Elliot had been purposely trying to avoid Olivia all day keeping himself busy with odd jobs and buckling down on reports, which he hated to do. Until duty called when Cragen sent the pair on patrol to keep an eye on an offender who was out past curfew. The drive to get there was silent and uncomfortable for the both of them. Almost two hours had passed and neither one had spotted any sign of the guy they were after. Olivia could sense the tension building between them getting an uneasy feeling the longer they sat there.

She finally built up the nerve to say something, "El, you know I've been your partner for a long time and I don't understand why you never bothered to mention you had a god-daughter?" He impatiently began drumming his hands on the steering wheel as a distraction. "You're gonna have to talk to me at some point," she disputed. He sat up zipping his jacket before stepping out of the unmarked squad car to get some air. It was a cool dewy night in New York as Elliot began strolling along the sidewalk, which smelt of rain.

This walk was exactly what he needed to calm his nerves and try to clear his mind. Seeing Nicki's face after all this time caused feelings he thought were long since forgotten to resurface. She looked about as sad as the day she confided in him what her father had done. For years he tried to suppress the guilt he carried that haunted and consumed him. The outburst between him and Olivia kept playing over again in his mind. He knew she was just trying to get some perspective on things but Elliot felt like he'd been betrayed.

She witnessed him being so vulnerable during such a private matter; it felt like he was caught in a moment of weakness. Elliot thought back to when he was young and his father used to berate him for crying. He tried to shake the unpleasant memory; his partner had no business or right to pry into something she knew nothing about. The more thought he put into it the worse he just wanted to forget about it. He continued walking until he realized how far he'd strayed from where they parked and turned around to head back.

Olivia sat alone in the car clutching both hands on her coffee for warmth since the engine was turned off. The second most obvious thing other than a shady looking un-marked patrol car in this part of town would be one with it's engine running sitting idle. She stayed alert on the look out for the suspect while listening to chatter on the scanner. Then out of the corner of her eye making their way past her parked car was the man she'd been waiting for. He was Caucasian, average height with light brown hair dressed in khakis and a leather jacket making his way down the block.

She sank in her seat hoping that he hadn't spotted her sitting in the car and reached for her walkie-talkie. "El are you there?" but there was no response. Olivia tried to keep a watchful eye as she deliberately exited the vehicle to tail him from behind. Armed with her standard issued pistol and two-way she headed on foot in pursuit. She made it about two thirds of the way down the block before losing sight of him completely. "He couldn't have gone too far," she thought. Her pace quickened as Olivia frantically scanned on either side of the street hoping to spot the guy.

The sounds of a scuffle breaking out up ahead pointed her in the direction she needed to go as she drew her firearm the closer she got. "You think you can just do what you want and get away with it? You think it's okay to break the rules?" Elliot asked enraged between throwing punches. The suspect was subdued on the ground lying there helpless as her partner mercilessly continued to hit him blow after blow. "This is Detective Benson, I need an ambulance in route now. Come quickly!" she declared over her walkie-talkie.

"Help! He's lost it," pleaded the man as he tried to cover his face from her partner's fists of fury.

FLASHBACK (1990)

"Help! He's lost it," a voice cried out. Some fellow co-workers rushed to try and pull Stabler off his partner Mike Crawford after the two broke out into a brawl. They manage to pull them both apart but not before Elliot takes one last swing hitting Mike square in his face. Crawford collapses to the floor and passes out as an infuriated Stabler is escorted to his Captain's office. "You care to explain to me why you caused a scene in the squad room?" demanded the Captain as he shut the door. Elliot huffed and clenched his hands until his knuckles turned white as he took a seat.

He was quiet for a minute as he tried to steady his breathing. He had never felt such anger build up inside him before, usually he was more constrained. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest like a drum with heat rushing to his head as if steam was going to blow out of his ears. "It's your last day here before you get transferred and you come in raising hell," said his Captain with a sigh. "I hope you have a good explanation for why you did this," he said sharply. Elliot closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before responding.

"It doesn't appear to be broke," the paramedic stated as they looked at Mike's nose. He sat with his head tilted back as they finished examining him. "Are you sure because he hit me pretty hard?" he argued. The door to the Captain's office opened as Elliot emerged out with him heading in Mike's direction. "Hey, you stay back I could sue for assault." he warned getting jumpy as his partner neared. "Captain look what he did to me I think he broke my nose!" he cried. Two officers appeared on either side of him as one took out a pair of handcuffs.

"Yeah well that's the least of your worries right now Crawford!" his Captain said in an unfavorable tone. The officer that cuffed him brought Mike to his feet as the other began reading him his Miranda rights. "Get your hands off me! You should be slapping these on him!" he cried glaring in Elliot's direction. Who lunged forward to face him eye to eye as he grabbed Mike by his shirt, "You're lucky I don't slap you around some more," he threatened. They exchanged hateful looks before he released his grip as the officers took him away.

END OF FLASHBACK

"El that's enough get off him!" Olivia said as she rushed to try and put a stop to things. He continued to hit the sex offender repeatedly over and over as if her words hadn't registered at all. Then she grabbed his arm before he could throw one more punch. He drew back and looked at her as if he finally snapped out of his enraged tangent and stepped away. His knuckles were cut up and bruised; his hand surged with pain as he realized what he had done. The guy lied there practically beat to a pulp on the sidewalk moaning in pain as the sound of sirens neared.

One paramedic secured the man onto a stretcher and puts him in the back of their vehicle while another examines Elliot's hand. "I told you before I'm fine it's just swelled," he insists as they check it over. The last thing he wanted was to go home that morning with his hand in a cast and have to explain to Kathy how he got it. He never stopped to consider the consequences of his actions but was certainly thinking things over now. Like how this would not only affect him but his partner as well and Liv didn't deserve whatever punishment would await them when they returned.

Besides, he had flown off the handle enough for one day; or so he thought until an upset officer headed in his direction. "What's the big deal assaulting my parolee like that?" he asked irately. For a second Elliot almost forgot the guy was there as he sat lost in thought. Then a force pushing into him got his attention. "Hey buddy I asked you a question," said the officer harshly shoving him a second time. Thankfully he didn't have any fight left in him so he calmly got up and walked away but this only angered the guy further.

"You're lousy at your job you know that!" he said incisively. Those words caused Elliot to stop abruptly in his tracks and turn back around to meet him eye to eye. "Yeah, well you're one to talk letting scum like that stroll the streets," he said pointing in the direction of his parolee who was laid up in the ambulance. "I don't regret beating some sense into him. I'm just sorry I can't do the same to you," he said sternly before getting into the car with Olivia. As they made their way back to the station Elliot's phone rang; he picked up without hesitation.

"Nicki? Is everything okay?"