Late at night, around 11 p.m, Olivia shoved the pillows off to the side of the couch and changed positions. It was a Saturday night and she still couldn't sleep. This was her night off, it had been a particularly grueling week, and all she wanted to do was unwind. 11:00. Too early to sleep, too late to really do anything. Olivia flipped through the channels and all she could find were crime dramas. She didn't need to watch them-she lived them. For a minute she thought about calling her partner, Elliot, but knew she couldn't. It was probably his weekend with the kids. She remembered him saying something about it but she purposely tuned him about. She didn't want to let herself know his schedule.

After all, that was part of their job duties-they needed to be able to reach each other, to know where the other one was at, to share information pertaining to a case. But this was different, and she needed to keep it that way. Just as she had to have strict boundaries in her work identity, it was even more important that she keep them for her personal life. Things didn't always work out that way, however.

For example, she knew that Casey was on a date with a guy that Olivia had went to school with, and that Casey was looking forward to it. But for some reason with Elliot, it was different. Probably because he was male. That must be it. After all, she couldn't really picture Munch out for a night with the ladies, so that's the reason she didn't want to picture Elliot out on his free weekends. Some things are better left unknown.

Okay, this is nuts, she thought. Time to leave work behind. I'm not dead after all. Time for a girl's night out.

Elliot was pissed. His wife, or soon to be ex wife, had made last minute plans with the kids. It wasn't like her to do that, but then again, he hadn't been divorced from her long enough to really know what she would be like on "his" weekends. Yes, the kids all had friends, and he understood that. It was great, but just not on his time. He even argued with Kathy when he went to pick up his kids and they weren't there.But the guilt of the separation had taken its toll on him, and he wasn't really in the mood to argue with his kids. It was bad enough that they had seen some of the fights between their parents.

Actually, truth be told, he really could use a free weekend. This week had been especially bad, and he had even had to go talk to someone about this case. They had found a man that was suspected of rape. Elliot didn't even think for the second that this guy was innocent. He was guilty, and the worst part was, that it looked as if he might walk. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was about this particular case that just torn at him. The shrink suggested that the fact that a child was born of that rape was the fact that bothered him so much. After all, that was the circumstance in which his partner, Olivia, had been born. Of course, Elliot dismissed it as shrink talk, that they all just tried to connect things for no reason.

Enough of this, he thought. He knew what he needed to do next.

A few drinks later Elliot was feeling pretty good. He'd run into a couple of guys he knew from the gym, and they managed to enjoy the evening. He almost forgot how pissed off at Kathy he was. Hell, he'd even caught a few girls checking him out. Force of habit, he looked down at his wedding ring. She'd stopped wearing hers even before the divorce was final, but he wasn't ready to remove his quite yet. That thought depressed him, so he decided it was time for another drink.

"Be right back guys."

As he made his way through the crowd he thought he heard a familiar voice. He turned around and a few feet away from him and sure enough, it was Olivia. He was about to go over to tease her about being there, but she was clearly having a great time. Besides, she sure cleaned up nicely. He was used to seeing her in her work attire, and he turned away quickly fearing she might spot him.

"Hey!"

Okay so she spotted him. He turned around again, but was more than a little disappointed. The friendly greeting wasn't directed towards him after all, but rather towards her date. Who, in his opinion, wasn't all that attractive. She could do better. But hey, what did he know about love?

And it wasn't like Olivia was in love. It was a date. Certainly not one that was important or he'd have heard about it. Since she was with a group he surmised it was a blind date, and he laughed. He'll hear all about it after all. But he stopped to give her one last look before turning back to his friends.

Although he tried to keep conversation going with his buddies, Elliot couldn't concentrate. He was distracted , but he couldn't pinpoint what was bothering him. The curse of having a cop's instinct was that he couldn't turn it off, even on his night off.

In fact, if he hadn't been so distracted he might have noticed that Olivia had spotted him. Actually she was very happy to see him. Her friends had been teasing her about always been a cop, even on her days off. She didn't want them to know about Elliot. After all, she needed to keep her job and personal life separate. But that didn't mean she couldn't say hi.

She was excusing herself, making her way over to say hi when she saw him laughing with a group of friends. Including one blonde that was awfully friendly with him. So Olivia said nothing, and went back to her group of friends. Must have a thing for blondes, she figured. For some reason that irritated the crap out of her.

"So Liv… How was your weekend?"Elliot asked as he poured some coffee Monday morning. "Want some?"

"Not really." She didn't realize how curtly she'd responded. She went on her way, not making eye contact, and preceded over to her desk.

If he didn't know better he could have sworn Olivia was mad at him. Like a big brother who couldn't resist picking on his sister, he followed her to her desk.

"What's wrong? Date night go bad?"

She glared at him. How dare he come over to rub it in her face that he had a perfectly great time on his date Saturday night, while she was stuck on the blind date from hell? The man her friend introduced her to was a perfectly nice guy, but he wasn't exactly her type. He was an accountant, and other than the fact they lived in New York City, they had nothing in common. Her friend Lilly had snuck to the restroom to page Olivia , faking an emergency at the station,so she got the out that she needed to end the date.

"How's Kathy?" She didn't even look at him. He had some nerve questioning her about her love life. She knew that if she looked up she would have caught a pained expression on his face, and she didn't want to feel bad for him. All she wanted to do today was get going on her job without any hassle from anyone. In this day and age she certainly didn't feel like she needed to justify her love life with anyone. Deep down Olivia felt more than a little sad at the knowledge that those kinds of questions were appropriate for family members. This was going to be a great day, she sighed.

"I know when I'm not wanted." He paused, trying to get a reaction from her, to no avail. "Get that a lot lately." He walked away.

"Elliot."

She had been out of line and she knew it. She just couldn't let anyone push her buttons, not even her long time partner.

"You forgot your coffee."

"Right." He caught Munch sneaking in late and decided to give him some grief about it.

"hot date keeping you up at night? Can't even make it to work on time?" Elliot laughed. As soon as Fin heard that remark, he, too, joined his coworkers at the watercooler. He never could resist an opportunity to give Munch some grief.

Great, Oliva sighed. Elliot couldn't stop joking to everyone about dates. It was obvious to her what was on his mind. That blond must have made one heck of an impression on him.

Then the gold ring on her partner's hand caught her eye. She felt guilty for thinking those thoughts. She knew the divorce had been hell on Elliot, so she couldn't begrudge him a little action in her date. She shook her head without even realizing it. The last thing that she wanted to think about was Elliot and another woman. After all, he needed to be able to stay focused on his job. In no way was he ready for another relationship, she decided. She could only hope that he would share her point of view.

Olivia's conscious got the better of her, and she wanted to apologize for the comment about Kathy.But as soon as she looked up from her desk, Elliot had obviously forgotten about it. There he was, still laughing with Munch and Fin. She knew that he probably hadn't even given her a second thought.

Right, she thought. He's her partner. Not family, not friend. Before she could think about it further Cragen bellowed her to his office. She grinned. Not too often she looked forward to his grilling but this time she did. Back to business as usual.

Another hard day at work. The case of a serial rapist had been particularly draining on everyone. Olivia in particular had had a very tough time with this one. The man had fathered a child from one of those rapes. Casey had prosecuted him for the assault, but he had had a very good and high-priced attorney. The truth of the child's paternity had been revealed during the trial. As a result, the father was suing for custody. The mother had turned to alcohol to numb the pain that he had caused. But she still functioned as a mother. In fact she was a very good mother. She dedicated her life to making things better for her son. Her son, who was seven, had severe autism. He was unable to connect with the outside world. When he was over stimulated he covered his ears loudly. Anita hadn't been able to afford many things for her son. She was a single mom who worked as a waitress. She certainly couldn't provide any tutors or assistants for her son. Public assistance simply covered the basic medical bills.

Joe Madison, the father, saw an opportunity. He came from a well known family. He was a dentist, and could provide the material things that Adam's mother couldn't. In fact, the anesthesia he used in his practice is what he had used to assist in his sexual assault of Anita. But, as often happens, money talks. He had been found not guilty by a jury of his peers. And now he felt free to sue for custody of his son.

Captain Cragen had suggested that Olivia and Elliot join him after work for a cocktail. Of course, he wouldn't touch a drink. His sobriety was a blessing and a curse. He'd witnessed many horrific crimes that he wanted badly to erase from his mind. It would be so easy to take that first drink. Somehow, through the years, and with the help of a terrific A.A. sponsor, he'd realized that first drink would never be enough. He had another drunk in him, but he didn't think he would have another recovery. Above all, however, he had learned that he owed it most of all to the victims that he helped to stay sober. They needed an objective advocate, and he tried at all times to be that voice. Cragen looked over at the team, staring blankly a little longer than what was normal. Elliot was the protector, Olivia the mother figure. And the captain had to be the voice of reason no matter what.

Objectivity- a trait that even the best of law enforcement could lose at times. And he prided himself on his team; he counted on them to be the best of the best. Olivia was tough as nails, and her compassion for victims filled a void that could never be replaced if she were to ever leave. She had turned her tragic circumstances into an opportunity to make her world a better place, and he would always respect her for that. Resentment for lesser problems caused many good cops to leave their jobs or become corrupted.

Then there was Elliot. Fearless and relentless in his pursuit of the perps, he nonetheless was a hothead. There was no way around that fact. Cragen had put his own reputation on the line for some of Elliot's behaviors. And he would continue to do so, for Elliot was an asset to the force. Sometimes he could have, and should have, showed more restraint in his arrests. But overall Elliot was a man of virtue. Right or wrong, he always stuck to his guns so to speak. It would be impossible not to respect a man who was so committed to his beliefs. His divorce was extremely difficult for Elliot. More than once the captain offered to open his door for his detective anytime. It was a gesture that he made sparingly, and Elliot recognized it. But he insisted on not bringing his problems to work; actually, Cragen noticed, he was working longer hours than usual. He slept more at the station's unit than he did at his house.

Meanwhile Eliot kept glancing at Olivia. Maybe it was his imagination but she seemed to be avoiding his looks. Ordinarily he would have found a moment to ask her if she was okay. But considering her coldness to him on the previous workday, and the circumstances of today's case, he thought better of it. She was a stubborn and hard-headed woman, and she would come around if she wanted to. Their partnership could never have lasted as long as it had without the give and take of trust. They had some bickering over the years, but that was to be expected. Tensions flew high in their line of work. Elliot had made the mistake in his marriage in taking his frustrations out on Kathy. His now ex-wife never had been unable to understand the reasons for that anger. But Olivia could. Her understanding had helped him throughout the darkest days of his life. When his marriage had fallen apart, it was Olivia who he confided in. Munch was great in that he could trade divorce horror stories with him. And of course, Fin also had had his share of baby mama drama, in Fin's own words. His buddies could always be counted on to help him lighten up.

But it was Olivia in whom he had confided in. She would never betray him, and he appreciated that fact. Eventually his own wife couldn't understand him anymore, and she left for good. He could never admit to his partner that he couldn't stand it when she was angry with him.

Right now, however, his partner was angry.

" Casey screwed up. I can't believe the way she handled, or mishandled the prosecution. She might have well been working for the defense! "

Cragen raised his eyebrow. Personally he agreed with Olivia. His years of working with different personality types had taught him to remain silent when need be. The two women had different ways of confronting problems. Casey preferred to play things by the book, while Olivia had, like Elliot, been known to take liberties in certain situations. In this case, he decided to play devil's advocate.

"Olivia, you knew that the paternity would have to come out in court. There was no way that Casey could lie about it." He continued before she could have a chance to interrupt. " I completely agree with you. That child's best interest is clearly with the mother. But that is not our call to make."

Olivia shook her head. " Because of her that innocent child will have to pay the price. Not only does the mother have to live with what he did every day of her life, but she has chosen to raise her child. She does a damn good job, too, because not everyone in her situation would do as well. Just because she's poor does not give that idiot a right to take her child away from her! He already took enough."

The trio became quiet. The men knew that Olivia was right, and there was a reason she was so compassionate. She had tried to say the reason she was so passionate about this case was because the child had special needs. True, that was a big part of it. But both Cragen and Elliot knew that she was fighting for someone the way she would have wanted someone to fight for her.

"Liv…" Elliot said gently as he lightly brushed her arm. "it's out of your hands now."

"No, Elliot. Don't you dare defend Casey. Maybe you should work for her, if that's how you really feel."

"no that's not what I mean, and you know that."

"I'm just saying that you don't seem to understand that the system has violated her once again. And you can sit there and defend Casey for her role in this."

"okay you two." Cragen motioned the server for the bill. He handed him a twenty. "Keep the change. And you two, " he glanced sternly at his detectives, "will be catching a cab home. I will personally see to that." He shook his head. Sometimes they acted more like brother and sister than partners. He always worried about that bond, and was concerned that it would, at one point, do more harm than good. But knew that Elliot needed stability at this point in his life more than ever. Honestly, Cragen did not know how long Stabler would last if he didn't have his job, his coworkers, - and Olivia.

That is all for right now, I am currently working on the next part. This is my very first fanfic, so I would really appreciate any feedback!