"Elliot, I always back you up! I needed you to stick up for me in there!" Olivia shouts as she flings the door open from Cragen's office.

"Liv, I -" Elliot tries, chasing after her.

"You what? You punish for months because I left, then you gang up with Cragen and Huang to send me away?"

The indignation in her voice makes Elliot rethink his tactics. He takes her by the elbow, surprised when she doesn't resist, and guides her into the crib. He sits her down on a bunk in the corner, protecting them, protecting her, from prying eyes. He knows some things are going to have to be laid out on the line here, and he is nervous. He is not concerned by her wild eyes, her flaring nostrils, but instead by her sudden submissiveness.

Olivia Benson is scared to death, he realizes.

"Liv, hear me out. I know how much SVU means to you. I get that. But I won't sit around and watch you fall apart at the seams. You need - "

"How the hell do you know what I need? You don't even -"

"Stop interrupting! I SWEAR! It's like trying to talk sense into a five-year old!"

"A WHAT?!?! I am NOT your child, Stabler," Olivia grinds out through her clenched teeth.

Whoops. Wrong thing to say, clearly. Her last-naming me is a bad sign.

"That's not what I meant, I, I just...Okay. I think that you have...no, we have both had a rough time lately. And we're taking it out on each other. I don't want to do that. I don't wanna fight anymore, Olivia," Elliot pleads.

Her expression shifts from anger into one he never wants to be the cause of ever again: hurt.

"So you want to send me away? I, I don't know if I can, um..." Olivia stumbles over words, not quite sure how to express her needs to him.

For him. God, how pathetic was she? He wants to get rid of her, and here she is, trying to cling to him.

"Nobody's sending you anywhere," Elliot states as he begins rubbing her shoulder. She shudders at the warmth of his touch. "Nobody's sending you anywhere, baby."

Baby.

That's all it took for her to break. She starts sobbing out loud, crying tears she's held in all her life. He gathers her into his arms, cradling her, holding her, protecting her from all the things she's been running from. He kisses the top of her head, only slightly surprised at how easily this intimacy came to them.

"'Livia, I just want to make sure you're okay," Elliot mumbles against the crown of her head. "I worry about you so damn much and I don't know what to do. I just want you whole, Liv. I just want you happy."

She thinks this over as she sniffles, sorting through the possibilities. His soothing touch has stopped her tears. Avoidance has served her well in the past, but damnit, she doesn't want to keep sidestepping them for the next eight years. For the life of her, she has no idea what she needs to say next. She has no idea what she will say next.

"Come away with me," she blurts. Whoa. That's certainly not avoidance. "I know I need some time away, but so do you. And I need my best friend to help me sort all this out. I need you there with me. I won't be happy alone, somewhere away from you."

He pulls back, and she winces at the loss of him. What had she done? But then, he takes her by the upper arms, his baby blues searching her big brown eyes for the truthfulness of her statement. Whatever it is he sees in her, he seems pleased.

"You really mean that, don't you? You actually need me?" Elliot asks.

She runs her hand along his jaw line, traces his worry lines, his strong nose. She takes a moment, gathering strength for what needs to be said. She never realized how deep his insecurities ran, never thought he couldn't see just how much she relied on him. She knew it was her fault, that for all her independence, she had shoved him away to a point where he had almost stopped shoving back.

"Of course I do, El. And I want you there, too. You, you're my world Elliot, and if I'm gonna do this, if I'm gonna get past this and start all over, I wanna do it with you. I - I love you," she says softly, honestly.

His eyes went wide, just for a second, and then became watery. She knows him so well. Olivia could just sense that he would need to hear those three words first.

"I love you, too, Liv. I love you so much," Elliot says as he pulls her back against his chest. "God, I love you, too."

They sit there in silence, just listening to each other breathe for a long time.

"Hey, El?"

"Yeah, Liv?"

"You planning on kissing me anytime soon?" she asks with a laugh in her voice.

He slowly pulls back to look her in the eye. He smiles warmly at her, love shining in his eyes.

"You want me to kiss you?"

"Yeah. Very much so."

He could feel her in his soul, even though his lips had not yet found hers. It was as if his heart was one step ahead of his body. His head felt light, as if he were dizzy, as he looked at her face. She had just given him permission to kiss her.

It was the slightest of touches, and yet it felt like finally coming home. He could hardly comprehend that for all the years, all the fights in the precinct, all the silent conversations looking at each other across a room, it was Olivia he was finally kissing. His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. They fit together perfectly.

She settles her fingers against his cheeks, keeping him in place. She opens her mouth to him, and his tongue moved deep inside her. He finally understands what she meant when she said she needed him. They were finally whole, because the only thing they had ever been missing was each other.

It was as if everything had been leading up to this moment. Truthfully, it probably was. Eight years of partnership in so many ways, all building up to this, their completion. As if all their actions had brought them to the inevitable.

Sitting there in a room that now would only hold the best of memories, they explored each other. Their kisses were gentle, loving in one moment, then rough, demanding, bruising the next. They were breathing only each other. He only needed her, and she him.

He pulls away suddenly. She looks at him through a haze of desire, confused as to why he stopped.

"So, where are we gonna go for this vacation?"

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop.
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you.
-Norah Jones

(TBC)