Hello everyone! Cilla (Marish) and Dani (Livia)here! We finally brought you the story we have been telling yuo guys about! I really hope you enjoy, cuz Dani and I are very excited about this and hope we get many wonderful reviews, which we usually do. :) And we've been e-mailing back and forth like mad men here, trying to get everythig just right for you guys! So do us a favor and review. I love you guys forever. I just wanted to say thanx to Essy for the wonderful title! I just ended to it:)

Cilla (Marish)

I thought it might take a little longer than this so get it posted, but here it is! We've been talking about working on a story together for a few months, and we finally got the chance to really get on it. And we've been so excited about this! Hope you enjoy it!

Dani (Livia)

Disclaimer: we own nothing except our wonderful ideas...and maybe a cliffy here and there in the story. :) But trust us,one day we will get ahold of Dick Wolf and have a serious talk about giving us EO shippers some EO lovin'! lol :)


Chapter One

All that could be heard were the screeching sound of rubber tires against the winding road. The sound, so shrill, pierced the pitch-black night air. The young woman slammed on her brakes, the headlights from the car ahead blinding her. She screamed out in fear for the life of her tow month old daughter sleeping in the back seat, as well as for her own life.

She desperately tried to steer away from the on coming car, which seemed out of control, driving on the wrong side of the road. But in a blink of the eye, their lives would be changed forever. The light

blinded everything in sight, and it was just bright yellow. The young woman could hear the tires screeching, her screaming, and her baby crying at the top of her little lungs. The two cars collided and someone that night lost their life.

Everything went silent and black. And in one moment this one car accident, on a lonely stretch of road from the beach back to the city in Maryland, changed not only the people in the accident, but the lives of the people they loved.

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The day was almost over. Olivia wanted nothing more than to run home and jump into bed. She sat there, reading over some papers, when Elliot came rushing into the precinct.

"Elliot, what's wrong?" Olivia asked, alarmed.

"Nothing, Olivia," Elliot replied. "I just came to get something before I leave."

"I still have a few more minutes to go. Want to stay and chat?"

"No."

Olivia was taken aback by Elliot's bluntness. "Elliot, can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "What the hell is your problem?"

"I don't have a problem."

"You know, it's been six months since your divorce and you've barely spoken two words to me. What happened, El? I miss the old times. I really want to be able to go out and have fun with you. Just like before"

Elliot shrugged. "Times change."

"That's all you have to say? Do you even care what this is doing to our relationship?"

"Listen, Liv. I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You haven't wanted to 'talk about this' for six months! Elliot, I am your partner. I thought I was your friend but you sure as hell aren't treating me like one!"

"Because you haven't been acting like one!"

Olivia stared at Elliot, looking as if she had been slapped in the face. She turned away. "I have to go," she whispered, barely audible.

Elliot reached for her shoulder. "Liv, I-"

"Save it." With that, she walked out of the precinct and to her car.

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The cool November breeze blew across the skyscrapers as Olivia leaned her head against the foggy windowpane. She didn't feel right. Something in the air was different, but it was other then just Elliot getting mad at her. Which, she didn't understand that either.

Six months ago everything was fine between her and her partner, Elliot Stabler. They laughed, smiled, had drinks, got bites to eat, and were just great friends. But since Elliot's divorce from Kathy, things hadn't been the same between them. Elliot no longer wanted to talk; he'd rush out on Olivia for no apparent reason; they just didn't connect like they used to.

She had put up with it for six months, longer even. Elliot had always had a short temper, but she never really let it get to her. But she couldn't stand it anymore. When Elliot yelled at her tonight, it tore her up inside. She kept telling herself that he had hurt her for the last time, that he pushed her away for the last time, that she wouldn't put up with it anymore. If Elliot didn't want to have a good relationship between them, then why should she?

She slowly raised herself up from her spot at the window and walked to her kitchen. Olivia opened the fridge and pulled out a plate that had a single piece of chocolate cake on it. As she leaned against the counter top and began eating the cake, her phone rang.

Olivia rolled her eyes and sighed when she looked at the caller ID. It read: Elliot Stabler (cell).

"Why does he do this?" she asked herself. Elliot always yelled and got mad, them when he felt the time was right, he came back to say 'sorry'.

After a few rings the answering machine picked up and Olivia heard her own voice: "You've reached Olivia Benson, I'm not in right now, so leave a message after the beep." -BEEP-

"Liv, it's me. I know you're there. Can you please pick up the phone?" Elliot asked, pausing for a moment. "Fine, then can you just listen to me? What happened back there, well, I didn't mean to get mad at you like that. I'm just not having the greatest day..."

Olivia felt a tightness in her chest; she couldn't stand to listen to Elliot making up excuses. He would go on to promise that it would never happen again, but it always did. She reached over to the machine and hung up. "Honestly Elliot, you'll have to do more then that to get me back this time," she said out loud to herself.

Deep down in her heart, she knew she couldn't stay mad at Elliot forever, but it was just so hard to care so much, and to be shoved away every time, over and over again.

Suddenly there was a loud thud at the door. "Who is it?" Olivia hollered.

"It's me, Elliot. One of your neighbors let me in."

"God, you never give you stubborn son of a bitch," whispered Olivia to herself. She unlocked the door and stared at Elliot. "What do you want? Are you here to tell me more about how times change?" she remarked sarcastically, and she could tell it bugged the hell out of Elliot.

"Look, I came her to tell you how sorry I am, but if you're going to stand there and make wisecracks about it, I might as well leave."

"Go ahead. I think I'll survive without an apology. I've survived much worse."

Elliot couldn't believe how foolish Olivia was being. She was acting like she was a child. "Olivia, why do you do this? Can't you just cut the shit and talk this out? Why do are arguments have to go on like this?"

Olivia felt like Elliot just straight out smacked her across the face. "You have some nerve! You show up at my house, and tell me to cut the shit and talk things out! I've always been open to you, about everything. You're the big tough, macho man, that won't talk things out! You're the reason we get in these arguments, and I put up with it all the time, I make excuses for you all the time, and I've always come back to you. And every time you just find a new reason to snap at me!" Olivia shouted. She never felt angrier with Elliot then at this moment.

"You know that's not true!" exclaimed Elliot.

"Oh really? I can believe it. This, what we're doing right now, is what I'm talking about. I can't stand it," she shouted once again. "Every time we argue, it's like I have to sell a little piece of me to get my point across, to come back to you. When I'm with you I feel like I'm whole again, like this life is worth living, but when you yell at me like I'm ten years old and beneath you, I feel lost and confused. Everything I knew that was certain in my life seems to disappear, and I get lost in a whirl wind of everything," she finished, her last sentence dry and quiet.

Elliot was at a loss for words. He had never known that. "Liv-"

"I'm sorry Elliot. Like I said, save it. I'm in no mood for your excuses, and I'm fed up with the way you treat me sometimes. Sometimes everything is just so hectic, the only way out seems to be by jumping. But then I realize, if I'm gone, I can't see your face again. And that, by giving in, I just let my father win. I let the man who raped my mother win. And you showed me that once. But now it just seems like you're drifting away from me."

"Fine, if you don't give a damn, why should I? I just don't care anymore."

Olivia's heart was breaking. They just stood there for several moments, looking at each other. Them finally, Olivia broke the silence. "If you don't care so much, then why are you still standing in my door way?"

Elliot looked into the deep brown eyes of his partner, but they were hollow and had no emotion to them. "I don't know, maybe deep down I really do care. Because any time, any day of the year, if you jumped, I would jump after you. Maybe I'm still standing here because if you jump I jump, and I haven't realized that I would do that until this moment."

Olivia wanted nothing more then to embrace Elliot and tell him how much she loved him. But she just couldn't. Elliot had hurt her too many times, and she couldn't hurt anymore. It was just killing her inside. "I'm sorry Elliot. But I've already jumped. You lost your chance; I can't go back to you and risk getting hurt again. And unless you have anything else to share with me, then I would like it if you would leave."

Elliot was ready to turn and leave, but then he remembered the second reason he was here tonight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a note. "This came for you a few minutes after you stormed out of the squad room. He handed it over to her and slowly turned to leave, starting down the long hallway to the elevator.

Olivia opened the note and silently read it to herself. "Oh my God," she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

She ran out of her apartment and down the hall to Elliot. She saw him step into the elevator and she screamed, "ELLIOT! ELLIOT! COME BACK!"

He quickly debated whether or not to go back. And he did. He stepped out of the elevator and walked over to Olivia who had fallen to the floor in a heap. "What's wrong? Liv, what happened?" he asked quizzically. He was confused to what could make her so hysterical.

"It's Alex, EI. The notes from the fed's. Something happened to Alex."


So? You enjoyed? I hope you did! Now go review! Please? It takes less then a minute and it really makes our day. And the more reivews we get, the faster we'll be motivated to write more:) Is that black mail? I don't know, but trust us, we aren't lying! lol

Oh, and a message to all of you who are reading 'Moving Forward' that's having a title change to 'A Deeper Meanig' thanx to Kelly:) And I'm working on the next chapter to it:)

Cilla (Marish) and Dani (Livia)