They were strangers when they became partners. Nothing but last names, and unfamiliar faces. He was Stabler, Elliot to those who'd known him for a while. She was Benson. It would be a while before she would become Olivia.
Time changed everything. Days turned into weeks turned into months, and then into years. They got to know each other, inside and out. Like and dislikes, favorites and things that would be tolerated if only for the other's sake. They were partners, and then they were best friends; he was El and she was Liv and everyone who knew them knew it.
And then the sixth year came, and everything changed. His life started falling apart, and nothing she said or did could help. It was her fault, or so the rumors said, and it hurt both of them because it wasn't true and never would be. He went back into the shell he'd been in at the start of their partnership; she watched, desperate for some way, any way, to get her friend and confidante back.
The seventh year came, and things got worse. She continued to wait, to see if things would change, but they didn't. A fight in the precinct hallway convinces her that they won't. So when the case is over, she requests a new partner, and is transferred into computer crimes. And he is left with a temp, in a state of confusion, wanting nothing more than for her to come back.
And she does. They're still friends, but things are like the beginning, when they knew themselves, but not each other, and the problem is that neither of them know who he is now. It's back to the way it was before: she's Benson again, and he's Stabler.
The eighth year looms over them, and when they look across at each other, they see the changes that have thrown their partnership into disarray. They see not each other, but two different people…two strangers who must once again get to know each other.