A/N: It's that time…gosh, this feels like Mr. Roger's last episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Don't be confused: this is not the end of the story! With all the outlining I've done it's probably going to be twice as long as Covers, and in a way I think that makes sense because this is about BA and their lives as they live them, and they've got a lot of living left to do.

But because they must get on with their lives, I'm afraid you'll have to say goodbye to the crossover aspect of this story. I hope you'll enjoy the last appearance of SVU.

Once again, Dr. George Huang opened the door before either of them knocked, leaving Alex's hand suspended in midair as the psychiatrist smiled warmly at the couple.

She let her hand drop, her stare turning skeptical. "There's no way you-"

"Could possibly hear two pairs of feet stop outside of my door?" Huang smiled at Alex's disbelief. "Trust me, it gets that quiet in here; besides paperwork and evaluations nothing much happens…not to mention the front desk always notifies me when people visit, so I know to look out for it. Come on in."

He motioned for the couple to walk ahead of him, and as they passed him Huang could have sworn he saw Alex shoot an "I told you so" glance in Bobby's direction. Letting the topic slip from his mind, he closed the door and walked over to his chair, noticing their proximity as Alex let Bobby lead her to the couch before they both sat down, his arm draping over her shoulders.

"Apparently," Huang said as he sat in his chair, watching Bobby's thumb rub circles into her sweater, "Something big has happened since the last time I saw either of you."

Alex turned her head downwards as a crimson flush grew over her cheeks and Bobby played with a stray thread on the seam of his pants, the epitome of feigned innocence. "Granted, I haven't seen you two together in session," the doctor began, trying to make the situation less awkward, "But from our previous talks I've gathered that you two seem a lot more…intimate."

She looked up to meet Bobby's gaze, both smiling over the important detail that lay hidden beneath the red cashmere of Alex's sweater.

"If you have something to tell me," Huang inquired, "now would be the time."

Bobby nodded to Alex before she broke their gaze, reaching towards the back of her neck for the chain that was hidden below the high neckline of her pullover. As she pulled it out, Huang already knew what would be the pendant.

"You two are engaged?" He said as the ring finally appeared, concealing his astonishment at the sight of the symbol resting just above her bosom.

"It's been a little over four weeks," Bobby replied.

"Congratulations," he offered warmly. "So the reason you haven't been to see me is-"

"We've been busy," Bobby offered, hoping that Huang would understand its significance…

…and as the doctor's eyes widened in question, Bobby could only smile softly and nod.

"Alex, I'm assuming this means that the physical aspect of your relationship is no longer an issue?" he directed at the female detective's down turned face.

She looked up at him with an embarrassed grin on her face. "It hasn't been an issue for four weeks," she said as she flushed self-consciously.

Huang looked back to his desk, counting back the weeks on his date book's calendar; it was all starting to add up. "That wouldn't have been the day when 1 PP was on lockdown, would it?"

At the mention of that paralyzing hour Bobby's arm automatically tightened around Alex's shoulders. "Sometimes it takes the fear of losing something precious to understand what it's really worth," he said directly.

Dr. George Huang was stunned. His patient, who had encountered more emotional stress and sexual trauma than the majority of the men who served in blue, had overcome his fears for the most part by himself; had it not been for the eloquence of the words the doctor would not have believed it came from Bobby. The man who had refused to talk about his abuse, the man who shut himself away from everyone he knew in a form of blind self-preservation, had pulled a complete u-turn. He looked happy, healthy, and as Huang watched him look towards his fiancé he couldn't help but feel he was lucky to have the chance to be a part of his recovery.

Alex, Huang thought, you really do work miracles.

"The fact that you are saying these words makes the reality that this is our last session a great deal less frightening for me," Huang agreed before getting to the heart of the questioning. "Who else knows?"

"Captain Ross and Alex's family," Bobby replied. "We told them over Thanksgiving?"

"So I'm guessing it was a good night?" Huang asked.

"It was more than good," he said, his eyes smiling before the words left his lips. "I've been hired to teach criminology at Fordham."

"Wow," the doctor said, another surprise from the once reclusive man before him. "You two have had a lot of changes…great changes; that's really wonderful." He was afraid to smile too broadly at the couple who had found happiness despite the overwhelming obstacles that they had faced, overstepping his professional boundaries with over enthusiasm, so he settled on straightforward talk. "You guys have a lot to celebrate."

Bobby looked at Alex and their eyes met, knowing they were reminiscing over the same memory.

They arrived at the SUV in the early morning, where the only sounds were the yelps of family members at the bitingly cold November air as they headed across the street to their own cars. She stood at the driver's side for a moment, reflecting on the marvelous turns the evening had taken and smiled. She raised her gloved hand to brush back the strands of hair the breeze was pulling out of her chignon as she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist.

She lifted her head to see his reflection in the car door window before turning in his embrace to face him. The movements his hands were now making against her back corresponded with the craving his dark eyes were streaming into her pupils. The strong caresses that his palms kneaded into the small of her back eradicated any sense of cold that she had felt prior, and as they became lengthier, sliding from the dip in her spine down to where her tailbone began she doubted that the Gobi Desert had ever been as heated as she had become. A stroke angled from just below her shoulder blade pressured every nerve ending in her spinal cord as it glided down to press against where her hips gave way to rounder, firmer flesh, and her back arched involuntarily. She wanted him, right there if she had to, and frankly she couldn't care what nosey family member was watching.

"I think," he said in the rich bass that his voice had become, "That later is now."

"Bobby," she said breathlessly as his strokes could no longer be mistaken as anything but heavy petting. "If you don't stop I'm going to come right now-"

A throaty rumble swept from his mouth as he captured her lips in a ferocious kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck, clinging to the only life preserver in the rage of the storm. She had unleashed his sexual fury, and as his hands pushed her body against his and his fingers tangled themselves hopelessly into her hair, all Alex could do was hold on as their bodies led them head first into blistering heat.

He pushed her back against the SUV as he pressed against her, pinning her between the cold black metal and the warm contours of his body. He could feel how warm she had become and her frenzied kisses become more and more passionate, but when her breasts pushed firmly against his chest through both their opened coats, grating round buds dragging against his torso through the velvety material of her dress, he lost the last semblance of his control.

Holding his impassioned lover firmly against his front, he used his right hand to yank the back door open. In two swift movements he had her back flush against the leather interior, his jacket and gloves off, and his knee posed at the back seat's entrance. She was panting heavily as he climbed in, shutting the door behind him. His right knee planted next to her thigh, he reached between the front seats to turn the car on; heat began pouring through the car vents and the windows quickly fogged over. He turned back to Alex with a mischievous grin as he said, "I don't want to share you."

Still speechless, she could do nothing but watch as he made quick work of her gloves in another smoothly seductive move removed her of her coat and sweater. When his belt was thrown over the backseat, she was sure the trunk had to be almost full of the clothing they had discarded, but as his hands drifted up her thigh and melted every nerve ending as they got closer and closer to her heat, she really didn't care.

The dress' length was now bunched up right below her waist, his hands pulling her lacy black panties over her stilettos. She couldn't see much besides the impassioned look on his face as her shoes flew over the divide, but she could hear as his zipper dropped and the feel as his strong arms brought her torso flush against his as his desperate lips found hers once again. She almost cried out in overwhelming pleasure as he entered her, her legs now wrapped around his hips as her back pressed against the hot leather seat. He pushed deeply into her without restraint, and as she tried to remember how to breathe the coil within her sweltering heat became so tight and hot that every thrust that entrenched him further inside her burned with pleasure.

There were no words, only buried screams as they both exploded into ecstasy simultaneously. Alex's fingers raked along the back of his blue button down shirt as his rigid grip on her buttocks only intensified. They couldn't stop gasping for air in the stifling heat of the car, the fog on the windows so thick that it would have been impermeable to even the best of eyes.

As they gradually learned how to breathe again, Bobby let Alex's worn out body lie against the interior as he hovered above her, pushing her now untamed hair back from her face. She smiled contentedly, whispering softly, "I like it when you give thanks."

His eyes regained their mischievous spark as he replied, "Who said that I'd finished?"

"We've done a lot of celebrating already," Bobby said, trying to hold back the smug expression that was threatening to take over his face.

"Oh," said Huang, who didn't mistake his body language for a second. "Well, I'm extremely glad things have gotten on track. I just have one last question to ask you before I wrap this up and give you the run down on my professional evaluation." Bobby and Alex nodded and the doctor pulled out his notepad and a pen. "Have you two thought through the impact of your decision to marry, notwithstanding the review of the Garner case?"

"Yes," they responded concurrently. Bobby looked to Alex and nodded, giving her the go ahead. "I think it's important to realize that our relationship had started at such a…deep level that neither of us really saw it as dating. I mean, the circumstances of how we ended up together were so far from conventional that…I guess I just never saw it as something so casual. My mom referred to him as my boyfriend once, and for some reason that didn't sit well with me…not because I didn't feel like we were that involved, but because we were so much more involved than that." Bobby gave her shoulder a squeeze before she continued. "We both didn't know where we were going with this…after Nicole and her crap it was pretty much impossible to say what was going to happen in the future; things were serious, but we weren't sure if it was commitment to God serious…but when he asked me…" She looked into Bobby's eyes. "There was no question of whether I wanted to say yes, because I had hoped for that from him from the beginning…so if the question is if we thought about it, there's no doubt that we had."

"Being with her changed me," Bobby said, eyes still locked with hers. "From the beginning I knew that I loved her, which is really saying something for me, but when I started to open up after the Garner case, to admit what happened, things started getting better for us. It was all coming together, and I felt capable of giving her that commitment, whereas before I had wanted to but knew I wasn't in the right position to ask it of her." He turned to Huang. "I am now. My life is getting back on track and I'm making changes and working hard to make sure it stays there. The engagement isn't something that was based on an unstable relationship. It's a promise that I walked into making sure that I would be able to keep it...after I had to face the thought of losing that, there is no way that I would let Nicole take her away from me, whether it was through the department's case review or with her own hands. "

Huang nodded, and ducked his head as if looking through his notes only to conceal his wide smile. "Good," he said, putting the pad down and returning his attention to the couple before him. "As you know, this is the last time you'll be seeing me as part of this investigation. I feel like it's only fair that I tell you the evaluation I'm going to give to Detectives Benson and Stabler before they turn in your case tomorrow.

"I do believe that your romantic relationship began at a time which left you vulnerable. The nature of the work that you were doing, coinciding with the depth of your relationship put you in danger." He paused as they held their breath, afraid of the next words that would come from his mouth. "However, the aspect of vulnerability would not have been there had Wallace not created a case which was given to you only to attempt to destroy your lives. From talking to you each respectively, it is obvious that with or without this case you two would have realized the strength of your devotion each other, which makes the argument that you were reckless in your decision to explore your feelings pointless. The history of emotional exchange you two have with each other is not typical, and because despite discouragement there is no written rule of fraternization I cannot find you derelict in your responsibilities when you've obviously committed the majority of your lives to the shield.

"As for the events that occurred after the kidnapping, your relationship was pushed to the emotional brink, and you managed to find the strength to support each other and commit to your love in ways most married couples never can. The fact that you two became engaged during the Garner case review only serves to prove your dedication to each other regardless of the personal or professional consequences.

"I believe that the current standing of your jobs should be maintained, and that Detective Goren's decision to leave should not be met with consequences for you, Detective Eames, which is what I am recommending."

Both detectives were beaming by the end of his announcement, and as they prepared to leave Alex reached inside of her purse to take out a small cream-colored envelope. "Dr. Huang?" she said as he walked them to the door. "We wanted you to have this."

He took the envelope from her outstretched hand and opened it to see a crisp crimson card centered with a translucent sheet of print.

The pleasure of your company is requested

at the wedding of

Alexandra Eames

&

Robert Goren

On the Twenty Forth Of December,

Two Thousand Eight

At five o'clock in the afternoon

At the United Methodist Church of Brooklyn

"I wish I could, but…" Huang shook his head sadly. "As an advisor to your case-"

"We know, it would be unprofessonal," Alex replied with a sad smile, "but we wanted you to know that we were thinking of you…if it weren't for you we may have never gotten to this point."

"I disagree," Huang stated frankly. "There have been many people around to help you, me, your friends and family, but your love got you to this point. Never forget that." He watched them smile at each other and walk into the hallway.

"Good luck," Huang said quietly as he watched them leave, knowing that this would be one of the rare moments where he felt like his job was truly doing good.

…

"Hey!"

Alex turned around to see the two SVU detectives walking up to them. "Bobby," she said across their desks, "It's Benson and Stabler."

He was taking the last of his belongings from his desk in Major Case, packing them into a small box and a briefcase; the only remaining item on its surface was a formal letter of resignation. He lifted his head and smiled as they strolled across the squad room in 1 PP as if they hand delivered cases to the brass every day.

"How did it go?" Bobby asked.

"We followed Huang's decision, as promised," Benson said as she bobbed her head in hello to Alex. "After reading what you two have been through for a few months, we would have been crazy not to."

"After running after perps all day, with the kind of crap we have to deal with, it was nice to deal with a case in which two people actually cared about each other," Stabler added.

Detective Benson turned to her partner with wide eyes. "Did he just say that?" she said in mock disbelief. "Elliot Stabler's got a soft side?"

"Yeah, Liv," he said as he rolled his eyes. "On the days when I don't beat up lockers and cuff perps, I actually have a heart."

"Uh-huh," she said before turning back to Bobby. "Well, we just wanted to tell you it's in, and your relationship is in the clear…well…"

"What she means is you can stop pretending like we all can't see the necklace you've been hiding for a month," Logan yelled from his desk as Alex adopted an embarrassed expression.

"Anyway," Stabler finished, "Because it's Major Case it should only be in review for a few weeks but…" He lowered his voice as he said, "Cragen is putting the pressure on them to get it done by the 9th before you guys get really far into planning the wedding…but you can start acting like a couple now."

Bobby smiled and gave a brief thank you before they turned and headed back to the elevator. "They're good people," he said to Alex as he put the last item, his leather portfolio, in the box.

"Yeah," she said, putting down her work and standing up as Ross came to their desk.

"It's in?" he asked, and as they nodded Bobby handed him his resignation. The Captain took it, smiling gently as he said, "I understand, and I want you to know that even though a lot of the times we didn't see eye to eye, being your captain was a great experience."

"Thanks, sir," he said as he looked at Alex with a gaze that gave her the go ahead. She took the necklace out from under her green blouse and removed the ring, placing it securely on her left hand's ring finger. "We actually have a favor to ask you," he added, watching as Megan and Mike nearly ran to their desks at the sight of the rock on Alex's finger.

"Anything," Ross said.

"Well," Alex said as she opened the top drawer of her desk to show the hoard of invitations. "Since you're going to be in the wedding party, mind if you make the announcement?"

Ross adopted a confused look before he asked, "Seriously?"

Bobby smiled. "Alex and I met at work, and some of our best lessons have been learned here…definitely Deakins, Mike and Megan included, and you sir…if it weren't for you saving our asses in a lot of cases we wouldn't be here. I know I wasn't the easiest detective to deal with, but we'd love it if you three would be part of the wedding."

Mike turned to Megan and dug through his pocket to hand her a twenty. "Don't say I told you so," he said with a scowl.

Megan laughed. "Well, not to lord it over you, but…"

"Whatever," he muttered as Alex and Bobby held back their laughter.

"So," said Alex, "Whenever you're ready."

Ross thought about the fact that his protégé and her smart aleck partner had joined the interoffice betting pool for only a second before turning to face his squad of officers, who by now had all noticed something big was going on.

"Detectives," Ross began as the squad listened curiously, "Are any of you too busy to go to a wedding?"