He pulled her up and slung the duffle bag over his shoulder. He placed his hand on her upper back and carefully led her to the elevator. Olivia leaned against the metal wall and closed her eyes. Elliot gently took her hand in his as a silent show of support. They were truly in this, whatever this craziness was, together now.

Olivia was glued to Elliot's side with her hand still entwined with his when he finally pushed the door to his apartment open. She was numb again and completely exhausted. Her back ached and she was pretty sure she could feel her skin swelling. The hit had jarred her ribs as well and they ached with renewed fervor.

Elliot flipped the lights on and led the tired detective into the apartment. She pulled at his hand and walked them back to his bedroom. She slid off her shoes as she entered the room and pulled the comforter back, slipping into his bed fully clothed. She kept a hold of his hand as he lay down beside her, gently stroking her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia." He whispered.

She shrugged.

"Talk to me." Elliot implored.

"He's a bastard. I knew that a long time ago."

"Does he love you?"

"He says so."

"Do you love him?"

"No."

"Good." Elliot sighed.

"Nice. Glad your intentions to apologize earlier were sincere." She rolled her eyes but let a gentle smile form on her lips.

"You said it yourself, he's a bastard." Elliot shrugged and smiled back at her.

"You know, you really haven't changed as much as I thought." Olivia mused.

"Is that a bad thing?" Elliot asked, laughing now.

"No." Olivia answered, moving her hand to his bicep and giving it a quick squeeze. "No, it's not."

She fluffed her pillows and rolled onto her back, wincing as she did so.

"Let me see."

"I'm fine, El."

"Let me see anyway."

Olivia huffed but sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed facing away from Elliot and gingerly lifted the bottom of her shirt with her good hand. Elliot knelt on the bed behind her and lifted the other side of her shirt.

"You've got a pretty decent bruise, Liv." Elliot said, tenderly brushing his fingers beneath the welt. Goosebumps broke over Olivia's skin at his touch and she had to muffle a sharp intake of breath.

"Let me get you some ice."

He was gone before Olivia could protest.

A few moments later, Elliot returned with a bag of frozen peas and a dish cloth.

Olivia cocked an eyebrow at him in mock protest.

"What? I'm a dad. I've healed many a bruise with frozen peas."

Olivia's heart sank at the mention of his children. They must have gone through so much over the past two years.

"How are the kids, El?" She asked, tentatively while moving to lay on her stomach.

"I don't know." He answered softly, gently lifting her shirt again and sliding the homemade ice pack underneath the fabric. "Kathy moved them to Florida to be with her folks."

Olivia propped herself up on her elbows to look Elliot in the eyes a little too quickly but ignored the pain in her ribs.

"What?! Even Maureen and Kathleen? Aren't they almost done with college?"

"She threatened to pull her portion of their tuition money if they stayed in New York."

"Wow. Just...wow."

"I talk to them on the phone as much as she'll let me. They know you're okay. They were really worried about you."

"That's sweet."

"They love you, Liv. They always have."

Olivia's heart quickened with emotion and she put her head down on her forearms. She sighed deeply as Elliot moved the ice up her back, slowly easing the ache. She missed his kids, loved them too, but her heart ached for Elliot to say those words to her himself. Despite the sweet sentiments from his children, she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself.

"What's wrong?" Elliot gently asked.

"Hmm? Nothing." Olivia answered, pushing those long-held and often repressed emotions further down in her gut. She tilted her head to the side and smiled at him.

"How's the pain?" Elliot asked, tenderly brushing a stray piece of hair out of Olivia's eyes and behind her ear.

She shut her eyes at his touch. "Better." She mumbled, enjoying the feeling of his fingers brushing from behind her ear to her shoulder and back to the nape of her neck. He stilled his hand and let his fingers linger against the exposed skin he found there. He tenderly began to massage and knead his fingers of her shoulders and neck, eventually abandoning the icepack in favor of using both hands to work the tension in her muscles.

Olivia hummed in approval and left her eyes closed. Never had he been this bold with their physicality and she was not about to ask him to stop, especially when he was finding knots she didn't know she had. Olivia relaxed into the mattress as Elliot's hands moved from her shoulders to her back. He worked his thumbs between her shoulder blades and down her spine, careful to avoid any movement that would affect her healing ribs. Olivia moaned throatily in spite of herself as he worked his way back up to her shoulders.

Elliot's heart pounded. She had never allowed him to get this close before and he was determined to do whatever he could to hear her moan like that again. He had respected Olivia from the moment she walked into the squad room. That respect had very quickly grown into intense admiration for her ability to do her job with empathy and grace. But somewhere along the way, somewhere in the midst of casefiles, chinese takeout, interrogations, and late night stakeouts, he had fallen irrevocably and irresistibly in love with her. He had tried to ignore and stuff, and repress but each time his feelings bubbled to the surface, he masked them with anger. Gitano was a perfect example of this. He had been so scared of losing her and even more terrified that she would see his true feelings for her that he had lashed out and eventually pushed her away.

Never again. Elliot mumbled to himself, lost in recalling the moment that Cragen had assigned him a new partner with the message that Olivia may not be coming back.

"Hmm?" Olivia asked, opening her eyes and raising her head slightly.

Elliot started out of his fog. "Oh, no - nothing." He said, shaking his head. "I was just thinking."

"Well stop that. It's interrupting my massage." Olivia smirked and laid her head back down on the pillow.

Elliot chuckled. "Yes, ma'am." He said, allowing his fingers to dance over her skin once again.

Olivia sighed and relaxed under his touch. A few moments later, she was fast asleep. Elliot removed the ice from her back and smoothed his hands over her swollen skin. He tugged her shirt back down and gently covered her with the quilt at the foot of his bed, praying that she would actually manage to get a good night's sleep. He placed a gentle kiss into her hair as he shut off the bedside lamp.

Elliot pulled a pair of sweatpants from his bottom drawer and quickly changed into them. He shrugged out of his shirt and threw on an old NYPD tshirt and climbed into the bed next to her, keeping an honorable distance from the sleeping detective.

The sound of her breathing so soundly and evenly lulled him into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

Olivia was not so lucky.

Lewis' hands were around her throat and this time she knew he wouldn't let up. She could see the hatred in his eyes as she gasped for breath. She kicked and flailed but he was untouchable. Her hands went straight through him. There was nothing she could do but slowly suffocate. And suddenly someone was shaking her, pulling her away from him, ripping her from his grasp.

Olivia coughed and sputtered, afraid to open her eyes. Her body trembled and she rolled onto her side, towards Elliot who had moved to sit on her side of the bed, and drew her knees to her chest. Elliot brushed his hand over the side of her face, gently pulling her back to reality.

He whispered her name over and over again while stroking her hair, urging her to come back to him. She blinked slowly and opened her eyes.

"Welcome back. You okay?"

Olivia nodded quickly and took in a deep but shaky breath.

"Wanna talk about it?" Elliot asked, knitting his brows together in concern.

Olivia shook her head and gently pulled herself away from him. She scooted back on the bed and pulled herself into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry I woke you." She whispered, her throat sore from gasping.

"It's okay. I'm concerned about you. Do you want some water?"

Olivia nodded and Elliot climbed out of bed and hurried to the kitchen. Olivia took a moment to steady herself and then stood up to find her duffle bag. By the time Elliot returned, Olivia had changed into her pajamas and was brushing her teeth in the en suite.

Elliot placed two of Olivia's pain pills and a glass of ice water on nightstand before coming to stand in the doorway of the bathroom.

Olivia splashed some water on her face and dried off with the hand towel. She smiled shyly at Elliot as she approached the door and squeezed his shoulder in thanks as she walked past. She popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed a mouthful of water before glancing back at Elliot.

"I should move to the other bedroom. I'm sure you would like your bed back." She said.

"Not a chance. Lay down, Olivia. I can go to the couch if you want."

"No, stay. It's your bed."

Elliot nodded and moved around to his side of the bed. Olivia climbed in as well and pulled the covers over her chest. Elliot switched the lights off.

"'Night, Liv." He whispered into the darkness.

"Night, El."

Elliot's phone buzzed entirely too early for his liking. He swatted at the nightstand in an attempt to shut off the alarm. It took him a few moments to realize that he was getting a phone call. He sat up groggily and silenced his phone so that he wouldn't disturb Olivia more than he already had. She was awake, however, and lazily stretching her arms above her head.

Elliot swung his legs over the side of the bed and clicked the phone on.

"Stabler." He muttered groggily as Olivia disappeared into the bathroom.

"DAD! Geez! Took you long enough!"

"Kathleen? What number are you calling from?" Elliot asked, shutting the bathroom door and walking into the living room.

"We got new phones. Mom said she would give you our new numbers. Guess that was a lie. Anyway, would you open your door? I'm tired of standing in the hallway."

Elliot almost dropped the phone as he rushed to the door. He pulled it open, shock painted across his face as Kathleen bounded into his arms.

"Wha - how - you're here!" Elliot stuttered.

"Very astute, dad." Kathleen smirked, shrugging her jacket off and stepping into the kitchen.

"Does your mother know you're here?"

Kathleen turned sharply to face her dad who was shutting the door. "No. And if you tell her, I will murder you. And I know how to get away with it so do not tempt me."

Elliot rolled his eyes but smiled at his energetic daughter. "How did you escape?"

"She thinks I'm spending the weekend at school. What she doesn't know can't hurt me."

Kathleen dropped on to the leather couch and sank back into the cushions, tucking one of her legs underneath her and facing the kitchen where Elliot stood still in awe.

"So what's up? I'm thrilled you're here, don't get me wrong, but knowing you, you have a clear motivation for being here." Elliot smiled.

"I want to see Olivia. I need to see for myself that she's okay. The things they said on the news about what that man had done...I...I just want to see her and hug her."

Elliot sat down next to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her.

"She will be thrilled." He said.

"So, I decided to stop by here and drop my stuff off before I headed to break down her door and force her to see me." Kathleen said, smiling mischievously. "It's okay that I stay here, right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way. But you don't need to leave to see Olivia. She's in the next room."

Kathleen's eyes lit up and she practically flew off the couch.

"Her apartment is still a crime scene so she's staying here for now." Elliot explained. "But, she may have gone back to bed. Let me go check."

Elliot stood up as well and kissed Kathleen on the forehead before heading back to the bedroom. Olivia had just stepped out of a quick shower. She had just finished dressing and was pulling her hair into a loose, wet ponytail when he walked in.

"We have a visitor." Elliot said, standing in the doorway.

Olivia rolled her eyes in dismay. "Seriously? It's like 9 a.m. and I swear to God if it's Brian I will punch him."

Elliot laughed. "No, it's someone you like."

"Someone I like?"

"Someone you adore, actually, if I remember correctly."

"I do not adore many people, Elliot. This person wouldn't happen to have the last name of Stabler, would they?"

"Quite possibly." Elliot answered, enjoying their long forgotten but easy banter.

Olivia's face lit up.

"It's Kathleen, isn't it?"

"How in the world could you have possibly known that?" Elliot said, raising his eyebrows and moving so Olivia could walk past him.

"Because there is no way, after what you told me about Kathy, that she would let any of your children come back to New York. Kathleen is the only one with big enough balls to either defy her or sneak away to another state."

Elliot beamed. "You know my children so well."

"And I adore them." Olivia nodded and she pushed the bedroom door open.

TBC...