A/N: I got the idea from another FF that worked similarly. But mine, I promise is NOT plagiarism. I changed A LOT. But I loved her FF SO much that the ideas started flowing. I hope that TStabler is NOT offended but honored. After all, only good work is worth taking… but since I promised I didn't STEAL the story, I liked the idea that Olivia lost him and works alone; I hope I didn't offend her.

I hope you like where I'm going :)

Olivia Benson worked alone.

Once she had a partner, a best friend, a confidant.

But that all changed.

When she had been assigned a new partner, she wrecked havoc. She made mistakes purposely, until it became so overwhelming that her assigned partner asked for someone new. Olivia didn't mind, she liked it better that way. It hurt less. She found that concentrating on work was easier when she wasn't looking at someone else for back-up. She was on her own, at home and at work.

It had been 7 months to the day, since Elliot Stabler had told her he was moving his family to Australia. Kathy had insisted on a change. The kids had wanted the change too, there had been no protest of unhappiness, except on Olivia's part, and she had kept it to herself. When he made the announcement, she felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. But she told him, she was happy for him, that Kathy deserved his devotion to her, after all that he had put her through. She didn't cry, when he stood by her apartment door and said his goodbyes, wishing her the best. She didn't tell him she'd miss him, or how her working with him was her whole life. She didn't tell him that she would die if they were separated, or how much she had fallen in love with him over the past 12 years of partnership.

She just let him go.

As far as she knew, he remained in the police force, in special Victims Unit, working in a precinct in Sydney, Australia.

The calls came from Elliot, regularly at first, sometimes daily, then weekly… fortnightly… and after a while they came as frequently as once a month, before they stopped all together. Now she didn't speak to him at all, now he was gone and she doesn't even know where to find him. His number had been disconnected, and when making the discovery, her heart had been broken… not just broken, but shattered. It was better that way, she reminded herself, it hurt less.

Another day working the case alone, she found herself examining the body of a man in his late 20's. She didn't feel much these days, she didn't feel for the victim, and she had no emotion toward the perp. All she felt was numbness. She liked that, it was better than the ache that had remained buried somewhere in her stomach, for the first three months of Elliot's departure.

"Liv," Cragen's voice called from the top of the hill.

She turned to look at him, staying nothing. She spoke now, only when she needed to. She lost her spark. She made no jokes, yelled at no one. Her voice remained at a constant monotone, which some decided was worse than yelling or crying.

"Can I have a word," he requested.

She pulled off her gloves and handed them to Melinda Warner, the M.E who was at the scene, a girl who she once considered a friend, before she withdrew from the world's population.

"Do you mind if we do this down at the station?" he asked.

Olivia frowned. "Can it wait until I've finished examining the body?"

"Not really," he looked serious, and Olivia hadn't the strength to debate the issue.

She followed him to the Sedan and climbed in beside him, quite as he drove them back to precinct.

If you have read others of mine, you will know instantly. I LOVE cliff-hangers, it draws in the readers… I feel the same. If you are interested in finding out what Cragen wants to talk to her about, then post a review and let me know Sorry this chapter was boring, set ups usually are :)