Disclaimer: See previous.

A/N: Sorry that this is short and all. The episode left me decidedly uninspired. Not that I didn't like it; I just didn't know what to do with it.


He's been watching her. Not in a creepy way, he rationalizes to himself, in a worried way, but in any case this is why his heart leaps perversely when she tells him no, she isn't okay. Because for six months now he's been watching her spiral downward, and now he gets to watch her pull herself up.

The ways he knows are too many and insignificant to count, but they include the dressing down she gave Fin when he called her a prude. They include the fleeting stay-out-of-this look she stopped him with when Laurel Andrews blamed her for his decision. They include the fact that all day now he has not felt her falter.

"What?" she demands, and he realizes that he's been watching her, literally, across their desks.

"Nothing," he says quickly, and clears his throat. "I mean, congratulations."

"Thanks," she says automatically, assuming he's referring to the perp she just cornered. Then she frowns, suspicious. "What for?"

"Um," he mutters, unable, so pinned by her gaze, to recall the guy's name. Damn, she really is getting better. "You know. Things. Er. In general."

"Everything okay? Kids okay?"

"Fine." He coughs. "Why?"

"Because you're acting very strange."

"Oh. Well, ignore me."

"Okay," she says doubtfully as Munch sweeps into the squad room. She turns to give him the Look instead. "John, where you been?"

"Around," Munch says vaguely. "You keep missing me, not the other way around."

"Well, that's nice to say."

"Aw, now don't get all touchy all of a sudden. I didn't mean it like that and you know it."

"If I know it, why would I 'get all touchy'?" Olivia wants to know.

Meanwhile Elliot has recovered enough to add, "She's just pissed 'cause your partner thinks she's a prude. Don't mind her."

"I thought it was you we were ignoring," she shoots back.

Elliot can't quite contain the grin, so he directs it at Munch, who is thoroughly nonplussed. "Wow," he says feelingly. "I must have missed something."

"Haven't you heard?" Olivia asks lightly. "It's impossible to take a day off lately without missing everything."

Elliot wonders if this is supposed to mean something, but he can't bring himself to spoil the mood by asking.

"Clearly," Munch says, "I missed that."

She laughs, such a nice sound that both men find themselves laughing with her and she stops to give them a strange look. Instantly they quiet. His partner's staring him down and still Elliot can't suppress the smile. Olivia shakes her head and stands, shuffling her paperwork together. "Men," she says, long-suffering, and turns towards Cragen's office.

"Liv," he says. "Laurel Andrews."

"What about her?"

"She's gonna be fine."


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