A/N: As promised, here is the next story I'll be working on. This chapter is pretty short and is kind of more of a prologue then an actual first chapter but I hope you like it still. Here's what I can tell you so far about the story without giving it all away:

The story is set right after the episode "Fault" when Gitano almost killed Elliot. In this story, Elliot is officially divorced from Kathy at this point so he is single. Instead of the talk they had at the end of the episode where Elliot told Olivia he didn't think they could be partners anymore, they just talked about the case and then Elliot followed her out. Read on to see what happens with that.

But also some other background information, up to this point Olivia has been pretending to be strong for everyone. But deep down she is really struggling with her place in life, most importantly her place at work and also who she is as a human being. Will Elliot be able to prove to her that there is always something worth fighting for? Or will she push him away forever?

Read on to find out.

Sorry if that sounded confusing but I hope you can keep up. For all my faithful readers, you know that I'm an E/O shipper at heart and hate that Chris Meloni left the show. So I hope you read on with good faith and know I wouldn't steer you wrong. I hope you enjoy this first part and I'll try and put up the first full Chapter soon :)

Olivia rolled out of his arms hoping she wouldn't wake him. He stirred a little before rolling onto his stomach and falling back into a deep sleep. She let out a shaky breath and pushed her legs over the side of his bed and flinched as her bare feet hit the cold floor.

She looked over at the clock and saw that it was 5:17am. Early. To early. She sighed and stood up as she reached for her clothes that were strewn across the floor of his bedroom. It was hard to wrap her head around everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.

Images of the gun pointed at Elliot's head flashed before her eyes and she felt her stomach lurching. She shook her head quickly as she pulled her pants up over her legs and sipped them. The next second she saw herself walking down the hall at the hospital as Elliot ran up behind her.

She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of his hand on her lower back as he met her in the lobby. She remembered the way she had stopped short, confused at first but when she turned to look at him she saw that he wanted the same thing. The next thing she knew, they were at his apartment and he was taking her clothes off, his hands were all over her and she had melted into his embrace.

Her heart burned when she thought about the feeling of his lips on her skin. He made sure he didn't miss any part of her and she remembered the way she trembled, as he loved her in ways she had never felt before…

For the first time in as long as she could remember, she had felt complete in his arms.

But that was last night.

And this was a new day…and life was beginning to catch up to them again. When she had woken up in his arms that morning the first thing she saw was a picture of his four children and she knew this couldn't last.

And so here she was, changing back into the same dirty clothes from the day before getting ready to leave without saying goodbye. Olivia walked out of his bedroom without turning back and made her way towards the front door.

As soon as it clicked shut behind her, Elliot woke up in his bed. He didn't have to roll over to know that she had left. He could have gotten up and run after her, but he felt to defeated to even try.

So instead, he rolled over onto his back and looked at the empty space beside him. His hand reached out to the sheets she had been lying on, they were still warm from her body heat. He began to wonder if he would ever feel her body against his again…

_
Three days later, Elliot was tired of waiting for her to show her face at work. And truth be told, he was afraid that she would run even further so he decided to confront her. When he got to her apartment, it took a few minutes for him to actually find the courage to knock on the door.

He couldn't help but laugh to himself thinking that he had faced some of the most dangerous criminals in the city and yet he was more scared to face the woman he was in love with.

She opened the door after the second knock, and she didn't look surprised to see him. He tried to smile to show that he wasn't angry which in truth he wasn't. He was just sad…

"And here I was thinking you'd given up…" She said leaning against the doorframe.

Elliot smiled sadly at her. "You should know by now that I don't walk away form a fight. I don't give up that easy…"

She raised her eyebrows. "So we're going to fight?"

He shook his head. "No. Not unless you want to start one."

She sighed and let her shoulders droop and he knew that she wasn't going to fight him, but she wasn't going to give in either. "Elliot I'm sorry that I left like that…I just couldn't face you."

"After all we've been through together you couldn't give me the decency of an explanation?" He asked with sad tired eyes.

She laughed. "El come on…you no I don't have one other than I'm scared."

He reached a hand out to her and touched her arm gently. "So am I. But I'm still here…"

She licked her lips and looked down at his hand on her arm, the images of him touching the rest of her body began to flood her mind again. "You wouldn't understand even if I tried to explain it to you."

He shrugged and stepped closer to her. "Maybe I will…maybe I won't. But we can talk about it. Figure it out together…" He smiled at her, that smile that always broke her. "Just like we always do…"

She felt her heart begin to flutter and she shook her head. "This isn't one of our cases Elliot. This is life…our lives and I don't want to screw yours up."

He chuckled more to himself then to her. "Liv…I find ways to screw up my life on my own. You are usually the one that cleans up the mess. I highly doubt that you will screw it up more than I usually do. If anything…I welcome the chaos you bring."

She laughed and felt her eyes fill up with tears. "This is insane Elliot."

He nodded. "Yeah I guess it is. But most things worth fighting for are."

She cocked her head to the side. "I thought you said there wasn't going to be any fighting…"

He shrugged. "You don't have to fight. But I think I don't have any other choice."

"What are you talking about?" She asked feeling confused by his words.

"I know what I want Olivia." He said walking closer to her, so close that he was only inches from her face.

She swallowed nervously. "And what is that exactly?"

He smiled that smile he only shared with her before he whispered. "I want you Liv…"

Her heart was pounding as she pulled away from again; her eyes begged him to understand. "I'm sorry…"

He hadn't really expected her to give in so easily, but he had hoped she might. "Okay fine…I can take a hint."

He turned his back on her slowly before starting to walk away when she called out to him. "Elliot I really am sorry…please believe me."

Elliot turned and looked at her with a thoughtful glance. "I know you are. Just as I know that you feel the same way about me as I do you."

She grasped the doorframe at her right and looked after him. "What do you-?"

"Like I said…" He smiled again and pushed his hands in his pockets. "You should know by now…I don't give up that easy."

She felt a shiver run up her spine, but it wasn't because of fear. She trusted Elliot with all of her heart but she also knew what he was saying was true. No matter how hard she pushed him away, he wasn't going to turn his back on her. Somewhere deep in her heart she felt the wall she had built around it begin to crack and she wondered if just maybe…he could actually be the one to save her.

He winked again before turning away and making his way towards the elevator. She watched him until the elevator doors closed, and then she walked back into her apartment. She closed the door and walked over to couch where she had been hiding for three days.

As she pulled the blankets up over her, she tried to keep the screaming in her head from taking over. It was all too much to handle, and for the first time in her life she actually felt afraid.

It wasn't Elliot she was afraid of.

No…she could never fear him. The thing she feared was herself. Over the years she had realized she was capable of complete destruction if left to her own defenses. She wanted to believe that times had changed…that she could finally let herself be happy.

But she had a sick feeling that she couldn't do it. But she wished…God did she wish that she could finally let all the anger and frustration go and just live. But time would tell…she just hoped that Elliot had the strength to fight for her like he had promised.

And if he didn't…she was sure this would be the end of her.

Hopefully you liked it. If so let me know and I'll update as soon as I can! :)