Seeing as how she makes an appearance in this chapter, I figured I'd give a word to the wise: Kathy Stabler will be playing a role in this story. Not a huge one, but a very significant one. ;)

He had left her sleeping peacefully on his bed, a smile gracing her face. After their kiss, she had pulled away from him, telling him she needed rest and time to clear her head.

His biggest fear was that he had scared her off, pushing her too far before she was ready to trust him with her heart. But the sly, mischievous smile told him that the only reason she was in need of time alone was because his kiss had done things to her she'd never thought possible.

She walked away from him, her hips swaying purposefully and suggestively, throwing him another grin from over her shoulder. He was enamored by her ability to remain exotic and seductive even when she was hiding under her tough exterior. He positively loathed her for playing games with him. Although he was never able to stay mad at her for very long.

Before he had left for what he told her was the station, he'd leaned over the bed, pushing the overs up higher on her body and kissed her forehead.

But he was really going to see Kathy.

He hated lying to her, but if he'd told her the truth, her mind would immediately read too much into his impending visit with his former wife. He didn't want her bolting before she'd even given him a fair chance. And there was the always the obvious fact that his ex wife and his partner had never been the biggest fans of each other.

He breathed in shakily as he rapped his knuckles on Kathy's front door. It was the middle of the day; his children would be gone but he hoped Kathy wouldn't be.

Nevertheless, the door swung open revealing Kathy, a perturbed look displayed on her face. "Elliot," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

She opened the door wider as Elliot stepped inside. "If this is about the kids, they're - "

"It's not about the kids," he said, dismissing her words with his hand. "At least, not ours."

Kathy laughed, raising her eyebrows at him in amusement. "I heard about that," she told him. "What you're doing for Olivia."

"How the hell - " he began, his eyes wide. He stopped himself, already aware of the answer he was looking for. "One of them told you, didn't they?"

"How could you think that they wouldn't? They're quite the gossip mongers, Elliot," she admitted. "I guess they feel the need to inform me of everything you're doing."

He groaned, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. "I came here to make sure you didn't hear it from the grapevine, but I'm a little late."

"It's okay. I didn't expect you to tell me anyways." she said casually.

"You're not angry?"

She shrugged. "Why should I be?she questioned. "We're not married anymore."

"I know. But I just figured that this whole situation that Olivia and I are currently wrapped up in wouldn't exactly sit well with you. I didn't think it would be easy."

"It's by no means easy,Elliot," she ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair. ""But I knew something like this would eventually occur. Maybe not in such an unconventional way, but with the way you two are with each other, it was bound to happen."

"Really?" he asked, an incredulous look on his face.

"Of course," she replied. "A blind person could see that you two have a connection, an inseparability nothing else will ever compare to. And just because I denied it to myself all these years doesn't mean that I never saw it."

"We're not together, Kathy." he said quietly. It wasn't a lie; as much as he wished it were true, he wasn't sure if his dream would ever become a reality.

"But you want it to be, don't you?" she asked softly. He just stared at her, at a loss for words. She noticed his lack of speaking skills, and pushed on. "Let me ask you something; are you falling for her?"

"I'm doing this because she asked me to." There was the lie. Initially it had been true; he'd agreed to help her because she had come to him; but now he wanted this baby just as much as she did.

"Are you falling for her?" Kathy repeated, more firmly this time.

"I care about her a lot, Kathy. You know that. She's my partner and my best friend." He wondered why he kept having to convince himself she was only that. The problem was, he couldn't. He just couldn't and he knew he'd never be able to. Because she was so much more to him than than just his partner and best friend.

"Yes," she quickly assured him. "And it wouldn't be wrong for you to fall in love with her."

"Say what?" he asked in a disbelieving tone, feeling as if she had just slugged him.

"You heard me. Frankly, I just assumed that after we ended our marriage you would pursue something more with Olivia. I thought that you would tell her how you really feel, and not just hide behind your facade of saying she's just your friend and partner," she said, and he began to shake his head. "And don't deny it because I can tell by the look in your eyes that there is something there."

"She's my partner." he pointed out for what seemed like the millionth time.

"She's a good woman."

"She's off limits!"

"Only because you put her there!" she lowered her voice to a mere whisper. "I'm not telling you to get down on one knee and live happily ever after. All I'm saying is that it's okay for you to explore these feelings you've been harboring since, what I'm guessing would be, day one."

He let out a troubled sigh. "I kissed her." He hadn't planned on admitting that to Kathy, but the words had just spilled out. He didn't want to tell her that they'd already had sex. It seemed too personal to just blurt it out to what was once his wife. And he didn't exactly count their way of procreation as making love. Technically, there'd been no love involved. But soon enough, if Olivia allowed him, he'd show her love.

"Yeah?" Kathy asked, her eyebrows raised higher than he'd ever seen them and her blue eyes wide. "How did that go?"

"She seemed content with it, and to be honest, it felt perfect. Right. Like everything is finally falling into place."

"There's a but coming, isn't there?" she asked.

"But she's going to run. I mean, I hope she won't, but I have this feeling deep down inside that she might."

"What do you mean?"

"It's what she does," he said in an exasperated tone. "She ran from me after the Gitano case put us too close and she ran from me when she knew Simon was dangerous."

Kathy chuckled. "She's not going to run."

He furrowed his brow. "What makes you so sure?"

Kathy gave him a kind smile. A smile that reminded of him of why he loved her. "Because she loves you." she said simply.

He smiled back at her, but let her answer slide by. He knew it was her way of making him feel better. "Funny how we went from bitter spouses to giving each other relationship advice, huh?"

"It is," she said in a nostalgic tone. "But I like things better this way. We're better this way."

"And I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "For everything I put you through. You never deserved any of that."

"I'm over it and you should be too. You've got bigger and better things to focus on now, and so do I. I'm just glad that we didn't end up hating each other like some couples do."

He smiled. "Me too," he added and wrapped his arms around Kathy, kissing her gently on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He left his old home, feeling certain things were slowly crawling back to normal. Kathy had been right about everything, and with that new found knowledge, he felt confident about the days ahead of him.

He longed to see Olivia. And as much as Kathy had been right, she was wrong on one instance. He wasn't falling for her; he had already crashed and burned.

Sorry this was so much later than I thought it would be; life has a tendency to get in the way right when you least expect it. ;)