thank you to everyone adding to alerts and reviewing already! much appreciated:) so everyone is aware, there is NO rollins or amaro in this story. my own preference for this one. and now olivia is returning to work the next day, not expecting to know what is there. or should i say who? ;)

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Olivia woke up to her cell phone alarm going off at 5:45a.m. She moaned her way out of her bed to make coffee. She didn't even remember going to sleep, or hitting her bed for that matter. She stayed up most of the night thinking, with tears falling for Elliot, until she literally could not cry anymore. David Haden was never meant to take his place, but Olivia really liked him. Nobody could take the place of Elliot. However, he was one of the few people in her life that she had trusted, which is why it hurt to let him go. It only made her realize how much she missed Elliot being in her life. Then he was there, and she had to tell her heart no again. She was afraid. It was complicated. She made every excuse for it not to happen right now.

She walked around trying to block out the thoughts still flooding her mind from the night before. She didn't think she could cry anymore about this. More like Olivia was done crying over this. She talked herself back into her job.

She started thinking about recent cases. The girl that was raped and beaten; the mom that neglected her kids by physically abusing them, and letting the step father do what he wanted to them. She was angry thinking about all the cases, and then angry at herself for letting her personal life affect her in this way. She grabbed her cup of coffee and was out the door.

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The precinct at 7a.m. was not too chaotic yet. It was before Cragen handed out the assignments for the day and when everyone got settled in for a bit before having to leave again.

She got started on the paperwork that never ended. She was distracted and didn't say good morning to anyone. Anyone that said it to her got a glance and tiny smile, just so she wasn't completely blowing it off. She didn't notice another person sitting there that hadn't been there in months. Then Cragen came out of his office and called her in. She was okay with that. She hadn't done anything wrong so she wasn't worried. She got up without looking around and hardly made eye contact with Cragen. She was trying to make it non obvious she was in a bad spot right now. It was very obvious to everyone though and she thought that was why she was getting called in.

He took his seat at his desk as she shut the door.

"Liv, there is something I have to tell you.. And I don't know how else to put it," he said with that encouraged look in his eye. He knew she may take it hard. "Elliot's back."

She finally looked up and squinted her eyes a bit. "What.. what do you mean?," she said, playing stupid with what was said. Obviously she already knew that he was back in New York but didn't know what else he could have meant.

"He's back. He's back in New York and he has his job back. He is back for good. He wanted his job back and I had no choice but to offer it back to him. He is one of the best detectives around."

"Captain, he left without a single word. He left all of us. How could you do this?," she said in frustration. She couldn't believe this. Yet she couldn't tell him the real reason she was pissed. Yes she was pissed he now had his job back but Cragen couldn't find out what happened, and neither could IAB. It would cause more problems for the precinct and they did not need that right now.

"Liv, I thought you would be a little relieved about this. He was your partner for 12 years-"

"Yes until he chose to leave me and the rest of us here without a single god damn word." She took a deep breath, hoping it would calm her down, and it didn't. "So he just gets a free pass back into his job? This is insane." She paced back and forth.

"Well since your ex- partner Nick Amaro was caught stealing evidence from the lock up we don't have another detective right now. We need him, and he needs us," Cragen said, bringing up Amaro which pissed her off more.

"I had nothing to do with Amaro! He made all his own fucking choices and it's not like I knew he was doing that! If I had known I would have done something. Screw you for saying that." She looked him dead in the eye with the anger now.

"You aren't going to be his partner. He is with Munch, and you are with Fin for now. If you don't like it you can find another job," he threatened. He rarely got angry enough to say that, or get close to saying it. It only happened when his detectives were being unreasonable, and she definitely was being to him. She kept looking at him, knowing he wasn't joking now. She was fed up.

"Before you leave, your assignment is to go back and help prepare Pamela for court." He didn't have to say anymore. It was the girl that was facing her uncle in court for raping and beating her. Now was the time for her to forget everything in her personal life and focus on her job. She left Cragen's office in a rage. Some from what happened, and also now to get this girl justice. She called Fin to go. She walked out of the precinct without making eye contact with anyone.

Elliot turned around from his desk enough to get a glimpse of her leaving with Fin. He was expecting her to take this hard, but not this hard. Everyone was pissed at him though. Cragen was just happy to have him back. Fin and Munch held an unspoken grudge against him. He could feel the tension in the room with everyone. He was beginning to wonder if it was worth coming back.

"Munch, Stabler. Just got a call. Woman raped in her apartment. Here's her address. Uni's are there already. Go."

This is why he did the job. He wanted justice, like the rest of the team. He needed to fix things and he knew that. It was going to take more than sorry. He was going to have to show everyone that he was back, and not going anywhere, including Olivia. He knew exactly what to do to get her to believe him, or he thought he did.

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what's the plan? will elliot finally make things right with her? and the rest of the team? sorry for the shorter chapter!

also, i will be getting more into their detective work in the next chapter. reviews are appreciated:) thanks for reading!