Three months later Olivia walked into the squad room to find Elliot, Fin and John talking by the coffee station. She nodded to her colleagues as she walked toward her desk and hung her jacket on the back of her chair.

"Morning," she said as she walked toward her colleagues.

"Is it?" John said sarcastically. "Because I drove past the gas station at the corner of my street and to my utter amazement read four dollars per gallon for a gallon of gas." He walked through the group and over to his desk. "Our wonderful government at work."

"How is everything a governmental conspiracy to you?" Fin asked. Elliot and Olivia laughed lightly as they walked toward their desks. Two hours later, Elliot turned the car around a corner as they drove to a crime scene that they were call in to. Olivia flipped open the cover of her phone and replied to the text message from Mark. Elliot looked over causing Olivia to glance up at him.

"You two don't call each other?" he asked with a joking tone.

"No, he texts me if he is in a meeting or something and is really bored," she replied with a soft smile.

"So, how's the wedding planning?" Elliot turned down another road.

"Ok. I have every bride and wedding magazine in my bedroom, along with every single article on the internet about how to plan a wedding. I go to bed every night thinking about something that I read. It's insane. And Mark doesn't really care about any of the small details, just what he is going wear and the location and stuff."

"Pick a date yet?" Elliot stopped the car in front of the curb and turned off the ignition.

"I think something in June or July, but who knows," she answered with a smile. Both opened their doors and stepped out of the car. They stepped under the crime scene tape and were approached by a uniformed officer.

"You from Special Victims?" the officer asked.

"Detective Elliot Stabler, my partner Olivia Benson," he introduced motioning to Olivia.



"Victim was found this morning by her ex husband. Their son and his parents had a meeting with the son's teacher this morning. When the mother didn't show up, he came by the apartment and found the body," the officer told them as he lead them up the stairs to the apartment.

"Name?" Elliot asked as they reached the third floor.

"Sharon Walker. ME is on the scene, and husband is on his way to your precinct," the officer told them. Elliot and Olivia nodded to the officer as they walked into the apartment where CSU technicians and uniformed officers were collecting evidence. Elliot and Olivia walked through the apartment and into the bedroom where Sharon Walker's body laid on the bed. Blood soaked the sheets and Warner stood in the corner of the room, writing notes on her clip board.

"Every time we walk into someone's bedroom, this is the scene," Olivia said as they walked further into the bedroom.

"You're telling me," Warner said walking toward them. Both detectives sighed lightly as they looked from Warner to the body.

"What do you got for us?" Elliot asked.

"Ligature strangulation, late last night early this morning. Multiple stab wounds inflicted post mortem and heavy bruising in the upper thighs and pelvic region. I'll run a rape kit. Semen's present so I'll put it through the system," Warner said.

"He stabs her after she's dead. Why?" Olivia asked shaking her head.

Elliot and Olivia walked out of the interview room later that morning after talking to the victim's husband. They walked into the squad room to find John, Fin and Cragen in front of the LCD display board. "Couldn't tell us anything," Olivia said walking over to her desk. "No one he knows of was harassing or causing problems with his ex wife."

"What about the son?" Cragen asked.

"He's six, and goes to his father's every weekend since the courts ruled joint custody to both parents. He doesn't even know that his mother is dead," Elliot said. Before anyone could say anything else, Olivia's phone rang.

"Benson," she said into the receiver. "You're kidding me. Alright thanks," she said before she hung up the phone. "Warner ran the DNA in the system from Sharon's rape kit, and we got a hit." She walked over to the fax machine by the window and took out the piece of paper. "Meet Thomas Pryer, arrested in '98 for statutory rape. Released on parole in 2005, lives in the Lower East side," she read off of the paper before handing the paper to Cragen.

"Get going," he said to Elliot and Olivia. Forty minutes later, they reached Pryer's apartment building. Elliot knocked on the apartment door.

"Thomas Pryer. Police," he said loudly. After a few moments, and no response Olivia put her ear up to the door.

"TV is on. Someone's home," Her and Elliot took their guns out of their holsters before turning the knob f the door and walking into the apartment. Blood was scattered on the walls and on the floor 

of the apartment. Elliot and Olivia separated and walked through the apartment, their guns drawn. "Bedroom's clear," Olivia shouted.

"Olivia!" Elliot shouted. She hurried through the apartment into the kitchen, where Elliot was standing over the body of Thomas Pryer, blood spattered throughout the kitchen. Olivia looked over to Elliot, the same stunned look in his face.

"What in the hell is going on?" Olivia said as she flipped open the cover of her cell phone.

Two hours later, Elliot and Olivia walked into the squad room. They had canvassed the building, and interviewed some of the neighbors, but no one was able to tell them anything about Pryer. Olivia and Elliot both walked over to their desks, and Olivia threw the folder onto the surface of her desk.

"You get anything from the neighbors?" Cragen asked.

"Nothing. Everyone knew he was a perp and stayed away from him, even with is attempts to get to know his neighbors," Elliot said. Cragen looked down at the floor, trying to figure out what to do.

"CSU is still at the scene. Warner is going to send us her preliminary reports," Olivia said.

"Pryer's COD?" Cragen asked looking up.

"Ligature strangulation. Same was Sharon Walker. He was also stabbed a number of times post mortem. No weapon found on the scene. Time of death was early this morning, between two and four," Ollivia replied.

"There's no way this is a coincidence. Pryer's semen was found on Sharon. Whoever did this either planted the DNA to make it look like he raped Sharon or forced him to," Elliot added.

"What if her and Pryer had consensual sex before she was killed?" Fun asked. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other.

"It's definitely possible," Olivia said. "But if they were seeing each other, why kill them. No one can find a reason as to why someone would want to hurt either of them, and from what we've learned, neither one of them were in a relationship so there was no affair." After a moment of silence, Cragen turned away from the LCD display board.

"Alright, let's treat this as two separate crimes. Elliot. Olivia. Concentrate on Sharon Walker. John and Fin, take care of Pryer. Find a solid connection between the two of them or solidify the romance theory," he said before walking toward his office. Elliot and Olivia walked into the Warner's office, three hours later, where she was seated at her desk. Elliot knocked lightly on the door, pulling her attention away from the report that she was filling out.

"I was just about to call you," she said standing up. "I just finished Pryer's autopsy." She walked around her desk and over to the detectives. "I just got back the test results that I had my assistant run on both victims. Both tests came back positive."

"For what?" Elliot asked.

"Sharon Walker toxicology test came back positive for emtricitabine. It's a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor taken but someone who is HIV positive," she explained handing Sharon's file to 

Olivia. "Thomas Pryer's report came back positive as well, but with traces of lamivudine in his system, an inhibitor also used for the treatment of HIV," she added.

"So, if they were lovers, Pryer either transmitted the HIV to Walker or vise versa," Olivia suggested.

"It's possible," Warner said leading the detectives into the autopsy room where Thomas Pryer's body laid on an examination table. "The injuries on the bodies of both victims were very similar. Same wound diameter for the knife lacerations and the pattern left from the ligature strangulation is almost identical. O'Halloran should be able to tell you more."

"Fiber's left on the victims skin include traces of leather and polyester, which is present on both Walker and Pryer," O'Halleron told Elliot and Olivia, "meaning the same object was used to strangle both of them."

"Any idea what it could be?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing matching the ligature pattern was found at either crime scene, but with a pattern this thick it you're looking for a belt, or some kind of thick strap." Elliot and Olivia nodded, and after getting the remainder of the crime scene information from O'Halleron, left the office and headed back to the precinct.

Olivia glanced at her watch-7:08 PM. She and Elliot walked down the hall and toward the elevators. They agreed to stop investigating for the day, and picking up again in the morning.

"You want to go for a drink?" Elliot asked as they reached the elevator.

"You know I would love to, but I told Mark that we are finalizing some of the decisions for the wedding tonight, and he has to help," she said with a smile as they stepped onto the elevator. Elliot laughed lightly.

"You think you're ready to become Olivia James?" he asked, leaning against the back wall of the elevator.

"Ask me in seven months when I'm standing in my wedding dress in front of a full length mirror," she replied as they reached the bottom floor. The elevator doors opened and Elliot and Olivia walked down the hall and out into the cold air.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Elliot said.

"Yeah,"

"Good luck with the wedding stuff," called as he walked toward the curb.

"Thanks."

Forty five minutes later, Olivia walked into Mark's apartment to find the television, and lights off. "Mark!" she called, but after hearing no reply she turned on the lights before closing the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and pressed the play button on the answering machine.

"Hey babe, it's me. One of my meetings was delayed this afternoon so I'm going to be late coming home tonight. I just didn't want you to worry. I should be home no later than nine. See you soon. Love you."

Olivia smiled as she walked through the apartment and into the bedroom where she changed out of her button up collared shirt and into a blue NYPD sweatshirt and white and gray plaid Capri pajama pants. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch after grabbing a couple of wedding magazines off of the table. Twenty minutes later, the apartment door clicked open and Mark walked through the doorway.

"Hey babe," she said looking up from her magazines.

"Hey when did you get home?" he asked as he dropped his keys on the table by the door and walked over to Olivia.

"Uh, like thirty minutes ago," she said before he bent down and kissed her lightly. "I have a question about the wedding for you."

"Ok, hit me," he said walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Well its more like two questions," she called.

"Alright then hit me twice." He took a bowl of leftover pasta and scooped it into a tupperware container before placing it in the microwave.

"Ok first, what do you think about June 23rd," she asked as he stood in the archway of the kitchen.

"I think that it doesn't matter what day I marry you because in the end, I still get to spend the rest of my life with you," he said leaning up against the wall.

"As sweet as that was," she said with a smile, "June 23rd."

"June 23rd," he repeated with a nod. She smiled as she looked back down to her magazines. A few minutes later, Mark walked in with his pasta and sat on the couch next to Olivia. "So tonight is wedding night."

"Yes, and you are helping mister," she said pointing her pen at him. He smiled as he took a bite of his pasta. "Have you thought about the wedding party at all?"

"A little. I have like the brady bunch sized family so obviously I want my brothers as my groomsmen," he told her. "What about you?"

"Well considering I have no family, and the people that I work with are all men, I thought that I would ask your sisters to be my bridesmaids and Casey my maid of honor," she said smiling.

"So you have Megan, Amber, Shannon and Casey, and I have David, John, Anthony who is the one who I've known since high school, and Greg from college," he finalized. Olivia nodded smiling before looking down at the page in the magazine. "What about colors and the guest list?"

"Well I'm thinking that forty people on my 'side'", she said using her hand motions for the quotes, "with the people at work and their guests and everyone like that. But I think that you want to invite a lot of people. You want like one big party." Mark laughed lightly as he took another bite.

"Obviously my family is huge, but a lot of the friends that I have are from back in college, so I have known them for years and are pretty much my family too," he said. "How about we try and keep it under 175?" Olivia nodded, agreeing before writing it down on her piece of paper.

"Any color preferences?" she asked.

"No pink or yellow. Entirely too girly," he immediately said. Olivia raised her brow and smirked lightly. "Ok I don't think that I have to work about you wanting pink or yellow so forget that I said anything." Olivia laughed.

"What if we did something like champagne sort of color, kind of gold and then a navy blue?" she asked. He looked down at his food and thought about it for a moment.

"I like that. Both of the colors look good with black tuxedos," he told her.

"What if the groomsmen wore gold vests and ties and the bridesmaids did blue dresses?" He nodded smiling.

"See this is why we are a perfect couple to get married. It's like we have one brain," he said with a soft laugh before leaning over and kissing her lightly. She smiled as they parted. "I love you."

"Right back at ya," he said kissing her again.

Olivia walked into the squad room the next morning to find Elliot walking across the squad room, carrying two cups of coffee. "Morning," he said handing her a cup as she walked to her desk.

"Thanks," she said taking it from him. "What's the occasion for the café coffee?"

"Nothing, other than John made the coffee this morning and I thought that you would like this more," he said sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder to John.

"I heard that," he called from his desk, not even looking up from his paperwork. Both Elliot and Olivia laughed as they looked over to John who was bent over his paperwork, a smile across his face. Olivia draped her jacket on the back of her chair before taking a sip of coffee.

"Excuse me," a younger woman said as she walked into the squad room.

"Can I help you?" Olivia asked with a soft smile as she turned around to face the woman.

"I saw on the news last night that Sharon Walker was murdered," she told Olivia. "Is that true?"

"Unfortunately yes," Olivia said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Elizabeth Larson. Joshua Walker's teacher," she said.

Elliot and Olivia lead Elizabeth Larson into the interview room attached to Cragen's office. "Mrs. Larson, has Joshua mentioned to you or maybe some of his classmates any problems that his mother was having?"

"None that he mentioned to me," she said sitting down.

"Mr. Walker told us that you had scheduled a meeting for he and his ex wife to come in to talk," Olivia said. "What was that was about?"

"I meet with the parents of all of my students about halfway through the year to inform them of their child's progress and any problems that need attention," she replied.

"And did you talk to Mr. Walker at all that morning before he left to find his ex wife?" Elliot asked. Larson raised her brow, confused.

"I didn't meet with Mr. Walker yesterday," she said. "Our meeting isn't scheduled until next week." Olivia looked over to Elliot, who was thinking the same thing she was.