Fic: Aftershocks Part 6
As he sat the bags of food on the table Olivia's cell rang. She glanced at it, silenced it and then turned to Elliot.
"This was the best idea you've had in years," she commented pulling a paper wrapped sandwich from the bag. One smell of the sauerkraut told her it was his. She handed it to him and then opened her own onion-laden sandwich.
"Maybe not years…" Elliot joked and Olivia smiled for him. It wasn’t a total grab you by the gut smile but it was authentic.
"What you been up to?" Olivia asked. They had not spoken since dinner upstate. His kids however had been texting her like crazy. She thought it was sweet that they each wanted to send Jane Cabot a thank you.
"Hanging with Elizabeth mostly. We both really needed it, I think," Elliot admitted.
"Who'd a thunk that being suspended would be a blessing in disguise?" Olivia asked after she nibbled a few onions off the edge of her sandwich.
Olivia watched him scan the area with his eyes. Apparently he saw something behind her that he didn’t like. She froze feeling completely vulnerable. She was unarmed and running was out of the question. After a minute she saw him relax.
"Can't believe Lizzie got the same time as that little creep," Elliot groused as if nothing had happened.
Olivia let him grumble on for a while. It was nice to be outside after being cooped up at Alex's place for the past three days. As much as she loved Alex the hovering was becoming a bit much. They were both strong willed independent women, which was the number one reason they hadn’t moved in together. Space was paramount in their relationship.
More than once Olivia had caught Alex staring at her. The look on her face was one of such pain that Olivia could hardly stand to see it. She never asked Alex what she was thinking. It was just easier to slip Alex into her arms until the tension drained from the lawyer. She had been doing that a lot as had Alex.
Alex seemed to have developed a compulsion to touch Olivia every chance she got. Olivia on the other hand was reverting to her childhood habit of playing turtle. The hurt in Alex's eyes when she pulled away made Olivia feel like a heel but she still backed away from being touched. She needed to find her footing and couldn’t do it with Alex holding her up. Or waiting on her hand and foot.
Olivia glanced at her phone when it rang again. She muted it and asked Elliot how Kathy's cooking experiments were going. Kathy had decided that come hell or high water the Stabler family was going to start eating right. It had become Elliot's habit to find the most outrageously unhealthy food and wolf it down at lunchtime. The rest of the squad had started a pool as to when he would be caught.
"Dickie asked, 'what's this shit?' last night. I couldn’t even yell at him because I was thinking the same thing," Elliot told her.
"Bet that went over well," Olivia said dryly.
"Another fight, another day with the happy Stabler family."
"Not getting any better?" Olivia sympathized.
What was that woman doing? Olivia thought watching the woman with the stroller mess with the kid. A few seconds later a dirty diaper was tossed in the bushes.
"Kathy's on me to see a shrink," he said with a half shrug. Olivia didn’t ask him about his shoulder.
"Alex is just on me… Get out of the gutter Stabler. She can't seem to back off," Olivia observed.
"Have you asked her to?" He asked before taking a huge bite.
Olivia nodded, "Last night. I made her cry."
"I hate it when that happens. Ask me to talk then cry when I tell you the truth," he said after managing to swallow the bite.
"Not quite like that. We got into it about my ankle," she admitted. She wasn’t going to tell him about the therapist Alex had mentioned. Olivia hadn’t agreed but had not totally shot down the idea either. Olivia was allegedly thinking about it. She hadn't told Alex that Hell No was the only thought she had.
"Forget your crutches?" He asked innocently.
"I hid them under the bed. You'd a thought I committed murder the look I got…"
"You shouldn’t be walking with out them," he told her.
"So I've heard. I keep knocking them over. I nearly tripped on them going to the bathroom," she said and he laughed. She grumbled with a small smile, "Oh sure laugh at my misfortune."
"Can’t help it. You've painted a pretty picture. Alex on you and all…" He ducked the onion she flicked at him.
"Well it wasn’t pretty. I think Alex wanted to yell at me but can't seem to bring herself to do it."
"Let's trade. Kathy can yell at you and Alex can hold my hand."
"Which would make both of us even more nuts," she told him.
"We're not crazy. Or broken," he said hitting the core of Olivia's objections to Alex's behavior.
Olivia glanced over his shoulder and watched the oddly dressed old man as he put a blanket on the ground and lay down. He sprawled in the sun as he ate an apple.
"Yeah. I know Alex is scared. How do I convince her that it'll all be okay?"
"You have to believe it first," he pointed out. Olivia didn’t like his answer especially since he had a very good point.
"I dunno El. Will it?" She asked uncertainly.
"Eventually. I think."
"Such conviction. I've…" She didn’t want to face it but she had to tell someone. "I've had a couple flashbacks."
"Me too," he said after a short silence. "It's probably a good thing they still have my piece."
"I put my back up in my safety deposit box," she told him.
"I gave mine to Munch. I hate… I don’t trust my judgement," he said tightly. She nodded in agreement her brown eyes reflecting her own anxiety.
"Little noises, funny smells…" she mused.
"Strange cars," he added.
"Not really though I can see that at your house," she told him.
"Paranoia kinda sucks," he said and she smirked.
"Think this is how Munch feels all the time?"
He laughed loudly attracting the attention of a few of the people milling about the park. Olivia smirked a little. It was good to laugh if only for a little while. She didn’t even look at her phone as she silenced it again.