Disclaimer: Let's just say that if I owned everything Dick Wolf has, I'd find a way to get Chris Meloni the money he deserves. I just own this story and any characters and places I create. The song "How Strong Do You Think I Am?" is by Alexz Johnson, which is from Instant Star. Search it up on YouTube if you're interested!

A/N: Enjoy!

Stabler Residence
72-12 Castleside Street, Glen Oaks Queens, NY
Thursday, November 4

Elliot Stabler sat on the long sofa in the living room, watching is youngest son, Eli. Eli was playing with toys as he watched his daily cartoons on TV. Elliot studied his son, eyeing his every move. Eli turns 4 in less than two weeks and he couldn't believe how much he has grown. His mind then went from thinking about his son to her. He's tried to not think about her since the shooting, but it's kind of hard when everything around reminds him of her. Eli is one of those reminders. She helped keep Kathy alive when that terrible car accident happened. She helped the EMT deliver Eli. She helped keep Eli safe on their way to the hospital when the EMT helped Kathy. Elliot treasured his youngest son. Even though his birth was not planned, he is truly grateful for his presence now. If he lost his son or wife in that car accident, there was no telling what he would have done.

His wife… Kathy has been a little less stressed at home since Elliot has been there. With all the free time he now has, it gives him a chance to help around the house and with the kids. Although Maureen was living on her own and Kathleen was away at school, they still come around the house to see the family. With the twins dealing with their high school lives and a new toddler being around, it just made things very stressful for Kathy. Now that Elliot was home, it made some things a little better. Unfortunately, it did not stop the two of them from fighting. Fights occurred more frequently. During the past 9 months Elliot hasn't been himself. He still communicated with his children, helped with chores around the house, but he wasn't himself. The shooting killed something inside of him. It made it harder for Kathy to talk to him. She would ask questions about the shooting, what happened, why he quit the force. Instead of answering her questions, Elliot just ignored it. He would tell her that she wouldn't understand. The arguments would then turn into something about Olivia and it would end in a very bad place. However, Elliot tried his best to stick through it for the sake of his children. Little did he know, all of his children, except for Eli, knew that there was something that could make Elliot Stabler come back to life… well, more like someone.

Elliot broke out of his trance when he heard the front door open and then close. He directed his attention to the hallway and his hands automatically flew to his waist to grab his invisible gun. A part of him died once again. Even after 9 months, it's still hard to get rid of old habits. He then saw Kathleen walk into the living room. He let his guard down once she walked over to Eli and picked him up. She sat on the sofa, playing with Eli and the toy bear he had.

"Did you give it to her?"

"No, I gave it to one of the officers downstairs. I think mom followed me to the station, so I ran in quickly, gave it to the officer and told him to give it to Liv. Then I left and went back to school." Kathleen responded.

"So where's your mom now?"

"Don't know. I didn't see her when I left. She doesn't know that I'm here."

"Hmm… guess I'll have to deal with it later."

"Or how about right now, Elliot?" Kathy Stabler said as she walked in through the front door.

"Kathy, there's no need to—"

"Kathleen, take your brother to his room." Kathy interrupted. She stood in front of the sofa where Elliot sat.

"Mom, don't get mad at dad. He didn't do anything." Kathleen said in defensive. She rose up from the sofa and walked upstairs to Eli's room with the toddler.

"Want to explain to why Kathleen just happened to go by the police station today?" Kathy asked angrily.

"I don't know, Kathy. You tell me." Elliot grabbed the remote controller off the coffee table and started to flip through channels.

"No. Why don't you tell me?" Kathy crossed her arms and stared at her husband.

Elliot glanced up at Kathy. He turned the TV off and sighed deeply. "I asked Kathleen to drop something off at the precinct. That's all."

"What did she drop off?"

"Just a small gift and note for Liv."

"And you couldn't take it yourself?"

Elliot shot his eyes at her, filled with anger. "No. I told you I can't face her right now."

"Yes, yes you have. Along with 'you don't understand' after each answer you give me."

Elliot quickly stood up from the couch, now face to face with his wife. "You're damn right."

"So what exactly did you give her? What did the note say? Was it more important than just talking to her face to face?"

"The note," Elliot began, quickly ignoring the first question. "Was just a quick hello to her. I told her that I would talk to her soon."

"What was the gift, Elliot?"

Elliot sat down on the sofa and grabbed the remote, turning the TV. "Don't worry about it."

Kathy stared at him and walked away. She went upstairs to her son's room to finally say hello. She walked in to see Eli playing on the floor. She walked over and picked up him, giving him small kisses on his forehead. She sat Eli back on the floor and went to her bedroom. She walked over to the dresser and glanced into the mirror. She noticed that the jewelry box was opened with a few chains and rings sitting on the dresser. Kathleen walked passed the room with her youngest sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Stabler, and brother, Richard "Dickie" Stabler. Kathy walked to the door and stopped the children.

"Girls, did you borrow something out of my jewelry box by any chance?"

"Nope." They said in unison. Kathy nodded and walked back into the bedroom. Kathleen and the twins continued their walk to Kathleen's old bedroom. Kathy began organizing her jewelry box. She placed the rings into a small drawer and started to place the chains on the opposite side of the box. Once each chain was hung up on the small hooks, she noticed that something was missing. She spun the small wheel around and noticed that one hook was empty. She looked in the small drawers of the jewelry box for the missing chain, but had no luck. She searched the dresser, floor, and other places in the bedroom for the missing chain, but still no luck. She asked the kids if they took anything from the box, they said no.

Elliot. Anger started to instantly build up inside. Kathy furiously stormed out of the bedroom and went back to the living room.

"You gave her your medal?" she shouted with anger.

"Yeah, so?" Elliot responded, not looking up from the TV.

Kathy walked over to the TV and turned it off. She turned to face Elliot and gave him the look of death. "How could you give her your Semper Fidelis medal, El?"

"She needs it more than I do."

"Oh really? You haven't talked to her in 9 months! How the hell could you possibly know that she 'needs' your damn medal?"

"I JUST KNOW KATHY!" Elliot shouted as he rose up and faced her. He stared at her. He could see that she was very angry with him. He didn't care though. "I just know. I left her in a bad place. You just wouldn't—"

"Understand?" Kathy interrupted. "Yeah, you're right, El. You have been saying that a lot lately. I don't understand. Why don't you explain it to me then?"

"I-I can't. It's too…"

"Too what? Complicated? Heart breaking?" Kathy yelled. She looked into Elliot's eyes, wondering what he would do or say next. "Why don't you spare me the bullshit excuses and tell me, huh? Why do you care so much about her even though you haven't spoken to her since the shooting?"

"I care because she's my fucking partner, Kathy! My best friend and my partner!" Elliot shouted.

"Don't you mean former partner? And if I were she, I wouldn't be your best friend anymore. Anyone that decides to not talk to me for 9 months isn't a friend I'd keep around."

"Fuck you, Kathy." Elliot stormed off to the hallway, grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.

Kathy ran to the door and saw Elliot walk to his car. "Where are you going?" Elliot got into the car, turned the engine on, and pulled out the driveway. He didn't take a second look at the door and sped off quickly.

Special Victims Unit
Squad Room

Olivia sat at her desk, typing away on the keyboard. After her hour breakdown in the locker room, Nick came up to tell her that they had a new lead on the current case they're working on. He saw that she was crying and asked if she was okay. Being Olivia, she responded with her famous phrase, "I'm fine." She got up quickly with the brown box and made her way back to the bullpen.

Olivia continued to type on the keyboard, clicking her mouse fiercely. She stared at the computer screen, searching for what she needed. Her eyes grew big as she clicked on the link she's been searching for. She read through the Wikipedia webpage and she could feel her eyes fill up with tears. She quietly read off the screen, "Semper Fidelis is Latin for 'Always Faithful'. She sat back in her chair and took her newest necklace into her hand. She thought of Elliot and smiled.

"Always faithful…" she whispered. The quick moment of happiness turned into confusion seconds later. Why did Elliot give her this necklace? Was there something she was missing?

She grabbed the note from the small box that sat inside her desk. She reread the note, looking for something. There was something Elliot wanted her to know, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Captain Cragen walked out of his office and stood in the middle of the room. "It's late. We're at a dead end and we don't have any new leads. Go home and rest up so we can look at this case with fresh eyes."

"Sounds good to me, Cap!" Fin said as he tossed his pen on his desk.

"Anyone want to head out for some drinks?" Nick asked as he put his coat on.

"I'm in. I could use a few beers." Amanda responded with a quick smile.

"Sorry guys, but count me out. Have a good night, everyone." Cragen said. He made his way back into his office and closed the door.

Fin, Nick, and Amanda started to make their move to the elevator, talking about the last lead they had on the case. Munch started to walk away, but stopped and walked over to Olivia's desk. He sat down on the side of her desk. "Care to join us, Liv?"

"Oh, no thanks. I think I'm just going to head straight home." She answered without looking up from her note.

Munch snatched the paper from her hands and folded it. "Come on, Liv. You need to have some fun. It's hurting me to see you like this."

"Thanks for your concern, John." Olivia snatched the note from his hands and sat back down. "I'm just going to call it a night."

"Olivia, I order you to come out and have a couple of beers with your dear friends."

Olivia stared at the old man before her, but couldn't help but laugh because he tried to look very serious. "Okay, fine. I'll go. I won't stay that long though." She stood up with her jacket and followed Munch to the elevators.

"So who is that note from anyway?"

"Just a friend, detective." Olivia laughed. She stuffed the note into her jacket and smiled.

"There's that nice smile. You should do it more often. We miss it." The elevator doors opened and he let Olivia go first.

The group of detectives went to a local bar that was ten blocks away from the precinct. It became their new usual spot when the new detectives joined the squad. Nick recommended the place and Amanda has gone there a few times when she moved to New York. The food was great and the beer was cheap. They've become regulars here ever since.

The detectives walked through the doors of the bar and grabbed a table. "Welcome to Jack's, detectives! Want me to start you off with your usual?"

"Yeah, Henry. Bring out some extra napkins, will ya?" Fin asked the young waiter.

"Sure thing." Henry gave him a nod and he was off.

"What happened to that one waitress we had the other night?" Munch asked as he grabbed the small container of cashew peanuts.

"She quit, remember?" Amanda said as she grabbed the container from Munch's hands.

"You talked her to death about your damn crazy conspiracies and Gary said she wasn't beat to come back." Fin added in.

"I doubt that was the reason." Munch said defensively.

"You're just a scary old bat." Nick said laughing.

Henry came back to the table with two pitchers of Miller lite beer and napkins. The detectives continued to joke and laugh at Munch and his theory about the waitress. Fin looked at Olivia as she twirled her fingers around the necklace he just realized was new.

"Doin' okay, baby girl?" he asked quietly.

Olivia gave him a weak smile. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Got a new necklace?"

"Yep."

"Who is it from? Some new guy you ain't telling us about?"

"No, nothing like that, Fin." She laughed. "It's a gift I got from a friend, that's all." She grabbed a glass and poured herself some beer.

"How you doin' though, Liv? You've been pretty distant from everyone."

"For what it's worth, it could be worse." She handed Fin a glass and passed the pitcher of beer to him. "I'm fine though, really."

"Just know that we're here for you, baby girl. No need to be all upset all the time."

"I know… thanks, Fin." She said with a smile.

"No problem." Fin patted Olivia's back and they drank their beer.

An hour has passed by and the detectives decided to stay longer to eat after slowly finishing four pitchers of beer. It was pretty late and the bar filled up with college students for the weekly Thursday night karaoke.

"So who is paying tonight? Rollins, I think you're up." Nick said as he tossed his napkin on the table.

"Are you sure?"

"I paid last week, my dear blonde." Munch said. He picked up his glass and took another sip of his beer.

Olivia stood up and tossed ten dollars onto the table. "I'm going to head home."

"Need a ride, baby girl?" Fin asked.

"No, that's okay. I'm just going to catch a cab. See you all tomorrow." Olivia waved good-bye and left the bar. She walked a block and searched for a taxi, but had no luck. She lived about 34 blocks away from Jack's so there was no use of walking home. She decided to walk back to the station and get some paper work done. There was no way she could sleep tonight anyway.

She walked through the doors of the 1-6 and went to the elevator. Seconds later she walked into the squad room and sat at her desk. Some of the lights were off and most of the squad was gone, with a few uniformed officers lingering around. She looked over towards Cragen's office and saw that the lights were out. He must have gone home for the night.

Olivia sighed and slouched back in her chair. She took her jacket off and placed it on the back of the chair. She glanced down at her phone to check the time. 1:32 am. Her attention then moved to the picture frame that sat next to her computer screen. She picked it up and traced the frame with her finger. It was a picture of her and Elliot from the squad Christmas party last year. There were only a few moments out of their 12-year partnership that the two ever came into close physical contact with each other. Some of them were life or death moments; while others were because of the job they were doing at that moment. This picture showed one of those few moments where being in close range of each other felt perfectly normal in their partnership, only because they were best friends as well. Elliot had his arms wrapped around her waist and she had one arm his neck. Her other arm was occupied by a glass of champagne in her hand. They were both laughing and looking at each other. If Olivia remembered correctly, Munch just got done explaining one of his theories about Santa Claus and his reindeers. He was a little tipsy from the eggnog, so anything he said was ridiculous. Olivia studied the picture as she gripped her Semper Fidelis necklace. They looked very happy together in the picture. They way that he looked at her… it was something that she always cherished. However, it did confuse her many times. It would be the only time that she wasn't able to make out what he was thinking. That's probably because Kathy would always appear with an attitude about something so it always ruined the mood. She sat the picture back on the desk and tears started to flow down her cheeks.

It's so hard to tell what's in your heart,

What you keep to yourself is tearing me apart,

And should I be afraid to dream about you?

And if you feel the same, what you going to do?

She laid her head down on the desk and began sobbing hysterically. "Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why do I continue to break down over him?"

How far can we go before we break?

How long can I wait?

She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She took it out and pressed the side button. She didn't bother to look at the caller ID to see who it was. If it was Cragen or one of the other detectives, she figured that they would come in and find her at her desk. She took off her Semper Fidelis necklace and placed it on the desk. She looked at the necklace then at the picture and broke down again.

How strong do you think I am?

How much can I take of this?

Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?

Or the breath at the end of a kiss?

How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,

You make it harder than it has to be,

How strong, how strong do you think I am?

After a ten-minute break down, Olivia finally got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Once she left the room, someone else walked in and went straight for Olivia's desk and sat in her chair, patiently waiting.

Minutes later, Olivia returned to the squad room feeling a little better. She stopped instantly and noticed that someone was occupying her desk. She took a few more steps to see who it was, but they had their back facing her. She noticed something shining from the front of the person. She quickly looked at the picture and saw that her necklace was missing. She drew out her gun and pointed it to the suspect.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" she spoke loudly.

"Looks like I'm not the only one staying up late tonight." The person said with a raspy voice. The person got up from the chair and turned around to face the detective.

Olivia's eyes grew big and couldn't believe what she saw in front of her.

"Nice seeing you, Liv. No need to point your gun at me." The person laughed.

Olivia slowly put her gun back in the pouch and stood in shock.

"What's wrong? Didn't you miss me? Because I sure as hell missed you, Liv."

Olivia quickly ran over to the person and wrapped her arms around them. She squeezed the person with dear life and tears started to flow down her face again. The person returned the gesture by wrapping their arms around her waist, squeezing her tightly as well.

"Oh Liv, you have no idea how much I missed you." The person said as they began to kiss her forehand over and over again.

Olivia took in a deep breath, and sobbed quietly into the person's shoulder, never letting go. "El…"

A/N: Okay first of all, I just want to say YAY! Thank you to everyone that's read the first chapter, wrote reviews, and added the story to their favorites and alerts. You all are amazing. And I'm so happy to see that over 300 people has read it so far. It makes me happy inside to see that people are enjoying it so far.

Anyway back to business... Elliot is now in a tight embrace with Liv as she is crying... what exactly does Elliot have in mind? Why did he show up to the precinct this late?