that it could be something more, but he was content with what it currently was.

"We're just hanging out, enjoying each other's company," he informed her. "Nothing more than that. It's harmless."

Olivia knew her partner like the back of her hand. Hell, she knew him better than that. She could tell this Johanna girl made him happy, but she knew he was hesitant to rush into anything after his divorce. She understood where he was coming from, she battled her own demons when it came to relationships, but she wanted to shake him for being so stubborn.