"You haven't told Cragen yet, have you?" he asked, and though the subject hadn't been touched upon for more than a month, she immediately knew what he was referring to.

"If either of us do, we can't be partners. We're good as partners." She added the second bit, almost to reassure herself, he thought.

He nodded. "Best partners I've ever seen." He lifted his newspaper again, continuing to read.

"Jealous?"

Still holding the newspaper up, he said, "Me? Never. Me and my buddy Fin are workin' out just fine, thank you."

She laughed a little. "No way is John Munch jealous."

"You're right, no way. I'm not jealous."

"And he's in denial." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"Again, wrong. And you call yourself a detective."

"Yes, I do. A damned good one if I do say so myself."

"Oh, you do now? That's interesting." The paper was still held in front of his face, but not for long. Olivia stood up and pulled the paper down, meeting no resistance.

"Yes, I do," she said to his face.

He couldn't help but look straight into her still smiling eyes. There were times when he needed his tinted glasses, and if this wasn't one of them, he didn't know what was. To his surprise, he found himself whispering, "Well, you are."

"Thank you." She released her hold on his paper, but he made no move to return it to it's prior position as she sat back down at her desk. A few minutes later, she glanced over at him. "You okay?" He hadn't moved since she had returned to her seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he repeated.

She wasn't convinced. "Did that bother you just now? I didn't mean-"

"I'm fine," he said again, more forcefully.

She held up a hand. "All right."

Returning to her work, he lifted up his paper, but couldn't concentrate as he had before. Bringing it down again, he asked, "How is it that you two can sleep together, then wake up and go to work together? Don't you ever get sick of each other?"

Putting down her pen, she looked up slowly. "I'm not sure I know how to answer that. Where'd that come from, anyway? Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He threw his paper on his desk and stood up, leaving the squad room.

"John?" she called out tentatively, holding the door open with one hand. He didn't answer her. "John?" she called again, letting the door fall shut behind her. Walking over, she noticed his dark figure standing farther down than usual, around the corner of the stairway entrance. "I'm not entirely sure what happened up there, but whatever I did, I'm sorry that I upset you."

He looked down at the street below. Quietly, he repeated, "I told you, I'm fine."

She stood next to him, following where she imagined his gaze to be. It was hard to tell in the dark, especially with his glasses on. There had been a time when if she stood in the right spot, she could she past his slightly tinted lenses, but the past few years, especially the last, she hadn't been able to do that. "You know, once we stood on this roof and when I asked you what was wrong, you told me. You told me all about your neighbor from the lower east side. I remember the whole story, though I suppose you really wouldn't want me to repeat it. You really felt for Emily McKenna, and that night I found out why. Why can't we do that again? Why can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he insisted quietly.

"Even when we first met, if you had said that, I wouldn't have believed you. I've always been able to sense when you're not doing so great, I don't know why or how, but I have. And I have a feeling you can do the same with me. Perhaps it's because of that that we became friends, or maybe it was just because we're in this unit together. I don't know. But I do know that this friendship has always been as important as the one I share with Elliot. Do you know why? Because you were always there when Elliot wasn't. Didn't matter what happened, you were there. And you didn't push like Elliot, you didn't forgive me like Cragen, you didn't hold an airy indifference like Fin, you just cared and you let me come to you on my own. That's why, and I love you for that. I always have. You have to understand that, John. If you don't, I don't know what's gonna happen between us, but I have a feeling that it won't be anything that I'll cherish."