Elliot felt a combination of guilt and anger as he left George's office. The guilt, obviously because of how long he had treated George so badly, without realizing the consequences. And the anger because of what had been said to him. In particular, the accusation George had made about he and Olivia. He and Olivia had talked after the Gitano case; they really were happier with a brother/sister relationship. They didn't desire anything more.

He wondered why George had said that he thought they were together. His first thought was that George truly had that impression, but he didn't think it was true. His second thought was jealousy, but he didn't understand why George would be jealous of him or Olivia.

Sighing, he drove towards his apartment.


Over the next few days, Elliot learned a lot about George. They had similar likes- food, for example, which led them to a restaurant George frequented.

"Doc, can I ask you something?" Elliot began as they sat down.

"You just did. But yes, you can." George smirked.

"Why did you say what you did about Olivia and me?" George rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"I apologize for that. It was extremely unprofessional..."

"Thanks. But why did you say that?" Elliot pressed.

"I suppose it's because I was angry." Elliot shook his head.

"Doc, I'm no shrink, but I know when someone's lying to me." George sighed in resignation.

"I wanted to use any insult I could, because quite frankly, I thought I would never get a chance to say it otherwise. Consider it my one and only 'why you suck' speech." He smiled awkwardly. Elliot recognized that he wasn't being insulted again, and took the comment in stride.

"You don't think Olivia and I did anything, do you?" He asked. He needed the affirmation.

"No, I don't. I thought about it once or twice, I admit. But I recognize now that while the two of you are close, you would never do anything irresponsible." Elliot smiled in relief.

"We're like brother and sister. We wouldn't want anything else and even though we put each other in front of the job that one time we are never going to do it again. Even if we did date we'd tell Cragen first so one of us could switch out of the unit."

"That earns you a gold star." George teased. Elliot shook his head bemusedly.

"I doubt you know the first thing about rule breaking."

"I've broken my fair share of rules," George confessed. Elliot raised his eyebrows.

"Spill, doc." Elliot ordered. George smirked.

"I don't think you want to hear those details." Elliot chuckled.

"What, does buttoned-up Doctor George Huang actually have a personal life?" George's face fell slightly.

"Actually... no. Not as of late," George admitted sadly.

"Bad break up?" Elliot asked as he took a sip of water.

"You could say that," George agreed with a sigh. "You know, better than most, how these things go. It takes a lot to keep any kind of relationship with someone who isn't in this line of work. You can't exactly come home to an insurance worker and say 'Today I profiled a serial rapist-murder with sexual sadism and evaluated a man who pleaded guilty to rape but claimed insanity. What's for dinner?' It's extremely difficult to stay in a relationship."

"Yeah, it's difficult," Elliot acknowledged. George let out a long sigh. Their food arrived and they ate in silence for a while.

"Why did you treat that kid with Ibogaine?" Elliot asked suddenly. George paused for a moment before responding.

"Because otherwise he would have died. At the very least, he would have ruined his future."

"Have you done that before or after?" Elliot inquired, slipping easily into interrogation mode.

"No. Never," George replied. His tone became light as he added, "And while we're speaking of old cases, why did you grin so much when I jokingly asked you to strangle me?"

"Because I always wanted to strangle you! Lots of people have tried, I figured I should get a shot," Elliot teased. George smirked and shook his head.

"I wonder what the squad thought of that."

"I don't know," Elliot replied. He sighed as his thoughts turned into the Brodus case again.

"I'm sorry I never visited you after the Brodus fiasco. I felt like I'd failed."

"Why?"

"Because you were hurt." Elliot said simply.

"That was his fault, not yours. You should know that," George stated.

"Please don't shrink me right now, doc- George," Elliot requested.

"What's wrong with shrinking?"

"I don't like people getting in my head and tripping me up."

"Is it because of the time you almost got fired?"

"That would be it," Elliot agreed.

"Even though I'm not the psychiatrist that almost ended your career."

"Yes, George, even though it wasn't you. Can you stop shrinking me yet?" Elliot's voice was laced with agitation. He felt that George was definitely pushing things. They'd just started to build some kind of friendship, and George was trying to shrink him- that wasn't going to work.

"Suit yourself," George said, leaning back in his seat. He couldn't stop the smirk that etched itself on his face.

"And can you stop smirking?" Elliot demanded.

"Sorry, detective, it's either one or the other," George answered sarcastically.

"Can you just stop?" Elliot asked in frustration.

"Everyone has quirks," George said with a shrug.

"Yours are amazingly annoying," Elliot grumbled.

"What besides me being a shrink annoys you? Say everything else about me besides my proffession was the same."

"I can't picture you not being a shrink any more than you could picture me not being a detective," Elliot retorted.

"Have it your way, then."

"Why do you always do that?"

"What?" George asked mildly. His fingers drummed on the table, indicating his boredom with the situation.

"Do you even care if I answer a single question?"

"Not especially. In our sessions, naturally I think answering questions is better for your mental health. But right now we're just eating at a restaurant."

"And supposedly working on our professional relationship," Elliot added.

"Correct," George affirmed.

"So why don't you care if I answer questions then?" Elliot huffed.

"Because," George sighed deeply, "Being able to get along at work is not dependant on having knowledge about each other, though that would be nice as well."

"Fine then," Elliot said simply.

"See you later," George said as he stood up. He paid his half of the bill.

"Wait, George!" Elliot exclaimed.

"I'll see you tomorrow." George stated. He walked out the door.

"I'm never going to get this right!" Elliot huffed.