She gets talked into coffee with Casey, and pushed out of the squad room, by the guys, including Munch, because they're all convinced she needs a life other than the three of them.
"Just so you know," she informs them, over her shoulder, "You guys are not my life."
And she hears their laughter as she leaves with Casey, and rolls her eyes. The unit's prosecutor gives her an amused look.
"I think both of us need a life," she says, as they leave. "How's everyone doing?"
"You want the professional rundown, or the personal one?" Olivia asks in reply, and Casey smirks.
"Both," she says. "I know you know everything, and I've been tied up in court. Might as well let me in on it."
"Everything's normal," says Olivia, as they step into the sunshine for the first time all that week, because it's been raining a lot lately. "You've got the court, we've got the precinct…Elliot's going to have another kid this winter, Fin is…himself, and Munch is…"
And she trails off there, and Casey laughs, because she knows exactly what the older woman means.
He's moved the last of his stuff back into the house in Queens by the end of that week, because he'd been putting it off, partly because he was being lazy, and partly because they weren't sure it would work. But it's working now.
The apartment's empty as they stand in it, and she shakes her head at him. "I ever catch you staying in Manhattan again, you're gonna hear it from me," she tells him. He laughs.
"And what am I supposed to do if Kathy kicks me out for a night, huh? Pretty sure Munch won't want me showing up on your doorstep."
"He has no say in who comes to see me and he knows it."
And there's silence between them for a moment, until he speaks again. "You two think it's gonna go any farther than it has?"
Olivia shrugs. "Don't know," she says. "I don't think either one of us have thought that far into the future."
"You know you can talk to me if he starts pissing you off, don't you?" Elliot asks, and she nods, looking amused.
"He told me you threatened to kick his ass," she says, and he looks over at her with raised eyebrows, smirking.
"I have the feeling you'd kick his ass before Fin or I could do it."
The four of them go out for drinks. It's funny, because it used to be Munch and Fin on one side, and him and Olivia on the other, but now, he sits beside Fin, and Munch sits with Olivia.
"Think the defense will try to tear us apart again?" Olivia asks dryly, because the latest case has gone to trial, finally, and Casey's gonna kill them, because she's been in court so often lately that she needs a break, and then this comes along.
"They have no reason to," says Elliot, "They did enough damage a few months ago, the hell would they want to try it again for?"
"Because the entire world is conspiring against us," Munch says dryly, and all four of them laugh.
"Maybe it wasn't really so bad," Olivia remarks, after silence falls, thoughtfully, and the men look at her strangely.
"You hit your head or something?" Fin asks. "If I never have to go through that mess again…"
"You'll die a happy man, right?" Munch asks, sarcastically, earning himself a glare from his partner.
"Maybe, maybe not," he says. "All I know is that I had enough of that the first time. They better not go after us like that again."
But the four of them together doubt that it'll happen, because the 'third time's the charm' rule has never really seemed to work with them.
They do end up playing cards. In Casey's apartment, of all places, which makes it that much funnier.
"You suck at this," Casey tells Olivia, and she laughs, and shakes her head, kicking at Elliot's foot under the table.
"Better than you're doing," she says to him, and he gives her a mock-annoyed look.
"Let's not go there," he tells her, because he knows exactly what she's going to say, and he doesn't want to hear it.
"Oh, no," she says, and turns to the other three. "That guy over there? Just learned that he sucks at this game. His own kids can beat him."
"How d'you know he's not just letting them win?" Munch asks, dryly, and Olivia shakes her head.
"Played with 'em," she says, and takes another sip from the glass in front of her, and he rolls his eyes.
"Think you've had enough, Liv?" he asks, but she shakes her head, and he knows why, and so does everyone else.
No matter how much they take, it never really seems like enough.
June drags on and she finds herself being talked into another day out of the squad room, though this time, it's more Elliot than it is the other two. And so she drives out to Queens, just so he'll stop poking her.
"Finally got tired of him, huh?" Kathy asks dryly, when she opens the door, and Olivia laughs.
"Wouldn't stop kicking my feet," she says. "It was either leave or whack him across the head."
Kathy gives her an amused look. "You should've whacked him," she says, smirking.
"Way to make him think the world's conspiring against him," says Olivia, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "So…why'd you want him to send me out here?"
And Kathy shrugs at this point, and steps outside, closing the door behind her, and pulling a set of keys out of her pocket, so she can lock up.
"Figured we could talk," she says, quietly, "If you wouldn't mind."
She doesn't.
"You're never going to tell me what happened, are you?" he asks, two days later, as they leave the squad room together, because the day's over, and they're both going to the same place.
"No," she says. "I hardly think I have to tell you the contents of every conversation I have."
"You're right, you don't. If you did, I'd be hearing about every little conspiracy theory Munch comes up with."
"He's not really that bad."
"I don't wanna know, Liv."
"Of course you don't." But she stops, anyway, because there are some places that she's not going to go, even with her partner.
The conversation's forgotten about, though, by the time they get into Queens. There's a game of kickball taking place in the street in front of the house, and somehow, the two of them get roped into it.
That night, after everything's been said and done, and she's back in Manhattan, she stares at her ceiling, and watches the shadows, amused.
"You should come out with me tonight," he says, and she kicks his foot under their desks.
"You're married," she reminds him, smirking, and he gives her a look.
"That's not what I meant," he says. "I wasn't talking about just you and me alone."
"Ah," she says. "I get it." And she does, and she's tempted to poke at him for it, but she doesn't. "I'll think about it."
It's better than nothing. He pushes at her foot anyway. "Thinking isn't good enough," he says. "Come on, Liv, it'll do you both some good, to get away from this place."
"Oh, so now you care about Munch?" she asks, giving him an amused look, and he rolls his eyes at her.
"Contrary to whatever it is that you might believe, I care about everyone in this squad room, and not only that, but I happen to think that you, dear partner, need a life."
"I have one."
"Yeah, in the squad room. You're not just a cop, you know."
She looks at him with raised eyebrows, and then looks away, wondering if she's startled by this because he's noticed, or because he's saying it out loud.
They do go out, though. And it's something she hasn't done in a while, so it's awkward, but at the same time it isn't, and for a moment, she gets the chance to see what it's like to be in a normal relationship.
"You all right?" Munch asks her, later on, when it's just the two of them, wandering around the city, because it's what they do when neither of them can sleep.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replies. "Why wouldn't I be?"
And he shrugs, because there isn't a real answer to that question, and she rolls her eyes at him as they continue to walk.
"Nice seeing things back to normal," she remarks, and he laughs.
"Your partner, you mean?" he asks, and when she nods, he sighs.
"Yeah," he says, "Yeah, it is."
There's silence between them as they continue walking. After a moment, she takes his hand in her own, lacing her fingers through his.
A late night becomes an excuse for coffee, and all the coffee does is keep them awake, when they're dead tired and really need to be asleep. They've been taking shifts in the crib. He comes down and nods for her to go up.
"We're not going to wake her up," he says, flatly, to Munch, and Fin, who both nod in agreement, because out of the four of them, this has been hitting her the hardest, somehow.
"Where's Benson?" Cragen asks, a few hours later, as the sun starts coming up, and the city starts waking up, and the phone starts ringing.
"Sleeping," Elliot replies. "We kinda forgot to wake her up."
And the captain gives him a skeptical look, because he knows full well that none of the other men 'forgot' to do anything. It's just their way of taking care of her without her actually knowing it, though they all know she knows it anyway.
When a lead comes in, Elliot goes up to get her, and she sits up, drowsily, rubbing her eyes for a second, before looking at her watch. And when she realizes what's been done, she glowers at him.
"You were supposed to wake me up," she says, accusingly, and he shrugs.
"I forgot."
But she knows he didn't, really.
Kathleen shows up in the precinct in the middle of the day, when she knows full well that her father won't be around. But Olivia is. Somehow, the four detectives have ended up working tandem again, and Elliot and Munch are both gone, but Fin's there, and Olivia's just coming out of the captain's office.
"Kathleen," she says, upon noticing her partner's second oldest, "What are you doing here?"
"Can we talk?" comes the reply, and Olivia nods, motioning for her to follow her into an interview room, where they won't be interrupted.
"What's up?" she asks, and Kathleen looks away, almost nervously, fiddling with the watch she's wearing for a long moment, before speaking.
"I came to apologize," she says, the words tumbling out in a rush. "I just…I don't know. But I know I've been a real bitch to you ever since this crap with my parents, and I just…"
But Olivia cuts her off, a faint smile crossing her face. "I get it," she says, and is startled to find that she really does. "You don't have to apologize."
The relieved look that crosses the girl's face is hard to miss. There's silence for a moment, and then Kathleen speaks again.
"You're still planning on coming to this shower thing, right?" she asks, and Olivia laughs.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."