FLASHBACK

September 28th 1998

1-6 Precinct

7:25 p.m.

"Hey, you want to grab a drink?" Elliot asked Liv as she walked out of the locker bay. They'd just wrapped her first 72-hour-or-bust case.

"I'm tired Stabler," Liv said, walking over to her desk and rifling through the drawers for a lack of anything better to do with her hands. "Maybe some other time?"

"Some other time my ass Benson" Elliot said. "Come on, it was your first sleepless case."

"And?" Liv asked, finally meeting his eyes. It was as if he could sense that her stomach was still tied up in knots from the stuff she'd listened to. Raped, kidnapped, and tortured, sixteen-year-old Emma had been through it all and Liv had never left her side. This case had been more than just sleepless for Olivia, and the last thing she needed was her damn partner pointing it out to her with a sympathy drink.

"And, let's go to O'Malley's. It's on me" Elliot tempted.

"Why do you care?" Liv demanded, turning away from him. "Buying me a drink is a little beyond the scope of what 'partners' do."

"It doesn't have to be. IAB doesn't have anything against partners who don't hate each other," Elliot said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. They both tried to ignore the spark that passed between them. By no means did they like each other—they were adversaries at best. But, that worked for them. The fights, the hatred, the disdain, it was all hiding something bigger. Something neither of them dared act on. Suddenly the girlfriend sitting at home waiting for Elliot, Olivia's reservations about office fraternization, Elliot's unsure future and Olivia's shaky past, meant nothing. There was only the two of them as they were to each other right then. "The case got to both of us, let's go forget it Liv" he whispered. Olivia turned back toward him and cocked an eyebrow.

"At least you didn't call me Livvie" she said finally, grabbing her sweater and striding away. Elliot watched her go before grabbing his keys and meeting her at the elevator.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

"You can take it as whatever the hell you want," Liv said, exiting the elevator.

"Then it's definitely a yes…and you're doing my paperwork for a week."

Liv smirked at him and they both fell into step, walking along in the pleasant late September twilight. O'Malley's was a local bar frequented by cops and not far from the SVU precinct.

"Why don't you like Livvie?" Elliot asked as he opened the door for her.

"Why so many questions Stabler?" Liv asked. "Are you here to buy me a drink or interrogate me?"

"I never said you couldn't plead the fifth."

"Ha" Liv mocked as they claimed a bar stool. "A cop and a bad comedian?"

"Nothing I can't do" he said with a wry smiled as he signaled for the bartender.

"Oh, I can think of few things," she said, not quite flirtatiously and not quite sarcastically. Elliot gave her a bemused look, but the bartender interrupted them before he could ask her what she meant.

"What can I get for you two?"

"Scotch on the rocks" Elliot said quickly. The bartender nodded and turned toward Olivia.

"Gin and Tonic and a shot of Ciroc," she replied automatically, not even glancing at the drinks menu.

Elliot smiled at her confidence. Olivia was young, but she looked as if she'd been drinking forever—that was how comfortable she was in a bar she'd never been to with a man she barely knew. What he didn't know was that Olivia was nervous; being at a bar was something of a virtue and a vice for her. It reminded her that she was stronger than she thought she was, but also of how easy it was to fall to temptation.

"So, why'd you join Special Victims?" Elliot asked conversationally as they waited for their drinks. Olivia glanced down at the bar then, the mystery that always surrounded her at its all time high.

"I think it's my turn to ask you a question" Olivia stipulated, turning toward Elliot on her bar stool. Their knees met and neither of them pulled away. The alcohol hadn't even started flowing yet and they'd already decided to breach a few comfort zones. "Why'd you join SVU?"

"I always thought sex should be one of the best parts of life, not the worst" he replied, noticing how when you spoke to Olivia you either had her entire attention or nothing at all. Currently her attention was trained on him exclusively. "Plus, there's something about being with a victim when their attacker is put away, you can't see that kind of relief in the eyes of a homicide vic."

"Well there you go," Liv said breezily, raising her eyebrows just slightly. "That's why anyone joins SVU, we all have someone to protect. We all have a reason that we have to give back." Their drinks arrived then and she tossed her shot back with the poise of a much more experienced woman.

"You know SVU is a lot more than just giving back," Elliot said, taking a sip of his scotch. The burning sensation in the back of his throat was oddly calming. Liv reached for her Gin and Tonic and shot him a look, as if to say 'prove it.' "Really" Elliot said. "It's a lot more personal. Every detective who volunteers has a story."

"What's yours?" Liv asked quickly. "What's your story?"

"I'm good at it," Elliot said, as if that explained why he wanted to talk to rapists everyday.

"I'm good at taking out the trash, doesn't mean I'm a garbage man" Liv said sarcastically. It wasn't biting or mean or even flirtatious, it was just who she was. Tough. Elliot smiled boyishly.

"In all honesty, that really is why. When I was younger I practically had the 'most likely to end up in jail' nomination covered. I'm talking club brawls, joy riding, alley fights, you name it—I did it. Always had a short fuse I guess" he said with a slight smile. Liv laughed genuinely and Elliot's smile broadened. He'd never heard her laugh before and he liked it. It was soft and feminine and pretty. "Lucky for me my dad was in the force, so I got away with more shit than the average teen. That's probably why I joined up in the first place. I had to convince my dad that I wouldn't spend the rest of my life on the wrong side of a jail cell"

"How'd you end up at SVU?"

"After I made detective, I was just hanging around the 1-6 following some evidence when Cragen asked me to go at a suspect. Thirty minutes later I had a confession. No plea, twenty-five years for pedophilia."

"So you discovered that you're a natural" Liv said inquisitively.

"We all have our talents." He shrugged nonchalantly and Liv smiled at him, noting his shit-eating grin. The man had confidence if nothing else, and that was easily his most attractive feature. Adding his empty glass to hers, she signaled for the bartender and ordered them something complicated that Elliot had never heard of.

"Don't worry," she said, turning back to her partner. "It's not froufrou or pink or anything. I'm not that Sex in the City."

"It's not that," Elliot said curiously, "I just never thought you drank"

"I don't" Liv said evasively with a tentative smile. Elliot was once again stumped by his new partner as the bartender returned with their concoctions. "Bottoms up," Liv joked, knocking her glass against his and taking a sip.

"Well, I'm drunk" Elliot laughed.

Liv smiled. She hadn't ordered this to get them drunk, but she knew what she wanted to do with Elliot tonight and it would be easier if they were both closer to the edge than usual.

"You like it?" she asked.

"I do," Elliot said, surprised. "Where'd you hear about this?"

"Like you said, we all have our talents" she said with a wink. She was so god-damned sexy, and the fact that she didn't seem to know it made her even more attractive.

"Aside from mixed drinks, what's yours?"

"What's my what?" Liv asked slowly, nursing her drink and thinking that this foray into real life had been her best experience yet.

"Your talent."

"I don't really have one. I'm the exception to the rule."

"Oh come on Liv" Elliot said. Olivia smiled, enjoying her nickname. "Everyone's good at something, even Munch has a talent."

"It's not coffee."

"You catch on quickly," Elliot laughed. "But honestly, what's your talent?"

"I really don't know" Liv said. "No one's ever pointed it out to me. I guess you could say people. People are kind of my talent." She looked up at him, daring him to laugh at her. Instead she got total sincerity.

"How so?"

"Oh, just that I always know when something's bothering someone. I can see when their lying, when their afraid. I have a way of knowing what they need me to say. I guess you can say my talent is being what people need me to be."

Elliot didn't know what to say to that. It was so sad and filled with loneliness. Here was an amazing woman who still didn't know who she was even after she had made so many other people happy.

"Liv, you know a talent doesn't have to benefit others."

"Yeah, but I do. I owe the world that at least" she said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean anything, El" she said, shrugging resignedly.

"El?" he asked with a teasing smile. Liv blushed and stared at the bar top.

"Sorry, it's the alcohol" she lied.

"I kind of like it" Elliot said. "El and Liv; like Bonnie and Clyde," he commented stupidly, giving into his buzz. He picked up Liv's empty shot glass jovially. "Thanks Ciroc for the great nicknames."

Liv laughed again and ordered another round. Soon they were both getting sloppy with hands in inappropriate places, laughing a bit too loudly and just not caring all that much for anything. The entire bar was watching them, they could hardly help themselves. Liv and El were just so natural together. They were a kind of soulmates, just for and against each other no matter what.

"So, what are your parents like?" Liv asked as she caught her breath after a particularly rough laughing fit.

"Crazy," Elliot half-slurred. "Dad's always been disappointed in me, even when I got straight, but at least he's not insane like my mom."

"And here I thought you had this golden life out there in Queens," she said empathetically, the full impact of his sentence slightly lost in her alcoholic fog.

"Oh hell no," Elliot laughed, "I couldn't wait to move out."

"You can say that again," Liv slurred honestly, turning back toward the bar and finishing off her drink. Elliot continued to stare at her. She'd be a real asset on the streets; perps would stop just to stare at how pretty she was.

"I was twenty when I left, how old were you?" he asked.

"Seventeen"

"Seventeen? How'd you do it?"

"I was engaged."

"Oh wow, how old was he?"

"Older than seventeen, maybe as old as I am now and I couldn't have loved him more."

"And yet you're not married?"

"You and Kathy aren't married and you're the same age and have been together since high school."

Elliot's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Liv laughed then and placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry, I'm not a mind reader and I didn't snoop through your desk. She invited me and the ADA, umm Alex I think, to have drinks with her. I'd be careful with what you tell your girlfriend. Get a few Cosmos in her and she's spilling her guts to the entire bar."

"So what'd she tell you?" Elliot asked nervously.

"Just that she loves you," Liv said, shooting him a sideways smile.

"Figures," Elliot mumbled, signaling for another round.

"Not the response of a couple madly in love…"

"She's madly in love, I'm just sort of…along for the ride" Elliot said.

"Been there" Liv half-sang. Elliot smiled.

"You been a lot of places?" he asked suggestively. Liv shot him a look.

"You want to find out?"

"Like I said, I'm just along for the ride."

"Oh really?" she asked, turning toward him. She was half in his lap already and now they were even closer. Thank you Circoc, thank you Gin, thank you Scotch and thank you Nature for this moment.

"Really," he confirmed, leaning in to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her until she was no longer lonely, until she no longer looked like she'd never heard the words 'I love you' and known they meant something. He wanted to kiss her until she knew that there was someone out there for her. What he didn't expect was having their lips meet and thinking that he'd found the one person out there for him…

"Sex crimes detectives practicing P.D.A in a cop bar, kind of inappropriate" Liv said, pulling back reluctantly. Elliot pulled her forward again.

"I don't care one bit," he said, deepening the kiss. "You're good at this."

"Want to see what else I'm good at?" Liv teased. Still kissing her, Elliot nodded, dropped a twenty on the bar, hardly covering their tab and not caring one bit. "I live a few blocks from here, think you can keep your hands to yourself that long?"

"No promises."

A/N: And another cliffie. Look out for part two of this chap soon...