I'm back! This fic is in honor of Elliot coming back. I thought I'd revisit my favorite season and write some stuff during this quarantine. Hope you guys enjoy and review!

Chapter 1

She had felt guilty leaving through the Captain's side door, trying to avoid Elliot and his new partner, Dani Beck. But she couldn't help it.

Partner. The word stung in her throat. She expected her position to be filled temporarily but not like that.

Not by her.

She doesn't understand why she is so bothered by Elliot having a female partner. She, too, was a female. Is this how Kathy felt? Did the jealousy turn her stomach inside out to the point where breathing was difficult? She hoped not. She sincerely hoped Kathy never worried that her and Elliot were doing stuff behind her back.

After what she witnessed from afar in the squad room today, she would have guessed that Elliot never looked at her as more than an acquaintance, a work partner, and, at most, a friend. A month with Dani Beck and he was throwing caution to the wind. Eight years with her and he treated her like she had the plague.

It wasn't just the way she called herself Elliot's partner. It was the way Elliot strode into the room with such certainty and familiarity.

He had touched her, leaned close to her, almost as if it was natural.

Almost as if he had done it before.

They had been partners for almost eight years and it seemed as if he didn't want to touch her with a 6-foot pole. He had always steered clear of any emotional discussion or physical displays of affection.

They've never hugged before, she realizes as she stares at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. He had never enveloped her in his safe arms before, the arms she longed for from afar after a hard case, but she could bet that Dani had done a lot more in those same arms. Bitch.

She had heard the rumors when she first walked back into the One-six. A lot of people welcomed her back with open arms but she wasn't immune to the stares. People knew that her and Elliot left off on the wrong foot. But, she wasn't prepared at first for him to have a female partner that people said had gotten close with her partner.

She heard they had made out, slept together, and a number of rumors, but she refused to believe them until Elliot confirmed. She would just have to ask him herself. She hopes to God that those rumors were simply that.

She hates whining, hates to sound like a jealous scorned ex-lover. But it stings. It stings that he's been

partners with Dani for a little over a month, and he's already caressing her shoulder, grabbing her jacket for her, and allowing her to move into her old desk.

They had been partners for eight years and he worked so hard to separate home from life. He never wanted to infiltrate his family life with remnants of work. And then she realizes.

I am work.

It's obvious why she had rarely been to his house, rarely seen the Elliot that Kathy and the kids see. It's why even after being separated for almost two years, the thought of being romantically involved with her makes him sick. He doesn't feel the same way. The thought of telling him how she feels and being rejected by him makes her nauseous.

But what does she feel about him?

That's why she left without saying anything to Elliot. When she left, she couldn't process the idea that someone would take her spot and actually be worthy of it. She would have never thought Elliot would get a partner that makes him forget all about her.

It's not that she doesn't want to come back and be his partner again. That's her partner and her best friend. Seeing him so comfortable with Dani sparked a question inside of her.

Does he prefer her over me?

That's crazy, she reassures herself. She left to salvage whatever was left of their complex partnership. She didn't want him to ever resent her over Gitano and Ryan, and vice versa.

So, here she finds herself getting ready to leave the barren apartment she hasn't called home in weeks. Believe it or not, she missed it. I need more pictures in this place, she reminded herself.

She had called Casey asking if she was with Elliot. Luckily for her, Casey had answered the phone at the bar with Elliot and Dani, but Elliot didn't know who was on the phone. She had told Casey that she wanted to surprise Elliot, hopefully meeting in public would diffuse any hostility he held towards her. Casey was excited but Olivia felt sick at her parting words.

"Elliot's really cozying up to Detective Blondie over here. He's complimenting her left and right. I've never seen him like this before."

Remembering those words, she tried to blink away the faint moisture that blurred her vision. She didn't understand why it was so upsetting that he was being a good, sweet partner. It's a change from his usual brooding intensity that was starting to get old before she left. It's a good thing that his new partner gets to enjoy the Elliot of her early days at SVU. Sweet, charming, sympathetic, considerate.

She doesn't even know why she's heading over to this bar that's only a few blocks away from her apartment. Is it to reconcile with Elliot, or is it to see Dani with her own eyes, interacting with Elliot. What is she even going to say to him?

Elliot, I want to tear off your clothes every goddamn minute of the day because I can't get enough of you.

Elliot, I realized that I have feelings for you while I was protesting with the granola crew.

I love you.

No, she didn't want to tell him. But she did. Being away in Oregon taught her more than just ecoterrorism and how the corporate world exploits nature. It taught her about what truly matters in this sick, depraved world.

She felt something stronger than platonic affection when it came to Elliot. He was her best friend, and vice versa. But it went beyond that.

She missed Elliot with her whole entire being. For eight years, she promised herself not to feel something for this man. Maybe it was because she realized he would never want to pursue her, even while he's separated and in the process of getting a divorce. He was separated for a long time; they were flirtatious with each other and she sensed some sort of attraction. She could have sworn he felt it, too, but the way he acted with Dani made her feel like he forgot all about his original partner.

But when she was all alone, reporting to Porter every so often, she missed his body next to hers. They were perfectly in sync, physically and emotionally. They could finish each other's sentences. Being with him, working with him was easy. Yes, they were complex and so enmeshed within each other, but when you really love someone, it's easy to be around them.

Love.

They had never had sex or been romantically involved with each other, but she doesn't think she has ever felt such a pull to a person in her life. She wants to say love, but maybe that's too frightening. Maybe she fears rejection. Or maybe she fears reciprocation.

Is it love? Maybe. She's never truly been loved before besides her mother, who displayed it in odd ways, but she thinks that every minute without Elliot is a minute wasted. He is her everything. The most important male figure to ever step foot in her life. He's her rock.

She fixes the white peasant blouse she has on, going for a more feminine, seductive look than usual. She wants him to miss her and realize who he wants next to him. She wears her best jeans and styles her hair down and curly like she did in Oregon. Her tanned skin and bangs made her feel more confident, perhaps foreseeing a moment of protection. She wants him to approve of this new Olivia she has become, but she knows deep down that he will accept her either way.

As she glosses her lips once more and tousles her hair, she prepares herself for the scene that awaits her.

It's showtime.

The first thing she notices as she enters the tiny bar is Casey laughing and drinking with that homicide ADA she had shown some interest in. He's cute for her, Olivia thought. Casey told her they had been sitting at the bar, and as she scanned the accompanying tables, they were nowhere to be found.

As she prepared to leave, Casey walked up to her.

"Liv, you're here. You just missed them, I can't believe you didn't pass them. Elliot was taking Dani home."

She knew she was reading too much into the word home but she was nauseous. Casey did tell her that Elliot was being extra flirtatious with Dani at the bar. Thinking about it for the 50th time made her stomach roll. Maybe he was going back to her place. Before she started overthinking, she decided she would go look for him instead.

"Case, I'm gonna go catch up with them and I'll join you after."

Casey looked over at Olivia and noticed her uneasy appearance. She looked angelic, but she kept moving her leg methodically and picking at her cuticles. Olivia was nervous. She walked forward and embraced Olivia tightly.

"Liv, you have nothing to be nervous about. He missed you a lot. We all did, but especially him. Go get him," she sent Olivia off with a push, who smiled back at the lawyer.

"Those two are going to be the death of me".

Surprisingly enough, this bar had a spacious parking lot overlooking the East River. Casey's words made her more confident, knowing that Elliot had truly missed her. He would never understand how much she missed him.

She was walking when she spotted Elliot's Jeep from afar, and she started walking faster with anticipation. Nobody was in the car, from what she could see. She started to smile at the thought of blindsiding him.

But, as she rounded the side, she realized she was right. No one was in the car.

There, before her eyes, was Elliot making out with Dani Beck, her temporary replacement.

She didn't make a sound, she found it hard to open her mouth without a sob escaping. She didn't even know why she was tearing up. But she was. And she couldn't stop it.

She didn't know whether to be angry at both of them, spiteful towards the woman, or sad over the situation. It was a combination of all of those emotions, she guessed.

She opened her mouth and by accident, a hoarse cough erupted from her mouth, causing the pair to break apart and stare in the direction of the noise that interrupted their passionate liplocking.

Elliot stared at her like she was a ghost. She had never seen him so blindsided in her life, and she can't blame him. His ex-partner just walked in on him making out with his new partner.

It was silent for a couple of moments, and the only sound she could hear was the pounding of her injured heart. She couldn't explain the violent churning of her stomach, but she just continued to stare at the pair, who had broken apart at the sound of her cough.

She closed her eyes tightly to rid the tears but they flowed down her cheeks and she cursed to herself. They've never even hugged before and she's crying over him making out with his new partner? Pathetic.

Elliot had pushed Dani towards the car but it seemed like she was confused and reached for him. When she reached her hand out to touch his shoulder, he gently forced it away. Seeing that he was resisting her touch made her somewhat more confident to approach them.

She walked slowly up to the two and stopped a couple feet away. She was about to say something when Elliot beat her to it.

"Olivia."

Not Liv, but Olivia. He wasn't expecting this at all. He had forgotten all about her.

"Hi", is all she said. She couldn't manage anything else, she was too shocked and upset in the least, but then she realized Dani was still there. She didn't know how to manage Elliot right now, but she sure knew Dani was going to meet her wrath.

"We've met before, remember? I'm Elliot's partner, Olivia Benson."

She could tell Dani was sizing her up and no matter how intimidating she tried to look, she was no match for the brunette, who had permanent daggers when it came to this...girl.

Dani was speechless. She didn't realize Olivia was so beautiful and intimidating. She also didn't realize that Elliot's old partner was visibly shaken and upset by what she interrupted. She wasn't going to try and mess with this woman. She had murder in her eyes.

"It's… very nice to meet you, Olivia. Elliot's told me a lot of good things about you," Dani muttered as she stole a sidelong glance at Elliot, but she stood no chance. Elliot's eyes were glued to Olivia, roaming her figure and staring into her soul. She could tell he was emotionally affected by her presence.

"That's nice," she dismissed Dani abruptly, "I was hoping to talk to Elliot alone but I see I've interrupted something important. I'll come back at a better time."

She scoffed with a sad smirk and turned to strut away. But before she could make any progress, Elliot moved fast and grabbed her arm. She turned in his arms and shrugged his hand off of her, whispering into his face,

"Get your fucking hands off of me."

She couldn't believe he had the nerve to touch her after just swapping saliva with Dani. It infuriated her.

She walked away and didn't hear footsteps behind her, which she took as a good sign. She needed to get away from them both before she embarrassed herself.

Elliot leaned closer to Dani trying to explain to her what he was feeling.

"I have to go. I'm sorry," he whispered. She smiled sadly.

"It's okay, Elliot. Go after her. I'll catch a cab."

He felt bad, but then he didn't. Olivia was back and all he wanted was for his real partner to come back. He needed no further instruction and bolted to catch up with Olivia and grabbed her harder than he intended when she turned with tears in her eyes. His breath caught.

"Go, Elliot, go be with your girlfriend. I came to catch up and talk about us but I can see you're busy enough with your partner," she seethed out angrily.

"Hey! You're my partner, you got that? You think I wanted a new partner? You think I wanted you to go off and do whatever the fuck you were doing with those damn Feds?"

"I think that you look just fine with your new partner. Maybe it was time…"

At that, Elliot exploded. "What the fuck does that mean? You don't want to be partners anymore? You wanna transfer to another unit or go back to Computer Crimes?"

Olivia sighed. "First off, you are the one who told me that you needed space from me. And it doesn't look like you'll have a hard time finding a partner. Dani's practically begging at your feet for your attention," she scoffed.

Elliot decided that now he was going to mess with her. If she was going to play this game, he was going to lead her to believe that he actually cared about Dani. "Yea, baby, she begs me every night for it," he laughed with a smirk.

Before she could respond, he sent another dig her way. "By the way, why are you so upset over Dani and I? Are you jealous of her? Are you jealous that she and I kissed? I don't understand it." But he lied. He understood. It's the same way he felt whenever she was around other men who would fight for her attention. He just wanted to get her angry so she would fight back and show some damn emotion.

He expected Olivia to scoff or smirk or get angry, but her shoulders slumped. She was instantly defeated. Tears pooled in her eyes not for the first time tonight. She looked up at him, dejectedly.

"I'm tired, Elliot. I just got back and we're already fighting. You seem good with her. I'll leave," she didn't get to finish before he practically pounced on her.

"Liv, you can't seriously think I don't want to be your partner anymore. I missed you. So much. I know what you think you saw but it's not like that. I want you to come back to the unit", he sighed.

She looked up at those crystal blue eyes she had admired for years. She felt herself giving in. She still felt her heart ache at the thought of him and Dani, but knowing he wanted her back reassured her. He had just played up his relationship with Dani to make her angry. So she made a suggestion.

"Why don't we go somewhere private and talk about this?"

To be continued...

I was just rewatching Season 8 and I wanted someone to interrupt that damn Elliot and Dani kiss. Pairing those two together was really stupid in my opinion. He didn't like her in the beginning and then in the last episode he's stroking her hand in the ER and she's ready to spill her guts. Anyways, I can forget about her because Olivia and Elliot are reuniting.

Hope everyone is staying safe out there. Stay tuned for the rest!