A/N: Changes in their personal lives lead to changes everywhere else.

DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story belongs to Tstabler©

"You can't smoke here. There's this new law that..." Olivia stopped, noticing the look she was getting. She looked down at her tea. "I didn't know you smoked," she said, tapping her fingers on the table.

The woman across from her blew a puff of smoke into the air of the outdoor cafe, chuckling. "I didn't," she said. "Not until you came along. And Elliot doesn't know, so I would appreciate...well, I guess he really wouldn't care now, would he?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Kathy, he cares about you, he just..."

"Bullshit," the blonde spat, taking another drag of her stick. "All he gives a shit about is you."

Olivia raised an eyebrow and lifted her teacup to her lips. "You asked me here to yell at me, is that it?"

"I asked you here to...well, yell, yeah," Kathy said, dropping the cigarette and squashing the end of it under the toe of her designer shoe. "But also...to thank you."

"Thank me?" Olivia asked, as if she hadn't heard her correctly.

Kathy looked around for the waiter, waved a hand, signaling him to bring them more drinks, then turned her attention back to Olivia. "The kids, they told me what you did for them. What you tried to do for me and Elliot, so yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Olivia said, both eyebrows up in surprise and suspicion as she sipped her tea again. "What exactly did they say to..."

"Are you in love with him?" Kathy interrupted, her brows knitted together.

Olivia turned, looking around, hiding her nerves. "With whom?"

"Jesus Christ," Kathy hissed, leaning back in her chair.

"No," Olivia said, not missing a beat. "I actually don't believe in..."

"Elliot!" Kathy snapped, cutting off Olivia's attempt at humor. "Are you in love with Elliot? Yes or no? It's a simple question."

Olivia took a long breath and she bit her lip. "Why does it matter now?"

"Now? It doesn't matter now, but It's something I've been wondering for years, Olivia," Kathy said, her head dropping slightly as she shifted her chair closer to the table. "You don't know what it was like, seeing the light in his eyes that is supposed to be meant for me only shine when he was with you."

Olivia rubbed a hand over her face. "Wow, really?" she mumbled, not eager to have this conversation.

Kathy's eyes softened. "I saw the look in his eyes when he talked about you, like you were the most amazing person in the world. You could do no wrong in his eyes, Olivia." She gave a sad sort of chuckle and said, "I just...I always wondered if you felt the same way he did, if you were in love with him. It just...I need to know if he could have been with you, if he honestly could have..."

"He could have," Olivia interrupted. "But he didn't. Kathy, I need you to understand that he never so much as held my hand, not once. Even if he had...I wouldn't have done anything. He was married, he...he was your husband, a father to your kids, and as much as I wanted him, I was not going to come between you."

Kathy scoffed. "You did anyway," she said, shaking her head. She moved to let the waiter drop more tea for Olivia and something tall and pink in front of her. She nodded at him, then sighed. "I know...I know you thought that you were helping, but...your interference with the kids is what finally made me snap, what finally made him see just how badly we weren't working."

"Interference?" Olivia questioned, offended.

"Not...not like that...I..." Kathy sipped her drink and said, "You did things that I should have done, that he should have done, and neither one of us even knew about any of it. So it's like football. You were running interference, when the quarterback drops the ball, you pick it up and head for the goal. Team wins anyway."

Olivia chuckled. "Did you just make a football reference?"

"I spent four years watching Elliot play," Kathy laughed. "I picked up a couple of things."

Olivia took a breath, took a sip of her tea, and said, "I was only trying to keep you together. You have to know that it was never my intention to..."

"I know what you were doing," Kathy interrupted again. "I'm gonna ask you one more time, Olivia, and I need you to answer me. Are you in love with Elliot?"

Olivia bit her lip, she felt her heat pounding. Admitting it to Elliot last night was easy, especially since they'd been able to avoid talking about it. Admitting to herself, now, was proving to be terribly difficult, and she was being confronted by his ex-wife, adding to the terror. She closed her eyes, she took another breath, and she said, "Yes."

Kathy was silent. She took a long sip of her drink, and she reached for the pack of cigarettes on the end of the table. She toyed with the box, flipping it around in her hands. "Please," she said, "Don't tell him I smoke."

Olivia shook her head, promising she wouldn't tell him.

"He's in love with you, too," Kathy said, sipping her drink again. "I don't know if he's told you." She gulped another bit of the pink liquid, took out her credit card, and said, "I got it. You should get back to work."

As Olivia stood, Kathy stopped her again. She turned and said, "Yeah?"

"Has he? Told you, I mean," Kathy said, sounding almost friendly. "That he loves you."

Olivia couldn't help the smile that crossed her face, even though it was not the right time for such happiness. "He told me. Yeah."

"Good," Kathy said, swallowing both the last of her drink and her pride. "He deserves to be happy. You both do."

"So do you," Olivia said, meaning it, holding out a hand.

Kathy looked at her hand, as if considering shaking it or chopping it off. She sighed and grabbed it with her own, shaking it firmly. "Be good to him, Olivia. I know you will be, I just...I felt like I had to..."

"I know," Olivia said, dropping Kathy's hand. She walked away, taking a deep breath, shaking off the nerves. She looked down at her watch and calculated. She had five minutes to get back to the station.

"Well, here she is," Alex said, a condescending tone in her voice. "Miss America."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "I'm not..."

"Don't bother," Elliot interrupted. "She's been insulting both of us all day, she's running out of good ones."

Olivia chuckled and sat in her chair. "What do you want, Cabot?"

Alex handed her a folded document with a blue cover. "Your warrant. I tried to tell Judge Patterson that you didn't have enough evidence, but he trusts you two more than he trusts me. Guess Benson's sleeping with him, too."

"All right, that was low, even for you," Munch said before Elliot could. "You wanna tell us what she did that has you so..."

"I got something she wants," Olivia interjected. "We all know that Alex hates to lose, and losing to me, well...that's just pissing her off even more."

"It's not just that," Elliot said, shaking his head. "She didn't even know about that when..."

Alex interrupted him, folding her arms. "I am right here, thanks. And honestly, I'm not allowed to dislike a person? I need an actual reason? Jesus, she is not Mother Teresa, it's not a sin if I don't like her." She sneered at Elliot. "And you, you're just an arrogant asshole. No one likes you, except for her, so why should I be different?"

Elliot narrowed his eyes and gave her a smirk, knowingly getting under her skin. "Yeah, you hate me so much, that why you stare at me? Make those faces? Leave me those little text messages and voicemails..."

"What now?" Olivia interrupted, folding her arms.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, still glaring at Alex.

Alex swallowed hard, finding her breathing picking up and her pulse quicken. She looked at Olivia and her gaze shifted from sultry to angry. "You'd better not fuck up this case, Benson. I don't wanna be the one to tell Patterson he was wrong."

Olivia bit her tongue as she watched the blonde walk out of the room, her hips swaying a little more than necessary. She scoffed, then turned toward Elliot. "What messages?"

Fin smirked. "Cabot's been sextin' you, man? You're a free soul now, Stabler. Go for it."

Elliot choked. "I'd rather wrestle a live alligator," he said. "Besides, um, I'm kind of...there's already someone...not Alex."

Munch folded his arms. "The man works fast."

"What messages?" Olivia yelled, her arms now on her hips, one perilously close to her gun.

"Not now, Liv," Elliot said, his eyes telling her to drop it. "I didn't even...as soon as I got them, I deleted them. I don't respond to her. You know I wouldn't..." he stopped and tilted his head. "You had lunch with Kathy. What did she say to you?"

Fin furrowed his brow. "Hold up," he said, stepping toward them. "Cabot has the hots for Stabler, he's already seein' some girl, and you're spendin' quality time with Kathy, who you can't stand? What am I missin' here?"

"She wanted to thank me for taking care of her kids," she said, rolling her eyes. "It wasn't like we were booking mani-pedi's together."

Munch chuckled. "I still think it's hysterical that Alex is..."

"It's not that funny," Elliot said, pulling on his jacket.

"You're actually flattered," Olivia said, folding her arms again. "You are loving the fact that she is driving herself nuts over you."

"No," he said, turning to her, fire in his eyes. "There's only one woman who flatters me because she wants me. Only one woman who gives me an ego boost every time she looks at me like she wants me, and it sure as hell isn't Alex."

Olivia got it. She let out a deep breath through her nostrils and nodded. "Okay," she said, poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue.

"Clear?" he snapped.

"Crystal," she said, trying not to smirk, or jump for joy the way she suddenly had the urge to do.

He nodded. "Good," he said sharply. "Now what the hell did we need a warrant for?"

Cragen, standing behind them, said, "I was wondering when we'd all be getting back to work!"

The four detectives turned, together, and looked at him. "Hey, Cap," Elliot said, smiling.

"Can it, Stabler," Cragen snapped. "You got your warrant. Go. Take Munch."

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Munch? But Liv is..."

"As of right now, Olivia is with Fin, you're with Munch," Cragen cut in. "At least until I can decide if Trevor Langan has any reason to lie to me."

Olivia looked at Elliot, her expression one of pure rage. "Oh, this is just perfect."

"This wasn't Trevor," Elliot said, returning her look. "This was Alex. She got Trevor to call, because she knew we thought she never would."

Olivia rolled her eyes and looked at Cragen. "Cap, honestly, would we really jeopardize our careers like that? Elliot has kids he has to support and an ex-wife who's gonna be asking for a shitload of alimony for the next three years, " she said, attempting to hide the lie in her voice.

Cragen narrowed his eyes. "Just go," he said, sighing. "You can have your partner back tomorrow, Elliot, I just...need to show Tucker that I took the claim seriously enough to make the threat."

Elliot sighed, clearly relieved, and he shot Olivia a warning look.

She nodded, understanding, and watched him leave with Munch. "Well, Fin," she said with a sigh. "You and Munch were working on the..."

"It's you," Fin whispered, looking her right in the eyes. "The girl Stabler's seein', the reason Alex is beyond pissed. Langan wasn't lyin'?"

Olivia swallowed and blinked once. "Fin, you..."

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "That's just...that's just stupid. You could do a lot better than Stabler." He winked at her, though, telling her that if it was true, he wouldn't say a thing.

She smiled at him, let her breathing regulate, and said, "Thanks, Fin." She picked up the opened file off of Munch's desk and read it, but the nagging thoughts at the back of her mind made it hard to concentrate.

Elliot would ask about her lunch with Kathy, she would ask, again, about the messages from Alex, they would fight, and she knew it would be violent and harsh. It was only going to lead to one thing.

She let a wicked grin play at her lips, then. She couldn't wait.

A/N: A final showing of gratitude, and maybe a night of naughtiness? Review here, or on Twitter.