A/N: Just thought I would mention that I am doing some alterations in this story to the shows chronology. As Woemcat pointed out, Fin does arrive after Olivia in the show, but I changed that for this stories purposes. Well, thanks for all the reviews! Oh, and there is a good deal of STRONG PG-13 'fluff' in this chapter.

Flashback…

Olivia stuck to Elliot's side like glue the entire time they were mingling at the opening party. They had made several friends already- all eager to have them donate to their political organization. After a couple hours Elliot left her briefly to go and pick up some drinks. Olivia glanced around awkwardly. A dark haired man nearby caught her attention, as he was staring at her in a calculating sort of way. The instant he noticed her gaze he smiled and walked over. "I am sorry, lady. It's just I haven't seen you before." He said, taking her hand and kissing it gently.

Olivia smiled politely and answered, "Yes, well my husband and I just got involved in this recently. We both were political science majors, but our jobs pulled us away from the political world for a while."

The man nodded and said, "I hope you have a good time, Mrs…"

"Liv Sanderson." Olivia said quickly.

"Mrs. Sanderson. It's been a pleasure." He said, and took her hand again. "Please, take this."

Olivia felt him slip something over her wrist and she looked down. A white bracelet.

She barely masked her surprise, covering with a broad grin of delight as she looked at it. "Thank you, sir."

"Your are welcome. It symbolizes the unity we must strive for in politics." He replied, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes. They both turned as Elliot came walking over. He handed her a glass of wine and put one arm around her waist. "You are a very lucky man, Mr. Sanderson, to have such a beautiful wife."

"I know." Elliot replied, kissing her temple gently. Olivia grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I am afraid I didn't catch your name."

"It's Justin. Have a wonderful time you two."

Olivia sat down on the edge of the bed, running her fingers nervously over the white bracelet. Their commanding officer was talking with Elliot, and they were having a spirited debate on what to do. The officer, Mrs. Gunnison, was undercover as a hotel guest, and was in the room just down the hall. "Well, I don't think there is anything wrong with arresting him now." She said firmly, and Elliot nodded, knowing that she didn't want to hear anymore arguing.

Olivia jerked her head up and exclaimed, "No!"

Mrs. Gunnison slowly turned to face her, eying her like she was a misbehaving child. "Now, Detective, give me a good reason as to why not."

Olivia stood and walked over to her, "Because, he gave me one bracelet. Someone else has another one. It's not his MO to kill one person, he always does a pair."

"Well all the better reason to arrest him now." Gunnison replied, looking at Olivia with unmasked disdain.

"No, because I know he has an accomplice. If we arrest him, it will tip his partner off, who could kill the other person who has one of these."

"What makes you think he has an accomplice? The previous murders appeared to be a single perp."

"Just the way he acted. I know he isn't doing this alone." Olivia answered.

"I agree with Benson, arresting the guy now could severely jeopardize whoever has the other bracelet's life." Elliot put in, folding his arms across his chest.

Gunnison nodded slowly, "Alright. Well keep me up to date. We have no idea when this guy is going to strike. Find the other person with the bracelet, and fast."

Elliot flopped down on his back, yawning widely. It was almost eleven and he was exhausted. Olivia was sitting on the edge of the bed and was reading through a pamphlet highlighting events over the course of the week. "It says that tomorrow night there is another banquet dinner, awarding some old gentleman with some sort of honor. Everyone should be there, it looks like it's a big deal."

"Good. We will find the next potential vic tomorrow." Elliot said, and then he shut off the lamp on his side of the bed and wriggled under the covers.

"Tired?" questioned Olivia with a grin. Elliot grunted a little in response, already falling asleep.

Suddenly a loud knock came at the door. Olivia got up slowly and glanced through the peephole. She immediately sighed and opened the door. One of her very hyperactive new acquaintances and her husband were standing outside. The second she opened the door, Sandra threw her arms around Olivia's neck. "Liv! I am so glad you are still awake! Frank and I were just going for a swim, want to come?"

Olivia plastered a smile on her face and said, "Of course, we will meet you down there in ten minutes." Sandra giggled and hugged her again before dragging her husband off down the hall with her.

Elliot stuck a foot into the water, surprised to find it quite warm. The indoor pool was quite an interesting set up- small caves and overhangs with waterfalls were scattered throughout it, with the occasional fake palm tree. Olivia slipped off her robe and hung her legs over the edge, dangling them in the cool water. Elliot sat down beside her and rolled his eyes as Sandra and her husband floated of to a secluded cave. "What's the story with your friend?"

"Well she inherited a huge restaurant company from her parents, and is a mutli-millionaire and high school drop out. She comes to these types of things to donate money so that she looks good." Olivia answered, kicking her feet lightly in the water.

Elliot shook his head before jumping into the water. Olivia winced as the water splashed up on her. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I just don't want to get wet." Olivia replied, and then instantly realized that she shouldn't have said it. She scrambled to stand up, but Elliot grabbed her waist and pulled her down into the water. Olivia came up, glaring at Elliot as she pushed her hair from her eyes. He grinned broadly at her.

After a while they found themselves over by one of the waterfalls. Olivia swam underneath it, finding a very small little enclave comprised of the rock overhang, a semicircular rock wall, and the outer wall that was the waterfall. Elliot came up a second later. The water was only up to their waists in the little area and was swirling slightly from the force of the waterfall. Olivia glanced over at Elliot, suddenly feeling more then a little awkward. He smiled at her, running a hand down her jaw. "I am glad to have you as a partner, Liv. You are probably the best thing that's happened to me lately."

"Thanks." Olivia answered, laying a hand on his shoulder. He took a step forward and she backed up against the wall. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she felt him press up against her, his hands on her hips. "Elliot…" she murmured. He didn't respond and instead leaned down, catching her lips in his. Olivia almost gasped in surprise, but wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her hips against him. She inhaled sharply as his hands roamed her back and continued down.

When he opened her mouth she realized she was losing control of the situation. But for some reason, she couldn't stop. He put one hand the back of her neck, pressing her almost painfully hard to him. His other hand slid up her belly and to her swimsuit top.

Suddenly they heard a loud splash. They both whipped around, Elliot removing his hand from her chest quickly. Sandra came laughing in, her husband close behind. However she abruptly stopped as she saw them. Olivia turned bright red. She knew Sandra had seen where Elliot's hand had been. "Oh my, I am sorry, Liv." She said, and then grinned at their silence, "Guys, it's okay. Seriously, you act like you are having an affair or something."

"We're not!" exclaimed Olivia.

"I know, Liv! You are married! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Sandra said in surprise at Olivia's reaction.

"No, I'm sorry. See you tomorrow at the banquet?"

"Sure thing Liv. Bye!" Sandra said, instantly forgetting their little conflict.

Olivia and Elliot hastily made their way back to their hotel room. Olivia shut the door quickly, panting with guilt and shock. Elliot was looking quite distraught; evidently he hadn't understood what just happened either. "Liv?"

"You're married, Elliot!" exclaimed Olivia, a tear falling down her cheek despite her best efforts to stop it.

He walked over to her and stroked her cheek. "I am sorry Olivia. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please, just this once... just this once."

Olivia shut her eyes and then wrapped her arms around him. He held her in his arms for several minutes, both taking comfort in each other's warmth. After a while Elliot felt Olivia shift. She placed a kiss on his neck and moved to his lips. He immediately kissed her back with passion. His fingers slid expertly over the clasp on her swimsuit top and undid it.

When they finally made it to the bed, they remained there a long while, staying up late into the night. At almost four in the morning Elliot rolled off top of her, wiping his forehead. Olivia lay on her back, breathing heavily. He leaned over and gently pushed some sweaty hair from her face. "Are you okay?" he questioned, looking at her in concern.

Olivia smiled and nodded, curling up against his chest. They fell asleep in no time, both still unsure as to what had just happened. And that was when it began- they had no idea how much they would defy Elliot's statement of 'just this once' in the years to come. But what they most didn't expect were the great consequences.

End Flashback…

Olivia felt a searing pain in her head as she opened her eyes. It took a moment to focus her vision and the bright lights didn't help. Her surroundings immediately became recognizable. A hospital. She shot up to a sitting position, nearly passing out again from the exertion.

"Hey, take it easy, Olivia!" came a voice. Olivia turned and saw Munch, Fin, Alex, and Cragen all standing beside her bed.

"Where's Elliot? And how's the victim?" Olivia questioned.

She didn't like the glance they all shared before John finally said, "She's going to be alright, she just got through surgery. Perp cut her up pretty bad, so she going to be in a lot of pain."

"And Elliot?"

"He's… he is still in surgery. They don't think he is going to make it." John said, taking a deep breath.

Olivia put her hands over her face and attempted to maintain her composure. She felt her hospital ID bracelet rub against her wrists as she did so, reminding her again of the memories she had been dealing with since this started. Olivia felt her heart contract in pain. The past was really coming back to haunt to her.

"What happened, Olivia?" Alex questioned gently, looking over at her sympathetically.

Olivia dropped her hands and swallowed the lump in her throat. "We were standing outside, waiting for backup. But then we heard a scream, and knew he probably had another victim. We couldn't wait, he could have killed her if we did. So we went inside and found her lying on the floor, there was blood everywhere. Elliot was just about to radio for a bus when the girl suddenly screamed again. I turned around and saw the perp. He came so fast we couldn't do anything in time." She paused and then said, "I saw Elliot go down and I attempted to get the knife from the perp's hand. He grabbed my neck until I couldn't fight him anymore and then threw me up against something. I don't remember anything else."

Alex nodded and patted her hand. "Thanks."

"What happened to the perp?" Olivia asked.

"Elliot shot him. He was dead on scene." Cragen answered. Olivia nodded and then noted a sharp pain in the back of her head. She reached back and flinched when her fingers moved over an extremely painful spot. "You have six stitches back there. You are lucky they somehow managed to get them in without cutting your hair." Cragen told her with a slight smile.

"Does Elliot's family know what happened?"

"Yes, I put in a call to them. They should be on their way."

They all turned the other direction when they heard a knock. A young doctor walked in and smiled at Olivia. "Hello Ms. Benson. How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Have you heard anything about my partner?" Olivia questioned him immediately.

The doctor sighed and shook his head. "Nothing yet."

Alex agreed to go wait outside for any news and was getting so nervous that she couldn't even focus on the work she needed to finish for a big trial the next day. She had moved for a continuance, but wasn't sure whether she had gotten it yet or not. The DA was going to be calling soon to let her know. It seemed like an eternity that she was out there, and so when the doctor finally came trudging out of the operating room, she was on her feet in seconds. "Are you Mr. Stabler's family?" he questioned.

"No, I am a friend. How is he?" Alex asked, her stomach twisting up in knots.

The doctor took a deep breath and dropped his gaze.