A/N: Will Cragen wake up? Will they get a new house? And will they finally move forward in their relationship? Who's their new A. D. A?

DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters still belong to Dick Wolf. If you'd like him to hand them over to me, then please, by all means, write to Wolf Films, but I won't hold my breath. The rest of this story, in its entirety, belongs to TStabler©

Elliot woke up, hoping to find Olivia in his arms, but he didn't. "Liv?" he called into the darkness of her bedroom, which he supposed was now his, too. "Liv?" he called louder. He heard the bathroom door open and he sighed in relief, then sat up suddenly. He could tell she'd been crying.

Olivia said nothing, but crawled back into the bed, and let him hold her, the way he wished he could have when she cried herself to sleep.

"What's wrong, Liv?" Elliot whispered, running his hands up and down her arms, calming her as he held her.

Olivia shook her head and quietly sniffled, pulling his arms further around her.

"Talk to me, baby," Elliot whispered.

Olivia turned in his arms, looked up at him, and asked, "What happens if he..."

"Don't," Elliot warned. "Don't say it, Liv. He's gonna be fine."

"El," Olivia sighed, "He might not be. He's the closest thing I've ever had to a father, and I've treated him like shit for the past year. I mean, the last two weeks were not enough to make up for..."

Elliot shushed her. "Liv, he knows. He knows that you were going through a lot, and that it wasn't personal. He knows you love him, and he's going to be fine."

Olivia glanced at the clock. "We have to go to work in two hours," she said. "I know it won't be as intensely painful as walking in and finding you gone, but it's gonna hurt. Not seeing him, not having him there."

"I know it is," Elliot said, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "It's gonna kill us both. But you have something keeping you strong, something you didn't have when I was gone."

Olivia smiled slightly, knowing exactly what he meant. "What?" she asked, her tears stopping as he arms wrapped tighter around him.

Elliot pressed his lips to hers, softly and gently, but in seconds the kiss had intensified, deepened to an impassioned dance of tongues and lips. Finally, they pulled apart. Breathless and trying to remain in control, Elliot said, "Me." He kissed her again, trying to stay relatively calm, and he said, "You're gonna do the same for me, Liv. Keep me together."

Olivia nodded, kissing him and rolling into him slightly. She let out a soft moan, forgetting her sadness and guilt and focusing only on the feelings kissing him, feeling him, was stirring. The need for him was intensifying, and though they were waiting for intimacy out of respect for each other's mental well being, the emotions and physical magnetism between them were getting impossible to fight. "El," she almost moaned against his lips, "Please."

"What, baby," Elliot mumbled into their kiss, refusing to break it, as he, too, found it increasingly difficult to control himself. He was holding her against him, so tightly, he knew she could feel him, hard and more ready than he'd ever been, and he was slightly worried about how she'd react.

Olivia's hands moved down his body, softly grazing his muscles, and then moving lower down his waist, then just barely touching him, and he gasped into her mouth and bucked his hips. "God, El," she groaned.

"Are you trying to kill me," Elliot breathed, pulling away, his eyes squeezing shut as he tried to calm down. One brush of her fingers over him was enough to make him crazy. "Stop...we have to...stop...," he panted, trying to find her hands so he could pull them off of him. When he found them, though, he linked their fingers together, growled in frustration, and kissed his way across her chest, up her neck, and took her earlobe in his mouth. He heard her moan and almost lost it, moving back toward her mouth.

Olivia looked at him, waiting for his eyes to meet hers, and when they did, all traces of sadness had dissipated. "El," she said. "Don't stop," she said, crashing her lips back into his. She moaned in pleasure at the feeling of the kiss deepening, and she clutched his arms as he moved his hands down her body, skimming up the flannel pants she wore. She was anticipating his next move, and gasped when he made it, his fingers finding their way between her brilliantly smooth skin and the fabric. He tugged on the waistband, they both moaned, still kissing, and his hand slipped into her pants, lightly caressing her bare legs. "Christ," she whispered as they kissed.

Elliot was not alone, and he was suppressing the urge to cry as Olivia's hand mimicked his actions, slipping into his sweatpants, mere centimeters from his shaft. He moved his fingers, tracing the edge of her silk panties, and she gasped. He felt her fingers twitch, moving closer to their destination, and he was reminded of two young lovers fumbling through their first makeout session, worrying about what to do, how to feel. He slipped a finger under the silk, and was close, so close, to her hot, wet, slit, when the alarm buzzed loudly, snapping them both out of what was about to be something pretty close to immaculate.

Olivia jumped at the sound, then tried to control her breathing as she looked down and saw the position into which they had gotten themselves. "Shit," she chuckled.

"Fucking hell," Elliot said, catching his breath. "Talk about being saved by the bell."

Olivia pulled herself up and looked down at him. "El," she said, sighing, "I didn't really wanna be saved."

Elliot, staring deeply into her eyes, said nothing. He cupped her chin with his left thumb and forefinger, brought her head down, and kissed her sweetly and calmly. "Neither did I," he whispered. "Soon," he promised her. He promised himself, too, that he would make it special, but he would make it soon. Very soon.

"Hey," Fin said, rubbing his eyes as Elliot and Olivia walked in. "How, uh, how are you two holding up?"

Olivia shrugged, sipping her coffee.

Elliot answered for both of them. "I think we've both been better, but we've certainly been worse."

Fin nodded. "Makes sense."

"Who's in charge?" Olivia asked, cringing slightly, knowing it wasn't Cragen.

"Who else?" Fin said, jutting his thumb back toward the office. "Cap'n Munch, over there, has been fielding calls all damn day."

Olivia put her coffee down on the table and walked toward the office, putting on her game face and knocking.

Munch opened it and sighed in relief. "Thank God," he said. He handed her a pink slip of paper without even asking how she was, and said, "Please, just, go and get this guy. Try to set a record today. See how many perps you can catch in the next ten hours."

Olivia took the paper and sighed, walking back over to Elliot. "Don't get comfortable. Munch is sending us out already." She waved the pink slip in the air and shook her head.

"Hey, Baby-Girl," Fin said, then he sighed when she glared at him, still apparently holding a grudge. "I was just, uh, gonna say that you look good. You look happy. Welcome back."

Olivia let a small smile grace her lips and she said, simply, "Thanks." She placed her hand on Elliot's shoulder, nudging slightly, leading him out.

Munch, from behind Fin, asked, "Are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on with them?"

"As if you don't know," Fin spat back. "Look, just go back to your office. I'm gonna call Mercy and see how the cap..."

"He's still out," Munch said. "I just called. So, what, uh, are Benson and Stabler more than just partners now?"

Fin turned his head over his shoulder and said, "Munch, man, they always were. They just finally did somethin' about it."

Munch looked confused, but as Cragen's phone rang, yet again, he ran into the office, ignoring the problem of Benson and Stabler. At least, for the moment.

The green sedan pulled up to the address on the slip. Elliot put the car in park, and he looked out at the officers, analysts, and the small peach-colored blur that he assumed was the body. "Liv," he said, "I know you can't hold my hand out there, but I need to know...I need to know you're there. Never more than a foot away from me."

Olivia looked at him with a tilted head. "El, what are you..."

"It's a kid," Elliot interrupted, looking at her. "A little girl. I..."

Olivia understood and cut him off. "I'll be right next to you. This isn't like that, though," she said gently. "You have to let that all go. What you saw, what you heard, what you had to do," she listed, "You won. You got the bad guy, and this child, baby, she's..."

"Different," Elliot sighed. "I know, but it's gonna take time. Like you said, we're both gonna need time."

Olivia leaned over and pressed her lips to his. "For a few things," she whispered. "Some things, I promise you, we're ready for." She brushed her hand over his cheek and said, "I'm right here, El."

"I know you are," Elliot said, kissing her again. "Thank God, you are." He gave her one last sweet peck on the lips. "Let's get to work, huh?" he questioned with a sigh, opening his door.

Olivia got out of the car and walked over to Melinda Warner, making sure Elliot was right beside her. "Hey, Doc," she called, sounding brighter than she had in months.

Melinda turned around and her eyes went wide. "Olivia," she gasped. "It is...so good to see you," she said with a smile, meaning it was good to see her more like herself.

"What have we got?" Elliot asked, trying like hell not to look down.

"Twelve-year-old female," Melinda said, shaking her head. "I hate the bastards who got after the kids. Please, get him, and sock him one for me, huh?"

"Will do," Olivia said, nodding. "Any sign of..."

Melinda stopped her with a nod. "She was," she said. "Repeatedly. This poor girl was tortured."

Elliot cringed, but took a breath, looked at Olivia, and then forced himself to look at the girl. "Okay," he said, "Any ID on her?"

Melinda nodded, handing him the medical bracelet she's taken off of the child.

Elliot looked down at it. "Shit," he said. "Her name is Casey Stern, and she's a diabetic. What parent lets their sick kid out of their sight long enough to be kidnapped?"

"El," Olivia said, a warning but comforting quality in her voice. "Why don't we go find out?"

Elliot sighed. "Yeah," he said. "Let's." He nodded at Melinda and said, "We'll meet you back at your lab. We wanna know everything, Doc."

"You got it," Melinda said, watching with a small smile as they walked back toward the car. They were back, and if she dared to think it, they were somehow more driven, more passionate, and more alive than they were a year ago.

Elliot opened Olivia's door, then got into the driver's side. He looked at the back of the medical alert bracelet and swiped his thumb over it. "Baby," he said, "Call Fin. Ask him to look up the address of this kid. She should have medical records on file."

Olivia took the bracelet and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "You just called me 'baby' while we're on duty," she said. "Might wanna be more careful, honey." She looked down at the phone, but before she could dial, it rang. She raised her eyebrows and answered it with a quick, "Benson."

Elliot watched with attentive eyes as Olivia bit her lip and nodded, mumbling noises of understanding into her phone. When she hung up she looked at him. "What, baby?" he asked, nervous.

Olivia's lips curled into a smile. "Cragen's awake."

A/N: When they go see him, his reaction might be a little...odd. How will they handle their case? Porter's trial and verdict, and the new A. D. A. And do they finally give in and succumb to their desperate need for each other? Coming up, if you'd like to read it. Tell me here, or on Twitter. Follow TMG212! =) Thank you for reading!