Adding Fuel to the Fire: An Elliot Stabler Story

Chapter Seventeen

Elliot sat at his desk the next morning, reading through the autopsy papers for a young victim that the medical examiner, Melinda Warner, had faxed to him a few minutes earlier. His eyes were heavy and his mind was elsewhere. The medical terminology seemed like nothing but jargon to him.

"Well you look like hell," Olivia teased as she walked into the precinct.

He looked up from his desk as his partner sat down at her own desk across from him. His bloodshot eyes burned.

"I didn't sleep well last night," he told her simply.

"Girlfriend keeping you up?" She wondered with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," he sighed. "But not in that way."

"No?" She questioned, looking through the notes left on her desk.

"We had a, uh, pregnancy scare," he said quietly, not wanting others to hear him.

Olivia's eyes widened as she looked back up at Elliot. "Just a scare?"

"Yeah," he answered. "False positive, she's not pregnant."

"You'd think after four kids, you'd be more careful with your super swimmers," she joked, unable to gauge his reaction on the topic.

"You'd think," he nodded.

"I can't really tell how you feel about it," she said.

"Me either," he responded.

"Why not?"

He sighed, not really wanting to talk about it, but knowing he needed to confide in someone. That someone was always Olivia, so he took the opportunity available to him at the moment.

"I just felt conflicted about it," he told her softly. "She really did not want to have a baby, and I was terrified as hell too, but then a part of me kind of wanted another kid. And it would've solidified our relationship."

"How so?" She pressed.

"Well, we would've either had to get serious about it or break up – something definite and certain. None of this vague indefinable shit like we're doing now," he answered.

"Well, I mean, did Johanna break up with you or is she sticking around?" Olivia asked.

"She's sticking around – why?"

"Sounds pretty definite to me," she said.

"What makes you say that?" He wondered.

"Hello," she cried obviously. "She didn't run like hell after a pregnancy scare. That doesn't mean she doesn't want to have a baby with you ever – it just means she doesn't want to have a baby with you right now. If she didn't ever want to have a baby with you, she would've bolted. So I'm thinking she's on the 'definite' side of the fence."

Elliot paused for a moment, looking at his best friend and partner, then said, "Huh. You're right."

"Of course I am," she laughed.

"Thanks, Liv," he sighed. "I feel a lot better now actually."

"You're welcome," she replied. "Just watch that freakishly fast sperm of yours."

Elliot chuckled as Olivia smiled at him, appreciative that he trusted her with the topic enough to share his feelings about it. She understood where he was coming from; her partner had a kind soul and a gentle heart. And she was just glad she could help him.

~

"You son of a bitch!" Elliot spat as he shoved the disgusting man into the wall of the interrogation room angrily. "You raped and killed your own little girl! You were supposed to protect her!"