We didn't quite make it to 15 reviews. I forgot this one doesn't have such a large audience as my other story Partners for Life. No need to make everyone wait any longer though, so here is the grand finale of this little story. I'm sure you will love the strings of dialogue in this one ;)
We are coming full circle.

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7. Rescued

They stopped at a building about six blocks away from her apartment and Olivia looked at Elliot. What were they doing here? She was surprised to see him pull out a key card that opened the door to the building.

"Come on," Elliot said, beckoning her to follow him. "I want to show you my new apartment."

She wasn't sure how she'd gotten upstairs. She was in a daze. Yet here they were, at the door of apartment 3B, so she must have followed him up. His new apartment? His new apartment?

Elliot knew she was shocked and nudged her until she stepped through the door so he could close it behind them.

"El, what is this? Why do you have an apartment in the city?"

She turned around and saw him smiling widely, but nervously.

"Surprise."

Olivia turned around to take in the living area and the kitchen of the modest place.

"Elliot ... what did you do?" she asked finally.

Elliot walked up to her and suggested they sit. They sat down on opposite sides of the large couch and Olivia looked at him. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands together a little nervously. His hands ... his ring. He wasn't wearing it.

"Liv I ... there was a reason that I didn't talk to you about my family anymore. Well, aside from the fact that I thought you didn't want to talk to me," he added with a small smile.

"What was the reason?" she asked, still staring at his bare ring finger.

"Kathy and me filed for a divorce and I didn't want you to know until it was finalized."

He'd blurted it out quickly and was bracing himself for her reaction. When she didn't make a sound, he glanced at her. Olivia had sunk back into the couch cushions, both hands covering her face.

"Liv?"

She couldn't believe it. A divorce? Because of her? She peeked through her fingers and saw Elliot's blue eyes staring at her, slightly panicked.

"You told her?"

Elliot scooted closer to her quickly, hesitant to touch her but needing her to understand.

"No. No, I didn't tell her. We just ... we came to an agreement that our marriage had been over for a long time."

Olivia dropped her hands in her lap and looked at him.

"So ... Kathy doesn't know what happened?"

"No."

"And you're divorced."

"Yes."

"Whose idea was that?"

Elliot knew why she was asking and he knew she'd freak out if he told her it was his idea.

"We decided it together. Liv, you know it's never really been good. You were there."

"But who brought it up?" Olivia insisted and as soon as he opened his mouth to answer her, she jumped up and started pacing.

"You did. You did, because of me," she sighed. "Oh my God."

Elliot stood up as well and walked up to her, so she had no choice but to stop pacing. She stopped but wouldn't look at him. In stead she stared at his Adams apple. Elliot reached for her hesitantly, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Liv, look at me please."

There it was again. That pleading tone. So she looked up into his eyes.

"Maybe I needed one last push and maybe that had to do with you, with ... with what we did. But it was always going to happen. You believe that, don't you? I just wanted it to be final before I told you." So you wouldn't be able to stop me, he thought.

He dropped his hands from her shoulders and bent over to his coffee table, pulling the drawer out.

"Here," he said, while pulling an envelope from the drawer. "It's final and I'm not looking back. That's why I got this place a while ago."

Olivia didn't need to look in the envelope. She believed him, but she peeked anyway. She spotted his ring at the bottom of the envelope and swallowed. Seeing the ring really made it very final. She handed the envelope back to him.

"Why didn't you want me to know?"

She felt defeated. There was no point objecting. It was a done deal.

Elliot placed then envelope back in the drawer and closed it, while thinking carefully about what he would say next. He put his hands on her shoulders again to emphasize the importance of what he was going to say.

"Olivia."

The use of her full name got her attention and she looked into his eyes again.

"I moved out, divorced my wife and quit my job for one reason, and for one reason only."

Olivia bit her lip. Even quitting had been part of his plan? Could it really be ... after all these months of silence it had all been about her?

"What was the reason?" she whispered.

He could feel her trembling and he knew she knew. But he needed to say it. Out loud.

"So we could give us a shot. A real one, not as an affair."

She was taking deep breaths and Elliot waited. When she took a step back, he dropped his hands from her shoulders and braced himself.

"Are you out of your mind?"

Here we go, he thought.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" she repeated, her voice increasing in volume.

"Making all these huge decisions without any input from me? For all you knew, I hated your guts! You could have ended up with nothing at all!"

"I know," he said softly. "If I had talked to you, I was afraid you'd run. Or try to stop me. But I had to try. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try."

Olivia stepped around him and started pacing again, into the kitchen and back.

"But why? Because we had sex once? Do you think you owe me or something? Because you don't."

She was flopping like a fish out of water and he didn't know how to save her. Then, as if in slow motion, he registered what she'd said earlier. He spoke slowly as well as he repeated the words back to her.

"What did you mean by 'You could have ended up with nothing at all'? Does that mean that I won't?"

Olivia fell silent again. She wanted him. She wanted to give them a real shot, as he'd put it. There was no doubt in her mind about it. But she only wanted it, if he was in for the right reasons. Not out of guilt or shame or some misguided sense of duty. Elliot Stabler and his eternal sense of duty.

"Liv?"

He wanted an answer. Well, so did she.

"That depends," she said truthfully.

"On what?"

"Your answer to my question. Why?"

Olivia was now leaning against the side of the couch while he was standing three feet away from her. She seemed scared to death of his answer to her question. How could she not know why? He stepped closer to her and she blinked. He made sure he didn't touch her but waited for her to make eye contact before he spoke again.

"Because I love you."

She blinked again. First instinct: deflect.

"You could have fooled me these past six months."

"Almost seven."

He was being sincere. And he was hurting. He thought he'd hurt her and now he was bearing his soul to her. He'd changed his life so it would be able to include her. He loved her. He loved her.

"I love you Liv, and I can't imagine my life without you in it. I wanted to transfer out of SVU but after the shooting, I decided to just retire. Either way, it's because I want us to be together. I want to grow old with you and if I have to leave the job for that, I will. I've been in love with you for years and I thought you knew that. I never meant to hurt you."

Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes now too, and she couldn't bear to see his pain any longer. She stepped forward and grabbed his hands. She wanted to say something meaningful but nothing came to mind.

"El," she sighed.

Elliot bowed his head and closed his eyes, his heart racing after all that had been said. Two tears slid down his face and he felt her hands release his to wipe them off. He opened his eyes to find her face very close to his.

"El," she said again, and when she tilted her head to kiss him, he almost fell forward into her waiting arms.

They kissed passionately, letting loose all the pain and frustration of the past six months - almost seven - as they devoured each others mouths. Olivia tumbled backwards on the big couch and she let out an 'oof' when Elliot fell on top of her. He mumbled 'sorry' while placing his elbows next to her head and then kissed her again. He broke off the kiss though to ask her,

"Liv, what does this mean?"

She could see in his eyes that he knew. But she needed to say it. Out loud.

"I love you too, El. I'm so sorry ..."

Her lips started to tremble and he silenced her with another scorching kiss, until they were both out of breath. Elliot untangled himself from Olivia then, and sat up, pulling her up with him.

"What is it El?" she asked him. "Second thoughts?"

"Hell no!"

He'd given his answer before seeing the smile in her eyes. He laughed and stood up, holding out his hand.

"Come. If this is happening, we're gonna do it right. Not on the couch."

Olivia's stomach clenched at the prospect of being with Elliot again and she let him lead her to his bedroom. In his new apartment. He was a free man now. He had made huge changes in his life so they could be together. It still bothered her that he'd kept her out of the loop the whole time, but her body was sending another message. She wanted him. God, she wanted him. And not just because he had a body like a Greek god but because she loved him. She had been so cold without him.

"No rush," Elliot whispered in her ear as they sat down on his bed, and his voice as well as his words caused goose bumps to form all over her body. They weren't going to fuck tonight. "I want to make love to you," his soft voice added and she knew she would be puddy in his hands.

"I want to make love to you," she whispered back as he eased her on her back.

As they explored each others' bodies, they peeled their clothes off slowly. They took turns leading their sensual slow-dance and took their time finding each others' sweet spots. When they were finally totally naked, Elliot's warm hands caressed every inch of her soft skin while kissing her deeply. He then moved his mouth to her breasts, making sure to give each one an equal amount of attention. Olivia was panting with pleasure already, her mind alternating between memories of their first sexual encounter and the new sensations that were coursing through her body.

They had been frantic and rushed the first time, loosing themselves in a burst of heated passion. They had been all over each other, literally, but were paying more attention this time around. Olivia memorized each firm muscle of his toned body while Elliot memorized each soft curve and strong muscle of hers. And her sounds. The sounds she was making were driving him crazy. She had flipped him over on his back and was making a trail of wet kisses from his chest all the way down to his pelvic region. She was on her knees, her ass high in the air and her breasts scraping his thighs when she looked at him with pure lust in her eyes. She looked like she was ready to take a bite out of something and his breath hitched. She licked her lips and leaned down. He moaned as he felt her tongue flick around his tip once before she closed her lips around him.

"Liv ... careful," he sighed, not wanting things to end prematurely.

She moaned as well as she took him in deeper and he couldn't help it that he bucked up. She came back up and released him with a plop. Then she smiled her beautiful smile, that warmed his heart and several other body parts.

Elliot grunted something unintelligible and sat up, grabbing her and flipping her on her back, again.

"My turn," he growled in her neck and she shivered at the prospect of what he was going to do.

He was starting to move a little quicker, his body feeling an urgency to get on with it. He moved down her body quickly, kissing the skin below her belly button and moving down until he reached the hot, wet center of her excitement. He was sitting on his knees between her legs, and moved his hands down the inside of her thighs, spreading her a little wider for him. He leaned in and Olivia held her breath. Her body jolted when his mouth closed over the most sensitive little part of her body, and he sucked it between his lips.

His brain was flooded with her taste and more sounds he'd never heard her make before, and he was throbbing. She tasted so good and he moaned as he flicked his tongue over her little pleasure bud a few times before moving it down very slowly. She was writhing and making high pitched sounds as she tried to steady his head with her hands.

"El!" she warned. "Oh! S ... stop!"

His head jerked up. Had he gone too far? She lifted her head to look at him and smiled.

"Or this will be over too soon."

He laughed then, and placed one more open mouthed wet kiss on her wetness before moving up her body again.

"Well, we can't have that, now can we," he said, a very sexy edge to his voice.

"We do have all night," she replied, equally huskily.

"We have the rest of our lives, Liv."

His words brought tears to her eyes and she could tell he was affected as well.

"C'mere El," she whispered, pulling him on top of her and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Make love to me."

And he did. Their foreheads were glued together as he entered her slowly and Olivia suppressed a sob. She was complete again. Elliot kissed the tear away that escaped the corner of her eye and kissed her softly. He pulled back and pushed into her again, with a little more force.

"I love you Liv."

He repeated the movement, kissing her again.

"I love you El."

And again, and they both groaned at the intensity and the depth of the contact.

"Always have."

"Oh ... Always will."

"I ..."

"Me too."

"Liv."

"El."

"Ooh."

"Yeah."

"Oh baby."

"Keep going."

"I love you."

"Don't stop."

"I need you."

"Faster."

"Oh God."

"I love you El."

"Livvv."

"Faster."

"Gah ..."

"Please."

"Yeah."

"Harder."

"Oh God."

"El!"

"Liv!"

"Yes!"

Olivia dropped her feet back on the mattress and dug her heels in to meet Elliot's powerful thrusts, and grabbed the headboard of the bed with both hands. Their words were replaced with low grunts and high pitched pants as they went faster and faster, the sound of skin slapping against skin mixing in with their duet of love, until they reached the first wave of their climax together. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut as she squeezed herself tighter around him, causing an even more intense wave of pleasure for both of them and she arched off the bed, practically stilling in mid-air as it hit them. She gasped as her back hit the mattress again and Elliot thrust into her a few more times before stilling inside her and slumping over her, pushing any air out that was left in her lungs.

Elliot flipped them over once again and as Olivia lay on his chest he enveloped her in his arms. He could still feel the contractions of her body around him and he was still high on his orgasm as her body stilled on his heaving chest.

They didn't speak. After a few minutes, after she'd caught her breath, Olivia got up to go to the bathroom. The scene was eerily familiar and he sat up, waiting for her to come back out. He tried not to worry about what might be going through Olivia's mind. It was different now. Their circumstances were completely different and she had admitted that she loved him. She wouldn't run now, would she? Not after tonight. He wouldn't know what to do if she shut him out again. He couldn't lose her again.

Olivia used the toilet and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was flushed and her hair was a mess. And her eyes were shining. She knew Elliot must be a little worried. She remembered that other night. She'd ducked into the bathroom then, too. She wasn't going to run. Not this time. Where would she go? She was incomplete without him. And she knew he would always run after her. He was never going to let her go. He had rescued her. From her loneliness. From her self-induced solitary confinement. From herself. And she would rescue him right back for the rest of their lives.

When she came out of the bathroom, she was still gloriously naked and smiling shyly. She got into bed again and lay on her side, looking at him. Elliot wanted to reach out to her and touch her face. He smiled and lay back down beside her, caressing her glowing face and gazing into her beautiful brown eyes. He wondered if she was going to stay. He should ask her. He should ask her if she was okay. Before he could say anything, he got his answer.

"Elliot. Quit worrying. I'm not going anywhere."

...

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A/N: I used several lines from the end of chapter one here. How's that for coming full circle? You can see what changed from chapter 1 to chapter 7 by putting both endings side by side and comparing them (if you like).

I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will be going back to Partners for Life now, until it's finished. Want to let me know how you liked this ending? Put it in the box below and hit "Post review". Thanks!

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PS. There's not really a deeper meaning behind this story. It started out with the question what would have happened if 'it' had happened while El was married. Second question was, when it might have happened. Post-Rescue made sense. Third question was, what would be the timeline and it led me straight to El's departure. I thought the plot up in a matter of minutes and the story just wrote itself after that. 7 chapters in as many days. Nothin' more to it, it's just entertainment ;)