This story seems to be writing itself and quickly. I am trying to break it down into smaller chunks. Not sure if all things are accurate regarding the maintenance, but this is what works with my story. Hope you enjoy.

Previous Chapter:

Before any other conversation could take place, the elevator made a loud noise, jolted to a complete stop.

During the jolt, Ed and Olivia held a little tighter to each other to avoid getting thrown around. Elliot was not as lucky and was thrown backwards and hit the side of the elevator with his back and head.

"Son of a bitch" Elliot straightens and rubs the back of his head. He doesn't have a bump, but the impact hurt.

Olivia and Ed are checking each other over for any injuries. Finding none, Olivia looks up and see Elliot glaring at Ed. She chuckles, as Elliot looks like a character from Saturday morning characters – she can almost see the steam coming from his ears.

Both men look at her, not expecting that reaction. She rolls her eyes, sighs and picks up the emergency phone. Being stuck in the courthouse had some advantages, the phone works. Almost immediately, a security guard responds, "What is the problem?"

Olivia, in her police voice, "We are stuck in the elevator. We entered the elevator on the 4th floor."

"How many people are stuck? Are their any injuries?"

"Three adults, two police officers, one civilian. No injuries." Elliot bristles at the reference.

"Thank you. Please hold tight. I will be in contact with building maintenance and get back to you with a status shortly."

"One last thing, can you page Sergeant Tutuola and Detectives Rollins and Carisi. Let them know that Lieutenant Benson is stuck in the elevator."

"Sure thing Lieutenant. Who else is with you?"

"Captain Ed Tucker and Elliot Stabler."

"Be in touch shortly."

Ed mumbles, "What are the odds?'

Elliot finally finds his voice, "What the hell Liv? Cozying up with the head of the rat squad?"

Olivia knew this confrontation was inevitable. "Elliot don't. You lost that right to comment on my personal life the moment you walked away without any explanation or good-bye. A lot has changed over the last SIX years."

Before any additional conversation could occur, the emergency phone rings. Olivia picks it up and out of habit answers, "Benson." In the small, enclosed space, the all three of them can hear the conversation.

"Lieutenant Benson, this is Matt in Security. I have found your officers and they are here with me. I also checked with maintenance and it seems like it been a busy day for them. There have been several problems in the city and their staff is spread thin. They hope to have someone here in the next 30-45 minutes."

Benson sighs at the information, "I thought there was dedicated maintenance assigned to this building. Why the long wait?"

Matt responds, "There usually is. However, there was an issue at One World Trade Center. Due to the excessive heat this summer, and the current heat wave we are experiencing. All the elevators just stopped. Needless to say, folks are a little antsy and several senior maintenance workers have been called to the scene. The two workers assigned to our building today are part of the emergency plan and were called to the scene immediately."

Ed speaks up, "Matt, are we on speaker?"

"Yes, sir."

"Fin, can you contact Lieutenant Duffy in HNT, he's my second, and tell him to get the team down to World Trade Plaza and help with the evac and coordinate with the fire department on scene?"

"Sure thing Cap'n. You guys good?"

Ed nods, "Yeah, we're good."

"Rollins and Carisi, continue to follow-up on our leads and coordinate with Fin."

Both respond, "Sure thing." "No problem, Lieu."

"I will let you know when maintenance has arrived, if you have any problem, just let me know." With that, Matt hangs up.

Olivia pulls out her cell phone and dials. Thankfully there is still cell service. "Hey, Lucy. It's Liv. Ed and I are going to be later than expected. We're stuck in an elevator with no ETA." Olivia closes her eyes in frustration, "Right that is today. Give us a few minutes and we will come up with a plan."

Ed looks concerned at her distressed look. Then it dawns on him, "Shit, she has her dissertation this evening and she can't bring a 4 year old with her. Let me check to see if Patrick or Ashley can help us out. They always love spending time with Noah and both have a key to the apartment."

While Ed makes a couple of calls, Elliot asks, "You have a kid?"

Despite the situation, can't help but smile when speaking about Noah. "Yeah, he's a great little guy."

Elliot nods, "You always wanted to have a kid. But with the Rat Tucker? How the hell did that even happen?"

Ed hung up. "Good news, Patrick and Ashley were having a late lunch together. Patrick was able to call out for the rest of the afternoon and with the summer break, Ashley is also free. Both are heading to the apartment now. Ashley said that they can't wait to have a sibling dinner together. Which means, we'll never get him to sleep tonight." He smirks as he finishes.

Olivia immediately calls Lucy back and let's her know that Patrick and Ashley are on their way over and wishes her good luck with her presentation.

With the crisis adverted, Olivia relaxes again. Elliot doesn't let the peace last long. "How the hell did this happen? You hated Rat Tucker as much as I did. He tried to arrest you for murder." By the end, Elliot was yelling.

Ed steps forward, "Stabler, you better calm your ass down before I put you through the wall." With all the years that Ed has known Stabler, there have been many times that he wanted to hit him. He may actually get his chance today.

Olivia grabs his arm to pull him back to the opposite side. Elliot notices her hand. "You're engaged?!"

Olivia responds, "No. Married."

She pauses, then continue, "Look Elliot, it has been six years since you left with no word, no contact at all. Things have changed, I have changed. You don't have a say anymore about me life or what I do. You had a little too much control back then. Now you have none."

Elliot looks like she just slapped him. "What the hell does that mean? All I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

Olivia agrees, "Yes, you did. As long as it fit into your version of what happy looked like. If it conformed to your moral high ground."

Ed knows that Olivia loves him. Hell, she married him. They are settling into their new life and have even been discussing expanding their family, maybe with a little girl. But in the back of his mind, he was always worried what would happen if Liv ever saw Stabler again. There was definitely an unnatural connection between them. But seeing Liv today, in this forced meeting, he has never been as proud of her standing up for herself.

Elliot, still as thickheaded as ever, responds, "What? That doesn't even make any sense. You know that you have a history of picking the wrong people. It seems that you're still repeating your mistakes. What does he have over you that forced you to marry him, to sleep with him?"