Hey everyone! You guys have been AWESOME with your reviews on here and with your feedback on Twitter (for those that read this and follow me there). I'm so glad that everyone is liking this story so far, so keep the reviews going because I enjoy reading those.

Here we are guys - it's part seven. WARNING: THIS STORY MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT. READ AT OWN RISK.

I don't own the characters, but I wish I did.

Enjoy xoxo

Back To You

Part 07

"Lieu, Rollins – you're here; we've got something big!"

These were the words that left Sonny's mouth as soon as Olivia and Amanda stepped into the squad room after finally arriving back from Queens. The ride back had been less tense, and Amanda attributed that to the fact that Olivia seemed to be in a much better mood. She wondered what words had been shared between Olivia and Elliot, but she didn't want to push it, at least not right now.

"What we got?" Olivia asked as they made their way over to the large screen where Fin was standing. Fin pressed a few buttons on the computer before pulling up the two mug shots of Adam Leeson and Lowell Harris. Olivia cringed slightly at the sight of her attacker from ten years earlier, but she shook it off and looked at Fin as he began talking.

"We found the connection," he began explaining before pointing to the two guys, "Cellmates in Rikers for two years until Leeson requested to be moved, said Harris gave him the creeps when he was just trying to get his life together."

"Is that how he's ended up with the same MO as Leeson?" Amanda wondered, a perplexed expression on her face.

"Leeson said that in the first few months of being cellmates, they did talk about what landed them there and he told Harris about how he raped those girls, described his MO and everything and that's how Harris knew." Carisi replied.

"And there's no chance Leeson is lying?" Amanda asked.

"Nah; guy has really turned his life around completely – he's an honest guy." Fin replied.

"So wait, why did Leeson asked to be moved?" Olivia wondered as she sat on the table.

"Harris kept pushing him about his MO again, when Leeson was working on getting his life together; Leeson said Harris wanted him to reenact with him so he could understand the MO better." Fin explained, shuddering slightly at the thought. The others shook their heads in despair, looking at the two mug shots of the men on the screen. Olivia was trying to swallow the bile that was threatening to rise in her throat as she looked at her attacker. Even though it had been a decade, his face still sent chills down her spine and she hated feeling this way.

But she had to work this case. She had to get justice for the Stabler girls.

"Did Maureen or Kathleen say anything helpful?" Sonny asked.

"Maureen was telling me that the perp said 'bite me and you're dead' to her because he had his hand over her mouth, but other than that, she didn't get a look at him and didn't even recognize him when I showed her the picture of him." Amanda explained as she flicked through the file in her lap.

"Kathleen didn't get a look at him but she described his voice as rough, and he said 'bite me and you're dead' to her when he had his hand over her mouth," Olivia was speaking before looking up, realization hitting her as she stood up, "Oh my God."

"Liv, what is it?" Amanda asked. Olivia shook her head, standing up and rushing off to her office. She took a few deep breaths as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to keep her composure as a flashback entered her mind…

She had run and managed to hide behind a stack of boxes. He caught her and hit her in the stomach with his baton, sending her doubling over in pain. He stood over her, but she refused to give him all the power. She found some strength inside her and hit him as hard as she could, before running off towards the door as quickly as possible.

She pulled on the heavy slab of iron, tears pooling in her eyes as she discovered that it would not budge due to being locked. She screamed for help as she banged her hand against the bars of the door, praying to the heavens that someone could hear her and would come to get her.

Though really, the doubt was starting to filter through her mind. She was undercover as prisoner in a women's prison were women were constantly being assaulted by the guards. Screaming for help would do nothing. They would simply turn a blind eye and protect their own.

She felt him behind her and turned around, only to be sent flying to the ground as he delivered a powerful slap to her jaw. She screamed and began crying as he grabbed her wrist, cuffing it to one of the bars on the door. She was powerless. She just knew that he was going to kill her once he was finished with her. She knew that she couldn't get out of this alive.

And all she could think about was where the hell Fin was, or hell, where Elliot was.

Elliot – she needed Elliot.

"Bite me and you're dead."

His rough voice filtered through her ears, words dripping with venom – she knew he meant it; he would kill her. She turned her head away and squeezed her mouth shut, but he grabbed her head, forcing her closer and closer to his crotch until suddenly;

"Freeze, NYPD!"

"Liv!"

Olivia jumped, looking up from her desk as she saw Fin now standing before her, holding her shoulders. She looked at him before shaking her head, a couple tears slipping down her cheeks as she shook ever so slightly. Fin placed a hand on the small of her back before helping her sit down, sticking by her side as he knew exactly what was happening right now.

"Breathe Liv, nobody can hurt you anymore." He spoke in a calm voice. She nodded, swallowing and taking a swig from the bottle of water he had placed in front of her.

"I haven't had a flashback about him for so long," she swallowed before looking up at Fin with watery eyes, "That's what he said to me when he had me in the basement; he said 'bite me and you're dead' just like that."

She wiped her eyes before suddenly stopping, then looking up at Fin with wide eyes;

"It was a message for me."

"Liv, wait-"

"No Fin, no; he knew I would get involved in this case," she pulled out her phone as she spoke, "Can you hold it down here? I need a minute."

Fin hesitated for a second, before nodding his head and rubbing her shoulder; "Go take an hour or two; get yourself together."

Olivia thanked him, before watching as he walked out of her office and closed the door behind him. She grabbed her phone and began texting quickly;

'12:02pm – Meet me at O'Malley's by 12:30? That okay?'

She pulled her jacket on and put her bag on her shoulder, just as her phone buzzed with a response;

'Elliot: 12:03pm – Got it; will be there'

The small restaurant and bar a couple blocks from the precinct was sort of empty as Olivia entered; there being a few customers dotted around, a couple having lunch, some co-workers having lunch, and so on. There was soft music playing, the normal bartender, Robert, was behind the bar polishing a few glasses. The restaurant and bar just gave off its normal relaxed feeling, though Olivia was feeling anything but relaxed.

She was nervous about Elliot meeting her here.

They needed to have a talk – first about this case, then about everything else. He had a right to know who they were dealing with, as it was someone dangerous that they had dealt with in the past. However, there was part of her that was still angry and confused by him and sudden departure seven years earlier. She knew that Fin had told her to go easy on him as he had been through a lot over the last few years, but she needed answers and she needed them now. If they were going to move forward and even consider having their friendship back, she needed to know what the hell happened.

She smiled at Robert as she seated herself at the bar, and he did his normal question of whether or not she wanted a glass of wine, to which she declined as she was still on duty and had to go back to work. She opted for water with lemon instead, to which Robert nodded before wandering off to go get her drink.

The bell above the door chimed as the door opened again, capturing Olivia's attention from when she had looked down at her phone. She swallowed hard; the tall figure was wandering towards her. He still had on his grey t-shirt and jeans and his grey sneakers but wore a light grey hoodie over the t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She eyed him; his lips curled into a slight smile as he took the seat beside her.

"Hi Olivia."

"Hi Elliot."

The two simply stared at each other for a minute. Olivia felt an overwhelming mixture of emotions; happy to have him sitting down with her, sad for the years they missed out of each other's lives, anger due to him leaving her and not bothering to pick up the phone to call her. She wanted to hug him, yet she wanted to slap him as well.

"Here's your drink, Liv," Robert sat the fizzy drink down in front of her before smiling at Elliot, "Elliot Stabler, long time no see my man." The two men shared a handshake as Elliot gave a friendly smile to the longtime bartender.

"Good to see you again, Robert." He spoke.

"Likewise," Robert remarked before asking, "Drink? Scotch on the rocks or a beer?"

"Just a soda will be fine, man; I don't – um, yeah I can't." Elliot stammered slightly. Robert nodded before heading off to get Elliot's drink, while Olivia stood up with her drink in hand.

"I'll be over there." She gestured for a booth in the corner, to which Elliot nodded in understanding.

A few moments later, the two were seated across from one another in the booth. An awkward silence surrounded them as they sipped their drinks, it seeming that both parties were trying to find the words to say. Lunch hours together that were once filled with conversation or comfortable silences were now strained and uncomfortable, and Elliot knew that he was the one to blame for that. He had done this; he had left this for far too long while trying to get things in his life right, and now, he had to try and salvage the one thing – beside his kids – that actually meant something to him and gave him a purpose.

"Elliot." She broke the silence after a few more moments; he looked up from his fingernails and looked into her brown eyes. He could see that she was dying to say something or ask a million and one questions, but she was also struggling to find the words to say.

"Li – Olivia," Elliot corrected himself, refraining from using her nickname too much as things were far too complicated, "I – um – I don't even know what to start with, other than I'm sorry."

Silence.

"Olivia-"

"I know you're sorry, Elliot," she sighed before looking up at him,

"Elliot, you left and didn't say a word. I respected that you needed space and I gave you that, we all needed time off and we got it. But you ignored me when I was calling you, didn't text me back; nothing. Elliot, I – I thought you hated me and-"

"No, I never hated you; you have to believe that." He cut her off, touching her arm out of instinct.

"I knew the shooting had fucked you up, it fucked us all up, but El, I at least expected you to talk to me – we talked about everything, even the parts we didn't want to talk about." She took a sip of her drink, trying to control her emotions even though she just wanted to cry yet again.

"This was complicated, Liv."

"I was there, Elliot; I know it was complicated but-"

"No Liv, you don't know," he snapped back, his brow furrowed as tension began radiating between the former friends, "You don't know what it was like, to hold a teenage girl – a girl that was no older than my own daughter – in my arms after I shot her and watch her bleed out and die all because of me ; you don't know how that fucked with me. You may think you do because you saw it, but don't know."

"Then why didn't you talk to me? Elliot, I could've helped."

"Olivia, you couldn't have helped with this one; I was too far gone and then IAB wanted to go over my jacket, they wanted me to do anger management and therapy – I wasn't jumping through all the hoops to go back to a job that was taking so much away from me already."

"So that's why you left and didn't talk to me? I was part of that job that was taking so much away from you, and-" she tried to speak but Elliot stopped her.

"Olivia, stop right there and listen to me," he interrupted. "You were never just part of the job and I don't want you to think you were; you were separate from that. You were the one that kept me grounded, Liv; we were best friends and you were my stability outside of that chaos. Hell, Liv you were the only one keeping me there."

"Exactly, best friends, Elliot; I thought we were best friends too – we went through so much together, so that's why I didn't understand why I had to hear from Cragen that you had put your papers, that you still ignored me even afterwards when I just wanted to talk to you and figure out why." Olivia retorted, the obvious edge in her voice as she shook her head. Tears had now pooled in her brown eyes, causing them to look like melted pools of chocolate as they glistened in the lights of the establishment. She sniffled slightly and looked down, refusing to cry in front of him.

"Liv, if I had talked to you, I would've either not gone through with it or come to Cragen or someone to get the papers ripped up just so I could stay near you," he reached over and took her hand, a gesture that took her by surprise yet caused more tears to fill her eyes,

"I'm sorry, Olivia; I know that I owe you so much more than that, but please, you have to know how sorry I am. I should have talked to you, I know; I just – I couldn't do it Liv, seeing that shit we see every day and then having to go home to my family and try to get all that shit out of my mind but not being able to; that job was driving me insane. I never wanted to leave you too, Liv; just the job – but it was just, it was complicated."

Silence ensued following his statement, a couple tears dripped down Olivia's cheeks before she finally found her voice;

"Complicated seems to be our favorite word." She spoke as a soft giggle escaped her life, leading for him to chuckle lightly as well.

"I am sorry, Olivia; I really am," he rubbed her hand with his thumb, "If I could take it back, I would; I would've talked to you – I still would've left, but I would've talked to you."

"I know you're sorry, Elliot, and I do forgive you because I forgave you a long time ago, but it's still hard to deal with and I'm still a little ticked off that you didn't at least tell me of your plans," she shrugged, "Twelve and half, hell almost thirteen years Elliot, we were partners for well over a decade and just, I thought it meant something to you because it damn sure meant something to me."

"It did mean something to me, Liv; I promise it did – it meant everything to me, you made work enjoyable," he sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, "It's just, the shooting with Jenna – damn it sent me over the edge, Liv; and then – I…" he trailed off, and Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked. She put her hand over his, rubbing with her thumb; "Tell me."

"Liv, remember when we said we wouldn't choose each other over the job again?"

She shuddered, she remembered that far too well. Gitano – the situation that changed their relationship forever. She could hear Elliot's voice in her head now, speaking softly as if he was afraid he would break down if he spoke any louder;

"We both chose each other over the job; we can never let that happen again."

"Yeah." She muttered.

"I did it again, and I would do it a million times over," he swallowed, looking at her as he spoke, "When Jenna aimed the gun and shot Sister Peg, all I could think about was her shooting you and I just, Liv…Liv if she had and something happened to you, I would've never forgiven myself."

"Elliot-"

"I had horrible nightmares in the weeks following the shooting, but it wouldn't be Sister Peg, it was you that Jenna had shot and you that bled out in my arms. I'd wake up in a cold sweat, one night I actually almost called you just to make sure you were okay but I couldn't bring myself to contact you," he scratched at the hint of five o'clock shadow on his jaw

"I just – Liv, it's been a rough seven years and I promise you when this case is over and you give me the greenlight, then we will sit down and talk about everything. But bottom line is; I never stopped thinking about you, and I am forever sorry for everything, but for especially having you think you weren't important to me because you always were and forever will be important to me. I'll spend forever making things up to you, but I am sorry."

Olivia stared at him for a few seconds, his words dancing through her head. He had given her a glimpse of what he had gone through over these last few years, and while things were far from fixed and they still had a lot to talk about, she knew inside that all anger she felt towards him was now gone. She wanted to move forward and get their friendship back, and while that would take a lot of steps, she was ready to get started.

"I know, Elliot; I know," she rubbed his hand before finally smiling, "I promise I forgive you, and for the record, you always have been and always will be important to me."

"I'm just glad you haven't punched me in the face," he chuckled before squeezing her hand, "Right, I know we needed to get that initial stuff out of the way; so, what was it about the case that you needed me to know? You know who it is?"

Olivia took her hand away, taking a deep breath as she reached into her bag to pull out the file. She looked at the light colored folder; she knew the information inside and what she was about to tell him would cause a million and one questions and possibly an explosion of Elliot's temper because he already hated this man, but he had to know.

"Before I tell you this, I promise that I'll explain the full extent later, but just know that this is an old perp we collared and I think he's using your girls to get to me, because it's me that he wants." She spoke quickly. Elliot raised an eyebrow before holding his hand out.

"Okay, now you're really telling me who it is and what's going on." He grumbled. She slid the folder into his hand and he opened it, only for his eyes to go wide as he scanned the information on the page. He then looked up at her, and she could see the anger coursing through him as the vein began to bulge in his neck and his brows furrowed.

"Lowell fucking Harris, oh I remember this son of a bitch," he then looked up at her, "And he's after you? And he thought using my girls was smart to get to you? No; he will never hurt my family, and he will never hurt you and if he so much as even contacts you, I will track him down and kill him myself."

"Elliot, you're a civilian; there's not much you can do," she warned him as she took the file back, "I've got details on me, on Lizzie obviously and I'll tell Fin to get details on Maureen, Kathleen, and even Kathy and Eli."

"I'm still gonna protect you." Elliot shrugged. She furrowed her brow.

"Elliot."

"Do you trust me?"

The question caught her off guard, yet she didn't even have to think of the answer. No matter how much time they had spent apart and no matter how much she tried to be angry with him, the answer to this question would forever remain the same;

"With my life."

"Then I'll protect you with mine, I promise," he took her hand, staring straight into her eyes as he spoke;

"I don't care how long we've been apart – I'm your partner, for better or worse; and I'll always make sure your ass is covered."

I hope you guys enjoyed this, and there was just a little bit of E/O tension going on. Things are okay between our dynamic duo for now, but there may be more tension as time goes on. Until next time my friends xoxo