Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. CSI is the intellectual property of Anthony E. Zuiker. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.

Jim Brass stares at the unfamiliar faces for a long while, darting his eyes from them to Grissom, and back again. "Yeah, I see it," he said, acknowledging something of which only he was even aware. He laughed under his breath, folded his arms, and nodded once at Olivia as he held out a folded document. "This gets you into the van, the construction site, and his apartment."

Taking it with a returned nod, she said, "Thanks, we really…"

"Grissom trusts you," Brass interrupted. He was smiling but his words and tone were not friendly. "I don't. Not yet. You want me to? You do this by the book. My book. CSI Willows and CSI Brown will go with you, you do not touch anything beyond the scope of…"

"With all due respect," Olivia interrupted, handing her own unfriendly smile to him, "I'm a damn good cop, I'm pretty sure policy and procedure is the same here as it is in New York, and I'm not an idiot."

"So he tells me," Brass remarked, thumbing over at Grissom. "I'll believe it when I see it." He shot her another superiority-laced smile and waved, telling her to leave and do what she and her New York buddies had to do.

She scoffed and turned her back on him, waving for Elliot and Fin to follow her. She looked over at Catherine, flanking her left side, and said, "He's a peach."

"Isn't he, though?" Willows laughed, nudging her. With her smile growing genuine, she lowered her voice. "So you really took the jump, huh?"

"Right guy," Olivia shrugged, shielding her eyes with an upturned hand as they stepped out into the Vegas sunset, her entire body still recovering from a night of reckless abandon. She wagged her head a bit, and then added, "Wrong time, but...right guy."

"You sure?" A voice from her right spoke, sounding bitter.

She turned to see Nick, his naturally severe brow even more angular, his eyes dark, a look she recognized from her former life, and it gave her chills. "Yeah," she nodded. "I'm sure." She dragged a hand through her hair, momentarily wincing as a few strands snagged around her newly acquired ring. "What the hell are you even…"

"Traded Warrick," Nick spat. "This, with you, for staying in the air-conditioned lab with the hot, young intern." He grinned, his dimples making him more charming, and he hoped reminding her that she loved him, once. "Couldn't resist seeing you back in action."

"Yeah, the only action you'll see from her is in the field," Elliot threatened, stepping up to him and practicality shoving him away from his partner. His wife. He growled, unaware but unapologetic.

Once again, Olivia stepped between them. "Enough," she hissed at Elliot, glaring at him. "We already talked about…"

"It's not you I don't trust," he spat back at her, glaring over her shoulder at Nick. He felt her hands on his shoulders and he closed his eyes, pent up emotions boiling over. He lowered his gaze, shook his head, and walked away from her, heading in the direction of the black Jeep they'd be taking to their scene.

Catherine got in the driver's seat, Nick in the passenger spot, and Fin, Elliot, and Olivia shoved into the back. Knowing the cramped space called for hushed tones, Olivia whispered right into Elliot's ear. "What the hell is wrong with you? We're working, you can't let him…"

"With Porter," he interrupted, his voice barely audible but the pain in his eyes speaking volumes, "It was always just a pissing contest, getting under his skin, running his nose in it because I knew you didn't...you never loved him. But him? You almost married…"

"To get away from my mother," she said softly, taking one of his hands in hers. "I loved him enough, but it was more about...running away from the rest of my life than starting one with him. I realized that if I married him, we would eventually become…"

"Me and Kathy," he finished for her, squeezing her hand. He exhaled again, his breath trembling. His shaking voice cracked as he whispered to her, "He had parts of you that I...never will. He knew you when you were finding yourself, he was the one that made you…"

"Grissom did that," she stopped him, "And I could say the same thing about Kathy! Hell, I have said the same thing about her, how she got the star quarterback, the young carefree jock." She tried to look into his eyes but he was still staring down at their linked hands. "All of that...made us who we are, so we could be here, now."

He looked up at her and some relief washed over him.

She smiled. "I didn't marry him," she whispered. "I married you. Everyone before...the mistakes and the missteps, they proved we weren't ready. They were there so we would know how...how to not fuck this up, how to be better at this because it's what we fucking deserved, how to appreciate...love, honor, and fucking obey each other to the fullest, because we know how, now. We are ready, now."

"I'd give anything to kiss you right now," he said softly.

"Can't," she winked, and then she leaned forward and looked over at Fin, covering for her personal moment with Elliot. "What about you? You think what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?"

Fin laughed. "Well, I'd like to take the Benson from the bar home, but you already said she's dead and gone, and maybe it's better if…" he looked at her with a pointed expression. "Certain people never find out what really happened out here, yeah?"

Olivia's brows knitted and she tilted her head.

"This shit with White? Cragen gets wind of the details, he'll not only make sure this hump gets off on a murder charge, but he'll probably fly out here and give the man a God damned medal." He laughed again. "We all hoped for a fuckin' sticky end for this bastard, but no one more than him." He eyed Elliot. "Except maybe you."

Elliot nodded, fire in his eyes again. He looked up and leaned forward. "So I figure Liv and I will find the guy, talk to him, you two process the van and then we'll all have a look around the…"

"Hey, Bucko, we don't take orders from you," Nick said, not bothering to turn to look at him. Catherine smacked him, hard, in the chest, and as he grunted and coughed, he said, "But, uh, good plan." He nodded once, rolling his eyes as the chuckles from Olivia and Catherine hit his ears. He rubbed his chest and shot a hard look at Catherine. "Ow," he exaggerated, holding it out.

"You deserves it, Nicky," she replied, "Be civil."

"I'm going to say that, next time Sara makes a suggestive comment about Grissom's 'body of evidence." He made gestured quotes, and wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, what?" Olivia's eyes widened inquisitively as she caught Catherine's stare in the rear view mirror.

Catherine shot up a frustrated eye roll, and she said, "Look, it's not like he responds, he just...he's polite, he's not going to offend or embarrass her so he pretends to not even realize she's hitting on him."

"Anyone hitting on him…" Olivia shuddered. "He's like my father. No thanks."

"Oh," Catherine laughed. "I know, just think of how he felt when he found out you and Nicky…"

"Point made!" Olivia shouted, wide-eyed. She shot her eyes toward a now glowering Elliot and confused Fin.

Catherine seethed apologetically as she turned the wheel. She parked the Jeep on a lopsided angle and turned over her shoulder. "We're going with Elliot's idea, me and Nicky'll get what we can from the van, you two go talk to Hanlin, and...Fin, was it?" She watched Fin nod. "You can help us out, I'll show you how the ropes."

"Sounds good to me," Fin replies with a smirk. He was the first one out of the car, leaving the door open for Olivia and Elliot.

Nick and Elliot hit the gravel at the same time, their brooding intensity causing steam to rise in a heated cloud around them. They stared each other down, cracking knuckles and flaring nostrils, twitching muscles in hopes of intimidating and manipulating. Nick moved, an inch closer, Elliot didn't flinch, but he smiled. He poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue and shot out a hand to his left.

Obvious to the battle of the boys, Olivia slipped her hand into Elliot's as she slid out of the car, her boots landing with a click and a crunch. "Thanks," she said to him sweetly, and she returned his smile.

Elliot turned, walking with her toward the foreman's table, not once looking back at Nick.

Nick, however, stated hard, long, plotting his next move. He knew that if he could just get her alone for a while, he could reignite the flame, convince her to stay in Vegas, with him. "How," he asked himself, shaking his head. He slammed the car door and walked over to Catherine and Fin who were searching the lot for Hanlin's van, and he smirked.

He knew, exactly, how.

Peace and Love

Jo