A/N: A new beginning...short, to set up the story.

DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and all related characters. TStabler owns the following story.

"Just relax," Olivia told the young woman next to her in the interrogation room. "Tell them the truth, they're not here to hurt you, they're here to..."

"Help me," the young girl whispered. "I know." She looked up at Olivia with sad, scared eyes, her body was visibly trembling. "How much trouble am I in?"

Olivia offered a smile. "None," she promised the girl. "You were only protecting yourself. Your mother woke up and pressed charges, that's the only reason you even have to do this. It's all going to be okay."

The girl nodded, then shot her eyes toward the opening door. She watched a tall man in a suit walk into the room, pull out the chair with a metallic screech, and sit across from her.

"Madison," he began, "Before we start, I want to tell you that your mother is going to be okay. She's a little disoriented, possible concussion, but she's just fine." He looked at her, then, his eyes almost searching hers. "And according to the doctor, she's beyond drunk, so we know you weren't lying to us. Charges have been dropped. "

The girl heaved a relieved sigh. "So...what do you want from me now?"

"You're not the bad guy here, sweetheart," the detective told her. He slid a yellow notebook and pen over to her and said, "We need a written statement, so that we can either get your mother the help she needs so this never happens again..." he paused, and his eyes found Olivia's. "Or we make sure she can't hurt you anymore, by...um..."

"You're gonna put her in jail," Madison understood. "Or rehab?" She scoffed. "Do you know how many times she's been in and out of programs? She comes home fine and happy for two days, then she drinks herself stupid and tries to kill me, so whatever you think you're gonna change..."

"Trust me," Olivia interrupted. "This ends tonight, you just need to give us the whole story. Start to finish."

Madison laughed bitterly. "This is gonna take a while." She picked up the pen, started writing, and Olivia nodded at the detective. "I will be right back. You got this for a minute?"

"Sure," the detective said, then leaned back and folded his arms, watching the girl scribble across the notebook as Olivia got up and walked out of the room. She ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath, brushing off the aggravation she'd been feeling all night.

"You okay?" a low voice asked her.

She looked up and forced a smile. "Aren't I always?"

"Liv," the man chided, his two strong arms looping around her, "You don't have to..."

"I'm fine, El," she protested, returning his hug. "Cases like this just..."

"I know, baby," he whispered to her. He closed his eyes and placed a soft kiss to her forehead. "You, uh...you got a phone call while you were in there." He pulled away from her, reached into his pocket, and handed her cell phone to her. "I didn't pick it up, but the...the number was..."

"Cragen?" she questioned, her eyebrows knitting together. "What the hell does he want? After what happened, I told him I didn't want anything..."

Elliot gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, a half-smirk on his face as he tried to hide a laugh. "You didn't really think they'd let you go that easily, did you? Shit, I had to ignore calls from that man for over a month, voicemails begging me to come back, so I'm not surprised..." he stopped, watching her trace the screen with a finger. "You don't have to call back."

"What if it's not that? What if it...what if they need me for something else?" She looked at him, fear, anger, hope, pain, all swirling in her eyes.

He smiled at her and took her cell phone back. "I'll call him," he told her. He gave her a quick kiss, ran his hand down her arm and tangled his fingers with hers. "I love you," he said softly.

She gave him a relaxed smile as her eyes closed and her forehead dropped to his. "I love you, too, El." She looked up again. "You were right," she said. "It still feels weird on the other side of the table."

He chuckled and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "You're doing what you love, baby, and you're incredible at it." He let go of her hand and gave her ass a playful swat. "And God damn, you're the hottest advocacy attorney in the entire world."

She rolled her eyes and reached for the doorknob to head back into the interrogation room. "And you're the hottest Chief of Detectives this city's ever seen."

"And we still make a great team. We always will," he winked at her. He watched her walk back into the room, stared at her from behind the glass for a moment, then walked out into the squad room of the Twenty-Third Precinct's Special Victims division, nodding at several detectives and the unit's captain on his way out. He pointed at the man. "You call me when she's done, got it?"

"You got it, Chief," the captain said, then went back to his conversation.

Once he was out of the room, in the hallway, Elliot looked down at Olivia's cell phone. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, dialing a number he thought he'd never have to use again. He waited. When someone picked up, he snapped. "No, it's me. She's in with a vic...client. She already told you, over a year ago, that it was a final decision, and she's happy with her...what?"

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, a hand brushing over his unshaven face. "I'll tell her. Just...fax it to my office, she'll get it, and she'll be down there in the morning." He cleared his throat, never having thought that so much emotion would build up by just talking to the man who was once like a father to him. "And, uh, your review is coming up. Make sure I have every file from...yeah, I know you know." He took a breath. "Bye, Captain Cragen."

Elliot ended the call with more weight on his shoulders and his heart than he felt he'd ever had. He took another deep breath, turned on his heels, and headed back into the squad room he'd just left, walking straight for the rear interrogation room.

Just when he thought they could leave the past behind and work on their future together, a curveball hit him right in the chest. One he knew Olivia wouldn't like, but wouldn't be able to avoid. In the morning, they'd have to deal with the demons they'd escaped, they'd have to see faces of people that let them down, let them go.

They'd have to go back to the One-Six, to Cragen, to their own SVU.

They'd have to go back...and he wasn't sure if it was right. To him, it might be the biggest mistake they'd ever make.

A/N: Why? What happened? How will the unit react to seeing them again, and when they get an even bigger surprise, certain people just can't handle it.