Disclaimer: I don't any of these characters. Just thought I'd throw that in, it's been awhile.

Lyrics from "Nothing Broken But My Heart" by Celine Dion

I've been over you for some time now baby
I don't miss your kiss like before now anymore now
If you asked me how I'm doin' I'm fine
All I needed was a little time
So if you still think that I still need you Baby
I really don't know why
Oh baby, since you left me
You might think that my world's been torn apart
But if you see me
Baby you'll see that
Nothing's broken, nothing broken but my heart

You won't find no tears in my eyes now baby
If you think I'm sad that you're gone now
Then you're wrong now
If you ask I'll say I'm happy I'm free
Tell you that's the way I wanna be
And all those nights we shared together baby
We'll they don't mean a thing

"You need to transfer."

Olivia's hand stopped on the car door. "Excuse me?" They were outside of the GMDC on Rikers Island. They were about to interview an inmate by the name of Victor Spicer who, coincidentally, shared the same name as their vic.

Elliot sighed irritably. He just could not believe he was sitting in a NYPD-issue sedan with the woman he had fallen in love with fifteen years ago. The same woman who had thrown that love away and abandoned him at a crucial part of his life. That first year after she left was torture, but he had moved on. He thought about her over the years, where she was, what she was doing, did she ever think about him, was she even alive? And now, here she was sitting next to him in a squad car, looking radiant and unaffected by it all.

"You need to transfer," he repeated, finally looking at her. "We can't be in the same unit, let alone work together. Since I was here first, you go, I stay."

Olivia struggled to come up with a defense. "I volunteered to be here…I can't very well ask for a transfer in my first week."

"Then transfer to another SVU unit somewhere else, just not here."

Olivia felt herself redden. "I belong here just as much as you do," she said through clenched teeth. "I'm a good cop Elliot."

"No you don't, and this has nothing to do with being a good cop," Elliot said, finally losing the tenuous grip he had on his temper. "I don't want you here. I don't want you as my partner. And as much as you are trying to act like nothing matters, we have history and it isn't good. We don't need extra attention, we don't need people digging into our past… I have too much too lose."

Olivia's eyes flitted to the ring on his left hand as it tightly clenched the steering wheel. She had been staring at it all week. "How long?"

"13 years," he said, his voice barely audible. "We have four children."

Olivia was taken aback. It hadn't taken him very long to get over her. Not that she blamed him. Still, it hurt. "Wow…who's the lucky lady?"

"Her name is Kathy," he said shortly.

Olivia nodded as she gazed at the imposing prison. "I thought about you…many times…wondered if you were safe…if your father-"

"Well, I didn't think about you," he snapped, lying. "Once you left, I rid myself of every thought and every memory. Now you want to come back and act like everything is fine? I don't think so."

Olivia suspected he was lying but the words still cut through her like a knife. While she had no doubt that he thought of her, how favorable those thoughts were the question. "I loved you Elliot," she said in a wobbly voice, "I had to do what I had to do to protect us, to protect you."

As far as Elliot was concerned the conversation was over. "Spicer is waiting," he said before climbing out of the car. Olivia had no choice but to follow suit. Arriving inside at the visitor's desk, they showed their credentials to the clerk on duty.

"Olivia?"

Her head snapped up. "Yes?"

Elliot's attention was focused on pinning his visitor's ID to his lapel. "I want you the hell out of the unit by the end of the week."

XXXXXXX

"Wow, Elliot," Kathy said incredulously, her hands on her hips. "That went even worse than I thought it would."

Elliot watched as his oldest daughter Maureen ran up the stairs in a cold fury. Her parents had found out that she was going to school and switching in to much more provocative clothing, clothes that Elliot and Kathy would never permit her to wear on any given day. Kathy thought a compromise was in order but Elliot was having none of it.

Elliot held up a shirt that caused even him to blush. Kathy winced, admitting to herself that the shirt really was awful. "Do you see this? I see hookers on the street with more coverage than this."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be so hard on her…don't you think a month without privileges is a little harsh?"

Kathy's lenient parenting skills irked him. "Kathy, if we don't punish her now, she's going to think she can get away with looking like Lil' Kim and that is not acceptable under any circumstances," he said, tossing the offending material on the coffee table and plopping on the couch.

"I guess it was Maureen's bad luck that she got caught during your black period," she mumbled underneath her breath.

Elliot furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? Come sit down."

Kathy crossed her arms, continuing to stand. "This…bad mood you've been in for the past week, you've been on a rampage and I'm sick of it and I'm sure the kids are too," she said slowly. "Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you?"

"Nothing."

And that's how their arguments always went. Kathy understood that his job was stressful and he was faced with the dark side of the human behavior on a daily basis. She appreciated his attempts to shield them from that life, but she couldn't help thinking it was a lose-lose situation.

She sat down beside him and took his hand. "Is it your new partner?" she asked.

"No, why would you think that?" he asked shortly.

"Because you never talk about her. Is she that bad?"

Elliot rubbed the side of his face. Kathy could see the fire in his eyes and was momentarily taken aback. What the hell did this woman do to garner such hatred from her husband?

"We don't mesh well."

Kathy could tell that was all she was going to get out of him for the moment so she let the matter drop. For now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX