A/N: Thanks to Dawnie for some much needed and well-timed encouragement. Quite frankly, even I'm surprised by what the plot bunnies delivered for this chapter.

Olivia closed her eyes and tried to relax as she pressed her shoulders into the soft leather seat of Andy's Suburban. She felt tired, drained of the will to do anything but sleep. She knew, however, that the moment she got home or settled on a cot in the crib, she would wish she were back in the squad room, searching through the files and notes that would lead her to Paige.

As passing lights illuminated her inner eyelids with varying intensities of red, the news Warner had given them ran through Olivia's mind. Paige's son (and brother?) was his accomplice. It was a disturbing twist in case almost fully composed of disturbing twists. Despite the definitive DNA evidence, she couldn't shake the feeling that something about the situation wasn't right. With everything they'd seen thus far, she found it all too easy to believe that a third person might be involved. The nut vendor had been so sure that a woman had dropped the body. She wondered if she were putting too much credence in the eyewitness account; she knew all too well that people saw what they wanted to see. The vendor wanted to see asses, as he'd certainly proved during their brief conversation. Still…

She tried to push the thought of a third suspect out of her head, focusing instead on the conversation Fin and Andy were having about the truck.

"And you get to drive it whenever?"

"Yeah, it's basically my car. Maintenance and gas is on the government. They don't really care about mileage, not that I do a lot of personal traveling anyway."

"Man, this really is one sweet ride. This why you became a Marshal?"

"Oh, yeah. New car every two years and I can shoot whoever I want, as long as they're suspected felons."

"Heh, like workin' undercover in Narcotics." Both men tried to laugh; neither was entirely successful.

Under other circumstances, Olivia might have found their banter amusing. At present, however, it served only to remind her of the gravity of the situation with which they were faced. For the first time since the case had started she realized that when they found Paige they would most likely have to use deadly force. It was overly optimistic to think that Paige would allow himself to be taken alive, knowing that Death Row was his only destination. On the other hand, she was grimly pleased to find that she was finally thinking about what would happen when they caught Paige rather than if they caught him.

The mere thought of the case ending caused her to sigh with relief she couldn't quite feel. Yet. What she could feel were Andy's eyes as they flicked back and forth between the road and her face. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to smile, saying, "I'm fine."

"I didn't say anything."

She briefly imagined the guilty smile on his face as he tried not to stare at her, tried to pretend he hadn't been on the verge of asking her how she was. She was going to have to start dealing differently with him or they wouldn't make it to the end of the case. That had seemed so far off when she'd promised him a real conversation about their relationship the previous day. No, not yesterday. This morning, her brain corrected. She suddenly wished she'd set a better deadline, one she wouldn't have to long for and dread at the same time. He'd want to talk at the first possible opportunity, which would most likely occur before she was ready.

Not that she ever expected to be entirely prepared. There were going to be some painful things to talk about if they decided to give it another try, if she decided to give it another try. He'd already made his interest and intentions clear. That had to mean he was ready to give up the baggage; she wasn't sure that she was even capable of doing the same. The hurts and fears were buried so deep that they may have become ingrained. The feeling that there might not be a relationship to discuss left her more unsettled than the prospect of the discussion itself.

Everything inside her suddenly fought against the idea that they could never get back to something like what they'd had if they worked hard enough. There were still some old feelings remaining. She thought back to the way he'd held her in the stairwell at One Police Plaza. As much as she'd thought she wanted him to keep his hands off her, she couldn't deny the comfort she'd derived from that embrace, the inner tremble she'd felt when her hand had caressed his stomach as she'd pulled closer to him. It had been both exciting and a little frightening. Even with her inner confusion crashing along in high gear, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised every time her attraction to him surfaced, threatening to break through her affectedly stoic outer shell; she was used to maintaining her self-control with far less effort.

Further evidence of her slipping control presented itself almost immediately as Andy's hand settled on her shoulder, causing her to nearly jump out of her seat. "You okay, Liv?"

"Oh…yeah…fine." She stumbled through a few more monosyllables as she blinked to clear both her vision and head. Momentarily, she got her bearings and found that they were parked outside the 1-6. "I guess I just zoned out. I'm a little tired." She yawned to emphasize the point. He was still staring at her after she judged it would be safe to look at him. "What?"

"What?"

"You're staring at me."

"So?" A smile played at the corners of his lips.

She took a moment to compose herself. "So stop it." She couldn't keep the grin from her voice or face. There was something in his eyes that was flooding her with good feelings. They sat, smiling small smiles at each other in the semi-darkness of the truck. She felt oddly shy, awkward, almost like she was back in junior high. Her hand reached tentatively toward his.

The cabin light came on unexpectedly as Fin opened the rear door. Olivia turned sharply away from Andy, nearly kicking the door in her effort to get out as quickly as possible. She shivered as she walked much faster than necessary toward the door of the station, trying to convince herself that the tremor coursing through her body could be attributed to the freezing wind. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Fin walking in the opposite direction and Andy coming up behind her. Her caught her as she crossed the lobby.

"Where's Fin going?" she asked.

"For coffee. Said he didn't feel like drinking, uh, I think he called it the swill Munch probably left. He's gonna get some for us too."

"That's good." She stepped into the elevator, pressing the button mechanically.

As soon as the doors shut with their characteristic metallic scraping, Andy turned to her. "Liv, you gotta tell me what's going on because you're making me crazy. And only partly in the way I want you to."

He caught her almost completely off guard. She stood facing him, mouth agape as she tried to force her thoughts into coherence. All she came up with was, "What do you mean?"

"Look, I know you, so I know you're not just teasing me for your own amusement, but you need to understand that I'm getting a little confused with all these mixed signals. You shove me away as hard as you can, and you follow it up with something like what just happened in the car."

"Andy, it's nothing intentional, it's just…" she trailed off, still unsure of what to say. The doors opened into the empty hallway outside the squad room.

He scrubbed his face with both of his hands and stepped out of the elevator before speaking again. "You asked me earlier why it has to be like this. What I really wanna know is why you have to make it like this."

She followed him down the hall, starting to feel angry about the confrontation. "So this is all on me then?"

He turned, stopping short and nearly causing her to walk into him. He locked her eyes with his in a suddenly intense gaze. "You know how I feel, you know what I want. We can't just say we're gonna put this off and expect everything to be okay. You don't wanna discuss this until after we've got Paige. Fine. But the least you can do is tell me if you want me or not and stop making me guess at everything you do." As he went on, his voice rose to a quavering shout.

Olivia clenched her jaw, focused on what she really wanted and did the last thing she herself could have expected. Holding his head tightly in her hands, she pulled him into a forceful kiss, crushing her lips against his in a demand for certainty. She felt his eyelashes brushing her skin as he blinked in momentary confusion. The kiss softened instantly as he began to return it. Their tongues touched for the first time in five years. She turned her head to the side, feeling his wet lips drag across her cheek before he realized she'd ended the kiss.

He nudged her cheekbone with his nose and she smiled in satisfaction and to let him know that everything was okay. They stood in the hall for a long moment, foreheads touching. She whispered, "Is this what you want?"

"Is it what you want?"

She answered with a confidence she was finally sure she felt, "Yes." She wrapped her arms around his neck, finally letting herself enjoy the feeling of his body against hers, his arms encircling her. "This is enough for now, right? Just…knowing?"

"Yeah."

They stepped apart as the elevator doors opened on Fin carrying four coffees. He looked them over before saying, "You coulda come with me if you didn't wanna wait for 'em."

She reached for her cup, grateful that Fin was willingly giving them an excuse for standing in the hall.

From the doorway of the squad room, Cragen cleared his throat, looking slightly bemused. "Are you drawing straws out here over who gets to tell me the bad news?"

They followed him toward the small square their desks made and Olivia watched his expression change as she told him what Warner had found.

When she had finished, he stood staring at the floor. "That's disturbing even for this squad." He paused to check his watch. "Are you three planning to go home soon?"

"I think we were all planning to stay and look into Paige's mother then catch a few in the crib." She saw Andy and Fin nod in assent.

Cragen sat down at Munch's desk. "I'll help."

Olivia hung her coat slowly and sat at her desk, allowing the heat from her coffee cup to seep into her hands as her computer warmed up. Andy sat across from her at Elliot's desk. He caught her eye and smiled. Despite the work ahead of them, she found it fairly easy to smile back.