The chill of the night hit her face as she opened the door to the roof. It had stopped raining, but the air was sill humid and cold.

Olivia saw him a few feet in front of her, pacing. She thought about the night he came back, where they argued in the exact same spot, under the dim light, away from anyone else. This was their fighting space, it seemed.

At least, she thought, he had the courtesy of not blowing off in front of her squad. 'Cause that's what was going to happen. Him yelling at her about how dangerous and stupid it was to go into the situation like that. Using his anger as a façade for his concern, of course. Just like when they were partners.

But things had changed, and Olivia wasn't going to simply accept his bad temper. She was a Captain now, not his partner. She was the one deciding what risks she was willing to take or not. He didn't have the right to tell her. Didn't have the right to worry about her. Not anymore.

With mixed feelings, Olivia stepped into the imaginary ring, ready for the fight.

Elliot stopped a few feet away, facing her. He glanced over her body rapidly.

"Are you hurt?" he started with.

He seemed to ask genuinely.

"I'm fine." Knowing he noticed the bandage on her hand, she corrected herself. "Cut myself on a broken window, but I'm fine."

He nodded and took a breath. And then she braced herself, waiting for him to get out whatever he wanted to say, even though she pretty much knew where this was going.

"Then, what the hell were you thinking?!" his anger had more force than she anticipated.

"I was thinking about the kids." she replied, unwavering under his gaze.

"Yeah? What about *your* kid, Liv. Did you even think about him?!"

Oh, she would not give him that pass.

"Don't bring Noah into this." She replied, her voice dangerously low.

"You're a mother now, you can't put yourself in those shitty situation anymore!"

The slap occurred before she could even register. He seemed surprised too.

"Don't insinuate anything about Noah, you have no right!" and she continued with the offense. "And you should be the last person to talk about the kids, when you left yours for 3 months to go undercover."

"That was different!"

"No it wasn't!"

"My kids are grown ups, Noah is still a child!"

"And what, that means they don't need you, is that it?".

He dismissed her with a sloppy hand gesture, taking a beat before replying.

"This isn't about me." He tried to escape.

"Oh but it *is* about you! This," she raised her arms to point the situation they were in "is *all* about you Elliot!"

And they both knew she was right. They stared at each other for a long time, eyes burning with fury and pain. They hated fighting, especially since he came back.

But Elliot couldn't help himself.

"Why didn't you call me?" he said accusingly, even though he knew he was being ridiculous.

But that got to Olivia more than she was willing to admit. She let out an angry laugh.

"I lost that reflex a long time ago, Elliot." She should have stopped there. "I had to."

She knew saying that would hurt him more than this stupid argument required. But she held it in for so long that it had to get out someday. She saw the pain on his face and felt sorry to be the cause of it, but she still held her grounds in the argument.

He took a breath, calming himself, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I suppose I deserved that." He replied, his voice coming down.

Elliot started pacing again at a lower speed and they used the silence to gather themselves. They didn't want it to be like this. The tension in the air dissipated a bit, over time. Olivia let out a long sigh and closed her eyes for a second. When she spoke next, her voice was almost a whisper, filled with her usual understanding and comfort.

"I get why you're here. And I know you're yelling at me because you were worried."

"With reason." He pushed fairly softly, looking at her.

She glared at him, but kept her voice low.

"I'm fine. This is the job, you know it."

He sighed again and closed his eyes in response. He ran his hand over his face, allowing himself to gather his emotions. He knew he had no right to be so concerned, not after ten years of silence. But when he heard what had happened over the radio he couldn't stop himself, he just had to see her to make sure she was okay.

"When I heard, I…so many scenarios…I couldn't think…I just…" Elliot fought to find the words.

Olivia took a step closer to him.

"It's okay. I'm fine." She reinforced her point by touching his upper arm with her right hand.

He forced himself to look into her eyes, taking her in. He tried to convey what he was trying to say and realized she already knew every single word he meant to speak.

"I can't lose you, Liv…" he whispered, hardly trusting his voice.

Both their eyes were teary. The wind gently hit their faces, but nothing else seemed to register.

"I know. You won't." Olivia said back.

He put his right hand over hers, still on his left arm, and squeezed. They were still so close when they spoke.

"But you can't make a scene at the station every time I'm in danger, that's the job, you know that…"

"I know, I just…snapped when I heard over the radio…I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Moments passed while they just looked into each other eyes. When he felt on solid grounds, Elliot nodded and they both took the time to gather their emotions before moving.

"I should get back." she sounded disappointed.

Elliot nodded.

"I'm sorry I pulled you away…"

"It's okay. Actually, it was better to come here than do this downstairs." She smiled.

He laughed.

"Yeah, it seems the rooftop is our releasing place now…"

She was surprised at his reference to the night of Kathy's accident, but looking up at him, she realized that maybe he was starting to move on from it, little by little. She let a small laugh.

"Let's not make this into a regular thing, alright?" she turned to go back downstairs and he followed.

"As long as you stay out of trouble, Captain."

He was teasing, but they both knew he meant it. Arriving at the door, Elliot opened it for her. Olivia stopped just before going in and looked up at him.

"I'll be safe, if you'll be too, Detective." She said reassuringly but also warningly.

She held his gaze for a moment and turned towards the stairs when Elliot nodded in agreement.

May be working on a 3rd chapter...what do you think? :P