Adding Fuel to the Fire: An Elliot Stabler Story

Chapter Seven

The day had been long for the detectives in the special victims unit. Victim after victim, suspect after suspect, interrogation after interrogation. Their energy had been depleted hours earlier, and their night was nowhere near over.

Elliot and Olivia exited the interrogation room after a long, unsuccessful, and irritating cross-examination. They both looked haggard and their clothes were disheveled from the full day of wear. They walked through the unit, ignoring their colleagues' phrases of encouragement as they passed, and sat down at their desks to go over the files of the case again to hopefully find something they missed, something useful, something to end their long day.

Elliot's phone vibrated on his desk, buzzing loudly. He picked up his phone with one hand and rubbed the back of his neck with the other. It was a text message from Johanna.

'Hey Stabler, just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing.'

Despite the rough day he was having, Elliot smiled. He instantly felt relaxed, reading the words on the screen a few times over to lessen how much he missed the girl. They agreed to keep their weekly meetings for now, but he wanted more. He enjoyed the time they had spent on his couch, talking as the sun came up, and he wanted to relive that, but he held back, knowing better than to let things move too fast.

'It's been a long day, but I'm better now that I heard from you. What are you up to?' He typed back to her.

He never really sent or received text messages before he met Johanna. The ones he got were usually from Kathy, after he failed to answer his phone a few times, asking when he would be home, or from his older daughters, asking the same. Now, his heart fluttered a little when his phone buzzed, knowing whatever the text said would probably put a smile on his face if it was from Johanna.

"You've got it so bad," Olivia teased from her desk. She glanced up when Elliot's phone had buzzed, curious to see if he had received any info regarding their current case. But when the rigid lines in his face softened and a smile appeared on his lips, she knew it was a text from Johanna.

"Do not," Elliot defended as his phone buzzed again. Another text.

'Relaxing. Taking a hot bath, drinking a glass of wine. Only thing missing is you.'

Elliot smirked. He felt his groin twitch in his pants at the thought of being there with her. Since last Thursday's escapades nearly ended in sex, he was fairly certain that it would happen after their next meet-up in a few days. He would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to it.

'Wish I could be there.' He replied.

"I'm thinking we need to go talk to the sister again," Olivia stated, looking up from her files. She had a gut feeling about the sister of their victim.

"You think she knows more than she's telling?" Elliot asked, putting his cell phone down on his desk.

"I don't know if she's hiding any info on purpose, but I feel like if anyone could give us vital details at this point, it's her," she told him.

He nodded in agreement. "It's worth a shot."

"I'm going to call her and ask her to come back in," Olivia informed him, picking up the office phone that sat on her desk.

Elliot's phone buzzed again, receiving another text from Johanna.

'Come over then. I want to do dirty things to you.'

His mouth opened slightly as blood immediately rushed to his nether regions, pulsating as he grew slightly hard. His heart thumped in his chest. He wondered, for a moment, if it would be possible to ditch work for an hour or two so he could go over to her house. He could say he was going to question a suspect or hell, he could even fake sick for a bit. He quickly snapped back into reality, remembering how unethical it would be for him to do something like that. It was incredible how abruptly he became an animal after over a year of sex deprivation.

'You have no idea what I would give to be able to come over.' He typed back to her.

He leaned forward putting his elbows on his desk and rubbing his eyes with his hands, trying to recite the alphabet backwards to get rid of the debilitating feeling between his legs.

This girl was killing him.

~

Johanna sat at her desk in her office on Thursday morning, writing in a binder that contained the therapy plans she had outlined in great detail for her clients. Her red hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she wore teal green scrubs, the standard uniform at her workplace.

"Soo," her coworker and friend, Grace, suddenly appeared in her doorway. "Excited for tonight?"

Johanna looked up from her writing to see the thin black-haired girl, dressed in similar scrubs, leaning against the doorframe with an apple in her hand. Grace was the only person she considered a close friend, though she was friendly with almost all the girls she worked with.

"Yes," she answered with a smile, anticipating her night with Elliot.

"What're you going to wear?" Grace wondered, taking a bite of her apple.

"I haven't even decided yet," Johanna admitted. "Probably a dress. Or does that scream 'easy access'?"

Grace laughed. "Depends on the dress."

She considered Johanna her best friend. Though they didn't spend much time together outside of work, they often confided in each other when they needed someone to talk to.

Despite the restraints she placed on her relationships, Johanna appreciated and valued her friendship, and though she didn't realize it, she needed a friend like Grace to rely on.

"Do you think you'll stay the night again or is that against your weird rules?" She asked Johanna.

"I don't know," the redhead answered honestly, wondering if she would feel compelled to leave after they did the deed.

"I mean, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, you know?" Grace suggested, taking another bite of her apple. "To be in a serious relationship with him. I think he'd be good for you."

She knew the details of Johanna's unsettling past and attachment issues, but she didn't understand how she could practically date a guy without wanting a future with him. She didn't understand how she could easily have a relationship with Elliot without forming a true bond. Though she wondered if he would be the one to break her friend's strange habits.

"He is good for me," Johanna told her. "We're good for each other. It's just easy this way."

"You're going to fall in love with him," Grace teased.

"Oh, whatever!" Johanna laughed.

"Hell, I'm practically in love with him! He sounds perfect!" Grace cooed. "He's a broody protective cop who doubles as a sensitive family man, and I'll bet he's mind-blowing in bed."

"I wouldn't mind losing that bet," Johanna joked, though she was serious.

The two laughed at each other in good spirits.

"Well," Grace sighed as she pushed herself off the doorframe, apple in hand. "Have fun tonight, be safe, and I look forward to hearing all the juicy details from you tomorrow."

"Thanks, girl," Johanna replied with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

She looked at her clock as Grace disappeared from her view. Only a few more hours until her rendezvous with Elliot.