AN: I always have a lot of fun writing a summer fic. It's been a tradition as I always spend a week or two at my lake cabin this time of year, and it seems like a good time to write a fun fic. This is set early in S7, when Elliot is separated (but we're going to say he's divorced). I always like to keep them somewhat in character in my summer fics, but maybe they'll be a little naughtier than you'd think they would be. It's all just for fun. I don't need any guest reviewers telling me how awful Elliot is, nor people telling me that they wouldn't act like that. Let's just have some EO FUN! Thank you!

EOEOEO

"Ask Elliot." Casey muttered quietly, looking past Olivia as she said it.

Olivia was perched on the edge of her desk facing Casey, but she turned to look behind her to see what Casey was looking at. As she suspected, Elliot was walking into the squad room. He glanced up at them briefly as he moved towards his desk, butt stopped with one hand on the back of his chair as he saw Olivia and Casey staring at him. Olivia could see the question in his eyes. She turned around quickly to face Casey again. "I'm not asking Elliot." Olivia whispered emphatically as she heard the sound of Elliot's chair creaking as he took a seat, and that of paper shuffling as he got to work.

"C'mon." Casey whispered, moving in a little closer to Olivia so Elliot couldn't hear the conversation. "Everything is paid for already. You can't paddle a canoe by yourself. And we're leaving in 36 hours. Who else are you going to find to go?" She glanced back at Elliot and then turned her attention back to Olivia. "Plus…maybe this will be your chance."

Olivia saw a small smile grace Casey's lips and she cursed herself for ever saying anything to her about her attraction to Elliot. Of course, the relationship between them had been fodder for the rumor mill for years, but she had openly confessed one evening when they'd had a few drinks and she was feeling of certain sense of longing for what she couldn't have.

Olivia reached out and grabbed Casey's folded arms, propelling her backwards. Casey stumbled slightly but recovered as they moved several yards farther from Elliot and Olivia's conjoined desks. "I never should have told you that." Olivia bit out the words under her breath.

"I'm just teasing you." Casey said, but Olivia could tell she was just appeasing her. "But you guys would get along and he seems like he could be an outdoorsy kind of guy and like I said, you can't paddle a canoe by yourself."

"I could just stay home." Olivia said. "Problem solved." She couldn't believe she had let Casey talk her into this canoe trip in the first place. She had never done anything like it. Her experience with the outdoors was mostly limited to whatever she encountered in Central Park.

"Oh no." Casey said, shaking her head dramatically back and forth. "You promised me you'd go." She said, reaching out a hand and latching on to Olivia's arm, as if to keep her from running away. "I need someone on my side."

Olivia sighed heavily, knowing exactly why she had agreed. Casey's new boyfriend Dan had been adamant about taking her back to Wisconsin for the annual canoe trip he took with family and friends. Which meant that Casey was going to meet Dan's parents, siblings and best friends from the area. She had begged Olivia to come along for support, and at the time, it hadn't sounded so bad. One of Dan's sisters was going to be her partner in the canoe and Dan had talked about what a fun trip it was. It sounded like there was more floating and beer drinking than serious paddling, and although she wasn't sure about sleeping in a tent, it was something she'd never done before. She liked Dan, and owed Casey, so she had agreed.

And then Dan's sister had broken her leg and she was out.

"Please." Casey said. "I really need you to go. Dan said that everyone else that could go is already in, and the group is already small this year."

Olivia knew how much Casey really liked Dan. Christ…she had told Olivia she was madly in love and that he may be the one. And while one canoe trip wasn't going to make or break the relationship, it meant a lot to her. Because it meant a lot to Dan.

And a promise was a promise.

"OK, I'll still go." Olivia said, and she saw Casey visibly relax and her hand dropped from Olivia's arm. "I just don't know…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to come up with a suitable companion, but the truth was, there just wasn't anyone else she could call up and would be able to leave on such short notice. Or that she'd feel comfortable spending five or six days with. She turned again and looked at Elliot. He was reading through a report and making notations, but he must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up at her again. She could see the curiosity on his face, and knew he was probably wondering what the hell they were talking about. Olivia let out a sigh and turned back towards Casey. "OK. I'll ask him, but if he can't go, I'm not sure who else I can ask."

Casey smiled broadly. "Convince him, or I'll ask Munch."

Olivia laughed, but she wasn't really sure if Casey was joking or not. She was that desperate. Olivia let out another sigh. "I'm not going with Munch." She said definitively, just in case.

"Then you'd better start working on Elliot." Casey said. She figured Elliot would probably jump at the chance, because she was pretty confident that the attraction was mutual. In fact, if she'd been thinking more clearly, she would have figured out this angle when she'd first asked Olivia to come along. Of course, she realized the only reason this was working was because Olivia was backed into a corner. She nodded her head in Elliot's direction. "No time like the present." She said, giving Olivia a small smile. "Call me and confirm." Casey turned and walked out of the squad room before Olivia event had time to respond.

EOEOEOEO

Olivia stood rooted in place for a moment, and then turned slowly, thinking about the task ahead of her. She had hoped that Elliot was still distracted by the report on his desk, but no such luck. He was looking right at her and she could tell that he was wondering what she and Casey had been talking about so secretively. She found herself hoping that he wouldn't ask, assuming it was something personal that he wasn't privy too, but the look on his face told her that he wouldn't be able to resist prying just a little. He probably assumed it was about the upcoming canoe trip, because of course, he knew about it. After he'd grilled her on the details and seemed (secretly) appeased that she wasn't bringing along some secret boyfriend or being set up with a potential one, he'd teased her quite a bit about a city girl camping in the woods.

"Everything okay?" He asked as she pulled her chair back from the desk and sat down.

"Everything's fine." Olivia said, rearranging the reports and message slips on her desk and studiously avoiding his gaze.

"Hmm."

Olivia hated it when Elliot made that comment/sound. It meant he knew there was more to the story, and that he would just bide his time until she eventually told him.

Which of course, was true.

The man exasperated her sometimes.

Olivia tried to picture what it would be like to be sitting in a canoe with this man, paddling down a river somewhere in Wisconsin. But since she had no frame of reference, no image would come.

What she could imagine was that the weather might be hot, and that Elliot might take his shirt off.

What she could image is the way Elliot's muscles would flex while paddling.

What she could imagine is the way Elliot would look at her in her new shorts and bikini top she'd purchased for the days in the summer sun.

"Did you buy bug spray?"

Olivia looked up at Elliot, so lost in thought that his question didn't register. "What?"

"I asked if you bought bug spray. Like I suggested." Elliot repeated. "I imagine the bugs will be crazy there. Mosquitos and stuff."

Olivia shook her head. "No. Casey said that I only need to bring personal effects, like clothes and a towel. There is an outfitter that's providing the canoes and life jackets and stuff, and Dan and the others are bringing the food and everything else."

"I think that bug spray probably counts as a personal effect." Elliot said. He still couldn't imagine Olivia camping or canoeing. She was tough as nails in so many ways, but he wasn't sure how she would do against swarms of bugs intent on biting her, a grueling paddle down a river or sleeping on the ground. He would love to see it.

Olivia let out an exasperated huff. "I've got it under control." She said shortly.

"OK." Elliot leaned back in his chest and wove his fingers together behind his head. After a full pause, he forged ahead. "I'd just hate to see you covered in bites. That would make for a miserable trip."

The man truly was exasperating, and Olivia just shook her head, about to tell him to knock it off, when a text message flashed on her phone. Ask him.

Goddamn Casey. She knew her too well.

Olivia looked over towards Fin and Munch's desks, happy to see that they were in the middle of a pseudo argument about the facts of a case, with Munch leaning over Fin's desk and punctuating each point with an arm gesture. She noticed Elliot following her gaze with his own, and when she turned back towards him, he turned his back to her and stared at her expectantly.

"Was Casey mad that you were trying to back out of the trip?" Elliot asked, leaning forward again and resting is arms on his desk.

"What makes you think I was trying to back out of it?" Olivia asked, furrowing her brow.

Elliot shrugged. "It just doesn't seem like your kind of thing." He said. "Of course, now that I think about it, it doesn't even seem like Casey's kind of thing."

Olivia knew what Elliot was saying. When Casey had told her that she was going back to Wisconsin to go on a canoe trip, she had laughed and assumed she was joking. But Casey explained that he and a group of friends and family had been going for over twenty-five years. Each year, whomever could go would go, and the mix of people changed and morphed as people broke up with significant others, got married or divorced, kids were born (so they had to stay home), work intervened or someone was away at college. Whatever the circumstances, there was a core group of six that typically went. Dan, Dan's two sisters, Vicky and Andrea, Dan's brother Kevin, and Dan's best friends Mike and Phil.

This year was slightly different. Dan was bringing Casey…and he'd never brought a girlfriend before. Both Mike and Phil were bringing fiancée's…another new twist. Dan's sister Vicky had just had a baby, as had his brother Kevin and his wife, so neither could come. And neither could anyone else. So, it was down to Dan's sister Andrea, and she had needed a partner.

Dan had suggested that Casey bring a friend so that she wasn't overwhelmed with the group that knew each other so well, and Casey had jumped at the idea.

And Casey had decided that friend was Olivia.

And then Andrea broke her leg.

"Casey has a sense of adventure, and she's gone camping before."

"And she really likes Dan." Elliot added.

"And that's why I agreed to go. That's what friends are for." Olivia said, punctuating that last part a little.

"And you don't mind that she's going to be snuggling close to Dan and you're going to sitting by the fire with Dan's sister?"

"It's not going to be like that." Olivia said, not believing it for a minute. She had already anticipated the couple's sneaking off and her and Andrea getting drunk by the fire. Even though Dan had assured them the trip wasn't like that. "Besides." Olivia paused for a moment. She hadn't really thought about how to navigate this situation. "Dan's sister can't go."

Elliot raised an eyebrow, hearing the halting way in which she was releasing the information. It was as if she was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear. She had already confirmed that she was going on the trip, which meant that another person had been lined up to take the sister's place. He swore under his breath. He'd been happy with it had been revealed that Olivia wasn't taking some guy or being matched up with a bachelor friend or brother or cousin. But now…things had obviously changed. "And?" He prompted, uncertain if he was ready to hear the answer.

"Well…" Olivia started, glancing back over towards Munch and Fin again before training her eyes back on Elliot. "Casey thought it might be a good idea if you go." She said quickly, making it clear that Casey was the one that had suggested it. "You already planned on taking the time off and you said you didn't have anything planned…" Her voice trailed off as she saw the look of surprise on his face. "I know you were going to spend some time with the kids but…" She shrugged. "Casey thought maybe you'd like to go." Olivia looked expectantly at him, surprised he hadn't said anything. "Everything is already paid for, so you'd just have to get a plane ticket." Olivia realized she was rambling, and she stopped. When Elliot didn't say anything for a full minute, she started to wonder if she had really overstepped. Maybe he really had been looking forward to a week away from her. "If you can't…" She started but Elliot interrupted her.

"Casey thought it would be a good idea for me to go?"

"She knew you had the time off already."

"Huh." He said. "It wasn't your idea?" Elliot asked.

"Listen." Olivia said, just wanting a yes or no answer. "Casey really wants me to go. I can't paddle a canoe by myself and there's no room for me to be a third in someone else's canoe with all the gear, so I need to find someone that can go on short notice. And Casey suggested that maybe you could go. But if you don't want to…" She glanced over at Jon, trying to sort through alternatives in her mind. It couldn't come down to Munch or Fin.

"I never said I didn't want to go." Elliot said and Olivia's head whipped back to look at him. "I just wanted to see if you're okay with it."

"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't okay with it." Olivia said shortly, even though she wasn't exactly sure how this was going to play out.

"You made a huge point of saying that Casey wanted…"

"Christ Elliot." Olivia said, louder than she anticipated. "Are you going to go or not?" She heard her phone buzz with an incoming text, and she didn't have to look down to see who it was from.

Elliot gave her a slow smile, which almost infuriated her more because there was a knowing behind it, as if he knew something that she did not.

"Of course, I'll go." He leaned back in his chair. "It'll be fun." He watched her for a moment as she got used to the idea.

"Good." She said, nodding her head. "It'll be fun." She repeated, unsure if that was for her benefit or for Elliot's. In the course of just 30 minutes, the whole tone of the trip had changed. She had gone to worrying about bugs and sleeping on the hard ground to worrying about dynamics between she and Elliot. She was still trying to wrap her head around the change when Elliot interrupted her thoughts.

"What do I need to bring?" Elliot asked, turning to practical matters as he contemplated a week in the wilderness with Olivia.

Olivia pushed herself up from her desk. "You just need to bring clothes and personal effects." She said, repeating what she'd told him before. She scooped up her phone, intending to go to the cribs and call Casey back with the news, but before she could make her way out the door, she turned back towards him. "And just FYI, you're in charge of bringing the damn bug spray."