Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine; they belong to Dick Wolf.

This takes place after Infiltrated but before Cage. It's written from Olivia's point of view.

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"We will be landing at JFK in approximately ten minutes," says the pilot's crackly voice over the airplane's intercom.

I'm on a plane on my way back from Oregon. I can't wait to get back to New York and my job at SVU. Working undercover with the environmentalists wasn't such a bad gig, except of course that it was a complete waste of time and the people in my group had done nothing wrong. Also, I ended up in jail – twice. So I'm definitely ready to return to the righteous side of the law as a detective. I'm definitely ready to get back to the hustle and the bustle of the big city. I'm definitely ready to be myself again instead of constantly worrying about keeping my cover.

I'm definitely ready to see Elliot again.

The plane lands a moment later and I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I don't know why I'm nervous, except for the fact that I haven't seen my friends in months. I miss them all, especially Casey and Elliot.

I get up the second the seatbelt sign is turned off, sling my purse over my shoulder, and get off the plane. Everyone around me is rushing too, which is ridiculous because they'll be waiting for the same amount of time anyway, whether they wait in the plane or at the baggage claim. I, on the other hand, didn't bring much luggage, only my purse and a backpack that I brought with me on the plane for this exact purpose.

I exit the airport and hail a cab. "Manhattan 1-6 precinct," I tell the driver. I'm too excited to wait even one more day to see my friends, like a child in a candy store.

It's a twenty minute taxi ride and when we reach the precinct, I pay the cab driver and climb out. I stare up at the building for a moment as a slow smile spreads across my face and I walk inside.

When I get to the squad room, my colleagues are sitting at their desks, chatting and laughing. Captain Cragen is nowhere to be seen. Casey is perched on Elliot's desk, her back to me.

I let out a sigh of relief and knock on the door to my captain's office. I smile at the expression of surprise on his face when he sees me. "Olivia," he says. "Are you back?"

I nod. "Yeah."

He smiles. "It's good to see you."

I smile back. "I'm going to go say hi to everyone else, okay?"

"Go ahead."

I shut the door behind me and go back into the squad room. John and Fin are at their desks and so is Elliot. A tall woman with a long braid down her back who I don't recognize is sitting at my desk, and my heart skips a beat when I realize she's Elliot's new partner. She's my replacement, and suddenly I feel like I can hardly breathe. I just stand and stare as he puts a hand on her shoulder and says something softly that I don't hear. She throws her head back and laughs.

Casey turns around first. "Hey, Liv," she says, her face lighting up when she notices me. "Long time, no see."

I manage a half-smile. "It's good to see you again."

Elliot starts and turns to face me with an expression on his face that can only be described as shame. "Hey, Liv."

My hurt and even envy directed as his new partner isn't ready to give way to niceties. "Who's that?" I bite out, inclining my head to the woman.

Elliot looks even guiltier and I wonder what the hell is going on here. He's too nervous for this not to mean something. My partner doesn't get flustered easily – or at least, he didn't used to. "Um, this is my new partner, Detective Beck. Dani, this is Detective Benson."

"His old partner," I say sarcastically.

Something flits across his new partner's face. It's gone as rapidly as it appeared and I feel a tinge of remorse. I know I'm being a bitch, but I've waited three whole months for this day, the day I would be reunited with my best friend in the world, Elliot. Anticipation always leads to disappointment; I should know that already. I was gone for three months and it would be unfair for me to expect the world to stop in my absence. Crime would still happen and it would still be the special victims unit's job to help the victims and prosecute the criminals. Elliot would need a new partner and they would grow close in those three months. In this unit, we were all like family, and Detective Beck would have stuck out like a sore thumb if she hadn't embraced that. I know I can't blame them but I can't stop the sense of betrayal that's bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

"I didn't mean it like that," says Elliot, rolling his eyes.

I sigh. "Look, I'm sorry. It's been a long day." I missed you, Elliot, I don't say, because he obviously hasn't missed me.

John leans back in his seat. "Hi, Olivia."

"Good to see you, Liv," adds Fin.

But I can't take my eyes off Elliot. He's sitting an inch too close to Detective Beck and it bothers me so much that I want to turn away, but I can't. I just stand and stare.

"Are you back for good?" asks Casey, and I nod.

"But seeing as Elliot's got a new partner, I guess I'm on my own."

I can't decipher the look on Elliot's face and it frightens me. I've always been able to read Elliot so well. We've been best friends since we met and such good partners that I can always tell what he's thinking and he can do the same with me. But I seem to have lost my touch and this scares me so much that I can hardly breathe.

"It's okay, Detective Benson," says Detective Beck coolly. "I'm not staying. My assignment was only temporary, until you returned."

"And since you didn't bother to tell us when that was going to be –" begins Elliot, in the tone usually reserved for perpetrators. He's never spoken to me this way before.

I cut him off. "I couldn't, Elliot, and you know it! It happened so suddenly and there wasn't anything I could do."

"Bull," says Elliot, standing, and I can see that he's angry now. I understand that this is his pain speaking now and he's just upset that I never told him, but it doesn't make his words hurt any less as he continues, "You could have given me a call. You didn't need to say anything except that you had to leave for a bit. You didn't even say goodbye and we needed you to close a case and we didn't know where you were. They issued a missing witness warrant and you never showed so the perp, who raped and killed four little girls, walked."

"I couldn't have –" I start, but he just talks over me, raising his voice as he never has before.

"We tried to call you and I had to tell the mothers of those little girls that we couldn't send their daughters' killer to jail because of you."

"That's not my fault!" I scream, out of control now. We both are and I wonder what's made Elliot turn against me like this. What have I done to deserve this? It's always been me and Elliot against the bad guys, never one of us against the other. I've never had to defend myself against my partner and best friend before. We've always watched each other's backs. He wanted to protect me from Christopher Plummer and Richard White and I was scared to death for him when he went undercover as a pedophile a year ago. We almost lost each other so many times and every time we came out unscathed, the entire squad breathed a collective sigh of relief. Now the energy we've always shared is a dead battery.

There's nothing left to say. I turn on my heel and walk out the door, ignoring Casey as she calls after me.

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