A/N: This was partially inspired by the new show "Covert Affairs." However, there are no characters from that show in this story, and it's not really the same plot. It might even be somewhat similar to "Indefatigable."

DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Dick Wolf, but I appreciate him letting me play with them for a bit. I promise to return them when I'm done. Maybe… (Everything else is mine, all mine. TStabler©)

Elliot woke up the next day, tried to roll over away from Kathy, but took a deep breath and smiled. The woman in his arms wasn't Kathy, and he didn't want to roll away from her. "Morning," he whispered, squeezing her closer to him and letting out a mild grunt.

Olivia blinked then looked up at him. "Good morning," she said, unsure of how to react to this, seeing that she'd admitted more than she cared to the night before, changing both their professional and personal relationships.

"So how do we do this?" Elliot asked, sighing.

"That's a good question," Olivia replied, tugging herself out of his arms.

Elliot scoffed. "Not…not, uh, this," he said, linking his hand with hers. "I know how to do this. I meant, how do we walk into the sqaudroom today and pretend that everything's fine? How do I go home to Kathy tonight, pretending I don't know that she's a fucking criminal? How do I do my job, and look at you, knowing that you put your career on the line because you didn't want to rip my family apart? Liv, that's asking a lot."

"It's asking way too much," Olivia said, letting his hand go, getting out of the bed, and heading for the bathroom.

Elliot followed her, getting up from the other side. "I didn't say that, baby. I just said…"

"Don't," Olivia said, turning around and pointing her toothbrush at him. "Don't call me that. You know…you seem to think this is some kind of…"

"It is," Elliot interrupted. "You're the one holding back. I know why, and I'm not going anywhere, so you just keep being stubborn and afraid, and I'll be right here beside you, showing you that there's absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of me."

Brushing her teeth, Olivia scoffed. "Just wait," she said, her mouth full of toothpaste. "I'll fuck it all up somehow."

Elliot narrowed his eyes. "Last night, you told me my wife was a Polish drug lord and sex slave trader, you told me you were in the CIA and the only reason you were even my partner was because you were after her," he said. He pointed to himself and said, "Still here."

Olivia spit into the sink, looked at him, and said, "You're a masochist."

"No," Elliot said, stepping into the bathroom. He looked into her eyes and said, "I'm just in love with you."

Olivia's breath caught in her throat and just as she opened her mouth to argue again, the alarm went off. She dropped her eyes from his, pushed passed him, and headed for her closet.

Elliot watched her go, knowing that the only way to prove that he wasn't going to be like every other man she'd been with, was to prove he was choosing her, once and for all. He had to help her get Kathy.


They walked into the bullpen of their unit with two coffees as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As if they weren't operating under a whole new set of rules and standards. As if Elliot's whole life hadn't been turned on its ear. As if Olivia hadn't said the "L-Word" for the first time in her life. As if they hadn't spent the night fucking each other senseless.

Cragen came out of his office, cutting through the unnoticeable tension, and handed Elliot a pink slip. "You two," he said, frowning. "You've got a DB on Forty-Ninth. Twenty-two year old pro, strangled with her fishnets and branded with an 'M' on her thigh. Ring a bell?"

"Shit," Elliot said, ripping the paper from Cragen's hand.

Olivia's eyes widened. "How is that possible?" she asked. "We nailed that son of a bitch!"

"He got out," Cragen said. "Or it's a copycat. Or he wasn't working alone the first time. Just go. Canvass the scene and talk to Warner."

"Damn it," Olivia spat, pulling out her cell phone. As she and Elliot walked out, coffees in hand, she dialed a number. She talked as they walked. "Conrad," she said as someone obviously picked up, "How did this…you know what I'm…what? Team of what? Oh, that's fucking great. Yeah. No, we're on it. Cragen handed it right to us. No, it shouldn't be a problem." She sent Elliot a glance, gauging if she had just lied to her director, Conrad Kline. "We'll be fine. Ha, I know. There is no conflict of interest in the CIA, that's why you haven't pulled me off the case. You're making me learn that the hard way. Well, easy now, I guess. Right. Bye."

Elliot shot Olivia a look as he opened the car door for her. "I'm guessing the cases we're working here are related."

Olivia sighed and nodded. "The 'M' on their thighs, El, is a brand of ownership."

"Someone is branding these girls like...like cattle?" Elliot asked, closing her door. He ran around and got into the driver's side. "And, judging by what I got from that conversation with Kline, the 'M' stands for Malokowski. These are Kathy's girls."

"Yeah," Olivia said, nodding as Elliot started the car. "She's got a team of what Kline has dubbed 'diposers.' When a girl isn't useful anymore, one of her men…"

"Rapes them one last time, as a fucking farewell, and kills them," Elliot said, angry now.

Olivia bit her lip. "I'm so sorry about all of this. This is all stuff you…"

"Should have known years ago!" Elliot yelled. "You should have told me, Liv. Fuck protocol, screw codes of conduct and vows of silence and shit. You should have fucking told me!"

"Elliot, I couldn't tell you until I was sure you weren't a part of it!" Olivia yelled back.

Elliot was taken aback, shocked. "What? Liv, how could you even…"

"And when I was sure," Olivia continued, cutting him off, "I couldn't hurt you like that. I'd already fallen…it was just too fucking late." She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't look at me like that! For the first six months, you were a fucking suspect. I have files on you that would make your eyes pop. I know shit about you that you don't even fucking know about yourself, okay? It's the C I fucking A. But I let it all go and forgot all about it when I cleared you, which I worked non-stop for those five months doing. I never, not once, believed you were helping her."

Elliot finally let out a breath, taking another one. "That's all I needed to hear." He blinked quickly a few times and then asked, "So these, uh, files…what was…is…what's in them?"

"Stop lying to me about your mother," Olivia said softly.

"Shit," Elliot chuckled. "Okay, what else?" he asked. "Is there anything at all you don't know about me?"

Olivia looked at him, tilted her head, and said, "Yes. But I don't think I wanna know it. Not yet anyway."

"Well, what is it? I wanna be able to tell you some things," Elliot said. "I don't want you to think I was hiding things, or purposely keeping things from you. Just ask me, Liv. You know I'd tell you anything."

Olivia cleared her throat and looked out the window, watching the scenery as the car turned down the road. "When?" she asked.

"When…what?" Elliot prodded.

"When did you fall in love with me?" Olivia asked. "Was it a moment? Was it a bunch of moments? Was it over time, was it all at once? I just…I don't get it."

"Don't get it?" Elliot asked. "What's not to get?"

Olivia shook her head. "Later," she said. "Just answer the question. You can aske me whatever you want later."

Elliot snickered. "That's it? That's your question?" he asked. He parked the car behind a squad car and pulled the key out of the ignition and then turned to look at her. "Well, uh, I knew I was falling in love with you in a moment. During the Vabenetti case. We'd been up for almost thirty straight hours, and you were still going. You were so determined, so fucking tireless, and you pushed us all to move our asses to save that kid. I knew then, I was fighting a losing battle. Then, the moment I knew I was really in love with you…" he paused, not sure how he could tell her this.

"I'm listening," Olivia said, not liking the silence, because she didn't exactly like the topic of conversation. "El?"

"When your mother died," Elliot said. "Cragen told you to take time off and you came in the next day like nothing had happened."

"Yeah, so?" Olivia spat, softly, not wanting to recall that day.

Elliot shook his head and chuckled. "You always use work as an escape, just like I do. You work because your vics' problems are always worse than your own, and for a brief moment, your life isn't about you. But that day, you came in, and I knew that you never think of yourself, ever. Even when you aren't at work. You are the most selfless human being on the face of this Earth, and it's the most beautiful thing." He smiled at her. "But I also wanted nothing more to hold you that day, tell you it was okay to cry, because I knew damn well you needed to, and I wanted to be the one you finally let those walls down with. When that thought entered my head, Liv, I knew I was in love with you."

Olivia let a small smile pass over her lips. "That was a long time ago, El."

"Five years," Elliot said, nodding. "Took me a year to finally let it happen, but when it did, damn did it hit me hard." He shook his head and said, "We should probably go do our jobs now."

"Yeah," Olivia said, nodding. "But before we do," she said, "So you know, if you have so much as rested a hand on my shoulder that day, I would have fallen right into your arms and cried. You're the only one I trust enough to let those walls down in front of, El. Never forget that."

Elliot smiled at her as he opened his car door, getting out. Olivia did the same, and they walked in step toward the body of dead prostitute, who apparently used to work for Elliot's wife.

Olivia stepped closer to the body as Elliot stopped to talk to Warner. She knelt down, examining the ligature marks around her neck and the raised scar, in the shape of an 'M' on her left thigh. She let her eyes zoom in on each inch of the woman's body, searching for new evidence, and she gasped. "Oh, my God," she said, shocked, lifting up the victim's hand. "Elliot!" she called.

Elliot ran over, knelt down, and said, "What?" panicked.

Olivia tilted the girl's hand toward him. "She's wearing Kathy's wedding ring."

Elliot looked at Olivia, then stood up and looked around the crime scene. "Liv," he said, lowering his voice. "Baby, I think she knows."

"About what?" Olivia asked, just as softly, rising to her feet next to him.

Elliot let his eyes meet Olivia's and his look softened, filling with love with a hint of worry, as he didn't know exactly what he was dealing with yet. He took a deep breath and let it out as he said, "Everything."

A/N: Does Kathy know? What does she do about it? And Munch proves one of his conspiracies right, much to Olivia's dismay. Will it force her to tell him her secret? Want more? Review! Here or on Twitter: TMG212