"I wish we'd met under better circumstances, is how I recall I ended our last conversation Captain Benson?"

"Is there a question in there for me Edgar?" Olivia smiles holding out her hand towards the very tall and delightful defence attorney Edgar Goodwin, if there's a glint in her eye then hopefully the dark thick-framed glasses she still has on are working their magic and forming some sort of protective shield because exposing her obvious attraction to the man is not what she had planned today.

Rejecting her handshake and closing the door to the office, Edgar moves slightly closer to her

"Maybe not so much a question Olivia but a way of beginning an apology, I meant what I said, I wish it had been different circumstances. I blew it with defending Chase, I honestly wholeheartedly believed him and when the case was over with I struggled, it was the most difficult experience I've ever had in my life, he was my friend, someone I've known... Or at least thought I'd known for years and to find out that well...you can imagine"

He paused for a second, lowering his head, and rubs his hand across his face, continuing before Olivia could get the chance to respond.

"What I'm trying, not very well- to say is...Olivia, before I left your office I could see what you thought of me and...I wish I'd had the chance to take you to dinner before all that shit blew up in our faces. I'd been looking forward to meeting you at Christian's house for the dinner party and if things had gone a different way, the way I'd hoped, we would have known each other a little better by now"

He's stood, still, just watching as if he's looking for any form of positive reaction from her. A reaction that seems to be quite delayed. Olivia thought that Edgar must be a guy who was in tune with his emotional side because it's not lost on him, that an outburst such as this requires some form of time to sink in, especially a random, out of the blue, profession of attraction.

After what feels like an entire journey of the earth's spinning voyage around the sun she finally attempt's a response, her voice low and beginning from a whisper

"Wow Edgar, I er, I, I wow, I don't quite know what to say," she pauses momentarily and a giggle replaces the whisper. She holds the hope that he understands, she is actually laughing out of awkward-ness and not at the idea of going out with him. She had planned (if she'd been asked at the dinner party) to go out with him but right now she needed to gather herself and give the poor man a reply as the atmosphere in the room was ever so slightly beginning to thin.

"I didn't think negatively on you from that case Edgar, I've worked SVU for many years now, and I've witnessed, many a time, how family and friends can be affected by a case like this, how you reacted was normal and at the end of the day we got justice where it was needed…... and I still would like to get to know you a little better."

Edgar's smile was instant, immediately placing them both at ease, he took his phone out of the top pocket of his blue, tailored suit, used his fingerprint to unlock the screen, and handed her the phone, it was all ready for a new contact entry and given this new unexpected second chance he was not going to fuck about wasting any time in getting her number secured.

"So, I'll text you, hopefully, you have time available soon and we can arrange a date?" the playful stroke of his thumb across her hand as he retrieved his phone was enough to flush the rosiness across her cheeks, she scrunched her nose up and smirked towards him.

"Yes, of course. I'll check my diary."

He turned his back and walked out of her office, as he passed he said good bye to Fin who was working away at his computer, Olivia just about to head back into her office retrieve her things, clock off and leave herself when she just catches Edgar turning around and mouthing something over to her.

Twice in the space of 5 minutes he's managed to illicit a blushed smile from her and aware of the eyes in the precinct, the ones who don't seem to miss a trick, she just sends a gentle nod in his direction.

" I'll text you soon..huh?" Fin, of course, is the one who never seems to miss anything that goes on with Olivia

"Goodnight Fin" Olivia's leave-it-alone and don't-ask-me-any-questions tone lingering through the squad room as she's leaving for the day.

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Walking out of her office she was still in disbelief at how that encounter in her office had gone, she knew she was going to be in for a fair few heart-palpitating moments working with Defence Attorney Goodwin, especially after she had found a significant position for him to dominate her fantasy reel recently.

Lonely nights, a lot of them and over a long time had been the way she lived her love life, her last taste of real intimacy had been with Tucker and towards the end of that, any sort of sexual togetherness had slowly burnt out to sitting on the sofa watching some sort of rubbish TV and falling asleep before having to gather themselves enough energy to just make it to the bedroom to close their eyes and fall back into a slumber.

Olivia had suspected this was one of the reasons for Ed being so eager for her to hand her papers in and start on a retirement journey together and in her gut, she knew it was not the life that Ed wanted.

She had a lot going on and she liked it that way, she hadn't been ready to give that up and at the end of the day, Tucker had known that. Since then there hadn't been anyone else in the picture. Her life had been consumed with taking care of Noah, any little available time she had after she finished work had to be focused on him and any extra-curriculars had gone into getting herself into the best possible shape she could be in.

Being on the police force obviously allowed her to always maintain her physical shape and fitness but maybe the commanding positions becoming slightly more desk-based over the years had taken a slight toll, remembering the conversation she previously had with Fin, she wasn't the wonder woman she wanted to be and she would be damned if she was going to let 'age' become a factor in her life just yet.

The promise to herself to create new fitness goals had been going well and it was balancing well with her Noah time, despite what her trainer might think. Actually, said trainer was running almost 10 minutes behind.

Seizing the perfect opportunity to catch up on the texts she had noticed were accumulating in her inbox.

3 from Amanda, updating her on Billie's fever and how at the moment it seemed to be contained to the one-child and hadn't yet spread to the eldest, oh no scratch that- Jessie now also had a fever, nope 3rd message it was a false alarm, so still just Billie who's under the weather. These types of chain messages weren't exactly irregular from Rollins, she often would impulsively send messages and have to correct or retract herself later on.

Quite like how she was in person, she was a speak-before-you-think type of personality and Olivia had been quick to learn this early on in their friendship, yet it was part of who Amanda was and Olivia accepted it. Olivia typed out a quick response along the lines of wishing Billie a quick recovery, hopes that Jessie wouldn't catch whatever viral infection it was and a message of support for Amanda with a professional touch telling her not to worry about work, she could take all the time she needed until the girls were good to be left without her.

The next message was Lucy, sending a quick update on what Noah had or had not eaten for dinner, his homework was complete and he was now watching some Tv until Liv got home from her PT session. A quick reply to thank Lucy and send a reassurance that she would have the 'you need to eat all of your dinner, you can't survive on just pizza and spaghetti all the time' chat again with Noah when she got home.

The next text, Unknown number

Hi Liv,

Thanks for the documents, I really appreciate them.

This is my new number

I'll be out of town for a few weeks but I think we should talk.

EL

That message hit like a ton of bricks, she hadn't yet dealt with the emotions and feelings that came from seeing him for the first time in 10 years, it was just too complex and she had, for a long time now already come to terms with the fact she was not going to see Elliot again, if she did she had thought she was now more than prepared to tell him that it was too little, too late.

Too much had happened in her life and she wasn't the same person that she was back then.

Whether or not that would have actually happened was a different story but she had done a well enough job of convincing herself of this and locking the emotional box away. She could never have imagined the circumstances of seeing him again after so long and it was far more tragic than she ever could have allowed herself to envision, she herself hadn't yet dealt with her feelings and emotions over the loss of Kathy, the two women were not close enough to be friends but there was always mutual respect between them.

Yes, Olivia had thought Kathy may have played a major role in Elliot's absence from her life over the years but this was all too much to deal with, it was all too intense. Old emotions, feelings, past memories, questions everything burning up while still having to be Captain, deal with lawsuits, attempt to play an intricate part in reforming NYPD, lead and be a support beacon for her squad, continue to push her fitness levels and most importantly do everything right by Noah.

The decision to reply was made mainly because she needed to address all that came with the baggage of Elliot Stabler. No matter the circumstances as to how he left her, she would always be there for him when he was ready and by the looks of it, that was going to be in a couple of weeks' time, so for now, this new attention from Edgar was a very welcome distraction.

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"Mom, mom, mom, mom" Noah was bouncing round the living room wielding a slip of paper that clearly held a great amount of value. The excited desperation in his voice got her immediate attention as she remembered Lucy mentioning a 2-night stay with his class at some field observatory centre, he was getting older now and the thought of being away with his school was obviously more daunting for her than it was him

"What's that you have, sweet boy?"

"Mom, please sign it. It's a permission slip. It means if you sign it, I can go with my friends and my teacher says that we can have 5 of us sleep in one room together, and we can have dinner together, and we can have ice cream, and we learn about astronomy things and we can play games and we can…"

"Ok, Ok Noah I get it.. so you're quite excited huh? Let me have a look through the forms, I'll see what its all about and then we can have a chat about it ok?"

This obviously was not the type of response that Noah wanted if his sudden drop in demeanor was anything to go by.

"Aww please mom, please just sign it now and I can put in my bag and then Lucy can give it to my teacher tomorrow, alllll the other kids parents have signed the form already."

Olivia can't help but laugh they only got the form today at school and there was no way for Noah to actually know that all the other kids slips were signed and lined up ready to go but it was cute, he was excited and eager and there was no way she wasn't going to let him not, go on his trip but a bit diligence before signing was the responsible thing to do. She made a mental note to check over the forms after Noah's bedtime and she would surprise him in the morning, that way he could go into school all happy and excited with his friends.

She cherished this time with her son, it was important for her to have some form of a family dinner, which did not include olives- that was a battle she would let him win for now, as long as he happily ate enough fruit and veg then those salty, oily, Mediterranean balls can be discussed at a later date.

Each mealtime was a chance to catch up on their days, loosely discussing hers of course, little ears don't need to hear the daily ins and outs of what happens within the walls of the NYPD SVU department, a quick discussion that Mom and his extended family members being Uncle Fin, Auntie Amanda, and Uncle Carisi had managed to apprehend the bad guy was good enough and thankfully he never really wanted any additional details.

The rest of the evening consisted of finishing their dinner, having some ice cream, watching some of Noah's favorite cartoons, bath, and bedtime story before kissing him goodnight.

The next plan for the evening was to sit down with a glass of red and read through this school trip information pack she'd heard about 100+ times this evening when she suddenly remembers she hasn't checked her phone since earlier on before her fitness session, 1 message, unknown number.

There it is again that heart-palpitating feeling, she's been feeling it a lot recently but this time it's that conflicting rush of feelings in the pit of her stomach pulling at her. She doesn't know if it's the text she wants from Edgar asking her to go out for dinner making her feel young and fulfilling her slight need to feel desirable again or if it's any text at all from Elliot because quite frankly anything sent from him would invoke a range of different feelings.

The text opens with Olivia, it's not going to be from the latter as that would definitely open with Liv.

Olivia, it was great to see you again today. You really looked beautiful. I have a favorite restaurant I'd love to take you to. Are you free next weekend?

Next weekend, that's the date of Noah's school trip. Could timing be any better? Maybe there is something on her side for this distraction.

Yes, I just so happen to be free that entire weekend actually, and thank you, you didn't look too bad yourself ;)

She couldn't help but cringe after sending that message, her playful chat was a bit more than slightly rusty, it had been a while, and that she had to give herself credit for. It had been a long time since she engaged in any form of flirtatiousness or texting that wasn't explicitly amongst her work colleagues, friends, or Lucy for that matter.

Did people still send a winky face?

Before she could overthink the sent message anymore she quickly hid the phone under the cushion and poured herself another glass of wine in hope that it would immediately drain her of any embarrassment that would give away to Edgar just how out of touch she actually is with all of this until

Ding, Ding, Ding

And with the next text chime another mouthful of red was needed before picking up the phone, taking a deep breath and read the next message

I'll pick you up Friday 7pm

But right now, what are you wearing?

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Between that text message and the morning of Friday 'Date day' Olivia and Edgar had engaged in consistent text message chat, well as consistent as realistically possible with two individuals who live for their jobs and have outside commitments can be.

She had batted off the original what are you wearing question with a bit of light-hearted playful humor which then opened the door for some 'getting to know you' type conversations, gentle flirtations and compliments on one another's work accomplishments.

Ultimately, she wasn't quite yet ready to get straight into the 'nitty gritty' of exactly how complicated her life was at the moment and she was grateful that Edgars messages also seemed to be following the same pattern but waking up every morning to messages such as "Morning Beautiful, hope you have a great day" really gave her the extra spring in her step and had encouraged her excitement for what dinner with him might be like.

It had been a long time since she had been complimented as much on her appearance and as much as vanity attention wasn't something she needed to keep her confidence strong she was still human and everyone naturally liked an occasional ego stroke.

A black, tight-fitting dress that brought immediate attention to her defined curves was the choice of outfit for the evening, black heels which added to the elegance of the outfit, her hair curled at the ends, gold earrings and red lipstick, she was conscious of the shade of the red and made sure it was somewhere between rosewood red and stripper red, Sometimes the shading of a red lipstick can all too easily undo the well-thought-out tasteful decisions of an outfit.

All ready to go she checked her phone

I'm on way, I'll be 15 minutes

PS I bet you look fucking HOT (flame emoji)

She finished off the glass of red and headed towards the door, excitement and apprehension both causing butterflies in her stomach, just beating her to unlocking the latch was a subtle knock at the door. Ignoring the fact the text message was just received under a minute ago and she hadn't told him which apartment was exactly hers, she still excitedly opened the door.

"Shit, Liv, like wow you look amazing"

"El?..Elliot, what are you doing here, what's happened, are you ok? At this point the unspoken competition between who is in more shock is creating a very awkward silence.

"Look Liv, clearly this a bad time…. Where are you going? You got dinner with friends or something?" Elliot's eyes can't help but trace up and down her outfit and there's that smirk, that same one that used to come out every time she said she had a date or every time she mentioned a man or whenever she was given 'that kind' of attention by anyone whenever it was in front of him

"You really haven't changed one bit have you? No, I don't have plans with friends, I'm going on a date and he will be here any time soon, so I really need to get downstairs, Elliot." She's trying to hide the surprise building in her voice and she's more than aware that her tone is displaying more anger than she intends but she hasn't yet allowed herself to deal with any of the Elliot emotions and she just can't let herself go there, yet. "You sent me a text saying you wanted to chat in a couple of weeks but I didn't expect you to just show up at my door. Are you ok? Has something happened?"

She feels the vibration of her phone in her pocket and knows this is the worst possible timing.

Her excited butterflies are taken over by anger and resentment at Elliot's lack of tact.

"Yes, everything's fine, I just wanted to talk, I know I owe you answers Liv and I just I felt like I couldn't wait any longer, and you deserve an explanation. I know you're on your way out but I just need a couple of minutes before you go to get something off my chest." He's holding out his arm to subliminally ask for permission to enter into the apartment but the stoic response from Olivia is enough for him to realize he's made the wrong move.

Phone vibrating again in her hand she knows she should just calmly tell him she will discuss this with him another time but she can't seem to hold back

"A couple of minutes, a couple of minutes Elliot? You walk completely out of my life for 10 fucking years, have absolutely no idea of what's gone on with my life, you shut me out of your life, took away a family I felt I was in some way a part of, the pain you caused me, you didn't return my calls, didn't reach out once and I see you again for the very first time" her anger dissipating and her voice turning to a sympathetic whisper "I see you again, at the worst possible moment of your life Elliot, I can't, I honestly can't discuss anything with you right now El, I uh, I really need to go." She strokes the side of his arm and the nod of his head confirms his nonverbal agreement.

"Liv I am sorry, you know this, and I have so much I want to discuss with you but I want you to go on your date and have a good time, you deserve it and wow you look so hot." He's never been embarrassed to compliment her, and she was never receiving them but now, at this moment she is sheepish. "I'll text you tomorrow and arrange a time that's good for you, is that ok?"

"Yes, of course, it is," aware of the ever buzzing vibrations coming to her phone she really needs to get out of this hallway and downstairs to the cab "I'll spe.." before she can finish her sentence she feels Elliot's embrace tight against her, the immediate comfort making her weak, the anger she just moments ago, was raging with, dropping into the warmth of his body. The compressed feeling of his well-maintained, muscular chest and arms floods her with feelings of safety and support, she senses him taking in the smell of her newly washed hair and in return, she is reminded of his scent, he smells just as he always did. Old memories start to drown her thoughts

"Olivia?"

Shit, she should have expected this, she was never going to get out on a date so easily, she knew it was too good to be true when Noah's school trip just so happened to be scheduled for this weekend and it wasn't as if she didn't have enough warning, the buzzing of the phone in her hand was an impending alarm in itself, immediately she drops from Elliot's grip, pushing the hair from her face and straightening her dress

"Edgar, Hi, I'm sorry, I was on my way down then.."

"Look Olivia, If I'm intruding on something then I'm sorry, I'll just.."

This was exactly the punch to the gut Olivia did not need right now, watching the disappointment fill over Edgar's face, as he turned his arms out and headed for the floor exit in resignation was just too much to handle.

"Edgar, No wait… Edgar," she shouted after him, leaving Elliot's side and following in his path

"This is my friend, my old partner, we worked together for a very long time. You're not intruding on anything. I just got a little delayed, but I'm ready."

Hot on their heels Elliot shouts out "Hey Pal, look I was just leaving, I stopped by unexpected. I didn't mean to crash your date. I'm sorry, I'm Elliot Stabler" he holds out his hand and in response, Edgar takes it "Pleased to meet you, I'm Edgar Goodwin"

Looking over at Olivia, who currently looks like she wants the ground to swallow her up he asks

"Well you look radiant, shall we go? Cabs waiting downstairs" she takes his outstretched arm, tells Elliot she will text him tomorrow, and leaves for the restaurant with Edgar.