Work Text:
The group was up on their perch, watching the hustle and bustle of the party below. The Captain had just made a joke about not being invited, to break up the monotony of the last hour of just watching. Standing and watching. Waiting to see who would show up. If the girls they are looking for are ushered in. What crimes they can witness to tack onto the charges they are drawing up.
Olivia was pouting. Not externally, no. She’d never show her "personal life" anger at work. Anger at a perp, an employee, a boss? Sure. Anger at her idiotic boyfriend, whose team she just so happens to be working a joint case with? No. Only person in the room that could read her body language, feel and virtually see the upset radiating off of her, was her boyfriend. Elliot. Idiot, as Olivia has taken to calling him in her head. Every time he speaks, breathes, she sighs and subtly rolls her eyes. Idiot.
Elliot is trying his hardest to do his job but with the fiery stare searing a hole into the side of his head, concentrating is a task. He doesn’t dare look over. Won’t look her in the eye. That would make them both lose their resolve. He’s fearful that she will execute him on the spot with her words, and that he will break and become a blubbering, apologetic mess in front of all these people in this room. So he leers ahead, watching the families mingle and conduct business.
“That’s Albi Briscu.” Cho and Maldonado snapped photos of the event as Stabler informed the room of who each person is and what their positions are in the Kosta Organization. “Jon Kosta.”
Elliot and Olivia stood closest to the glass overlooking the scene. Ayanna and Brewster stood a few feet behind them. Observing them and the crowd as they had a hushed argument in the back of the room.
“That’s Reggie Bogdani.” Reggie arrived with many of the girls in tow. Olivia’s mood shifted, protective mom and Captain mode seemingly activated as she leaned closer to observe the newcomers. Elliot bristled at the sight of the girls. Rage filling him at the situation. “I recognize one of the girls. It’s Amelia. She’s a waitress at the Little Albania diner.”
“I don’t see Rita.” Ayanna piped up from the back of the room, eyes locked on the computer screen displaying the security camera footage.
“Neither do I.”
“Who’s that?” Benson asked as they watched an ‘unknown’ redhead woman escort the young women further into the gathering.
Elliot’s heart skipped a beat, while simultaneously dropping into the pit of his stomach. This is where the bomb blows. The fuse was lit before but now…Here goes nothing. “Flutura.” He deadpanned.
Olivia’s demeanor changed. Annoyance jumping to another level. Her eyebrow raised quickly in suspicion, eyes darting from the woman to him and back again.
“She’s Albi Briscu’s wife.”
“She handles the girls for the K-O?” They never got this far in his unofficial debrief of the case at Olivia’s home last night. Last night. Last night was supposed to be a time of hands roaming, lips exploring, tongues and fingers in places… Last night was a fail, according to the plans that had been made.
======Flashback======
“You just told me you slept with her Elliot!” Olivia fumed, pacing her kitchen.
“I didn’t sleep with her, I said she wanted me to sleep with her. There’s a difference.” He pointed out the semantics.
“You told me she was naked on your raggedy bed, in that sorry-ass trailer, Eddie.” She pettily used his undercover name.
“I turned around for a second to try and buy time and get out of it and when I turned back around, she was– she had…” He trailed off, ears tinting at the tips.
“Okay, so tell it again.”
“Okay. This is what happened.”
---------October 7, 2021 ---------
The unexpected visit by Flutura put him on edge. He shook off his nerves and jumped straight into character. They flirted, they did a dance, they apologized, explained. All leading up to this moment. Them kissing. Venturing into his makeshift home. Elliot tried to slow the inevitable, taking his time to clean his pockets and strip his clothes. He placed his phone on the side table, willing it to ring and save him from this. He knows that turning her away again will arouse suspicion. Liv is gonna kill me if I do this. He turned back to the bed only to freeze in shock at what he saw. Eyes wide and mouth gaping like a fish out of water. Flutura had managed to strip out of her outfit at an exceeding swift pace. She lay bare as Eve in the Garden of Eden.
“You look like you’ve never seen a naked woman before. Come, I’m getting cold.” She beckoned from the mattress.
Elliot continued to move slowly, tempting the universe to interrupt. Just as he climbed over her, his phone vibrated. The sound jarring them both, sending a shrill distraction through the dead silent room. He managed to muster an apologetic smile as he backed away from her. “Sorry. Could be important.” He picked up the phone and stepped outside. “Hello.”
Flutura could only hear the one side of the conversation but it didn’t seem promising for what activities she had planned for them.
“Yeah, yeah. No, yeah. I’ll go get him. Just send me where. I’ll be there as soon as I can. As fast as I can! It’s the middle of rush hour. Okay. Bye.” He walked back into the winnebago, mock disappointment plastered across his features. “We’re going to have to take another raincheck. I have to go. A kid I know is in some trouble and his dad asked me to go pick him up.”
The woman was dressed just as quickly as she undressed, “What do they say, third times the charm.” She smirked as she made her way passed him and out the door. Elliot watched her go, relief flooding his system. Looking down at the phone he clutched in his hand, eyes scanning the device, he smiled at his own wit.
Alarm: 1 minute.
Thank you alarm app. Went off right when I needed you to.
----------------------------------
“I diffused the situation and got rid of her.” Elliot explained.
Before Olivia could answer, both of their phones rang.
“Benson.”
“Stabler.”
======End Flashback======
“Well, if she does, it’s news to me.” Elliot could practically hear the eye roll from Olivia. He didn’t even have to look at her face to know that she was doing her very best to not spit out some smartass retort. Could only imagine what floated across her brain, clawing its way up her throat, itching to pass through her lips, only to be tampered down at the last second.
The Captain took a second to attempt to rein in her growing hostility, “So you’re saying that she’s not involved in the sex trafficking operation?” She chances a glance back at Bell, searching the room for answers.
“I’m saying that she calls herself a party planner. What she really does, I–I just don’t know.” He quickly explained, frustration and fear bubbling inside of him. Slight relief washed over him when he turned and found that Ayanna had joined them in their corner of space. Olivia’s emotions read all over her face. Disbelief forefront.
“Stabler took photos of the receipts when he was at her house.” Bell innocently informed the woman. The instant the sentence left her mouth, Elliot focused on keeping his body from its knee jerk reaction of cringing and flinching out of arm’s reach of his girlfriend. Olivia’s head cocked to the side, a humorless laugh escaping her. She’s reached level three of anger, pissed off. He finally turned and affixed his eyes to hers. They blazed, two steps shy of livid. The pair have always been able to communicate with only their eyes, but in this moment, Elliot wished to God he was oblivious to the question she was asking him.
"You were also in her house?"
Unaware of the tension between the two senior officers, Ayanna continued her spiel. “I saw it and from what it looks like, it’s a legitimate business.”
“But if you’re already working her, then you must have suspected her of something.” The "or were you just trying to fuck her" hidden from unsuspecting ears, but piercing Stabler’s brain.
“I was working her to find anything I could on her husband; I found the documents and the passports.” Elliot spoke to her directly. Eyes locked in assurance. Olivia’s brain worked overtime to assess and study his actions and body language; watching for the slightest inflection to indicate a lie. The multitasking was efficient, with another discussion ensuing between their eyes.
The duo outwardly ignored the Sergeant, focused on one another. “Which all points to sex trafficking, which obviously is why we’re here.”
“And the intel that SVU brought to us, the shipment of girls? If it’s part of the K-O, I just haven’t been let in on it, so.” Elliot rushed an explanation, turning swiftly away from her interrogative eyes, willing himself not to break. Olivia shook off some of her fury and followed his eyes back to function. “I’m in the same place as you guys.”
“Who are these guys?” Maldonado spoke from his post.
“Senior management.” Elliot deadpanned and detailed the names and roles of the men everyone seemed to gravitate toward, only interrupted by Brewster briefly.
“Who’s the man sitting on the other side of Kosta? The one in the suit?”
“I don’t recognize him.”
“I’m gonna say he’s the client.” Olivia bested the men.
“The buyer.”
“Yup.”
“Well, he’s reviewing the merchandise.”
Olivia gave a mirthless chuckle as Flutura walked up to the ‘client’, prime suspect number one, and struck up friendly conversation. “And I’d say that you friend, Flutura– is that how you say her name?” She paused, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she intentionally said the woman’s name with an incorrect inflection. “She’s much more than a party planner.” A silent “dumbass” was thrown in at the end, one only Elliot could hear.
Before he could respond to her quip, his, Eddie Wagner’s, phone rang. “Hello?”
The team watched as he conversed with the caller, intrigued about who it is.
“It’s Kosta,” Maldonado whispered, eye peering through the camera lens, finger outstretched to point at the man in the corner. Elliot nodded to confirm.
“Yeah, I’m actually really close to there. Maybe 10 minutes. Yeah. Okay. Bye.” Elliot hung up the phone, turning to find many sets of inquisitive eyes locked on his form. “He wants me, Eddie, to meet some people coming to the party. I’ll be in and out.” He took his leave.
---------------------------------
The couple were in the car heading home. To their separate homes. This wasn’t the original plan for tonight, but somewhere between their parting ways this morning and the double-team stakeout, plans changed. The radio played lowly in the background.
You already know I’m not something to mess with
“Seriously– Liv you’re not going to talk to me?” Elliot snapped from the passenger seat.
She threw an irritated glance in his direction, chest slightly heaving with anger. “I would've thought you had enough conversation tonight with how long you were talking to, what’s her name? Your friend, Flu-ter-uh?” She said the name, "accidentally", incorrectly once again.
“What did you expect me to do when she walked up to me? Run in the opposite direction?”
Which picture, which club, which hoe
We just had this conversation 15 minutes ago
She swervin’
She swervin’
“You didn’t have to be so friendly with her. Oh! Especially considering she wants to have sex with you. Who knows how long you will be undercover, and have to dodge her. The least you can do is seem uninterested.” Fueled by her rage, she pressed the gas, a tad too long, as she drove onto the highway.
Then she like, “fine n—, treat your woman like hell”
But get your ass up out the car,
You walking home by yourself
She swervin’
She swervin’
“I’m sorry.” He spoke, sarcasm lacing his tone. “I’ll turn her down, let her get suspicious, convey those suspicions to her husband, and end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Actually, I know exactly where the hole is, considering I already dug it!”
“Now you’re just being dramatic! If you want to fuck her Elliot, by all means, do so. But don’t think that when you are done playing Eddie, having sex with whoever, and want to slip back into your life, Stabler,” she paused to emphasize his name, “That you can just crawl back into my bed like nothing happened. I’ve not survived 53 years, and have had plenty of sex, just to catch something because you can’t keep it in your pants on some random uc op.”
But you ain't picture perfect neither
I see the way you need her
Acts like you a hoe
But want respect like you Aretha
“Are you serious right now? You don’t trust me? After two years, all that we’ve been through? All that we have overcome, you still can’t trust me?”
“Around random women, Elliot? Women connected to your job? Your perps? No. If history is any indication…”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Is this about Angela?”
“Of course it’s about Angela! It’s about all of them Elliot. Angela, Flutura, Pheobe’s sister, the rando from the app, that 20 year old that was on your lap and had your tongue down her throat at that party at the bar, Kathy–”
“Oh don’t bring Kathy into this–”
“Why wouldn’t I bring up your ex-wife who you were married to for 40 years, share five children and ran halfway across the world with? Huh?”
“You forgot to mention, that we were divorced for five years before we moved back stateside. That is over and you know it. Plus she’s with Stan.”
“Dan. His name is Daniel and you know it. And I’ve heard the ‘we’re divorced’ speech before, so you can save it. Last time you spouted that, we got Eli.”
Elliot gave a sarcastic laugh, revving up for this argument to escalate. Before his voice could fill the space, the radio blared. “I wasn’t done talking.” He turned it back down low.
How come I can't yell at you
But you and me supposed to be equal
“Yeah, well I would rather listen to some basic song, than your lame excuses.” She turned the dial to raise the volume once again, drowning out his protests. The squabble grew as expected, voices strained and yelling. Interrupting each other at every turn.
A month gone, we back to yelling and bitching
Around and round like
Which picture, which club, which hoe
Olivia was going fast enough to garner a speeding ticket. Upset blinding her.
Yeah, left, right, switching lanes
Shawty driving wild and low
Me, I spin around my hat
You wipe off your cover-up
“Would you slow down? We don’t need you getting a speeding ticket on top of everything else.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. Maybe you should have driven your own car.”
“Are you going to argue with me about everything?”
“If everything you say is something I disagree with, yes.”
“You honestly can’t say you went a little too far while undercover? Be it sexual or otherwise?”
“No. Because I have self-control and act with decorum. Also, I wouldn’t put myself in such situations, because I have a brain.” She rolled her eyes at his inquisition.
“Need I remind you of a certain wildlife case in 2008? What if those guys would have– woah, look out! I told you to slow down.”
I don't got no time for no lies
Not a minute
You done lost your mind
Now you drive like a menace
“I know how to drive Elliot, you focus on your useless memories.”
“Don't you really think that if I wanted her, I would'a did it? I could’ve easily slept with her. Like you said, she was ready and willing. But no, I didn’t, because the only person I could think of at that moment, the only thoughts on my mind were, “I can’t do this to Liv.” “How do I get out of this?” I’ve wanted to be with you for so long, you think I’d throw it away for something so menial?”
If you wasn't my b—h
I’d be on an island or something
Ain't no questions
Sippin’ Mai Tai’s at a function
“You don’t think that I know that? The problem lies with your actions. They lead you to compromising positions that you then have to wiggle yourself out of. I’m angry because you don’t seem to notice the pattern; you don’t seem to realize that you put yourself in these situations. If you don’t understand that, then this conversation is for nothing and is over.” Olivia turned the radio up again, cutting him off from replying.
I love you but why you gotta hate though
“Liv–”
Seconds later, walking on the interstate though
“That sounds like a good idea. Keep talking, and that’s your future.” She agreed with the lyrics of the song.
Which picture, which club, which hoe
We just had this conversation 15 minutes ago
She swervin', woah, slow down
She swervin', slow down
Elliot sat back in his seat with a huff. Mind racing with things to say.
Then she like
"Fine n—, treat your woman like hell"
But get your ass up out the car
You walking home by yourself
She swervin', slow down
She swervin', slow down
The rest of the ride was silent, save for the radio, but this disagreement was far from over in his mind.