1As Time Passes By

They stood, gazing in turn at each other and over the ledge of the rooftop, Munch's arm tightly around Olivia's waist, and her arm draped lazily over his shoulders, pulling him close.

"You know," He said, disbelief and pleasure combined thickening the sound of his voice, he had to swallow before he continued speaking, " I never - not in my lifetime - imagined this could happen."

"This? You mean us?" Olivia adjusted her position in his arms, so she could see his face properly before she said, "I've been waiting for this moment since I was twelve years old.

"I just still can't believe it's real." As if to make sure it was, he laid a tender kiss on her lips briefly. He could get used to doing that.

Olivia let a sound escape her lips that was a mixture of a laugh and a sigh,

"Having doubts already, John? Our relationship has reached as life has reached a life span of a little under one hour. It must be a record!" She exclaimed, amusement and sarcasm dripping from her voice. Munch, however, could not tell if she was upset or not. He immediately reassured her,

"I'm not having doubts, Livvie. I'm just in shock. I'm numb. But it;'s a very good kind of numb, you know? It's like morphine or pot, not that I've ever used any of those but- "

"John!" Olivia slapped him on his shoulder, "You only ramble like this when you're tired or nervous. Which one is it?"

"You know me to well," He muttered, and then, "both." He heaved a sigh and turned so he was slouched over the ledge of the building.

"What we're doing...here, now, this whole new relationship we've got going on...what if we're caught? If IAB found out..." He trailed off and looked away from her. She grabbed his shoulders, rubbed them comfortingly for a moment, and then gently spun him around to face her.

She gave him a small, reassuring smile and asked, "Do you honestly thin Fin, Elliot or the Captain would hand us over to IAB?"

"Well...no. I guess not."

"Then we have absolutely nothing to worry about." She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Now just shut up for a minute, stop worrying, and kiss me."

Munch obeyed, crashing his lips to hers, wrapping one hand around her waist again and tangling the other in her auburn, highlighted hair.

When they pulled apart for air, Munch commented lightly, as if stating an obvious and interesting fact,

"You know, I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to relationships."

"I know." She replied just as casually, her fingers absently playing with a stray piece of his short, sliver hair.

"I can be a real smart-ass." he said in a voice that sounded almost sing-song. She chuckled, and scoffed playfully before responding,

"Now I definitely know that. But that's okay, because I'm a smart-ass sometimes too."

"Yeah, well, you learned from the best." he said dryly, before he decided to continue stating the obvious ,

"I'm old, I'm over fifty." She raised her eyebrows at him then,

"And I'm over forty John, so what?"

She sighed, "Stop trying to warn me about the person I know you are, the person I already love, okay?"

"Okay."

They stood in silence for a moment, gazing into the New York City sky, until Munch spoke up, quiet and hesitant.

"...I never let anyone else call me Johnny."

Olivia whipped around so she could look at him curiously.

"What?"

He clarified, "As a kid, no one ever called me Johnny. I used to tell them I hated it." Now she looked through his shaded glasses, into his eyes, showing an even deeper curiosity than before.

"Then why? Why, all those years ago, did you tell me to call you that?"

He paused for a moment to think about the answer before responding. When he did, his voice was filled with emotion.

"Because when I saw you, it's almost as if I subconsciously knew you were special. You somehow had this vibe, this angelic face that told me that you wouldn't pity or judge me. You were someone who didn't already know me as the person my whole family thought I was. So I guess... I guess that night with you, on that rooftop, I started over. I gave myself a new identity."

After a few minutess of silence, both of them absorbing what had just been spoken, Munch suddenly felt the need to pull Olivia close again, to hug her. So he did just that.

Olivia smiled, and snuggled comfortably into his embrace.

"And now," She began, " I guess we're starting over again. Together." She took his glasses of and looked him in the eye meaningfully, "It's just you and me Johnny, building a whole new future for ourselves. What do you say to that?"

He caressed her cheek delicately, almost as if she was fragile, and then kissed her deeply.

" I say, bring it on."

"I'm Olivia." She said confidently, "Who are you?"

"You can call me Johnny."

The End