Author's Note: Here is the part two I promised! This took a turn in a direction I wasn't expecting, but Olivia has a mind of her own, and I go where she tells me :) Thanks for all of the love!

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Olivia should've just stayed in bed today.

It hadn't been the easiest work day anyway, a challenging case and mountain of paperwork commanding her attention, but looking up to see Dean Porter in her squad room was possibly the most unexpected thing to happen this year, second only to deciding to move forward with a relationship with Elliot. It was still new, still a secret to most, but she was enjoying the forward movement, learning how to be with him like this.

She'd strongly considered abandoning all of her obligations, especially when Elliot rolled over and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He was exceptionally affectionate first thing in the morning, and as she melted into his embrace, she knew that all he had to do was ask; she'd happily abandon the day's responsibilities and stay snuggled under the covers with him all day.

Sadly, they both drug themselves out of bed, kissing each other quickly as Elliot quietly left. Now, instead of enjoying a day in bed, she was face to face with Dean Porter.

As uncomfortable as this reunion was, it was only going to get worse if he stayed very much longer. Elliot was on his way over from OCCB to pick up some files for a case her unit was handing off to his. She knew he'd offered to make the trip over to SVU instead of Sergeant Bell, just so he could see Olivia after sneaking out of her apartment before Noah woke up this morning.

Dean was staring hard at her, his eyes traveling over her and a hopeful smile on his face. Under other circumstances, it would've been a little bit sweet, his showing up like this, wanting to see her, but as Olivia listened to him stumble over his words, all she could think about was how to get Dean out of the squad room before Elliot showed up. Things had ended so badly the last time they'd seen Dean, but as angry as she'd been, she knew the only person who was angrier was-

"She has coffee."

Olivia was shaken from her thoughts, and she couldn't help the way her eyes briefly closed at the sound of Elliot's voice. He was there and had seen her unexpected visitor, and her day had officially gone from bad to worse.

This reunion was one she hoped would never happen, especially in the squad room, in front of Fin, who knew the history, and the rest of her squad, who knew absolutely nothing. Muncy and Velasco wouldn't question anything, but Rollins would no doubt corner her the second Porter was out of sight.

Taking the coffee Elliot was offering her, she redirected Dean's attention away from Elliot, sending him into her office. She shot Elliot a look, hoping he could see that Dean's presence in her office was truly an unwanted surprise, but the jealous energy was radiating off of him, and he'd need time to calm down before she could have a rational conversation with him.

Dean shocked Olivia by telling her that she'd been on his mind the whole time they'd been apart. The last conversation they'd had was a complete disaster, at the conclusion of a case full of lies and cover-ups that she'd never be able to forgive, even after all of these years. When Dean took her hand, Olivia expected Elliot to come barreling through the door and slam Dean against the wall.

Of course Olivia told Dean no, that there wasn't a chance of a future together. He'd hurt her all those years ago, and there wasn't any way for him to regain her trust.

But the biggest factor in her gently letting Dean down was her partner, whose incredible blue eyes were shooting daggers through her office window and into the back of Dean's head.

It seemed Dean could feel Elliot's stare, asking her if her former partner was the reason she was turning him down. It was, and of course Dean could see that, but she wasn't going to say it out loud, not to him.

After questioning her about retirement plans, which she informed him wouldn't be happening any time soon, they said cordial goodbyes, and Dean hastily left her squad room. Almost immediately, Elliot was at her side, and his hand gently cradled her face. She found herself needed the reassurance, needing his touch, and she leaned into his hand. "You ok?" he quietly asked.

Olivia nodded, her eyes locking with his. "I'm fine. We'll talk about it later. I just need some time to process, ok?"

Elliot smiled at her, and she couldn't keep her arms from slipping around his waist or her body from sinking into the gentle press of his lips against her forehead. Until today, she hadn't let him show any affection in front of her squad, adamant about keeping their budding relationship under wraps, just until she was sure this was what she wanted. But today, she needed the reassurance of his touch, and while this wasn't how she wanted her squad to find out, it felt right. All eyes were on them, and Fin was probably already cashing in on the twenty-plus years long bet, but she didn't care anymore.

"We're good?" Elliot mumbled, his lips still pressed against her head.

Smiling up at him, she briefly brushed her nose against his. "Always."

When they finally pulled away from each other, Fin was smirking, Amanda looked shocked, Velasco averted his eyes, and Muncy gave her a thumbs up. Olivia rolled her eyes, saying, "Let me get your files," as Elliot followed her into her office.

After her door was closed, Olivia leaned on the edge of her desk as Elliot stepped close to her. Although she told him they'd discuss her conversation with Porter later, she needed him to know for sure that she shut Dean down, that he wasn't ever going to be a factor in her life.

"Just so you know," she began. "Porter and I…that never happened, ok?"

Elliot nodded, softly smiling at her. "I thought…hoped. I didn't think you'd go there, but I'm not sure I know everyone who was in your life while I was gone."

Olivia took both of his hands, entangling their fingers as she replied. "Not him. Never him. But no matter who was in my life, I never stopped thinking about you."

She smiled as she watched Elliot visibly puff up a little, that stupid cocky smirk crossing his face, making her weak in the knees as it always had. She rolled her eyes, playfully shoving him away from her.

"Get back to work, Detective."

Elliot reached for her hand, gently tugging her back to him. Leaning toward her ear, he softly said, "See you tonight, Captain." He glanced toward her squad room before quickly kissing her cheek, tucking his files under his arm, and casually strolling out of her office.

Olivia watched him leave, and it wasn't until Rollins entered her office that she realized there was a huge grin on her own face.

"Someone's in a good mood," Amanda said slyly, closing Olivia's door behind her.

Olivia looked away, her thumb nervously brushing across her forehead. "Just say whatever you came in here to say, Amanda."

Amanda crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall across from Olivia's desk. "The Stabler PDA I want to come back to, but why don't you start with who that mystery man is and what he was doing here."

Olivia moved to the couch across the room, signaling for Amanda to join her. While she honestly didn't want to discuss her former case agent, she wasn't sure what Elliot or Fin said while Dean was in her office and she needed to set the record straight with her detective and friend.

She took a deep breath as she began her story. "That was Agent Dean Porter with the FBI, or at least he was with the FBI when I knew him. We met when I went undercover with a suspected eco-terrorist organization in Oregon."

"Undercover? In Oregon? With terrorists?"

The shock in Amanda's voice amused Olivia, and she continued her story.

"Things here were…complicated, and I needed some time away, and when the opportunity came up, I took it. I was gone a few weeks, and Porter was assigned as my case agent. We ended up working together a few times over the years, and there was…tension there."

Olivia felt her cheeks flushing a little. She'd never really opened up to Rollins about men in her life quite like this, but Amanda had seen too much and deserved an explanation.

"There was a case…maybe fifteen years ago, and Dean helped cover up a double-murder. We figured it out, and things blew up. It was…really awful, and I was hurt by the way he handled things and lied to me, and we never spoke again. I never wanted to see him again, so I'm sure you can imagine how surprised I was when he walked in."

Amanda was clearly stunned as she just stared, processing Olivia's revelation. She hadn't questioned Olivia very much about cases at SVU prior to Amanda's arrival, but Olivia could sense this conversation would lead to many more.

"Wow. This is…it's a lot, Liv. I thought I knew pretty much everything about you, but clearly there's a lot I need to get caught up on. So…did you and Porter ever…"

Olivia rolled her eyes before giving her an answer. "There was a kiss, staged for a sting during that case, and there was another when Porter spent a night at my place."

"Just a kiss?" Rollins pressed.

"Amanda," Olivia warned. "That was all. He wanted more, but I didn't, and that's that."

"It seemed like Stabler wasn't much of a fan."

Olivia laughed, and all she could think about was Elliot's reply when Dean asked Olivia if he could drive her home. "Nah, I'm good, thanks," Elliot answered before she had a chance, and even though his possessiveness drove her crazy back then, there were instances like that where, when she was alone, she just had to let herself laugh about it.

"I think Elliot could tell that Dean had feelings for me, and it bothered him. He was…so protective of me, and he didn't want me getting hurt, so he wasn't a fan of Dean. That murder case…Elliot acted so awful, so protective and…jealous because he…"

Amanda finished for her. "Because he loved you, even back then."

Olivia looked away when she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She and Elliot hadn't really talked about the way they felt about each other back then, but deep down, she knew; she'd always known.

She looked down when Amanda's hand landed on hers.

"Liv, it's ok to admit that you two loved each other," she said quietly. "I knew when I first came to SVU that there was something more than partnership between the two of you and that something terrible had gone down. After he came back, I wanted nothing to do with him, for quite awhile, but it's obvious that he cares, and he makes you happy, so if this is what you want, you should get to have it. You've waited a long time for this."

"We have," Olivia whispered tearfully.

They were interrupted when Fin knocked on the door, cautiously pushing it open.

"Everything ok in here, Cap?" he asked.

"It's fine, Fin," Olivia said with a smile.

He looked a little unsure, probably because of the tears in Olivia's eyes. As he looked back and forth between the captain and detective, he pushed a little further. "Everything ok with Porter?"

Olivia nodded. She appreciated Fin's concern and protectiveness so much. "He just wanted to catch up, but I was sure to let him know that I wasn't interested."

"And Stabler?"

"All good there too, Fin," she replied, refusing to give any additional information.

A sly smile slowly grew across Fin's face. "Good. While you two finish up in here, I'm going to cash in, I mean, catch up with Munch."

Olivia grabbed a pen, laughing as she threw it at Fin, the pen bouncing off of the wall as Fin slammed the door shut.

"Is there really some kind of bet?" Amanda asked.

Olivia shrugged. "Fin has made little remarks like that through the years, so I won't be surprised if he and Munch have something going on."

"Well, if there are already rumors floating around about you two, you might as well set 'em all straight," Amanda said with a laugh.

"Elliot's kids know about us, and he's spending a lot of time with Noah, but we weren't really ready to go public yet. It's been nice to keep quiet, keep it just for us."

She covered her face with her hands, her new reality setting in. Because she and Elliot had publicly embraced, because he'd kissed her head in the middle of the squad room with others around, it was time to notify the proper people that the former partners were now in a romantic relationship. Was she really ready for that?

"But now, after all of this today, I guess we're going to be filling out disclosure paperwork," she said with a sigh.

Amanda stood up, beginning to make her way toward the door. Before she left, she looked back at Olivia over her shoulder. "Embrace it, Liv. I can tell Stabler is good for you. Maybe this mystery man showing up was the little nudge that you two needed."

"Maybe you're right."

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Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief when she opened the door to her apartment to the sound of her son's laughter and the smell of dinner. For the last couple of weeks, after she'd given Elliot a key for "emergencies", he'd been there most day when she got home at the end of the day, cooking dinner, helping Noah with homework, even cleaning her living room. It felt good, comfortable, like it's something they'd been doing forever. In another time, it would've made her nervous, to be able to let her guard down with someone like this, but Elliot had been her person for a long time now, and it felt like they were finally where they were supposed to be.

After hugs from Noah, dinner, and a quick recap of her son's day, while he disappeared to take a shower, Olivia tucked herself against Elliot, releasing the stress of the day as she breathed him in. During their partnership, they'd never held each other just because they wanted to be close to one another, but this kind of trust, of quiet intimacy, is what she'd so deeply missed in his absence.

Just as Olivia felt herself drifting off, Elliot's voice pulled her out of the clutches of sleep. "Do you want to talk about what happened with Porter earlier?" he asked, his fingers rhythmically threading through her hair. "Are you ok with whatever that was?"

"I'm fine, El. He just wanted to apologize for how things ended the last time we saw each other, and he…wanted to see if there were any lingering feelings between us."

Almost immediately, Olivia could feel Elliot's body tensing, his heart rate speeding up under her cheek. Back then, he'd never been shy about how he felt about Dean Porter, and it was clear that those were definitely feelings that hadn't waned in all these years.

Olivia continued, hoping to calm things down before Elliot could begin to spew his anger.

"I told him no, obviously. I made sure he knew that there would've never been anything between us and that I'm happier than I've ever been."

Elliot's arms tightened around her, and she smiled as she felt his lips against the top of her head. "Me too, Liv."

"After you left, Amanda came into my office to talk, and she helped me sort through some things and gave some advice, and I…I think we need to disclose."

When she heard Elliot's gasp, she sat up, finally looking in his eyes, and she could see his tears already beginning to form.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know I've wanted to keep things quiet, but after everything today…it just really solidifies that this, us, is what I want and where I want to be. I'm tired of hiding."

She watched as her words fell over Elliot, watched as he processed what she was telling him. While she hadn't said those three words just yet, she hoped he could feel how deep her feelings ran for him. Going public with their relationship after all these years was a scary thought, but what they had was real and solid, and it was time for the world to know what they really meant to each other.

Elliot's arm wrapped around her waist, and she easily allowed him to pull her even closer.

"Maybe Dean Porter is good for something."

Olivia laughed and couldn't stop herself from pressing her lips against Elliot's. Almost immediately, his hand cradled her cheek, deepening the kiss, and although this part of their relationship was still new, she knew this was where she wanted to spend the rest of her life.

When the kiss broke, Elliot asked with a chuckle, "Does this mean I don't have to sneak out before Noah wakes up?"

Olivia laughed, leaning up to kiss him again. "How about we take him out for breakfast?"

Elliot's nose brushed against hers. "Sounds like a perfect surprise."