Note: I don't own any of these characters. Dick Wolf does. But in later chapters I might create new characters. Possibly kids. : - )

(At the Special Victims Precinct. Elliot is sitting in his chair, deep in thought. Olivia walks in with the news.)

"We came in just in time. He didn't rape her." Olivia says, relieved.

"Do you think I froze? Is that why you fired first?" Elliot asks curiously.

Olivia starts to look at him confused. She waits for him to make eye contact with her. Apparently though, he seems too out of it to even lift his head up. After what seemed like forever, Olivia finally answered. "I fired first because I knew you'd kill him."

"He deserves to die!" Elliot says bluntly.

"Well maybe he does, but remember he wanted you to kill him. He would've wanted you to remember that you were the one who killed him." Olivia's voice was comforting, reassuring. Something Elliot was so used to. He loved it when her voice was like that. It made him feel better, and most importantly, it made him feel loved.

Ever since Kathee and him divorced, his feelings for his partner started becoming stronger and stronger. He always had feelings for her but it was always strictly professional. They were best friends and nothing more. But it was something Kathee didn't believe. She always thought he was sleeping with Olivia.

(Flash back to three months ago.)

"Don't fuckin' lie to me El! I know you're screwing around with Olivia! You are ALWAYS with her!"

"GOSH KATHEE! WE'RE PARTNERS! HOW THE FUCK ELSE WOULD I BE DOING MY JOB IF WE WEREN'T TOGETHER ALL THE TIME!"

"OK THEN WHY THE HELL DO YOU ALWAYS COME HOME EARLY IN THE FUCKIN' MORNING DRUNK AND SHIT HUH! IT'S LIKE YOU'RE NOT EVEN HERE ANYMORE! YOU'RE BRAIN IS ALWAYS GONE! WHEN WE'RE IN BED TOGETHER I ALWAYS HAVE TO SMELL YOUR BREATH AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING IT ISN'T VERY COMFORTING WHEN MY OWN HUSBAND HAS HIS ARMS WRAPPED AROUND ME WHILE SMELLING LIKE BEER AND PERFUME!"

"Fuckin' A Kathee! I'M NOT SCREWING LIV!"

(Back to present.)

"El? Hello El? EARTH TO EL!" Olivia starts raising her voice a little.

"Huh! Sorry. Yeah. That'll be great. Let's go eat. I'm STARVING!" Elliot replies back, snapping back to reality.

The car ride to Pete's Deli was quite and comforting. The mood was nice for both of the partners. This case was very demanding, especially for Elliot. He needed some time to relax and not think of anything. Not the case, the kids, not even Kathee.

Olivia couldn't help but stare at her partner. He was very deep in thought again, something he's been doing a lot lately since the divorce. Although he was deep in thought, there was something more about him that made the night peaceful. All caught up in the mood, Liv, unintentionally lifted up her hand from her lap, slowly towards the steering wheel, and caught Elliot's hands in hers then setting their now joined fingers onto the seat rest that was sitting in between them. Elliot didn't realize this until he felt someone else's hands in his. He knew it wasn't his own hands because it was smaller and plus his other hand was on the steering wheel. His shocked look looked over to his partner who just innocently batted her eyelashes. He smiled at this shocking gesture.

"'Wow!' he thought to himself, 'I didn't know she'd be like this!'"

After what seemed like forever, they arrived at Pete's Deli. Elliot parked the car right in front of the door of the deli. Once he got out of the car, he walked over to the other side and opened Liv's door. Reaching out his hand, Liv, smiling, grabbed it and allowed him to lead her to the deli.

"I don't know about you, but I don't feel like eating our dinner here. How 'bout we take – out?" Elliot asked, seemingly serious.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever you want El." Shocked by the change of plan, Liv shrugged her shoulders.

They got in the car again and unintentionally drove to Olivia's apartment. Elliot was glad to get there quickly because he couldn't wait until they were done eating. So many thoughts have been running thru his head that he doesn't know how to act on them. He was hopping Olivia would act on them for him since she always seems to know what to do.

Olivia led Elliot to the long hallway to her apartment. She was hungry and couldn't wait to get home. When they got to her apartment, which was on the very end of the hallway, she got her keys out and unlocked her door. She turned on the lights as Elliot set up the food on the table. Then they both sat down eating their food. Elliot had a Philly Cheese Steak while Olivia had her usual Chicken Salad. They sat and talked about the case and Elliot's kids.

"I'm so glad that Gorden Rickett didn't rape that poor girl. She was so shocked. I'm so glad we were in the basement. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what I'd think of myself if she got hurt." Olivia said.

"Yeah. I don't know what I would've done with myself either. Seeing that girl reminded me so much of Maureen. That's why I was about to kill Gorden. I didn't like the image of my oldest daughter getting rapped and beaten inside my head."

"Speaking of Maureen, how are the kids doing?"

"They're fine. I'm glad they're not angry at me. Maureen told me that all of them want to move out of Kathee's house and live with me. She told me that Kathee has been going crazy. She's poppin' pills more than ever and hasn't been sleeping. You have no idea how relieved I was when she told me they wanted to live with me! Gosh I just miss my kids so much! It hurts, literally hurts." Elliot was trying to fight back the tears, but Olivia knew him too well not to see them. She knew that whenever he'd mention the kids he'd start to break down. It was too much for him. And she didn't want to admit it, but it was also too much for her. She couldn't stand what Kathee was doing to him.

Soon, they were both done eating their food. As always, Liv opened the fridge and got two bottles of beer out. One for her and one for El. This has been a long night for the both of them. And without knowing it, both were happy to just be in each other's company. They were best friends. Or were they more now that he was divorced?