A/N: I jumped ahead... don't hate me. Please?

Disclaimer: I do not own any L&O SVU characters.

A Year Later (June)

In the time that had gone by, not much had changed in Ava's case. Fin and Munch were still checking in with Missing Persons, but the unit endured a never-ending struggle to find leads. A few men had been questioned, but it had never gone further than that.

Olivia and Elliot followed websites for missing children, constantly checking if anyone had submitted new tips. They had also gone to speak with George Huang, at the request of the Captain, although Olivia was the only one to find the conversation useful. Any emotional pain Elliot felt had been taken out on morning runs, or during a stressful case- the perpetrator he had been questioning.

On a hot summer night in July, Olivia and Elliot had blown out the candle on a cupcake before being surprised by their co-workers showing up at their home. Fin, Munch, Cragen, Melinda and Casey had shown up with wrapped presents they placed in Ava's room for her to open when she came home. Olivia and Elliot had felt truly grateful to have the friends they had.

"Olivia?"

Casey entered SVU and headed straight for her friend's desk.

Olivia closed the folder she had been working on and stretched in her chair, "Hey, Case."

"Ready to go?" Casey asked, as Elliot headed towards the two ladies.

"Where you two going?" He asked.

Casey looked to Olivia, who turned to Elliot.

"I'm gonna go grab lunch with Casey." Olivia replied, getting out of her chair and grabbing her jacket. "Girls date. I'll bring you back something?" She asked, before Elliot had his chance to invite himself. Luckily, Elliot smiled.

"Sure."

Olivia walked around to Elliot's desk and gave him a small kiss before she and Casey headed out.

"I feel like I'm in highschool." Olivia sighed, pacing the living room of her apartment. Casey checked her watch.

"Liv, settle down. You're making me nervous." Casey said to her friend.

Olivia shot her a look, "You're nervous?" She asked. Casey smiled and patted the cushion next to her on the couch. Olivia came over and the two sat in dead silence until the timer on the coffee table went off.

Olivia and Casey both leaned over the coffee table and Casey picked up the small stick, "Negative," She read, handing the piece of plastic to Olivia, "not pregnant."

Olivia leaned back against the couch and let out a sigh. Casey leaned back against the couch and looked over at Olivia. "Liv?"

Olivia held up the small stick, looking at the Not Pregnant displayed on it. She threw it back on the coffee table.

"You know, for the longest time, I wanted that perfect little family. The great guy, two kids, maybe three. Maybe a dog." Olivia started. The thought of a happy, suburban family brought a small smile to her face, but quickly vanished as she continued, "The other night when we had sex, all I could think of was, 'Shit, I could get pregnant right now.' And that terrified me. I always thought we'd have one more after Ava, so she could have a brother or sister close to her age, but having another baby now, I'd feel like I'm replacing her." Olivia looked over to Casey and sighed.

Casey pulled her into a hug and patted her back. She smiled sympathetically after she pulled away, "Liv, you know you wouldn't be replacing your daughter. And you don't have to stop having sex with Elliot just because you're scared you might get pregnant. Tell him to use a condom, or go back on the pill."

Olivia rolled her eyes and got up off the couch, "Whoever would've thought I'd be terrified of Elliot getting me pregnant?" She shook her head and grabbed the pregnancy test off the coffee table and stuffed it back into the box.

Casey frowned as she watched Olivia. Her friend had gone through so much pain in the last year; it certainly hadn't been easy. Casey was glad to be there to help Olivia when she could, especially on a day like today. She had gotten a text from Olivia earlier that morning, and immediately had worked it into her schedule to help her friend out.

"C'mon, I better put food in you so Elliot doesn't suspect anything. There's a mean growl that comes out of you when you haven't eaten." Casey said, with a small laugh, getting up off the couch. Olivia turned to her and nodded.

"And I'm assuming you want to dispose of that somewhere that isn't here?" Casey asked, pointing to the small cardboard box in Olivia's hand.

"That would probably be a good idea." Olivia replied as the two headed out the door.

"How's everything going? How are you and Elliot?" Casey asked as she picked at her salad. She reached across and stole a piece of chicken from Olivia's plate. "I feel bad, I'm sorry Liv. I really should be around more often. You know, as a friend. Moral support, and all that."

"It's fine, Casey. In fact, I'd probably feel more awkward if you were checking in on me everyday. I already get it from the guys." Olivia replied. She moved the food on her plate around, not really feeling hungry. Her mind was all over the place, thinking about what would have happened had the test said she was pregnant, and if she really was relieved that she wasn't expecting again.

"Liv?" Casey pressed. Olivia shook her head, remembering Casey's question.

"We're good. There was a bit of a rough patch after the Becker case, but we got through it." Olivia replied, referring to a few months back in February.

Elliot had taken a sick day, so Olivia had been assigned a case with Fin. What they didn't know until arriving at the scene was that the victim had been a small, brown haired, blue-eyed toddler. Olivia nearly had a nervous breakdown at the crime scene before Fin had rushed her away from everyone, and called Elliot telling him to get out of bed and down to the station. Olivia hadn't slept until DNA tests came back saying the little girl wasn't Ava, but the pain and stress of the case had reinstated all the fears Olivia had managed to subdue since Ava's disappearance.

"Other than that, I suppose things are running as smoothly as they can." Olivia replied. She smiled at Casey before checking her cellphone. "We should head back to the precinct, I've got lots of work to do." She added. Casey nodded and waived down their waiter.

"Thanks, Casey." Olivia said softly, looking to her friend.

Casey looked up from signing the bill, "It's just lunch, Liv. You've got the next one." She chuckled.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "For being here. You're a really good friend."

"Detective Tutuola?"

Fin raised his hand and the young man that had called out his name came towards him and extended his hand, "Liam Macdonald, from Missing Persons."

Fin shook the fellow detectives hand, "Something you guys need help with?" He asked.

"Actually, The Times contacted us about running an article of missing people in New York, and we're going to run Ava Stabler's photo in there. Anyways, I've been sent here to confirm the photo we were initially given for Ava Stabler, and also if we could get you to sign off on the age enhanced photo as well, we can add it to the submission for the paper." Macdonald explained. The last part of his explanation immediately caught the attention of Cragen, and Munch and the two headed over to check the folder that Macdonald held in his hand.

The three men smiled down at the photo. Instead of a small tuft of hair, there was now a full head of dark brown hair, and the little girl had a smile with a mouth full of teeth.

"Olivia's mini-me." Cragen said, noting pretty much every feature of Ava's was a tiny version of Olivia's- nose, lips, cheek bones.

"Stabler's eyes though." Munch added.

"Stabler's what?" Elliot asked, walking into the room. Fin closed the folder, and the three men looked up.

"What are you guys doing?"

Cragen nodded to Fin and the detective handed Elliot the folder. "This is Liam Macdonald," Fin said, pointing to the young man, "He's from Missing Persons. They're running an article in the paper, he wanted us to confirm Ava's photos, the original and the age enhanced one."

Elliot opened the folder and stared down at the pictures. He exhaled deeply as he stared down at the photo. His little girl was the spitting image of his wife, and it broke his heart that he couldn't hold her. He closed the folder and handed it back to Macdonald.

"That's fine. Thank you." Elliot said to him, walking back to his desk. Macdonald nodded to Fin, Cragen and Munch and headed towards the door.

"Hey, when are you guys running that?" Elliot asked.

"It'll be in Friday's paper, sir." Macdonald replied before leaving.

Good, thought Elliot. He and Olivia would be leaving Thursday afternoon, to go visit the older Stabler kids in Chicago, and he knew the last thing they needed was people asking him and Olivia questions about Ava. They had handled enough pain in the last year, so this trip's timing couldn't have come at a better time in Elliot's opinion.

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