Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.

"My head hurts," Olivia complained, tossing her pen onto the desk and letting her head drop into her hands.

Fin chuckled. "Sorry," he said. "But that's all we got. I know it's confusing as shit, but until we get a new lead, that's where we are." He looked at Elliot. "You okay?"

Elliot bit his lip, looking down at something in his hand. "Fine," he said, but his lip was still snagged between his teeth.

Olivia noticed, leaned across her desk, and asked, "What's the matter?"

He tossed the crumpled piece of paper he'd been holding to her, and then shot up out of his seat and bolted from the room.

She looked down, confused, until she uncurled the paper and read it to herself. Her face fell, her heart sank, and her whole body withered.

"What?" Fin prodded gently, knowing it had to be bad.

"Kathy's life insurance," she said folding the paper a bit more elegantly than Elliot had. "They're dragging their feet with processing the rest of the claim, and he can't afford to pay the bulk of the expenses without it."

"What? Why?" Munch asked, proving to himself more than anyone else that he was awake and paying attention.

Olivia ran a hand through her hair. "Who the hell knows? Insurance companies are notorious for this kind of bullshit." She crossed her arms and bit her lip. "I had to threaten the agent we talked to, just to get him to cut a partial check so we could pay for the..."

Munch smirked as he interrupted her. "We?"

"Well, I was with him," Olivia said, unfaltering. "He could barely stand up on his own, John! I was there to help him, so yes, we."

"How long?" Munch asked, a bit less smugly. "Did they give him an estimate?"

"Three to six more months," she said, closing her eyes. "And that's only if they don't find fault with her death certificate." Her lips twitched and her nostrils flared. "They said...they have to be sure there was no foul play."

"That's cold," Fin muttered, leaning against his desk.

"They're harsher on the vic than we are on the perp," Olivia said. "I just can't stand to see him like this. He doesn't deserve..." she stopped, seeing something out of the corner of her eye. "I'm pissed."

Elliot, coming back into the room with damp hair and slightly reddened face, sighed as he said, "Makes two of us." He scratched his chin and said, "Look, I will worry about bills and bullshit later, where are we on this?" He held up the rather thin file on their current victim and raised an eyebrow, hoping swimming in the case would keep him from sinking in grief.

Nine o'clock rolled around faster than he'd expected, and just before he turned off his desk lamp and called it a night, Olivia wrapped a hand around the ball of his shoulder. He jumped and turned, but smiled as he relaxed. "Hey."

"Hey," she said, returning his grin. "Here." She held out a folded slip of paper, flicking her wrist toward him, telling him to take it.

Pulling it out from between her fingers, he squinted and unfolded it. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Just take it," she said, folding her arms. "I'm living in your house, right? I have been. For a while. Think of this as...back rent. And...upcoming rent. And my share of the bills and utilities and the..." She stopped herself, cleared her throat, and said, "Anyway, the point is you have nothing to worry about."

He stared at the long, thin paper in his hand. "You really expect me to take this from you?"

Olivia chuckled. "No, I know you better than that. You'll pay me back. I'll refuse to let you, but you'll try. We'll argue, I'll punch you, you'll buy me a beer. We've done it all before." She tilted her head. "Only now, we'll uh, actually kiss and make up."

Elliot blinked and looked up at her, his smile now smaller but warmer. "Thank you," he said. "You really don't have to..."

"Yeah," she interrupted, "I do." She saw confusion swirl over his face and she elbowed him playfully. "I moved out of my apartment and into that house, with you. I promised you I would help you put your life back together, help you keep the kids from falling apart. That's...that's what I'm doing."

He laughed and finally reached back to turn off his light. "Have I told you how amazing you are?"

"Not in the last few hours," she joked. She grabbed her jacket and the keys, and then walked with him out of the squad room. She narrowed her eyes and asked him, "What's up, you look a little..."

"Tired," he said, slapping the button to signal for the elevator. "Very, very tired. I thought...I was past all this, Liv. I was finally in a good place, and then they sent me that letter and...they reminded me that I..." he shook the words away, blinking rapidly. "Where, uh, where'd you get this kinda cash? Last time I checked, we pulled in the same salary, and I couldn't cut a check like that."

"You have four kids who go to private school and a mortgage on a six-bedroom-house in Queens," Olivia said, quirking a brow. She walked into the elevator with him, and when the door slid shut, she grabbed his hand. "A second mortgage, actually. I told you, then, I would find a way to repay you for that. So..."

He squeezed her hand. "Yeah," he sighed. "I know." He took a breath and looked at her again. "You paid me back long ago, though. Not with money." He stared at her a moment. "You know what I mean." When the small ding of the elevator hit his ears, he pulled her out into the lobby and sighed again. "How long have we been doing this?"

She screwed her face up in thought. "The job? Too long for most sane people, not long enough for..."

"Not the job," he said, guiding her through the doors and into the night air. He pulled her closer as he stopped walking and held up their connected hands. "This! This...dancing around it, ignoring it, pretending it's not there but feeling like it's the only thing that matters!" He shook his head and licked his lips. "When I got that letter this morning, I wasn't upset about the money. I knew the insurance would take it's sweet fucking time. I was upset because I..." He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. "Back in the elevator...I was going to say...that letter made me realize I would be completely fucking lost without you. Part of me knew you'd find a way to get me through this." He snorted out a disbelieving laugh. "Granted, I never thought you'd fork over ten grand like that, but I just knew. I knew, because I would do the same fucking thing for you."

"You have," she whispered, gripping his hand tighter despite the fact that her palm, and his, has started to sweat.

He nodded, hearing her. "I think that proves it, doesn't it? That I am...in love with you." He laughed again, but it sounded anything but happy. "God, if we didn't get called into work when we did, we would have taken things too far, too fast, but I swear to God, I wouldn't have fucking..." he paused, letting the thought and his words go. "It's been a long day, we haven't slept, or eaten much of anything, and the kids are probably already asleep...and on top of all of that there's only one thing I want to say to you and every time I say it in my head it sounds so stupid."

"You don't have to say it," she told him, pulling on his hand and starting off in the direction of his car. "I already know." She smiled at him as she watched what seemed like a great weight rise off of his shoulders. "Deep down, I've always known."

They had almost made it to the car, his lips had almost made it to hers. Almost.

"Hey! Guys!" Fin's voice broke into the tense air between them.

They broke apart fast, dropping their hands and looking toward Fin, shouting a simultaneous, "What?"

Fin ran toward them. "Glad I caught you. I hate to say it, but you gotta come back. We finally caught a break."

Elliot chuckled once and smoothed a hand down his face. "No, we didn't," he mumbled under his breath. He shot Olivia a look, winked at her, and gave her a small push back toward the station house. He watched her for a moment and his heart thumped against his chest. Their break hadn't come yet, but it would, though. Soon. He'd make sure of it.

Peace and Love

Jo

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