DISCLAIMER: I only own Alise. Characters and show belong to Mr. Dick Wolf.

A/N: I'm sorry! I meant to do this yesterday, but I got caught up in some other things. So, here is the new chapter, like I promised. Thank you (once again) to everyone who reviewed! This one's a bit longer, and I hope you enjoy it. ^_^

She sighed heavily, tucking her blond hair behind her ear as she leaned against the cold window. She looked down at the ground passing beneath her, cities and roadways and wide open land.

It hasn't even been one week. Five days, five days, Olivia kept thinking to herself. It's only been five days since I've seen him for the first time in over a year… And I'm already flying home with him.

She smiled to herself at the sound of the word. Home. It sounded so warm, so right. Before, it had just been a cold, meaningless word. It hadn't meant anything. It was just the apartment she'd lived in. Now? Now she was actually going home.

"Are you going to grow it out?" Elliot's sudden voice startled her, making her jump.

"Huh?" she asked, drawing her brow in, in question.

"Your hair," he stated simply. "Are you growing it out?"

"Um… I hadn't really thought about it." She tugged at the split ends of her dyed hair.

"Are you going to dye it again?" His questions seemed so… so calm, so usual. She hadn't expected that, especially from him.

"Why? Do you like it like this?" she asked playfully, almost seductively as she twisted her hair around her finger.

He smiled. He loved having her back, knowing her sense of humor again. Having her as her old self again, despite the blond hair. "Kinda…" he admitted.

She raised one eyebrow. She hadn't really expected him to like it. But really, what had she expected? He liked blond girls, that was almost obvious with Kathy and Dani… But she didn't think he'd like blond hair on her. "Really?"

"Yeah." He saw the look on her face. "But I liked you better as a brunette," he added hastily.

She grinned and turned her gaze back to the surroundings passing outside her window.

"I was just wondering because it's already starting to grow out, back to your old color," Elliot said, quite softly.

Olivia turned back to him. He had closed his eyes and was stroking Alise's black hair gently with his index finger.

She smiled, seeing only a father and his daughter. Her heart swelled at the sight of them. Both of them were hers, her family.

They dumped their luggage at their feet as they entered the house, relieved at the weight that was suddenly removed.

Olivia moaned tiredly and made her way to the couch, slumping into it and shutting her eyes.

Elliot shut the door and went to sit next to Olivia, Alise sleeping soundly on his chest. He put his arm around her and she fell into him.

"Would you like to come with me tomorrow?" he asked gently, shutting his eyes and feeling suddenly tired himself.

"Come where?" she mumbled back.

"Where you think? The station, dufus," he said with a chuckle, as if it had been obvious the whole time.

She pulled away from him, suddenly alert. She knit her brow in concern and her eyes held fear that she tried to mask from him. "What are you talking about?" she asked angrily.

"You know? Come back and see everyone."

She opened her mouth, trying to say something… wanting to say something. But the words got caught in her throat.

"Olivia?"

"I can't, Elliot," she finally managed.

He sat up, sitting on the edge of the couch. "Why not?"

She simply looked at him, dumbfounded.

After a long minute, she was able to find the words again. "Because I'm not ready. I'm not ready to face everybody. Hell," she said, standing up and pacing away from Elliot, "I wasn't even ready to face you!"

She threw her hands in the air and sighed, frustrated. Did he really not get it?

"How long then?" Elliot asked, his voice stern and angry. "How long do you need? Another week of hiding? Another month? You're going to have to face them eventually."

"No, no I don't. I don't need to face anyone. I wouldn't have needed to face you if you hadn't shown up in my life."

A sudden look of hurt passed behind his eyes, but he didn't let his guard down.

She sighed, looking down at her feet. "But I am going to face them. You just have to give me time, Elliot. I just need a little more time…" She looked back up to him, her eyes full of mist.

She walked back to Elliot. She leaned up and kissed him gently, taking Alise from him.

The little girl stirred and opened her eyes sleepily.

"Hey, baby girl," Olivia cooed quietly, holding Alise above her head. "You're going to meet your family soon, sweetheart."

She drew Alise close to her chest and kissed her forehead before setting her down in the baby seat that they had dragged with them from Ohio.

She turned back to Elliot, putting a hand on her hip. "What did you expect me to do? Just come back and say 'Hi guys, how is everything? Sorry I've been gone for a year, let's get back to work. Oh, and by the way, I have a daughter now. What's the next case?'"

"No," he said, almost defensively. He couldn't believe that's what she thought he wanted her to do. He knew she wasn't ready for that. "I expect you to explain what happened to them, too. I expect that you to come see the people who love you and care about you, and let them know why you disappeared, why they thought you were dead… I expect that you'll ease your way back to work."

"I don't know if I want to come back to work, though, El."

His eyes grew wide and his eyebrows rose. "What are you talking about?" Why was she talking crazy like this? Of course she was coming back… it was her passion.

"I mean, I don't know if I want to be a detective anymore."

"You have to come back, Livvie."

"Why? I've been satisfied with my life the way it's been."

"But you're not happy."

Olivia sighed, folding her arms. She didn't know how to explain to him… "Maybe not. But I don't want to put my job before my daughter. And being happy with my job is something I'm willing to sacrifice for her."

"Come on, Liv. You know you want to come back; you know you should come back," he tried to convince her.

She dropped her jaw in surprise. She knew he was going to try to convince her, but she never thought he'd try to force it on her.

He stepped closer to her and she raised a hand and slapped him across the face. She had to restrain herself from swinging at him.

He looked back up to her, his eyes full of anger. He nearly took a swing at her, but remembered that she was Olivia, not a perp… Not someone he could ever touch; not someone he would ever touch…

"I don't even know why the hell I came back with you! This was stupid!" she stormed off, her back hunched angrily.

She found the kitchen and began rifling through the cabinets hastily. Elliot appeared in the doorway, the fire behind his eyes dimed.

She noticed his presence, but didn't acknowledge him. She continued to rifle through the cabinets. "Where do you keep your alcohol?" she asked him finally.

"Don't got alcohol," he lied.

"Yes you do. I know you, Elliot. I know all the hiding places, too. Don't think I won't find it."

He sighed as she stumbled upon the bottle of Bacardi 151 he kept under the sink for especially stressful nights.

"Want some?" she asked as she pulled down two shot glasses and poured the liquid into both of them. She reached out and offered one of the glasses to Elliot.

He sighed again and took it.

A/N: This isn't over. The next chapter deals with this, sort of... disagreement. Again, I won't make anyone review... But I do like reviews, so it'd be nice if you left one. Plus, you'd get the next chapter sooner. ;D