I am back! After quite a bit….! This is a story I started about a year ago, but at the time I didn't know exactly what to do with it, so it never saw the light of the day, until now… And you have to thank my dear(s) mrandmrsstabler for it, cause I sent a bit of the story to them and the one half of this genius duo, Kate, was like you HAVE GOT to do something with it! Soo my inspiration kicked in again and voila! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own them and please don't make me start about it.. after this season I have sooo many things I'd like to say, but we'll need a whole new chapter :p

"Olivia?" No answer. "Liv?" Silent. "What the hell Liv?" Finally Olivia took her eyes from what seemed like the empty space in front of her and glanced at Ellliot's direction.

"Yeah?" she said absently. Elliot gave her a funny look.

"Liv I've been trying to get your attention for like a minute now. What's going on?"

Olivia rubbed her forehead with her hand.

"Ahh nothing, you know I'm just so tired." And as if to highlight her point she let out a small yawn. "Anyway, what did you want?"

"Not me, Cragen. He wants you in his office"

Olivia nodded and with the absent look still in her face she rose from her chair and made her way to Cragen's office, feeling Elliot's eyes fixed on her back the whole time.

"Hey Cap. You asked for me?" She said after knocking softly at Cragen's door.

"Yes Olivia, sit please" when she did as he said, they just stood in silence for some seconds

"So?" Olivia asked finally. Cragen stared at her for some more seconds with what she could tell was a sympathetic look she didn't really like, before talking.

"How are you Olivia?" she looked at him confused

"Fine Cap. But I don't understand…"

"We both know that 'fine' is bullshit." He interrupted her. His eyes were still fixated on her and she averted her gaze so as to look at the wall behind him.

"When was the last time you slept Liv?" his tone was serious, concerned. She shrugged, still not looking directly at him

"A couple of days ago"

"Try a couple of weeks". She didn't respond. He let out a sigh

"Liv, I want you to take some personal time off" Finally that got her attention

"Cap, is that necessary? I mean I had a few rough weeks but that doesn't mean anything"

" Olivia you and I both know that this is a lie" Olivia looked at him. Tears were threating to escape her eyes. Deep down she knew that this was coming.

"Please, Captain don't do this…" she whispered

"Olivia, listen to me. You need time and no one will think less of you because of that. You don't have to explain anything to anyone, just take some weeks off, maybe go on a trip. It will help, trust me"

Olivia whipped away some tears that had fell down her cheek and nodded

"Ok Captain" she stood up and headed for the door and was ready to exit the room when Cragen spoke again

"Olivia, did you tell Elliot?"

Olivia stood still and turned to look at him

"No" she simply said and left.

Back at her apartment, Olivia was lying on her couch, staring at the ceiling. She enjoyed and hated the silence of her place at the same time. She was trying very hard to fight off the tiredness that made her sleepy but after some more minutes she inevitably drifted off.

"No, no, NO! "

"Shut up! "

"No! Let go of me! LET GO OF ME!"

"You bite me, and you're dead!"

"NO!"

Olivia woke up by her own scream. She was panting and big drops of sweat were running down her body. She lifted herself from the couch and started pacing up and down the living room. She shouldn't have let herself fall asleep, it was a mistake but she just couldn't keep her eyes open. The last few weeks it seemed like every time she closed her eyes, she was back there and the nightmare begun all over again. She could see his cold blooded eyes staring at her with a sick satisfaction, she could feel his hot breath at the back of her neck…

Olivia stopped and slammed her fist against the wall, oblivious to the pain it caused. Lowell Harris was dominating her thoughts but this had to stop now. He had assaulted her body and she wouldn't let him assault her mind too.

She suddenly headed towards the kitchen were she opened a drawer and picked a world map from inside it. She unfolded it on the table and stared at it for some moments. Cragen was right, she needed out, and a trip sounded like a good idea. But where should she head to? After some thinking, she decided that fate would choose for her so she closed her eyes, raised a finger. For a second she felt stupid and corny for doing this…

"What the hell? How much worse things could go?"

And so without thinking a second time, she placed it somewhere on the map. She glanced down to see where fate would send her. When she saw, her eyes opened wide in surprise but then a smile was drawn on her face

She went to her bedroom, opened the closet and pulled out a big suitcase. Then she stared at her clothes for some moments, wondering if she had to go shopping. She needed light clothing because as far as she knew, the weather was hot in Greece this time of the year.

Three days later, Olivia was sitting on the plane waiting for it to depart. She already felt kind of calmer, knowing that tomorrow this time, she'll be strolling around Greece's capital, Athens, and who knows, she might visit one of Greece's islands as well, during her stay there. The last days she was surprised to find herself really looking forward to the trip. She wasn't a vacation person, she would spend all her time off, happily wandering around the city. But going on an entirely different country on an entire different continent all by herself? That was new, but she had a very strong feeling that it was the best choice for her under the circumstances.

Cragen was right, she needed out for a bit. Her thoughts drifted back to the precinct and to one particular person… She bit her lip thinking the fit he was going to throw after he'd found out that she left, pretty much without saying a word.

At the same time back at the precinct Elliot was re-reading the letter in front of him for the tenth time.

El,

I'll be gone for a few weeks on a trip. I'm sorry that you have to find out that way but if I'd told you in person you'd probably ask questions that I'm not ready to answer yet. Don't try and call me, I won't pick up. I promise that I'll call you when I'll feel ready. I just need some time. Please try to understand

Love

Liv

"Damn it Liv" he muttered.

Since Sealview he knew something was off with her, but he couldn't bring her to talk about it no matter what. She had convinced everyone else that she was fine but not him. He gave her space in the hope that she'll come around and talk to him eventually but that never happened and now she had left without even telling him about it. It was killing him thinking that whatever had happened to that basement pushed her so far away from him

At this moment Cragen got out of his office and seeing him holding the letter wearing a lost expression, he went and stood above him.

"Olivia didn't tell you that she was going to leave" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"No" Elliot answered without turning his gaze away from the letter "Did she tell you?"

"I was the one who told her to take some time off" Elliot moved his eyes from the letter to Cragen.

"It has to do with Sealview, doesn't it" once again, it wasn't a question. Cragen didn't answer immediately

"She'll talk to you when she'll be ready Elliot" he said finally and went away, leaving Elliot staring at Olivia's empty desk.

Olivia leaned back at her seat trying to find a comfortable position. There were still four more hours to go until they would land in Athens and she could barely keep her eyes open. But every time she felt like drifting to sleep, she forced herself to stay awake. She was dreading that as usual Lowell Harris would visit her in her dreams and she would wake up screaming, freaking out the rest passengers of the plane.

Seeking for something to distract her, she looked outside the window. For the last couple of hours all she could see was the Atlantic ocean but now as she stared at the horizon, a land was starting to show up. She took a glance at the screen in front of her that was keeping track of the plane's route and saw that the land was none other than the coast of Great Britain. A big grin was drawn to her face then. She had never been to Europe before and the more they were getting closer to their destination, the more this trip felt real to her. Her smile broadened even more when she realized that she didn't feel sleepy any more.

Several hours later, Olivia was exiting the airport and heading to where cabs were waiting. She got to the first one and after the driver helped her putting her suitcase on the trunk she got inside and gave him the address of the hotel.

During the drive, Olivia kept looking out of the window. Athens was so much different from New York. She might have been the capital of Greece and be considered a big city, but on an entire different way from New York. The tallest building here was on the height of the shortest in Manhattan. Olivia smiled to herself thinking that she would really have a nice time exploring Athens.

Some hour later she arrived to her hotel, which was located to the center of the city in an area called Plaka. She got to her room and excitedly dropped her bag on the floor while moving towards the window. She pulled the curtains aside and grinned at the scenery that was revealed in front of her eyes. The room had a wonderful view of Acropolis, Greece's most significant and glorious landmark.

Although it was only morning there, back in New York would be pitch black now and Olivia knew that it was going to take some days for her to adjust to this new time zone.

She let herself fall back to the bed that occupied the corner of the room near the window. From where she lay, she could still see the Acropolis. After some minutes lying like that Olivia felt her eyelids growing heavy. She had forced herself to lay awake for so long but know she couldn't hold back any longer. She fell asleep hoping that she would fall into a peaceful, free of dreams sleep.

I believe I promised you a handsome and mysterious stranger, didn't I? No worries! he will make his appearance on the next chapter and rattle Olivia's world! Till then review! xoxo Kate