Chapter Title: A Change of Scenery

Disclaimer: I don't own SVU...or Cold Case, for that matter.

a/n: Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. The first chappie was a bit crappy, so I've tried to make this one a bit better. Olivia might be a bit OOC, so sorry bout that.

There be Cold Case crossover here!

"What's the matter, baby?" Kathy asked Elliot, leaning over his shoulder from her side of the bed. He had been tossing and turning ever since he came to bed.

"Nothing," Elliot said, "I'm just working on a tough case at work right now."

"Okay," mumbled Kathy, falling back asleep.

In truth, Elliot was worried about Olivia. He hadn't heard from her since that day he told her that he was getting back together with Kathy. In fact, no one had, not even Cragen. It wasn't like Olivia to just disappear without telling anyone where she was going. Her apartment had been vacated when Elliot went to look for her. She wasn't answering her cell phone or responding to his emails. Olivia really didn't have any family, so it's not like she was staying with them.

As Elliot thought about his, he realized that she must have used her credit cards somewhere between New York and wherever she was. He hopped out of bed, pulled on some clothes, grabbed his gun and badge and left for the station, but not before writing a note to Kathy telling her where he was.

Although it wasn't really a missing persons case, Elliot decided to treat it like one. He used the computers at the station to look for any activity from Olivia's credit cards or bank account. She had, however, been smart enough to take a whole bunch of cash out of her account before she left, and had not used her credit cards since two days before she left. The best that Elliot could really hope for now was for her to answer her cell.

"Elliot," a voice said from the doorway, "what are you doing here this early?" It was Captain Cragen.

"Nothing..." he began. The look on Don's face was enough to tell Elliot that he didn't believe him. "I'm worried, Cap'n."

"About who, Olivia?" he asked. He, too, had been devastated by her abrupt departure. He knew that he was never going to be able to find a good replacement for her, so for now, Elliot was working with him. "She'll be fine. She's smart enough to know where there's trouble."

"I know," he said, "but it's not like her to just take off. I mean, she didn't tell anyone where she was going, did she?"

"I've got some friends in the Philly PD, and a few others in Jersey," Cragen said, "I'll ask them if they know about any new cops, see if she's working there."

"Thanks, Cap," Elliot said, feeling only slightly less worried than before.

Olivia Benson walked through the glass doors of her new station house in Philadelphia. She had taken a position in the homicide unit that specialized in cold cases. There was no way she was going to work for SVU, even if it was a different city. There would only have been painful memories for her there. She also didn't really feel like being reminded every day of what happened to her mother, which had happened when she was in special victims.

She had not been able to find an apartment on such short notice, so she was staying in a hotel. It wasn't exactly a the Ritz-Carlton, but it was enough for her.

Olivia found her way to the elevator and went up to the second floor. All eyes were on her as she made her way to the door marked "Lieutenant Tom Stillman," who would be her new boss. She rapped lightly on the door before entering.

"Hi, I'm Detective Olivia Benson," she said, extending her hand.

"And I'm Lieutenant Stillman," Tom replied, shaking her hand. "You'll be working with Detective Filiberto Ferndez. He's also a new detective. Our unit usually solves cold cases, so you shouldn't really expect to work on too many of the 'big cases.' I'll have Detective Lilly Rush show you around." He gestured to the woman beside him. She had blonde hair that was arranged in some sort of rat's nest. Olivia tried not to stare at it, but it looked too ridiculous to not do just that.

"Hi," Rush said to her, leading her towards a vacant desk in the squad room. Olivia couldn't help but notice how much nice and brighter everything was here. "You used to be NYPD, right?"

"Yeah, special victims," she replied, forcing a smile.

"Ah, the sex police," Lilly said, chuckling. "So, why'd you leave? I heard that most of those detectives are there until the day they retire."

"Well, I just wanted a new start," Olivia said, trying to keep her emotions in check. There was no reason for them to know about the Elliot fiasco.

"I see," Lilly said, nodding. She could tell right away that there was something in her past that she wasn't telling. Rush looked sympathetically at Olivia. "Here's your desk, home sweet home."

"Thanks," Olivia said, forcing another smile.

"Hey, it's almost noon, you want to go out for lunch?" Rush asked her.

"Um, sure, that would be nice," she replied, eager to break into her new department quickly.

"Okay, let me just go get my stuff, and we'll be on our way," Lilly said, walking towards her own desk, which was extremely cluttered, much like Olivia's had been in SVU.

After putting on their coats, Lilly and Olivia walked down the street to a diner that many cops went to for a bite to eat.

"So, what made you want to be a cop?" Olivia asked Lilly after a short period of awkward silence.

"I don't know. When I was younger, it just seemed like it would be a really cool job, you know?" she said. "I guess I just felt like it, and I love it now. How about you?"

"Well, some things happened..." Olivia began, shifting uncomfortably in the booth. She averted her eyes from Lilly's, and took a deep breath.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," she said, leaning across the table.

"No, no, I think it would just be easier to tell you all now, seeing as I'm going to be working with you," she said, regaining her confidence. "My mother was raped. She got pregnant and had me. The rape ruined her, though. She drank a lot when I was younger."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Lilly, unsure of what to say. "How is she now?"

"She died a few years ago," Olivia said, taking another deep breath. "She was drunk, fell down the steps for the subway and hit her head."

"Oh," Lilly said quietly. "My mom drank a lot, too. She would use all the money to buy beer. I would go days without eating anything. I would have to practically beg for scraps from other kids' lunch boxes. Eventually, I was put into foster care, but things aren't really much better there."

"I know," Olivia said. She had seen countless foster kids who had been physically or sexually abused in foster care. "I worked tons of cases with foster children. You'd think that the foster parents would actually give a damn about the kids, you know?"

"Yeah," she said, "it must be tough to be a special victims unit detective. I mean, all that abuse and molestation that you must see. I could never do it."

"It was tough," Olivia said, nodding her head, "but the worst part is, is the living, breathing victims. Their lives are ruined forever. You look into their eyes and just see them filled with pain and fear. Even the survivors can never really continue with their life. There's always that dividing line; their life before the rape and after the rape. At least here, your victims are all dead."

"I guess that is an advantage," Lilly agreed. "I can see why you would want a little change of scenery."

"Yeah," Olivia said. "So how many cases do you guys get? I mean, how do you decide which cases to reopen?" She was curious about her new job. She hadn't really done much research on it, but there had been an opening, so she took it.

Lilly explained everything to Olivia before it was time for them to head back to work. There were no cases to work that day, but they managed to entertain themselves.

Olivia took the time to get to know her new partner, Filiberto Ferndez. He had just been promoted to detective, so he had worked in Philly since he graduated the academy. Unlike Lilly, he had lived a pretty normal life, had a good relationship with his parents, and had a steady girlfriend.

"You know, I was thinking about asking you out for drinks," Filiberto whispered in Olivia's ear as they walked out of the building.

"And I was thinking about saying yes," she said back, playfully flirting with him.Take that,Elliot. I don't need you!I can get anyone I want, she thought to herself.

"Well then, let's go," he said mysteriously.

As they walked to the bar, which was only three blocks away, he put his arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear, telling her stories of his days as a security guard. He flirted with her, and she flirted back. As they entered the bar, she looked up at him and grinned, glad that she had accepted his invitation.

TBC...