A/N: This is a long chapter… so brace yourself! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: It's weird. I mean, I log all of this time into my fanfictions and I still haven't been offered a deal to own them. Even when I said I would settle just for Chris. For some reason, they seemed even more opposed to me owning him than the whole show. So, no, they are still not mine, but I still like playing with them!

Olivia stepped out of the car, pulling her jacket tighter around her to fight against the biting cold air coming off the ocean. Elliot quickly got out after her and jogged across the pavement. "All the boats are in dry storage right now." Olivia yelled over the rising wind.

"What are we looking for?" Elliot called out, taking her elbow.

"Anything out of the ordinary." Olivia replied, her voice nearly overwhelmed by the gusting winds. She reached out, her hand struggling to find the handle to the door of the Coast Guard's dry slip. Jamming the key into it, Olivia listened in relief as the door clicked and slid open. The silence of the building was unnerving. She turned as Elliot finished clicking the door back shut. As soon as he had locked it, Olivia hurried forward to the boat at the far end, shrink-wrapped and winterized. Along the exposed edge of the hull read 'Coast Guard NY0010'. Olivia swallowed slightly and gave the slick fiberglass a pat before heading to the back. Elliot stepped behind her, watching as she climbed the ladder onto the back deck of the boat. Olivia seized the edge of the plastic, jerking on it until it came loose. Tossing back the flap she turned and said, "Alright, here goes. Come on Elliot."

Olivia heaved a sigh of relief as she and Elliot finished their sweep of the boat, finding absolutely nothing. Not that she had expected to, but what Darby said had bothered her. With a slight grin she thought of how displeased Dom would be to discover that she had disturbed his so carefully winterized boat. "Why exactly did you feel so motivated to come here?" Elliot asked, stepping up behind her.

Olivia paused. "I wanted to be sure my judgment was still okay."

Elliot looked at her in confusion. "Why would it be bad?"

"It's just something that Darby said… look, thanks for coming. You didn't have to." Olivia replied, running a hand through her hair. Elliot reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. She felt an unexpected warmth rise in her cheeks and quickly looked away. As she did so, she caught sight of a door swinging slightly ajar. "Elliot, did you go through this?"

"Ya… the door wouldn't shut though." Elliot answered, following her over and eying it. Olivia jiggled the handle slightly, quickly discovering that it had been broken. She bit her lip, now quite sure the sense of disquiet she felt had sound backing.

"That's odd. I know it wasn't broken before. Come on, let's get out of here." Olivia said, standing quickly and heading for the cabin door. Elliot jogged after her and deftly jumped up onto main deck. As they headed out, Olivia gave the boat one last gaze and said, "I'll meet you at the car. I just have to check something." With that she hurried back the other direction. She bent over the prop of the boat and tugged gently. It slipped down a couple inches. Olivia pulled harder and it fell off completely. The pins holding it on had been filed down- it would have stayed on just long enough and then dropped off, leaving the boat stranded. She pushed it back on, making a mental note to tell Dom as quickly as possible. Then she scooted back out to the main door, which was open from Elliot's exit.

"Olivia! Don't come out!" yelled Elliot just as she stepped outside the building. She glanced over just in time. A thick boat paddle swung dangerously close to her stomach and she leapt back into the building. Elliot was lying on his side with a man tightly binding his wrists with dock lines behind his back. His look sent the clear message- do not try to save me.

"Okay little missy, lets not fight. I won't hurt you, I promise." The man with the paddle said, stepping closer. Olivia felt her hand slip to her gun, but as she did so, the man holding Elliot tossed the free end of the dock line around his neck. She immediately held her hands up, glancing behind her. The soft glint of light reflecting off the inner window made her freeze for a second. "Good girl. Now come over here."

"You can do whatever you like with me, just promise that you won't hurt my partner."

"Tell you what, after we finish with you, we will let him go."

"You're lying." Olivia said, taking several steps backward. Her back bumped against the wall. She turned and seized an extra prop lying on top of a crate, throwing it through the glass window. Immediately every single light in the marina went on and the alarm system sounded so loudly that the floor vibrated. The man leapt forward in rage, pinning her against the chilly metal wall.

"You stupid bitch!" he exclaimed, tightening a hand around her throat. Olivia quickly slowed her struggling, looking over his shoulder the see the other man stepping up behind him.

"Anthony, settle down. Give her to me." He said, stepping towards them.

Anthony reluctantly let her go and the other man pressed up against her. "I am really sorry about this. If only you wouldn't have come here tonight. But since you are, my employer demands that I finish the job that Weathers failed in."

Olivia gripped the side of her gun, slowly drawing it out. The man didn't appear to be paying any attention as he covered her nose and mouth with one hand and placed his other over her throat. She clicked the safety off and pressed it hard against his abdomen. He glanced down and suddenly released her throat. "Don't move or I will kill you." Olivia hissed, pointing the gun at his forehead and with one hand cuffing him to a water pipe. She then saw that Anthony had run back outside. With a sharp intake of breath she sprinted out after him. He had grabbed up that paddle again. Just before he sent it crushing down on her partner's back, she fired. He fell backwards, clutching his shoulder. As she stepped over they both heard sirens from the marina security getting closer and closer. "He said you weren't going to be a problem!" shrieked Anthony, "We were going to catch you on your way home from work and he said you wouldn't be able to fight back!"

"Surprise." answered Olivia, and then she hurried back over to Elliot.

He was staring at her in utter shock. "You didn't have to do that. You could have gotten hurt."

Olivia lightly touched his shoulder. "I'll always have your back. Now what did you hurt?"

"Nothing." Elliot lied quickly, scrambling to try to sit up. Olivia cut the dock lines off his wrists and he immediately reached down and touched his ankle. "I guess my ankle is a little sore."

"Well come on, I'll help you up." Olivia replied, reaching out a hand as the red and blue lights from the security cars gleamed against her face. Elliot took her hand and slowly managed to stand. Olivia wrapped her arm around his waist and looked over as the security guards raced over to them.

"Are you two okay? The police are on their way."

"I'm okay. My partner's hurt though. I had to shoot the perp over there, and there's one more inside cuffed to the water pipe." Olivia quickly explained.

When they finally arrived back at Olivia's apartment, it was nearly one in the morning. Statements had taken a long time and they had to wait around to see what happened with the guy Olivia shot. It looked like he would be ok, which was good, because they definitely needed to talk to him about just who had hired them. When they had found the guys car it had been filled with stolen prescription drugs. This case was getting stranger and stranger.

"Hold still Elliot! Or do you want to go to the ER?" Olivia asked as she attempted to Ace bandage an ice pack to Elliot's ankle. He reluctantly held it still as she fastened the clasps and then slowly sat up. Olivia smiled gently at him and said, "It was pretty swollen and bruised, no wonder you couldn't walk. I still think maybe you should go to the Doctors."

"No thanks." Elliot replied, "It's not that bad."

Olivia rolled her eyes and said, "You men are all alike, you know that?" She reached out and gently touched his back, where he had initially been struck by Anthony. "I better take a look at that too." Elliot nodded and pulled his shirt over his head. Olivia awkwardly stepped around to straddle his hips, looking over his shoulder to examine the bruising. Her fingers lightly traced over his shoulder blade and she said softly, "I think you'll be okay." Quite suddenly she felt him wrap his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. Olivia pressed her face against his chest, breathing in the scent of him. He gently slid his hands up and down her back, tracing against the exposed skin where her shirt had ridden up.

Slowly she placed a kiss on his jaw and then his neck. Elliot then turned his head slightly and she kissed him firmly on the mouth. He carefully pushed them down so that she was on her back and then moved his lips down to her collarbone. As he stroked his hand against her neck, his fingers suddenly came into contact with a necklace on a fine gold chain. The reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks and he pulled away. Elliot kept the back of his hand flat against her chest as he examined the small pendant.

"We can't do this, Olivia."

"Why not? I want to get better, Elliot. I am not going to be a victim the rest of my life." Olivia replied, looking up at him.

"No, it's not that. Olivia… you've got a baby on the way and with work we just can't. And…"

"And what?" Olivia asked.

Elliot lightly pressed the pendant to her chest, and Olivia looked up at him. "The Coast Guard symbol. You don't love me."

"I don't love him. Elliot, you have to believe me, he is just my friend." Olivia said, shutting her eyes to prevent tears from slipping down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry Olivia. It just isn't going to work." Elliot said quietly, tracing a hand down her cheek.

"Okay." Olivia replied, slowly sitting up. "I guess you're right. It could get weird at work. We'd never be free of Munch's teasing."

Elliot laughed and said, "That's for sure. Thanks for looking at my ankle, though."

Olivia smiled back. "No problem."

Elliot nodded slowly. "Well I better head out."

"No… you can sleep on the couch. Get some rest."

"Ok. Thanks." Elliot answered, watching as she got up to go get some blankets. Mentally he attempted to reassure himself that she had done the right thing. But for some reason, it was proving difficult.

4 Months Later…

"Hey baby! How are you?" exclaimed Dom, wrapping his arms around Olivia. She smiled as she hugged him back tightly. He placed a kiss on her cheek as she started to pull away and took her hands.

"I'm fine." Olivia replied with a smile. "And so is the baby."

"Next week, huh? I am so excited." Dom said, grinning widely. "He is going to be adorable."

Olivia raised an eyebrow as she noticed his hair. The choppy blonde layers were now replaced with auburn ones highlighted with caramel. "What did you do to your hair?"

Dom smirked. "Oh, Natalie came out last month on her vacation and wanted to try this on her hair. But she decided that I made a better guinea pig. You like it?"

"I do. Looks very cute. It was very nice of you to let her experiment on you." Olivia answered, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"It was no big deal. Plus the blonde reminded me too much of my dad anyway." Dom said, jerking on the handle of his suitcase to drag it along behind him. "You want to come over to my place for a while?"

"Sure." Olivia replied.

"Guess what I am going to be doing this spring…"

Olivia's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "You got the job!"

"Naturally. I am teaching a group of eight cops how to boat. Four are going to just be basic training for their brief undercover stints, while the others are going to be the lead team and the back up team." Dom said, smiling from ear to ear, "I can't wait to rub it in Darby's face. After he went through all that effort to make sure I didn't get it."

Later that evening, Olivia leaned back against the wall, idly watching as Dom expertly sent the eight ball rolling across the table and into a pocket. He grinned at her and said, "I win again. Come on Olivia, you still have like four balls on the table. Didn't I teach you better?"

Olivia rolled her eyes as he went about picking out all the balls from the pockets, setting them carefully into the triangle. "You try playing pool when you are pregnant."

Dom winced and said, "Okay, well you can break this time."

She slowly walked over, leaning down and carefully making her shot. Olivia exclaimed happily when the dark green ball plopped instantly into the side pocket. Dom watched as she made a second shot, missing narrowly. "Okay, you need to relax your hand more. You are gripping way too tightly." Dom said, stepping over and taking his shot. "See?" Olivia nodded, though she didn't seem to be paying attention. "Olivia?"

"Do you think I sleep around?" Olivia asked, focusing on chalking up the end of her cue.

Dom looked at her in surprise. "No. As far as I know, you've only slept with that guy at the party."

"Yes, but it's a lot different considering who he was."

"Olivia, it wasn't your fault. You didn't really want to."

"But I never told him no, either."

Dom slowly walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It would have been hard too, considering who he was." He said, quoting her earlier words. "You guys were gone a maximum of a half hour. It was nothing more than a quickie, in his opinion."

"But it's not just that. When I was living with Elliot, I really liked him. A lot. We never slept together, I just couldn't after what happened, at least for a while. But when he found out that I was pregnant, it was like all the times I had kissed him made me seem like a slut. He never said anything, but how would you feel if you had been making out with some girl and then find out that she's carrying another man's baby? Wouldn't it change how you felt about them?"

"I suppose it would depend on how I felt about them before. If I loved them, it probably wouldn't matter as much."

"As much?"

"Well, I am not going to lie Olivia. It is an extremely awkward position to be in. But, like I said, if I thought that they slept around constantly then I probably would be upset. However, if they were someone like you, who made one mistake, I wouldn't be." Dom said, his blue eyes fierce. Olivia suddenly noted the ring on his left hand.

"Oh my God, you're getting married!" she shrieked, "This is amazing! Congratulations!"

Dom grinned, "Thanks. Surprising I know. I know when you first met me I was big time bachelor."

"That's the truth." Olivia answered with a slight smile.

"And I bet you thought I was a major playboy as well."

Olivia looked at him in surprise, "Well you certainly didn't hold onto relationships very long." She replied evasively.

"Oh admit it. You couldn't stand me."

"I could stand you, just not for long periods of time." Olivia answered, and Dom laughed.

"See, you could have hated me for the relationships I had, but you didn't. It's the same thing with you. People who care about you aren't going to be so quick to judge." Dom said logically.

"I guess so."

"Come on, Liv. My father's a murderer. I don't blame people for the assumptions they make. But your situation isn't your fault."

"Neither is yours. You didn't kill your mother Dominic." Olivia said, taking his arm.

"And you didn't ask for your mother to be raped anymore than you asked for the asshole to have sex with you. How do you expect me to believe what you tell me about blood not mattering when you don't believe it yourself?" Olivia pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and didn't answer. "Not that it's bad advice. But I still can't forget the night that we met."

Olivia looked up at him. "That wasn't your fault. You didn't hurt me."

"But I could have. I wasn't thinking straight. I had you pinned by your wrists on the pavement."

"Yes, and then you let me go."

"But I shouldn't have held you in the first place. You were so sweet about it too- just talked to me until I released you and then put the cuffs on so gently while the EMT's gave me that sedative."

"Dom, don't worry about it. You didn't hurt me, alright?"

"Okay then, let's compromise. If I didn't hurt you, then you stop blaming yourself for what happened."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "That's it? Wow, I thought you were going to ask me to do something hard." She said sarcastically.

"It isn't hard because it wasn't your fault. Promise me."

"I promise." Olivia replied softly.

The next morning at work, Elliot noticed that Olivia was absent. "Hey, does anybody know where Olivia is?" he asked loudly, and Cragen who happened to be walking by answered him.

"I don't know. She hasn't called in sick."

"Okay." Elliot replied, biting his lip. He picked up his cell and gave her a call, hoping that she'd pick up. When she didn't, he felt a strange jolt in his stomach. The next couple hours passed with ungodly speed. At just about noon, he received an unexpected visitor. "Natalie… are you okay?" he asked.

It was evident that she had just been pulled out of work, judging by her long sleeved shirt and pants that were standard FDNY issue. "I'm okay. Look, I promised Dominic that if anything happened to him, I'd give you this." She said simply, handing him a letter of some sort.

"What happened?" Elliot exclaimed, glancing at the letter.

"Just read it." Natalie told him, and Elliot reluctantly opened it.

"Dominic, I think you have had a bit too much to drink!" exclaimed Olivia with a laugh as I pulled her closer.

"Nope. I am doing just fine. Thanks for inviting me." I muttered into her ear, and Olivia shuddered as the cold beer in my hand pressed against her back. "You're the best, Liv."

"Your welcome." Olivia replied, playfully giving me a kiss on the cheek. I grinned and kissed her neck. She was quite surprised but didn't make any effort to stop it until I migrated to her collarbone. "Dom…" she said gently, pressing her hand against my chest.

"Sorry." I replied, and then planted a very firm kiss on her lips. In hindsight, perhaps alcohol does have a stronger effect on me than I like to admit. After all, Olivia and I didn't usually kiss except when we are goofing around. After a moment I pulled away. Olivia glared teasingly at me and gave me a shove.

"Mr. Liechtenstein, keep your wits about you." She said, "I am going to get a drink, I'll get you a water or something non alcoholic."

"Okay." I answered, giving her a gentle hug. She seemed rather surprised by my sudden display of affection. With a slight smile she walked off towards the bar. I shook my head a little to clear it, attempting to determine what had gotten into me. I love Olivia- as a friend. A best friend.

I watched her go and then felt someone grab my shoulder. "Dom! You up for a challenge?"

I turned to see one of my friends standing with a young woman in tow. "Sure. What's up?" I asked, looking at the beautiful girl at his side.

"This is Natalie. She's a little shy so I thought I'd just bring her over to you." He said, slapping me on the shoulder. Natalie flushed and looked quite ready to run off. I gave her an encouraging smile before saying, "I see you've met Garrett. He's… interesting."

"Yes, he tells me you've had six girlfriends in the past two months. That's interesting too. Also, I just wanted you to know, I had no interest in meeting you, he forced me to come over." Natalie said, raising her chin so that her blonde wavy hair fell away from her face.

Ouch. That hurts. Unfortunately it's true.

I was so surprised I didn't even know what to say for a moment. I gave an awkward laugh and glanced over to find Olivia. "Looking for your girlfriend?" Natalie questioned, never losing the look of disgust on her face.

I sighed and shook my head, "Nope, she's just my best friend." That's the truth. I turned back after finding Olivia just getting our drinks, and sure enough she had gathered me up a Pepsi. Natalie just stood there, looking absolutely disinterested in me. I then noticed a small dangling emblem on her bracelet and asked, "You into horses? That's the symbol for the Oldenburg breed, isn't it?"

Natalie looked very impressed and said, "Yes, it is. How'd you know that?"

I smirked, finally regaining some of my damaged pride. "Oh, my mom was way into horses. She had a Holsteiner mare."

When I looked back over, some guy had Olivia by the elbow. My eyes widened as I figured out who it was and was about to head over when Natalie asked, "Had?"

"Ya, she got killed a few years ago. But I couldn't bring myself to sell her horse, so I pay the board and go out and ride about once a week. My riding skills are limited though, so we mostly just walk around while everyone else around us is jumping five foot fences. Maybe you could come ride her sometime, she's a great horse." I said, and Natalie actually smiled.

"I'd like that."

"Me too. Could you hold on?" I said distractedly, and with that I pushed through the throng of people towards the bar. But by the time I got there, she was gone. I gritted my teeth and flopped down on a stool. I couldn't decide what to do. Normally I don't suffer from a great deal of indecision, but you have to understand, this was a complicated situation. And so, I made perhaps the biggest mistake of my life. I placated myself by deciding they were off talking about work and sucked down my Pepsi.

After about a half hour I felt a hand lightly touch my shoulder. "Olivia!" I exclaimed, jumping up and taking her in my arms. Olivia gripped my shirt tightly, her face pressed against my chest as her sides heaved in rapid breaths. "Are you okay?" I asked, wanting to kill myself right then and there for sitting around and doing nothing. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head comfortingly.

"Ya, I'm fine. I want to go home though." Olivia replied, looking up at me, her eyes dull and stunned.

"Smile for the camera. This really is adorable."

I turned and glared, but was careful to keep supporting Olivia. "Darby. You bastard."

"You see Dominic, you may think that you are better than I am, but you're wrong. There's one person you haven't slept with, and I have."

"So this is about me?" I asked, fury and guilt making a toxic combination in my gut.

"Pretty much, ya." Darby replied with a smile.

I had always had a good deal of common sense- after all, you need it to be a good boater. However, it abandoned me in that moment. I don't think I have ever been that angry in my life. In retrospection, maybe it wasn't such a brilliant idea to start a fight with a cop who had twenty plus years of experience, but I don't regret it.

I lunged forward, Olivia nearly falling over from the sudden movement, and landed a very good punch to Darby's smirking face. Darby was caught completely off guard and collapsed flat on his back. I was about ready to step away when Darby grabbed my knee and yanked me down, landing a solid blow to my abdomen. It was several minutes before people were able to pry us apart, and as they did so Darby shrieked, "I am filing assault charges!"

"You go right ahead and do that! I am sure all your coworkers will be very impressed that you were assaulted by a guy who drives boats around for a living. Aren't you supposed to be a cop?" I bellowed back, starting to fight against my holder until I realized it was Olivia. Immediately I settled down, though adrenaline was still racing through my system.

Darby glared at me and yelled back, "I am a cop!"

"Oh well thanks for clarifying that. It's just that I wasn't sure because the 'New York's Finest' title sure as Hell doesn't apply to you!" I screamed as loud as I could, and many people started looking my direction. With that Darby turned and raced out of the building, limping slightly from where I had kicked his shin. Olivia slowly released me, keeping her hand on the small of my back. Natalie had stepped over from the corner and caught my eye. I wasn't in the mood for explanations and so put my arm around Olivia's shoulders. "Come on Olivia, we are going to talk about this at my place."

Olivia didn't say a word until the cab dropped us off at my apartment. After I opened the door she headed straight for the couch and mumbled, "You didn't have to do that for me."

"Oh yes I did. The asshole deserved it. What the hell happened?" I exclaimed, plopping down besideher.

"I was getting us drinks… and then I saw Darby. He grabbed my wrist and said he needed to talk about something going on at work. So I followed him into a back bedroom… then he kissed me. I couldn't respond fast enough and before I knew it he had my dress off. What was I supposed to do?" Olivia asked me hopelessly, shutting her eyes to hold back tears.

"Did you tell him no?" I inquired, eying her intently.

"No. I didn't." Olivia muttered.

"Well, he had no right to do that to you no matter what you did or didn't say. He knew you were drinking."

"I wasn't drunk!" exclaimed Olivia, attempting to wrench free of my grasp.

I took her shoulders tighter and said, "I know that, Liv. It's not your fault." Then I was struck by a sudden realization. "Did he use a condom?"

Olivia's eyes widened and she bit her lip while shaking her head. I put an arm around her waist and she leaned up against me, after a moment asking, "What should I do?"

And for once, I felt I could offer no sound advice and simply said, "It's your decision, Olivia. I don't think you can go wrong."

And so there it is. Just in case anything happens to me, which it likely did since you are reading this, the father's name is Lieutenant James Tyler Darby of the New York City Police Department.

Elliot just about dropped the letter and stared at Natalie. She paused a moment and then said, "There's something I should tell you about Olivia…"

"Where is she?" Elliot asked, "Is she okay?"