A/N: Some of the last chapter and this chapter overlap…so if you notice that Alex and Olivia's conversation on the plane (for instance) is similar to last chapter, it was done purposely...for timeline. Otherwise it just didn't make sense.

Hope you like!

One tear after another rolled down Elliot's cheeks as he looked right through his hands resting in his lap. She was gone. She never wanted to hear his name again…that's what she'd said. Elliot was still sitting in the airport waiting lounge and he couldn't stop thinking about how much he'd hurt her. He hadn't meant to. God! She knows I would never do anything to purposely hurt her. She knows that.

Then a thought crossed his mind. What if what John said was true? She was running again. It's true, it did fit her personality. As soon as Olivia felt things get out of her control, in her personal life, she ran. And this situation would definitely qualify. Elliot wished silently he could tap into Olivia's mind and explain. If she knew the rest of the story…if she heard it from the beginning, she'd know why Elliot had run to Melissa. The fact still remained that Olivia never wanted to see him again…how was he going to get to her to clear up this misunderstanding? Hundreds of ideas sped through Elliot's mind. Maybe he could explain it to John or Fin, or even the captain, then they could relay the message. Surely they would hear them out? No…there was no time for that. I could give her a week or two…maybe a month, then find her in San Francisco and explain. By then she would have calmed down enough to listen to me…? Nothing made sense and nothing could give him what he wanted at that moment; Olivia in his arms.

Elliot looked up as the airport staff started to tidy up their little station. His heart sank a little more at that sight; it meant the plane was leaving. That meant Olivia was leaving. Flashes of their life together crossed his mind and he closed his eyes to see images of different cases or evenings they'd spent together talking spark in his mind. He could even see her smile and hear her laugh.

His mind focused on one case where they'd chased two perps into a warehouse and they'd split up to cover more ground. From his side of the warehouse, Elliot had heard a struggle between his partner and the perp she'd been chasing. He had rushed to find her, but before he did, he'd heard Olivia grunt and then a gun shot. When he'd arrived at her side, she was cupping the back of her head with one hand and her other hand was still yielding her gun, with which she'd shot and killed the suspect.

He remembered calling the paramedics and cradling her despite her protests of being 'fine'. He'd promised her then that he'd never leave her. And now that's what he was doing; even if it was at her own request. Elliot sank in his chair at that thought. He'd failed her. Despite his melancholy, Elliot's inner voice still held a glimmer of hope. He heard himself think, but she's not gone yet… His head turned toward the window, then the door where she'd disappeared. The staff seemed to be preoccupied listening to the story one of them was rattling on about. Elliot could care less what they were talking about, so long as they didn't look his way. In a split second, he decided to put all his years of stealth detective skills to the test.

"Alex…what are you doing here?" Olivia asked, confused at seeing her friend on board.

"I'm going to San Francisco with you to help you get settled." She replied mysteriously. Olivia didn't buy it.

"Are you sure you don't have a mischievous plan up your sleeve?"

"Nope! Just a friend being there for another friend." She reassured. "But I am going to try to convince you one more time. I really think you should talk to Elliot and let him…" she stopped talking as Olivia gave her a menacing glare.

"I know you mean well Alex, but I can't. I can't face him." Alex nodded, solemnly. She didn't think it would require much more convincing on her part. She simply thought Olivia needed a little push in the right direction. Alex's plan was to talk to Olivia about the situation, maybe give her a little insight into it all from what Fin had told her of Elliot's side of the story. Then when Elliot came looking for her (which she knew he eventually would), she'd be there to be Olivia's voice of reason.

"Ok then…do you think you could read a letter if he sent you one, or an email?" she suggested. She'd have to tell Elliot to write one but hey, it could work.

"Alex, please. I really don't want to talk about this now. I just want to sleep the whole way there and then find my new place and sleep some more." She emphasized her point by resting her head on the headrest and closing her eyes.

"Ok. Sure. But I'll be here if you want to talk." Alex offered. She was worried about Olivia but didn't want to push too much otherwise she might shut her out too.

Elliot scanned the faces quickly and found her sitting in her seat at the back of the plane, her eyes closed and her head leaning back on the headrest. While making his way to her, he tried to think of what he would say. Nothing came to him…and he'd arrived to his destination. He'd made it this far…this is what he wanted, if nothing else, at least a chance to explain. And here he was standing next to her staring at her, he finally had the chance and he couldn't think of what to say. In his frantic mental search for the perfect words that would heal all wounds, he didn't even notice the blond woman sitting next to Olivia.

Alex had gotten comfortable in her seat and had pulled out her book. After a few minutes, she came to the conclusion that trying to read amidst the noise around her was futile so she put her book down and decided to follow Olivia's lead by tilting her head back. Before she shut her eyes, she noticed Elliot marching up the aisle toward them. I guess my plan will have to come to fruition earlier than I thought. she thought.

Elliot stood there for a while, looking like a fish out of water. He shut his eyes tightly and when he opened them, his mouth opened too and what came out was, "Olivia, enough of this!" Where'd that come from? he chided himself. Oh well, can't stop now… he thought as he saw Olivia's eyes spring open, first in shock, then suddenly, frustration and soon, anger…again. She opened her mouth to speak but Elliot didn't let her.

"I know what you're doing…" This got her attention. "You're running again. You're running because I hurt you. I know I did and I'm sorry, but I promised you a long time ago that I would never leave you and if I had to sneak on this plane to stay with you and have you let me explain…well I've done it because I'm not letting you go. Please give me a chance, Liv. We've been together for six years, that's got to count for something…I promise you, if you let me clear this up you'll realize that this situation has been blown way out of proportion." He stopped talking and waited for some kind of answer from her. Some sign that she would listen to him if he continued.

Luckily, she replied, "You have 10 minutes."

Here goes nothing… he thought and decided to give her only the necessary details and save the more exhausting explanation for later.

"Ok…When I was seven, Melissa's family moved next door to us. We started walking to school together and pretty soon we became friends. When the school bullies started to pick on her, I stood up for her. When she was 12, I was 13, her mother died and her dad started abusing her, physically and sexually. I didn't know, at first, but a few years later we were up in her room studying for a history test and her dad came in drunk and furious, for some reason. He hit her, Liv, right in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. Mel made me promise not to tell anyone and being only 16, I did as she asked." Elliot took a slow breath, gathering his thoughts and noticing that Olivia was listening to him. He took that as a good sign and continued.

"When I was 17, she came to me one day and told me she was pregnant and didn't know what to do. When I asked her who the father was, she started crying then she told me she'd been raped and she was scared what her father would do when he found out she'd gotten 'knocked up' out of wedlock. I reassured her I'd be there when she told him and wouldn't let him hurt her. That afternoon we sat on the couch in her living room waiting for her dad to come home from work. At least, directly from work he shouldn't be drunk and he wouldn't get as mad. Well, that plan backfired. Mel told him she was pregnant and he slapped her across the face. I stepped in at that moment but he turned and stomped upstairs. Not long after he'd gone, he came back down with a gun in his hand and aimed it at Mel's stomach…assumingly wanting to kill the baby, or Mel…or both." A single tear dripped down to Elliot's chin as he recalled the past events and he swiped at it before going on with his story.

"I didn't think…I just dove at her and we tumbled backward and ended up crashing through the front window. When we landed, I got up, picked her up and ran. I ran two streets before hiding between two houses. When I put her down, she was crying. She told me she was afraid because, even though we'd gotten away from him once, she was convinced he'd keep coming after her. He was a firm believer in that having a baby out of wedlock was a sin and that in his eyes she'd never be anything other than a sinner. So I did the only thing I could think of. I proposed to her. That way she'd be safe and her father couldn't complain since she'd be married before the baby was born. She agreed, hence me telling you she was my ex-fiancee. However, three weeks later her father died of a heart attack and we mutually agreed to call off our engagement since it was no longer a necessity. A few months later, I met Kathy and we got married the following year. Mel lost the child she was carrying; she had a miscarriage due to stress and life-long emotional trauma. That's what happened years ago and on top of all that now her kid gets kidnapped…I guess I just feel bad for her. She will always be one of my closest friends, Liv, she's like a sister to me, and although I hate seeing anything like this happen to my loved ones, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I don't know what else to say…I'm sorry." Elliot stopped talking and took a breath, returning his focus to the woman in front of him and out of his memories. That's when he noticed that Olivia had been listening to him attentively and had also been crying. His first reaction was to take her in his arms and hold her, but not knowing how she'd react, he pulled his hand back and stood there dumbly, wondering what to do. A few minutes had gone by since he'd stopped talking but Olivia still hadn't said a word.

"Liv…" he started but it was Olivia's turn to cut him off.

"Elliot…" he caught his breath, waiting for her to continue. "Your ten minutes are up." She said and looked down solemnly into her lap. Elliot's mouth dropped open and he let out the breath he'd been holding like he'd been punched in the gut. He searched frantically for something to say, to keep talking in hopes that she'd keep listening but it was in vain. He saw teardrops fall from the tip of Olivia's nose and her chin; she was crying openly now, like she had no strength left to hide it.

Suddenly a flight attendant tapped Elliot on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me sir, but you'll have to take your seat, the plane will be leaving soon."

Elliot remembered he was on a plane that he had no right to be on and it was about to take off. "I don't have a seat." He replied.

"You mean you don't have a ticket?" He shook his head in response.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to get off the plane." The flight attendant, a petite and perceptive woman in her mid-thirties, had seen the exchange between the two detectives and kindly didn't push Elliot to leave immediately.

Elliot looked down at Olivia, who by now was shaking uncontrollably. He didn't know what to do. He knew he couldn't stay but he didn't want to leave her either. He looked at her for some sign of what to do next, but she didn't dare look back at him. She'd made it pretty clear…she no longer wanted him in her life. He closed his eyes in defeat and turned toward the door he'd not so long ago rushed through with all the hope in the world. He was now facing a life without Olivia and that crushed him. He slowly, painfully started to walk back the way he'd come and noticed that many of the other passengers were staring at him pitifully. He hadn't realized that he'd had an audience. He heard hushed mumbling behind him, but didn't pay attention to it. He'd just poured his heart out to Olivia in front of dozens of people but he didn't care. His heart died when he told himself that everything regarding Olivia was a thing of the past now.

When he'd reached the door he turned back for one last look at the woman he loved and noticed that her facial expression had completely changed. It was one of resolution; one of satisfaction…almost happiness. Yes, she almost looked at peace…at peace? How can she…? Elliot stared back in confusion until he saw she was looking directly at him.

"El, wait…!" The fear and anguish he was feeling suddenly melted away as her smile pierced through the tearful mask, instantly warming his heart again.

"Liv…" When Elliot saw her get up from her seat he quickly made his way back to her. They collided in a fierce hug, all the passion and anguish of the past day freeing itself from them. They held on to each other, not wanting to let the other one go; each squeezing tighter and re-gripping so as to get closer; if it was even possible. Elliot pushed his hand through Olivia's silky hair and held her head to his chest lovingly. Tears were running like open faucets down both faces and many of the passengers' too, Elliot remarked.

"Liv, I love you so much. I've loved you for the past five years."

At this, Olivia pulled back from his embrace but didn't totally break contact, and looked into his clear blue eyes. She didn't say anything for a long while. She seemed to be searching; trying to find something in his eyes that would tell her otherwise…the ever-so-slight bit of skepticism still present in her. Elliot knew what she was doing and he would let her search all she wanted. She wasn't going to find anything but love. Finally, something changed in the way she looked at him. The spark, the happiness, was shining through her eyes once again. A slow smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before spreading into its wide, beautiful form that Elliot knew so well. He beamed back at her and accepted her kiss when she planted her lips on his.

The kiss was tender and sweet. A little tentative at first, but the old confidence came back two-fold and they wrapped their arms around each other passionately as the kiss deepened. Olivia's heart constricted lovingly as he held her close and pushed his tongue into her mouth gently; wanting to taste her. She gladly allowed him entry and twirled her tongue around his slowly. She couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips. This seemed to excite Elliot even more and his hand slid up her back into her hair. He felt her nails lightly scratch his back through his shirt and this made him release his own low moan. They both smiled against each other, taking the opportunity to replenish their air supply. That's when they were made aware of the cheering passengers. They had witnessed the whole thing. For them, it had been like a live taping of a day-time soap opera…but neither 'star' cared.

"I love you too, El." She whispered.

"I'm sorry but you really need to get off the plane now or you'll delay the flight." A voice behind Olivia was heard. Elliot looked over Olivia's shoulder, smiled and nodded at the flight attendant who had been escorting him off the plane earlier. That's when he noticed someone else standing there. Someone who he recognized and who was also all tears and smiles.

"Alex?"

"Couldn't very well let her leave now could I?" Said the blond ADA.

'Thank you' he mouthed silently and grabbed the bag she was handing him. Olivia's travel bag. Olivia turned around and smiled at her friend; laughing when she noticed how the two were conspiring to get her off the plane… All three thanked the flight attendant for her patience and hurried off the aircraft and back to their awaiting lives.

TBC…maybe…Please review to let me know if I should continue...and maybe some ideas would help.