Something new… I'm currently writing my thesis so I'm not sure how actively I'm able to update but I'll try my best.

Hope you like it!

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Olivia felt as if the walls of the courtroom had suddenly started to move around her, squeezing the room smaller, compressing the air inside so tightly that she could no longer breathe. She had to squeeze her eyes shut and clench her shaking hands into fists because she knew what was going to happen next.

It was impossible.

But it would happen regardless.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, in the case of the people versus Elliot Stabler, have you reached a verdict?"

"We have, your honour."

"What say you?"

Time seemed to stop, and Olivia was sure that if she had been able to open her eyes, she would have seen the dust particles flying around the hall solidify in place.

"On the charge of the murder of Julia Yellowstone, we find the defendant, Elliot Stabler, guilty."

Guilty.

There it was.

And there was nothing she could do.

She forced her eyes open, stood up with the last of her strength, and looked up at Elliot, who had turned his head towards her. The guards were handcuffing him, and there was a look in his blue eyes which Olivia had never seen before.

It was alarmed and desperate.

But at the same time, his face showed that he had gave up.

Tears filled her eyes as they tried to convey one last promise to him before the guards turned him towards the door.

"I promise I'll get you out."

And then the door slammed behind them, and people began to leave the courtroom. But Olivia stood still, and clutching the bench in front of her with trembling hands, her mind was completely numb except for one thought:

She had betrayed her partner.

One month earlier:

Olivia was turning over the brand new ID card in her hands. This wasn't the first time she was going to the field to work undercover, so she tried to remember her new name. The more undercover cases they had done, the more careful she had to be that she didn't accidentally use some wrong identity.

"What name should I call you?"

A voice from the table in front of her made her look up to meet the bright blue eyes watching her curiously. It seemed like her partner had been watching her for quite some time.

And Olivia couldn't help it, but it made her feel a tickling feeling inside her.

The feeling was not unfamiliar to her, not at all. Elliot had been her partner for 9 years, and she was almost used to the fact that from time to time his warm hand on her arm or his piercing gaze, which sometimes seemed to see right into her soul, made butterflies flutter in her stomach.

But in the past year, something had changed. The butterflies that had only stretched their wings before seemed to multiply without noticing, and at times Olivia felt that instead of a small flock, there was a whole colony fluttering inside her, trying to break free through her stomach. In addition to that, she felt that the tickling feeling caused by Elliot's blue eyes had recently turned into a warmth that involuntarily took over her every cell in a second.

Olivia had tried not to think about it, but the voice that kept getting louder in the back of her head hadn't left her alone. During the day, she had been able to push the voice away, but in the dark hours of the night, when she had lied sleepless in her bed, the voice had managed to break free of its chains and tell her that she should get back the control of herself before it was too late.

Work partner are not supposed to feel this way.

But competing alongside that voice there was a smaller voice that was much more familiar, much older. It was the voice that had made butterflies flutter in her stomach for the first time 9 years ago. And over the years it hadn't quieted down, on the contrary.

Elliot and Kathy's divorce had made it downright get excited.

Earlier it had been quiet and comfortable; it had brought warmth to those dark days and dark moments when the world had seemed thoroughly evil. But after Elliot and Kathy's divorce, it had become louder, more unpredictable, and at times it felt like a little child who couldn't contain his excitement.

And Olivia didn't like the feeling of not being in full control of herself and her thoughts.

"Sharon Johnson," she grimaced, and a mischievous grin spread across Elliot's face.

And that made the flame flare up again in her chest.

Damn it, Benson.

"Sharon? Seriously?" Elliot laughed, causing Olivia to throw a pen at him.

"Shut up," she glared at her partner and then focused her gaze on the ID card in his hand. "What's yours?"

"At least not Sharon," Elliot wiped his eyes. "No offense, but if your name was Sharon, I would call you Benson…"

"Okay," Olivia huffed, stood up and grabbed the card from his hand. "So I'll call you..." Her face fell. "Hey! This is not fair! Why does my name have to be Sharon if your name is Harry? Why can't your name be Chad or Donald or…"

"Something wrong with Donald?"

A sudden voice beside her caused her to close her mouth and turn her gaze in the direction of the voice.

"Hey, Cap… Nothing, it's just…"

"Liv doesn't really like her undercover name," Elliot grinned and grabbed his card back from her hand.

"So you would like your partner to have a worse name as well?" Cragen's gaze bored through Olivia, who felt herself blushing, and she scratched her forehead.

"No! It's not… I just… Um…"

"Got it," Cragen snorted and turned his back on them. Olivia gave Elliot a murderous look, but he just shrugged innocently.

"Okay, guys, listen up!" Cragen exclaimed. "Let's go through the plan one more time. With the help of our contact, Detectives Benson and Stabler will infiltrate the club tonight, whose owners are somehow connected to human trafficking. In order to succeed in the plan, they pretend to be an engaged couple, because one of the owners, Mr. Reed, according to the information we have received, has some kind of obsession with unfaithful women," he rubbed his forehead. "That's why Detective Benson plays a particularly important role. She needs to get Mr. Reed interested in herself in order to get the information we need to stop this human trafficking group."

"So Olivia is practically going to be a bait?" Fin frowned, and Olivia crossed her arms.

"I will be a bait, but I've done this before. You know that I…"

"I know you can handle this," Fin raised his hands surrendering. "But that doesn't mean I like the idea."

Olivia sighed, but suddenly felt a warm feeling inside her. It wasn't that her colleagues didn't believe in her skills, it was that they were genuinely worried about her.

"I know," she answered. "But I won't be alone."

And then, another kind of warmth spread inside her as she thought of her partner. The case was not easy, she knew that. These people were dangerous, and she had to be extra careful not to become a victim herself.

But despite that, she wasn't afraid. Elliot would be with her, and she trusted him completely.

"In the best case scenario, the plan will succeed, and all we need is tonight," Cragen continued with a sigh. "I understand your concern…" He glanced at Fin and Munch. "...but Olivia is a professional, and she knows what she's doing. She won't do anything stupid," he crossed his arms and looked at her firmly. Olivia shrugged.

"Have you ever seen me doing something stupid?" She asked, pretending to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "Me?"

Fin and Munch snorted, and Cragen shook his head with a sigh before starting to walk towards his office. But Elliot grinned at her with twinkling eyes, leaned back in his chair and said quietly:

"I bet my fiancee Sharon is the type of woman who doesn't bother wearing very covering dresses."

"You're such a pervert," Olivia snorted and lifted her hands on her face. But she couldn't stop the blush raising to her cheeks.