A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I can't help but feel sorry for poor El! On the show they made him out to be an ass for leaving without saying goodbye to Liv and now my reviews are calling him an ass for going at Liv! LOL….I appreciate all the feedback, even if ya'll hate my El for the time being. Trying to capture his pain at loving this woman so intensely and then her being gone for a year. Anyway, thanks again for the support! Mooooving on….

"See you soon?" Olivia repeated, staring at the message left in the girl's mouth. "What the hell does that mean? Who's the message for? Us? Warner? CSU techs?" she asked looking at Elliot.

"No idea," he replied. "I mean how would anyone know we caught this case?" he questioned.

"Melinda," Elliot looked up at the medical examiner,"We'll be back at the station, call us when you know something.

As Olivia and Elliot walked away from the crime scene and back to the car, he turned to her. "You okay?" he questioned.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Olivia the fact that that girl looks an awful lot like Jenna Fox was not lost on either of us, come on," he stated. "I saw your face, I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he explained.

"Wow! Thanks El for caring. An hour ago you basically called me a whore and wondered why I didn't leave you money after you….wait how did you put it? Oh yeah, fucked the grief out of me, those were your words right?"

"Olivia, I was just asking if you were okay. You wanna start slinging mud? Here? Now? Fuck! Sorry for asking. Let's just go back to the station and start working this case," he said as he got into the car slamming the door shut making Olivia jump.

She sighed. She knew he was asking out of legitimate concern for her, and yet it seemed she couldn't just accept that. She had to throw his words back in his face.

She got into the car, put her seat belt on and turned to Elliot. He avoided her gaze, looking straight ahead and beginning to start the car. She put her hand on his to stop him from doing so, but he quickly pulled his hand away. She was hurt by his obvious repulsion of her touch.

"Elliot, I'm sorry. What I said was was totally uncalled for. I know you were asking out of concern and I appreciate it. I honestly do."

"Whatever Olivia. It's fine. Don't worry about it," he said, actually starting the car this time and heading back to the station.

When they walked back into the squad, Cragen was right there "How'd it go you two?"

"Jennifer Decker, 18 year old, raped, beaten then shot. Warner isn't sure if the beating killed her or the gunshot. She'll call us when she knows more," Elliot reported.

"Looks to us like the crime scene is where the body was found. There were massive amounts of blood. Unfortunately, it was in the back woods off the main road. There wasn't much around to canvass. Perp could have driven her out there, done the rape, the beating and shot her right there. I don't think anyone would have heard anything," Olivia added.

"Okay," Cragen said, turning to Munch Fin. "You two go canvass the area around where she was found. See if you can find any sign of life out there," Cragen ordered.

"You two," pointing to Olivia and Elliot, "Put what you've got up on the board and start working it."

In minutes, Elliot and Olivia had put all the information they had gathered onto the board and now were just staring at it, thinking about their next move. The fact that Olivia could not take her eyes off the picture of Jennifer was not lost on Elliot.

"It's just a really weird coincidence, Olivia," he said to her.

"Yeah….yeah I know….but it's really odd. My first case back and I catch a case with a girl who looks like the girl I killed a year ago," she said.

Before Elliot could reply, the phone started ringing, breaking the tension between the two of them.

"Stabler," he answered. "Where? Okay, we'll be right there," he said hanging up the phone. "We've got another vic," he told Olivia.

"Same MO?" she asked.

"Yeah, eighteen, raped, beaten and shot," he said. "Difference is this one is alive for now. It looks bad, but we might get to talk to her," he explained.

Grabbing her coat she quickly headed for the door. "Let's go!" she shouted back at Elliot.

They arrived at the hospital quickly, heading directly to the ER.

"Elizabeth Durning?"Elliot said to the nurse showing her his badge.

"You'll have to wait for the doctor. He should be out any minute," she told them.

They walked to the waiting area and sat down. The silent awkwardness between them was deafening.

"So, where ya been for the past year anyway?" Elliot asked.

"Excuse me?" Olivia questioned.

"Sorry," Elliot said standing up to walk away.

"No, El. I'm sorry. I did it again. You asked a simple question and I got defensive. I'm just surprised that you care, you made it real clear before that you didn't."

"Olivia look, I said a lot of things earlier. Some I meant some I didn't. I was hurt and angry, two things you know I don't handle very well."

"Glad to know some things haven't changed," she said smiling. "The answer to your question is all over the place."

"Huh?" Elliot asked.

"You asked where I've been. I was all over the place. Spent most of the last year in New Jersey, Long Beach Island to be exact," she whispered softly.

"Why there?" he questioned.

"So I could feel…."

She was cut off by the doctor coming out of the exam room. "Hey Detectives," he said.

They stood up and Elliot asked, "How is she doc?"

"She's touch and go. It doesn't look too good right now. The bullet hit a major artery. We did surgery so it's just wait and see right now. She's semi-conscious if you want to talk to her, but please don't overdo it. She's weak," Dr. Beresford replied.

They nodded at his words and started to make their way toward her room to question her when Dr. Beresford asked Elliot to wait a minute.

"I'll meet you in there," Olivia said, continuing toward the room

Putting a pair of gloves on, Dr. Beresford removed a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, then handed Elliot a pair of gloves. "This was shoved down her throat. No one has seen it but me and no one touched it," he said handing it over.

"Good job not contaminating evidence Doc. You want a job at NYPD?" he asked, as he un-crumpled the paper. Elliot how does it feel to have the beautiful Detective Benson back by your side? See you both soon.

Elliot could feel his heart pounding. He immediately grabbed an evidence bag from his pocket and put the paper in it. "Thanks Doc," he said, as he made his way toward Elizabeth's room.

"Hey," Elliot whispered to Olivia as he walked into the room.

She quickly pointed him in the direction of the hallway and understanding her signal, Elliot walked with her outside the room to talk.. "She's sleeping again. He did a real number on her," Olivia said.

"Did she tell you anything?" he questioned.

"Just that he wore a mask, she never saw his face. That's all I could get out of her," she replied.

Holding up the evidence bag, Elliot said, "This was apparently shoved down her throat."

Olivia took the bag from Elliot and read it. He saw her face go white. "What the hell is this?" she asked. "Who the fuck is this guy?" she questioned looking back at the battered body of their latest victim.

"I don't know, but it's pretty obvious he's got a hard on for you," Elliot replied. "Come on, let's get back to the house and work the pattern," he said leading her out of the hospital.

When they got to the sedan, Olivia watched as Elliot opened the car door for, surprising her with the gesture. Was he actually being nice? She had no idea. He was probably showing her pity because now some asshole seemed to be killing young girls and possibly coming after her. Either way, she felt it was progress with him. She would take anything at this point.

They arrived back at the station and put Elizabeth Durning's information up on the board next to Jennifer Decker's. There was no visible pattern. Jennifer was a brunette who looked like Jenna; however, Elizabeth was a blonde who looked nothing like her. The notes See you Soon and Elliot how does it feel to have the beautiful Detective Benson back by your side? See you both soon unnerved them.. It was becoming evident that the rapes and killings were not going to stop anytime soon. They needed to find this guy before another young girl ended up dead.

Elliot looked over at Munch, who was back at his desk from the field, and asked, "Did you get anything from the canvass on the first victim?"

"We got nothing. There was nothing for miles. We found a gas station. No one there saw anything," he explained.

"Shit!" said Elliot.

He looked around and didn't see Olivia. An immediate panic came over him. She had just been beside him..

"Munch, you see Olivia leave?" he asked worriedly.

"I think I saw her go upstairs."

Elliot breathed a sigh of relief and against his better judgment, went upstairs. He slowly opened the door to the cribs, seeing she was standing in the room alone with her back to him. He approached her slowly, not wanting to scare her.

"Olivia," he whispered.

She swung around immediately at his voice and he saw tears in her eyes. His heart broke just as it had that morning. He wanted nothing more than to reach for her and comfort her, but his pride wouldn't let him.

"You okay?" was all he could manager to muster up at this point.

"No," she said softly. "I'm not okay. Maybe this was a mistake. Coming back here. Two dead girls and some psychopath who seems to want me to suffer. If I had just stayed away maybe those girls would still be alive. I'm tired of being responsible for the deaths of children."

"Liv….this isn't your fault….it's…it's the fault of this bastard whoever he is," he said trying his best to comfort her.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"I said this isn't your fault," he replied.

"No, not that. You called me Liv," she said with a slight smile on her face.

"I always call you Liv," he said looking at her confused.

"Not since I've been back. You've been so proper with me, you've called me Olivia every time we've spoken," she explained.

"Okay….I'm sorry…Olivia this isn't your fault," he replied.

"El, no hearing you call me Liv, feeling like my old self for even a second was exactly what I needed. Thank you for that," she said leaving the room.

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An hour later, the phone in the squad room rang. Munch answered it and began writing down information feverishly. When he hung up, he had a somber look on his face.

"Munch? You okay?" Elliot asked.

"We've got another victim. Natalie Foster, raped beaten and shot. Dumped in an alley on West 56th street. Fin and Amaro were on a stakeout nearby so they're at the scene right now, said they'd be back in about an hour."

"Is the vic dead?" Olivia questioned.

"Yeah, Liv. She is," Munch replied.

Olivia sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"There's something else guys," Munch reported. "There was a note crumpled up in her throat."

"Fuck!" Elliot said. "What'd it say?"

Munch began to read from the notes he had taken. It said, "Olivia you look beautiful tonight. Red really is your color. See you soon."

Olivia looked down and realized she was wearing a red shirt. She gasped.

"Son of a bitch can see her," Elliot spat.

"I need some air," Olivia said as she got up to leave the squad room.

"Elliot go after her. If this guy is watching her, she can't be alone," Munch said.

Sighing, Elliot knew Munch was right. As angry and hurt as he was right now, he would die before he'd let anyone hurt her. He grabbed his coat and ran after her, catching up to her just as the elevator doors were about to close.

"What are you doing, El?" she asked.

"Going with you. I've always had your back and I still do. You are my partner, after all," he said giving her a slight smile.

"Come on, I'll buy you a drink, take your mind off the case for a little while," he said to her.

They arrived at the bar down the street that they would often frequent after a long, hard case. Elliot ordered two beers and met Olivia at the booth in the back of the bar. He slid into his seat. The awkward silence between the two of them was slowly killing them both.

They discussed the case, but after a while Olivia was sick of talking shop. She had had a few beers and was a little tipsy. Elliot thought it best to get her out of there. "Come on, Liv. I'll take you home. I think you've had enough," he said.

He walked her to her door and made sure she made it inside her apartment safely. As he walked into the apartment, he was flooded with memories of the last time he was there. He tried to focus on the present, but always seemed to be pulled back to the past. To her.

He didn't want to take any chances, knowing this guy has been watching her at the station. He searched around her apartment to make sure it was safe. He had no idea if he possibly knew where she lived and could have followed them back to her place. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it might be a good idea if he stayed with her.

"Liv, I'm staying the night," he said firmly.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Look, we don't know if this guy knows where you live. He could have followed us back here for all we know. Just accept it, cause I'm staying," he told her.

"Okay," she said going to the closet to get him a blanket and pillow.

She went right up to him to personally deliever the blanket and pillow, although she could have just left if on the couch. The closer she moved, the more he backed up until he found himself up against the wall. Olivia was so close to him that she could feel his breath on her neck, and he could feel everything about her. She took her hands and bought them to his waist, playing with his belt loops. He was turned on, she knew it. "El," he whispered into his ear.

Feeling his erection building, he said, "Liv what are you doing?"

"What we both want," she stated looking down at the now growing bulge in his pants.

"Liv, don't do this, please," he begged.

"El, don't deny you want me. I can see it. I can feel it," she said softly.

"Olivia, you think because you can still turn me on sexually that everything is okay between us?" he questioned.

"No, of course not but it's a start," she replied.

"Olivia, you're beautiful. I've always known that and yeah I could slam you up against this wall right now and fuck the hell out of you but it wouldn't mean anything other than just that," he said knowing his words would hurt her.

"Wow!" she said backing away.

"Liv, I'm not trying to hurt you but I'm not gonna screw you for the sake of having sex. You're better than that. We were better than that. I'm not demeaning what you meant to me for twelve years or that night we were together a year ago. I'm sorry," he whispered.

"El," she said.

He looked her in the eyes. He saw the pain in her them, the want, the need. He knew that look because he knew he had the same one on his face. He wanted her. He did. He just couldn't let go of the hurt.

"Yeah, Liv?"

"Think it could ever be more than screwing for the sake of sex again between us?" she questioned.

Running his hand down his face he replied, "I don't know, Liv. I honestly don't know. So much has happened. So much has been said. I'm honestly not sure anything will ever be the same between us again. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm just being honest."

A lone tear fell from her eye, "I know," she said softly. "I screwed this all up. I walked away from the best man I've ever known. The best thing I ever had. I left a man who showed me more love in one night than anyone ever showed me in my life. I will regret that for the rest of my life. I'm sorry, El," she said.

He felt his stomach turn as she spoke. Why couldn't he just get past what happened? He wondered. She was obviously hurting and he hated to see her hurt. She hadn't deliberately tried to hurt him, he'd always known that in his heart. He just couldn't forget the loneliness and hurt he'd felt that morning he'd woken up. As he recalled the lone tear he'd seen fall down Olivia's face, a matching tear escaped from one of his own eyes.

A/N: Who is this dude? What's his issue with Olivia? Will Elliot give in to his feelings for Olivia? If he does, will it be just sex or something more?

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