A/N: Wow! Thank you for the response to the last chapter, I'm so glad you liked it. Brownie points to HKS, Butterfly2202 and Elijh55. I used a few ideas from last night's episode as well as a direct quote. It shouldn't spoil anything if you haven't seen it though. It was a fantastic episode by the way. The language is a little stronger than I usually use so I'm warning you in advance. As always let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Chapter 25

"Elliot." Olivia whispered as she opened the door and saw her old partner standing in front of her.

Alex stared at the man standing at their door; she wasn't sure how to feel she was torn between shock, confusion and anger. The longer she looked at him she was leaning more toward anger. She was brought back to reality when she heard Nick's voice in her ear.

"Alex the car belongs to Stabler."

"I know he's here. I gotta go Nick." She hung up the phone and walked to stand next to Olivia.

Looking at her old partner Olivia felt all the emotions from three years ago come crashing down on her. She was hurt, angry, confused. She was struggling with what to say or do when she felt Alex's presence beside her, while she still didn't know how to react the feeling of her wife beside her helped to ground her.

"Hi Liv."

Olivia's jaw dropped open, suddenly the hurt she'd felt over his leaving disappeared and was replaced with anger. "Hi Liv? That's all you can say after three years is 'Hi Liv?' Elliot you left without a word to any of us. I know you were dealing with some serious stuff and I understood that you needed time to process what happened but three years? What I want to know is why didn't you return my calls? Why didn't you answer the door all those times I came by? Why couldn't you have at least had the decency to pick up the phone and tell me you were retiring yourself? I had to hear it from the captain. Granted there were worse ways I could've heard it but still, I had to find out my partner was retiring from someone else." Olivia had always sworn that if she ever saw him again she wouldn't cry, but now that she was in the moment she couldn't hold them back.

Alex felt her heart breaking for her wife but at the same time the anger inside her was building so fast that she could feel herself starting to shake. She placed a comforting hand on Olivia's shoulder before addressing their visitor "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Are you kidding me?" Alex asked incredulously.

Elliot turned his attention to Olivia "Liv please, can I come in? I'm sorry."

Olivia sighed, as much as she wanted to tell him no there was a small part of her that wanted to hear what he had to say. "You get five minutes and you best not raise your voice, the kids are sleeping."

He nodded as he stepped past them and into the house. He turned and noticed the gun still in Olivia's hand. "Are you going to shoot me?" he said attempting a joke.

"If she doesn't I will." Alex replied.

Elliot knew by her look and tone she was being serious "I'm sorry I was just trying to make a joke."

"I didn't allow you in to tell jokes Elliot and your five minutes are ticking away." Olivia said as she placed the gun on the table next to her.

"Okay, okay." He ran his hands over his face before looking up "Olivia you gotta believe me I am so sorry."

"I don't have to do anything Elliot." She had finally stopped the tears, she refused to appear weak in front of him but at the same time she wasn't sure how long she could hold them back. She was so grateful for Alex sitting next to her with her arm around her waist. "You however do have to do something. I want you to explain why you couldn't tell me yourself. I wouldn't have cared if you called and said you were retiring, hell you could've texted it for all I cared. It would've been better than nothing at all."

"I know Liv and I am truly sorry." He was silent for a minute "It's just I was dealing with so much after shooting that girl. I had kids of my own about her age. You have kids, you know how much more difficult the job becomes once you're a parent. I guess it was the final push over the edge."

"Elliot I understand what you're saying. Once I became a mother I viewed every case through the eyes of a parent, and so did Alex. I also know that shooting someone is hard and I think it would be even worse when it's a kid. I don't know how I would handle it if I was in that situation." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves "Here's the thing though Elliot we all wanted to be there for you but you wouldn't allow us. I wanted to be there for you." she stopped talking for a minute because she was certain she was about to lose it.

Alex had remained silent throughout the entire conversation; she wanted to allow the two to sort out their differences on their own. It didn't mean that she wasn't ready to jump across the room and light into him. She continued to lightly rub little circles with her thumb on Olivia's side; her main goal was to remain calm and to support Olivia.

The silence in the room began to get uncomfortable when Elliot decided to speak again "Liv I know you probably won't forgive me and I understand that but I just wanted to come here and apologize. I really am sorry for not telling you and not talking to you."

"Elliot what I really want to know is why now? Why did you wait so long to say anything? I would've understood if you waited three days, three weeks, hell I would've understood if you waited three months; but you waited three years! Three years Elliot! Do you know how much changes in three years? We got two new detectives; one of them was my partner. The captain was framed and arrested, it took everything we had but we managed to clear him. I had a gun to my head and my partner Nick took the shot that saved my life. Munch retired then Captain retired and now I'm retired. I even thought I had…" she trailed off not wanting to share the fact that she thought she'd had breast cancer. It was personal and she didn't feel he deserved to know things like that anymore.

"Liv I didn't come here expecting forgiveness I know it'll probably be a long time before I get that but I did want to apologize." He took a deep breath and looked to the blonde "Alex is there anything you would like to say?"

Alex took a moment to think about it "No Elliot I don't think I do." he looked surprised "Not that I don't have plenty I would like to say to you but I just don't think that I can do that right now without losing my temper. Our kids are asleep and I'm not about to wake them up. I would however like to know why you've been watching our house instead of being man enough to call or just stop by?" He gave her a confused look. "Oh don't even act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Your car is sitting in front of our house right now, our neighbor not to mention our son has seen the same car more than once. Hell Olivia chased you down the street. Do you know how worried Henry was that someone was watching our house? He came in this afternoon and told us he'd seen you go by and you were sitting down the street. That's why Olivia went to check it out but what do you do? You take off. Tonight before he went to bed we had to reassure him that we were safe and no one was going to bother us. As you always liked to point out you have kids, how do you think that would've made your kids feel? Never mind the fact it scared the hell out of me. I kept thinking about Velez and all the other scum Olivia and I have dealt with through the years. All evening I've worried if we were safe, if my kids were safe."

The room grew quiet once again before Elliot finally stood "I think I should be going." Olivia and Alex stayed in their seat allowing him to leave. He stopped as he was about to walk out the door "Liv I really am sorry for how I handled things. I still love you and I hope you can forgive me."

Alex didn't care how he meant it but hearing Elliot say he still loved Olivia made her want to jump from the couch. She could tell by the look in Olivia's eyes she wanted to say something so Alex gave her a gentle sideways hug to let her know she was still there.

Olivia looked at her former partner "Elliot forgiveness is not something handed out easily, but I do forgive you." this earned a shocked look from both Elliot and Alex "However the forgiveness isn't for you it's for me. As long as you want my forgiveness you are holding a little power over me and I won't allow that to happen anymore. I want you to know I'll never forget this though, and whatever we had is gone." She took a moment to wipe the few tears that had finally escaped "Elliot I've moved on to be honest I think I moved on a long time ago. I know what you said about how you felt about me and honestly I felt the same way to for a while when we first began working together but I realized that it would never happen and now you need to do the same thing. Elliot I don't share the same feelings for you that you have for me. I have a wife whom I love more than life itself and who loves me back unconditionally, and four wonderful children whom I can't imagine my life without. I can't even remember my life before them. Elliot it's time for you to move on. I know this may sound harsh but It's the way I feel now; you know the saying 'some things are best left in the past'?" he nodded "Well that's how I feel about our partnership, relationship, friendship whatever you want to call it. It's best left in the past and that's exactly what I'm doing. I've been happier more relaxed in the last few months than I've been in years and I'm not about to let you ruin that." Olivia took a deep breath as she finished speaking; she had surprised herself at what she said but was glad she said it. Alex sat there stunned she couldn't believe everything she'd just heard but at the same time she was so proud of her wife.

Elliot opened the door but turned to look back at his former partner "I'm sorry you feel that way Olivia, but I want you to know that if I walk out that door I'm never coming back." Both ladies sat in a stunned silence "Bye Olivia."

Before she knew it Alex was off the couch and storming out the door. She caught up to Elliot as he was almost to his car. She grabbed him by the arm and spun him around till they were facing one another "Are you fucking kidding me?" Elliot's eyes went wide with surprise "Did you really just have the nerve to tell her that if you walked out the door you wouldn't be back? In case you weren't listening she said she'd moved on from you."

"Shut up Alex." he shouted as he jerked his arm from her grasp.

"No you shut up!" she almost whispered in a threatening tone as she got in his face. "You walked out of her life once already like a coward and now when she tells you that she's moved on and doesn't want anything to do with you, you're gonna try and make out like it's her fault? I don't think so." Alex knew she was losing control but she knew she was beyond regaining that control. They'd had their battles before but this was the war that had been brewing for eleven years, since the summer of '03 when she and Olivia began dating. Alex couldn't believe what she was about to say but she continued "Do you know or even care how upset she was when she found out you retired? I'll tell you, I found her in an interrogation room breaking down. I stood there and held her as she cried and told me that you had retired. Once I got her calmed down I brought her home, she was so upset that even Henry noticed it. She's probably gonna kill me for saying this but that night I held her as she cried. Elliot that was the most I'd seen her cry in a long time. She was so hurt. Do you know she kept asking me what was so wrong with her that you couldn't tell her yourself?"

Elliot cut her off "You think I don't feel bad about it? I do I feel horrible about it but as usual it always comes down to you. How you took care of her, how you comforted her after I hurt her. I'm sick of hearing it Alex."

They were both yelling by this point and Alex didn't fail to notice when her neighbor's porch light came on. "Well you know what Elliot you never have to hear it again because I don't ever want you coming around here again. Olivia may be able to forgive you but not me. I will never forgive you for the way you hurt her and I damn sure won't forget."

"Alex? Is everything okay?" Dave asked as he walked into their driveway.

"Everything's fine Dave, I promise."

"Okay, but if it's all right with you I'll just hang out here for a minute." The man said as he leaned against the fence.

"Fine." Alex turned her head when she heard her own door open.

"Alex, come inside please." Olivia pleaded.

Alex stepped up till she was within inches of Elliot's face. She knew he would never hurt her but there was a small part of her that was hoping he would shove her or something. She would slap an assault charge on him so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. "Here's the deal, you get in your car and you leave and never come back. Do I make myself clear?"

Elliot spun on his heels and walked away. As he drove away Olivia walked out to stand next to her "I'm sorry Olivia."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You were doing what you always do, looking out for and taking care of me." she wrapped her arms around the blonde "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Excuse me ladies." They turned to face their neighbor "I heard the yelling and came out to make sure you were okay. That's when I noticed the car. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes Dave we're fine, but thank you." Alex said as she turned to face their neighbor "It turns out it was Olivia's old partner. He retired several years ago and they haven't spoken since. He's always had a problem with me and it just finally boiled over. I'm sorry we bothered you."

"Don't mention it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You ladies have a good night."

They walked back inside, Alex's arm wrapped around Olivia's waist holding her close. They checked in on the kids one last time to make sure they hadn't woke up before heading to their own room. They both slipped on t-shirts and crawled into bed. Alex lay back and pulled Olivia down beside her with her head resting on her shoulder. Olivia placed her arm on Alex's torso and rested her hand between her breasts. Alex lightly ran her fingers through Olivia's hair as she held her tight. "Olivia I…"

"Stop talking about it." Olivia whispered. "It's over and I've moved on. My life revolves around you and our family. It hasn't revolved around Elliot since the day you walked into the squad room and stole my heart."

Alex smiled "Well last time I checked you were the one who stole my heart so we'll just agree to disagree."

Olivia rose up for a kiss, it was slow and loving. It conveyed everything she felt for the blonde. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Olivia settled down and snuggled as close to Alex as physically possible. She's always wondered what would happen if she ever saw Elliot again and now she had her answer. It surprised her when she realized that he no longer mattered to her like he used to, she also finally knew where she stood with him. She finally had the closure she needed.