AUTHOR'S NOTE: IT'S TIME TO HEAR THE VERDICT. GET YOURSELVES READY TO HEAR IT. ALSO, WE CAN SEE SOME E/O STUFF HERE. I ALSO DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO PUT TOO MUCH SAD LIV SO I DID A FAST FORWARD. ENJOY AND AS ALWAYS COMMENT AND REVIEW

"And the best you can do is be my partner again. Nothing more, nothing less." Olivia said. Every piece of her body wanted to jump on top of him and never let him go. For a few minutes they were silent. Neither of them dared to move or even breathe too loudly.

Suddenly Elliot stood up and pushed his chair out of the way. He grabbed Olivia's hand and pulled her outside of the courthouse and hailed a cab. They rode in the cab for fifteen minutes. Olivia spent the entire time asking where they were going. The cab stopped in front of a lamp post in the middle of the street. Elliot and Olivia got out of the cab.

"Do you know where we are?" Elliot asked.

"Honestly? Not a clue."

"This where we started our first case together. You remember Victor Spicer?" Elliot said. Olivia began to laugh. She could not believe he had brought her here.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a black, oblong necklace box. The box was dusty and appeared to be very old.

"You know this was my mom's." he said pointing to the box. "She told me not to give it to anyone who's name was not Olivia Benson. So I figured I might try doing one thing she told me to." Olivia's hands covered her mouth. He put a gold locket around her neck.

"Elliot, I can't take this."

"Yes you can I am giving it to you. You are the only person who has always been there for me. No matter what stupid shit I have done you are always here."

"El, thank you. For everything." Olivia said after a few seconds of silence. Elliot smiled.

"No matter how this trial ends I need you to know that I believe everything you said. David is guilty."

Olivia began to cry. She knew that this trial was not likely to end in a conviction and hearing Elliot agree made it all far too real.

"I know. This is just so hard. For years I have pretended that I could handle anything. I have ignored all the shit life has thrown at me. But, I don't think I can ignore it anymore." Olivia admitted to him as she grasped her necklace.

"The good ones always get what they don't deserve. You, Olivia, are one of the good ones. You deserve better than what you get but, you are strong. I believe in your ability to move forward no matter the outcome."

"Yeah." Olivia whispered. She nodded as tears streamed down her face. Just then her phone began to ring. "Hello… yeah… I will be there in fifteen minutes… yeah… okay, bye." Olivia wiped her tears with her sleeve. "That was Alex. The jury is back with their decision."

They rode the same taxi back to the courthouse. Olivia ran up the stairs and suddenly she stopped.

"What?" Elliot asked as he caught up with her.

"I can't go in there." She looked at him. Her eyes still hadn't recovered from her earlier cries.

"Yes you can, Liv." Elliot said. "Just stay strong. I will be right behind you."

Olivia nodded, took a deep breath and proceeded to the courtroom. She walked in first Elliot followed soon after. Alex, Bayard, David, the judge and the jury were all in their place. Olivia quickly sat next to Alex.

The bailiff handed the verdict to the judge. The judge nodded cautiously. Olivia bowed her head in defeat.

"Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge spoke.

"We have, your Honor." The foreman answered quickly.

"On the first count of the indictment, Rape in the first degree, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant, guilty."

Olivia looked around until her eyes met Elliot's. His smile was a mile wide. Olivia was completely and utterly shocked.

"And on the second count of the indictment, attempted murder of a police officer, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant, guilty."

The court erupted in chatter. David's head fell onto the table in front of him. The judge banged his gavel three times.

"Order! Order!" Things quickly calmed down again. "I have decided I will pronounce sentence now, rather than waiting for a separate sentencing hearing. Will the defendant please rise for sentencing?" David looked up carefully and stood slowly. His entire attitude had changed. "David Haden, you have single handedly set back law enforcement at least a decade. However can we expect the American people to trust us when there are creeps like you running around? I have never in my life been so ecstatic to hear a guilty verdict in my career. I sentence you to 25 years to life at Sing Sing Correctional Facility to begin immediately. Court is dismissed." The judge banged his gavel just once and quickly exited the bench.

Olivia collapsed into tears. Elliot wrapped his arms around her. For the first time in four months she finally felt perfectly safe. She continued to cry as the court room cleared. She watched David be dragged away in cuffs.

"I'm free. I can finally breathe again." Olivia whispered to Elliot.

"I know."

Chapter 17: If You'd Be Open To Starting Over From Scratch

The month of November flew by and soon it was the week before Christmas. Olivia had been in therapy four days a week since the trial ended and she was finally feeling like herself again. She was able to do her job and be a good partner to Elliot. Things were finally looking up.

It was Monday and Olivia decided to go into the office early. She had forgotten to write up a DD5 for her most recent booking and thought she might get a jump on getting it done. She got to the office and Elliot was already at his desk.

"Morning." She said as she put her things on her desk. She didn't feel like going to her locker quite yet.

"Hey. You're here early. What's up with that?" He responded placing his hands behind his head.

"I could ask you the same question. I forgot to type up my DD5 for the Monroe arrest last night." She said turning on her computer and sitting down.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep all this holiday spirit is getting to me, I guess." He shrugged.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Olivia answered sarcastically.

"Oh shut up." Elliot laughed. Just then Olivia's desk phone rang.

"Benson… Yeah I will accept the charges… Hello… why are you calling me?... No… I not going to do that… because I can't… why?... fine… yeah give me an hour… okay, bye." Olivia hung up the phone and stared at the phone for a minute.

"Is everything okay?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, I just have something to do. Can you cover for me with Cragen? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Olivia asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks." She said as she jogged out the door.

Olivia sat in her car outside of Sing Sing. She couldn't remember why she had agreed to do this. After twenty minutes she finally got out of the car and walked toward the building. After breezing by security, she waited in the interview room. She bit the skin off the side of her thumb as she waited nervously.

Soon she heard the jingle of cuffs and decided she was making a huge mistake. She stood up and walked to the far side of the cage. He walked in quietly and looked at her. When their eyes met Olivia twitched subconsciously.

"You look nice." He said.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Then there was a silence. Soon Olivia spoke.

"Why did you ask me to come here?"

"I needed to see you. To make sure you were okay."

"Well, I am fine. No thanks to you."

"I am so sorry."

"I have had to completely rebuild myself. I am still not the same person. I can't walk down the street at night without my hand on my gun. I can't sleep in my room because there is a window in there. You broke me."

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't even expect you to forget me but, I want you to be able to do whatever it is you need to. Hit me; yell at me, whatever it takes. I just want you to feel okay."

"A month ago I would have killed you where you stood. I would have relished in your demise. But now, now I have found closure. I have forgiven you. Not for you but, for me and for my future." Olivia said the words that took almost two months to say but, she needed to say them. "I am not over this. I will have to struggle for the rest of my life. But, I forgive you." She grabbed her coat and signaled to the C.O.

"Olivia, tell Elliot how you feel about him. You deserve to be happy." She nodded and smiled just a little bit.

Olivia walked down the dark hallway toward the exit and felt different. She was moving closer to acceptance every day. As her therapist had said multiple times, the only way to move on is to accept what has happened. Olivia had loathed that idea for weeks but, now she understood what she meant.