Hello my friends!

I'm here with another one-shot; a little EO for you all! This one is post-Signature (s9e12). In the aftermath of witnessing Lauren's suicide, Elliot comforts Olivia. Elliot and Kathy are divorced but Eli still exists, as you'll find out.

Enjoy xoxo

Shielding Her [ONESHOT]

Olivia was staring at the blonde-haired federal agent as she sat at the table in the seemingly empty apartment. She and Lake had figured out that Lauren Cooper had been behind the murder of a serial killer they had been looking for; she had gone as far as to use the same gun that her own mentor used to kill himself. The case had been originally dropped due to lack of evidence, but now with a substantial amount - enough to put the young agent away for murder - they were desperately trying to talk her into taking the deal that was being presented to her by the assistant district attorney. A feeling of dread had taken over Olivia and she felt like something was about to happen.

She wished Elliot was here. He had been gone since lunch time as the babysitter for his baby son had gotten sick and needed to go home. She wanted him here. She liked Lake and he was a good cop, but she wanted her partner.

Lauren's voice and strange sense of words brought her back to the present;

"Those who fight monsters, should make damn sure they don't become one."

And then it all happened so fucking fast.

Lake yelled "Gun!", but before either of them could react, Lauren had pressed the barrel to her head and pulled the trigger, killing herself right there in front of the two detectives. Olivia screamed as she watched the lifeless body of Lauren slump to the floor, and then...she broke.

She burst into tears and her breathing became increasingly erratic, while Lake was trying to come to terms with what the hell had happened. Olivia almost didn't know what to do, and as she continued crying and breathing heavily, she felt herself starting to sway. She didn't even register that ESU officers had stormed in, or that the one person she had been looking for rushed in as well.

She swayed as things around her began to spin, and she stumbled, only to be caught by a familiar pair of arms. The calming scent of aftershave filled her nose as she buried her face into his chest, and the strong arms were wrapped right around her while one hand was on the back of her head, shielding her.

"Shhh..."

Elliot. It was Elliot.

She cried against his chest as he held her, shielding her from seeing anything else. She gripped onto the material of his suit jacket, trying her hardest to breathe while he simply held her.

"Elliot...she...I...she was..." she was sobbing and practically choking over her words. Elliot held her tighter, shielding her some more as Melinda walked in. He exchanged a sad look with the ME, who patted both his and Olivia's shoulders before walking over to the dead body of Lauren Cooper. Elliot figured that this environment wasn't helping Olivia calm down, and so he led her outside to the street. He knew they needed to go back to the precinct, but right now, he needed to help her calm down.

He was no longer in partner mode. No; he was in concerned best friend mode. He needed to make sure that his best friend - the woman he secretly was in love with - was okay. She was his priority.

She continued to cry against him and he held her close to her, massaging his fingers through her short hair as he whispered;

"Shhh...I'm here Liv, I'm here...I'm here...it's gonna be alright."

She continued to cry for a few more minutes, then finally her sobs subsided, and her breathing evened out. She lifted her head slowly and Elliot cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe her tears away while quickly scanning her appearance for any injuries. He was relieved to find none, but now he was more worried about her mental state. She was staring blankly at his tie...a blank look he hadn't seen in her eyes since the accident only three weeks earlier.

"Liv."

She flicked her gaze to him. She was in shock no doubt, and he didn't want her to be alone.

"Come home with me, please?"

"No," she shook her head, her voice wobbling slightly; "I'm fine...I just..." She took a couple deep breaths, running her hand down her face and squeezing her eyes shut. She flicked them back open quickly as the image of Lauren's lifeless body and splatters of blood flashed through her vision.

Elliot raised an eyebrow before gently grabbing her arm; "Olivia, please?"

"Elliot, you have your kids to deal with and-"

"And nothing," Elliot told her; "Please, I just want to make sure you're okay?"

"Your kids-"

"Maureen took them out to eat for me since I told her I had to come back to work, they won't be back for a while," he held both of her arms gently, rubbing them up and down; "Please, just…let me help."

Olivia hesitated for a moment. As she looked into those beautiful blue eyes, she saw the concern shimmering in them; Elliot was desperate to help her and to be there for her. Their partnership had been fluctuating between being okay and being out of whack for over a year, though lately they were on a good note considering she'd helped save the life of his ex-wife and their son, Eli, when he was born a month earlier. She knew he just wanted to help her and as much as she hated to admit it, she really didn't want to be alone at the moment.

"Okay."

"Okay?" he asked, just to be sure that he'd heard her correctly. She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Yeah…just…get me out of here." She spoke softly, still trembling a bit. Elliot gave her a sympathetic look before wrapping his arm around her, leading her to the sedan. He opened the door and helped her in, then moved around to his side. After a quick wave to Lake, who gave him a nod and a look of understanding, he peeled away from the curb and began the drive towards his family home in Queens.

As soon as they arrived, Elliot quickly got out and helped her inside the house. They went straight upstairs and to his room; he gestured for her to sit on the bed while he while he turned his attention to the closet, where he grabbed some NYPD sweats and a long USMC t-shirt for her to wear as he knew she probably wanted to get out of her work clothes. She quietly thanked him and headed into the hallway bathroom to change, while Elliot tossed his jacket aside then headed back downstairs. He went into the kitchen and pressed the button to listen to the message on the machine while he hunted for the take out menus.

"Hey Elliot, it's just me. I hope you and the kids are okay; just was calling to tell you that Ben and I are all settled into our home, so maybe the kids came come visit soon and stay for a weekend; let me know. Well…I'll talk to you later; bye."

Elliot rolled his eyes and clicked save so the kids could listen to it later on if they wanted. Kathy – where the hell could he start with that woman? Things had been a little stressful since she abandoned their remaining kids - especially their newborn - a couple weeks earlier and moved upstate with a doctor that she had been seeing when Elliot was trying to make things work with her. It was only a couple days after little Eli was born that he learned the truth about the divorce - the fact that it had never been called off and they had actually been divorced for some time, and also the truth about her and the doctor. Elliot would have actually questioned whether or not Eli was even his child if the baby didn't look so much like he did when he was a baby. A couple weeks later, Kathy was out the door to move away with this doctor, leaving Elliot and their kids behind. They had all been hurt and blindsided, but it was for the best in the end.

And of course, Olivia was around to help whenever she wasn't working or if Maureen couldn't come home to help. He was aware that she had been taking on some more of their load lately to give him more time with his children especially with Eli only being a baby, and he knew how much things were getting to her lately as the sparkle in her eye was starting to fade. Her mind was clouded with victims and statements, pedophiles and rapists and murderers; the recipe for nightmares - much like his own mind.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Kathy was gone; he had never talked to her anyway. The only person he ever talked to about the things that plagued him was the woman that was currently changing her clothes in the upstairs bathroom. They saw things together, they experienced the worst, most heinous things together. They probably had the same nightmares and same fears and same trust issues that came with having a job like this. They both were being pushed to the edge every day in this unit. He hadn't quite reached it yet, but today, he think she had actually reached it. He just needed her to hold on; to grip onto him like a small child gripping onto a blanket. They needed to hold on to each other and the comfort; he wouldn't let her drown in the sorrow that came with this job. She was too pure for that to happen.

He looked towards stairs, he paused for a second to listen - he could hear her still rattling around, heard the bathroom door open. He sighed to himself, mentally scolding himself for not being with her to protect her or something. He knew that today had been too much for her. They'd been in this unit for damn near ten years and the cases were starting to get too much. The average lifespan of a detective in the Special Victims Unit was three years – they were seven years past the average.

'Nobody sees what we see'; the words of all the former SVU detectives had never been any truer than they were now.

A silhouette in the doorway captured his attention; his gaze flicked over to see her standing there. She had folded her clothes and had them in her arms, but before she could ask what to do with them, he took them and placed them on the kitchen counter. He then whipped out a couple take out menus and handed them to her; "Pick one; I'm buying."

She looked down at them and sighed, putting them onto the counter; "I'm not hungry."

"Liv-"

"I'm just…I'm not hungry," she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself again; "I just don't…I don't know what to do right now."

"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I just feel like I'm having this out of body experience or something, I don't know…" she paused for a second as more tears filled her eyes; "She fucking blew her brains out right in front of me and I…she…why didn't she just take the deal?"

"Liv." Elliot sighed, reaching for her.

"Elliot, why didn't she just take the fucking deal? She didn't have to die; she didn't deserve to die…" she choked a bit on the sobs that were starting to escape her; "Why couldn't I disarm and disable her? Why couldn't I fucking stop her?"

And with that, she completely broke down, her sobs echoing around the quiet apartment while thick tears fell down her cheeks. Elliot quickly pulled her against him and held her, soothing her with a soft 'shh' sound as he used one hand to cup her head while the other rubbed her back. She buried her face into his chest and clung to him, her nails digging into the fabric of his shirt as they simply held each other. She cried for Lauren, she cried for every victim they could never save, she cried for the pieces of them that had been lost to the ten years in this unit.

She just cried and cried and cried.

They somehow made it upstairs and into his room, somehow made it in his bed where they held each other. She kept her arms around him as she rested against his chest whilst still sniffling every now and then even though she was drifting closer to the land of sleep; he simply held her in a protective manner, keeping both of his arms wrapped tightly around her. As she began to fall asleep, he thought about how tomorrow they would be right back at it again, walking the streets in sync, chasing the sickest criminals. Another case, another victim, another sick perp, another night of nightmares; a never-ending cycle.

'Nobody sees what we see'

Nobody saw what they saw.

He looked down at the woman who had fallen asleep in his arms; his best friend who had seen the same things he had seen over the ten years, his best friend whom had been pushed to her breaking point today. She would probably be up in a few hours either from a nightmare or just because. She probably wouldn't sleep through the night at all. She would probably have nightmares, but he would be there.

All he could do for now was hold her and shield her, until the storm returned in the morning.

Another one-shot completed. Did you like it? I hope you did. Until next time...xoxo