A/N: YAY! Last chapter is finally done, and I have officially completed my first chapter fic:rolleyes:. LSM, bored, this one is for you, as usual...thanks for poking me to get it done.


Even despite the conversation she had with Elliot, she doesn't see Munch until they all return to the squad room on Monday. And even then, when he sees her, he leaves, muttering something about leaving a file somewhere. But she knows better, and so do the other two, but none of them go after him. When he doesn't come back, however, Elliot pushes at Olivia's feet beneath their desks.

"What?" she asks. He gives her a look, motioning to the empty desk across the room.

"You're not going to go after him?" he asks in reply. She stares at him.

"You're the last one I'd have thought would ask me that," she says. He rolls his eyes.

"Thought we already worked this out," says Elliot. Olivia sighs.

"We did," she says, glancing over at Fin to see if he's listening. It doesn't appear as if he is; he's looking at his paperwork, but both she and Elliot know better.

"Then why aren't you gone?" Elliot asks in reply. He has the feeling that he already knows the answer, but he waits nonetheless.

"Obvious, isn't it?" Olivia asks finally in reply. "He left when I walked in. The last thing he's going to want is to talk to me."

"I doubt that," Elliot tells her. "I might not know what I'm talking about half the time when it comes to stuff like this, but you're probably the first one he wants to talk to. "

"I'd have thought he'd want to talk to you."

"Why? I think I had him half-convinced I wanted to kill him the other night."

"Can you blame him? Hell, Elliot, you looked like you wanted to kill me."

"That's beside the point. You should go find him."
"And what if he tells me to go away? Then what?"

"Then you ignore him and you stay, like you do with me. Make him talk."

"That's easier said than done."

"Then I guess you'd better get going, huh?"

Silence falls between them when Olivia doesn't answer. She twirls the pen she's holding between her fingers and looks away, hesitant. Elliot rolls his eyes and pushes at her foot again.

"We talked about this," he says, "I don't have a problem with you and him…at least, not anymore."

"I don't understand how you couldn't," she says, "I lied to you about almost everything…"

"Well, let's just say that you didn't know you were lying to me until a few days ago," says Elliot, cutting her off. "And I wasn't exactly forthcoming with you, either, so we're both at fault."

"It's funny how it takes something like this to make us realize that it wasn't going to work."

"Liv…" Elliot pauses for a moment, trying to think of what he wants to say before going on. "We might not have planned it to turn out this way, but look where it got us. Kathy and I are going to give it a second chance and you…you finally have a chance to be happy. Why can't you forget about whatever shadows you have hanging over you and just take it?"

The sound of footsteps cuts him off; they look up in time to see Fin leaving the squad room in order to give them privacy. When they can no longer hear him, Olivia replies, staring at her desk so she doesn't have to look her partner in the eye.

"Because I'm scared," she admits. "Munch and I are already friends and if we start a relationship and it goes south, it'll ruin everything. I don't think I could handle that."

"You've handled worse," Elliot says bluntly, and she sighs.

"That doesn't make this any easier," she says.

"I know that," says Elliot, "That's why you need to talk before this goes any further."

"Talking doesn't always work," says Olivia, "And besides that, I don't even know where the hell he went."

"Think about it," says Elliot. "Where did all of this start?" She gives him a look.

"It was nearly a year ago," she tells him, "You expect me to remember?"

"You remember everything else," Elliot says, shrugging. "Why wouldn't you remember this?"

Silence falls again after this. There isn't any excuse she can make after that; he knows it, and she knows it too, so she glares at him for a moment and then looks down at her paperwork. He rolls his eyes and turns back to his own, but after a while, the silence starts to grate on his nerves.

"Liv," he says, "If you're not going to talk to him, then I will."

"You do and I will never talk to you again." The threat is an immature one, and empty at that; she told him the same thing last week, but had talked to him within a few hours. He knows this and smirks.

"Yeah, right," he tells her. "And I'm serious. If you don't, I will. "

"I don't even know where he is." Olivia protests, looking up from her paperwork to scowl in his direction. He shakes his head.

"Look for him, then," he says, "You'll find him if you really want to." She doesn't answer. Instead, she pushes at his feet a few minutes later, feeling suddenly guilty.

"Where did all of that come from?" she asks. He shrugs.

"I don't know," he replies, "I just don't like seeing you like this when I know there's a way to fix it."

"You think so?"

"Well, I would have left you alone a long time ago if I didn't," says Elliot. "Just go. If a call comes in, I'll grab Fin and we'll take care of it."

"All right, all right." Olivia rises to her feet and runs a hand through her hair, sighing. "If this goes wrong, it's on you."

"Fine," says Elliot, leaning back in his chair. "I don't care. Just go talk to him."

Olivia bends down and closes the files on her desk, casting a faint smile in her partner's direction before leaving the squad room. As soon as she does, it hits her: she does remember where all of this started, and before she knows it, she's pushing open the door to the precinct rooftop.

Sure enough, Munch is there, leaning against the guardrails and staring down at the city. She knows when he stiffens that he heard the door slam closed and that he knows who came after him, but she waits.

"You shouldn't have come up here," he remarks finally, without looking at her.

"Why not?" she asks in reply, remaining where she is."

"Isn't it obvious?" Munch says, still without turning. "It'll only serve to make things worse than they already are."

"I have the feeling that things aren't going to get worse than this."

"How can they not? Your partner's about ready to kill me and you're probably right behind him. And I don't even want to know what Fin has to say about all of this."

"Fin doesn't have anything to say, because if he did, he'd have said it before now."

"And how do you know he's not saying it while we're up here?"

"Because he left the squad room, and I don't know where he went."

"And your partner?"

"He's still here." Olivia takes a breath and closes her eyes, exhaling slowly. "He's the one who told me to come up here."

"Why?" For some reason, this simple question catches her off guard and she falters as she looks for an answer.

"Well, for starters, he's not mad at you," she says finally.

"So, what? He was just acting? Forgive me for sounding rude, Olivia, but I find that hard to believe."

"So I'm lying to you now, is that it?" Suddenly more angry than hurt by this statement, Olivia walks forward, stopping just short of him. "I'll bet you now you can't think of once time I've ever lied to you."

No answer comes. She has half a mind at this point to force him to look at her, but she doesn't and silence falls. The sounds of the city float up towards them, but both of them ignore it and finally he speaks again.

"You're right," he says, turning to look at her this time. "I can't." He pauses for a moment and sighs before motioning down to the squad room. "But I also can't see why you would want to have anything to do with me."

"Don't start that," she warns. "There is nothing wrong with you." He gives a sarcastic laugh.

"Nothing wrong with me," he says. "There's one I haven't heard before." There's a subtle note of misery in his voice that she doesn't miss, and she moves so that she's standing beside him, placing a hand over his.

"Well, now you've heard it," she tells him quietly, "There's a first time for everything."

"Yeah, well….I think I've had one too many 'first times'," he replies, staring back down at the city. "You said it yourself; I've been around the block too many times."

"Did you really have to bring that up?" she asks, squirming slightly as that all-too-familiar feeling of guilt starts welling up inside of her again. "I already told you I didn't mean it."

"I know you did."

"Then why are you acting like I meant it if you know that?"

"Because whether you meant it or not, it's true. Do you remember what we talked about?"

"It's kind of hard to forget, considering," Olivia replies, shifting uncomfortably. "Why?"

"Because there was one other theory I forgot to mention," Munch answers quietly. "Some people stay single because they've already been burned too many times to want to go at it again, they've already been hurt enough to make them want to forget about even trying."

She knows what he's getting at, and it bothers her. She doesn't want him to hurt anymore, doesn't want him to feel as if love isn't something worth trying for anymore.

"There's always someone who can make them change their minds," she tells him. "Sooner or later, even those who've been hurt are going to find someone else to love them…someone who they love."

He laughs, but the sound is mirthless, and she doesn't like it. "You're more of an optimist than I thought," he says. "Do you really believe that there's someone for everyone?"

"Not all the time," she replies, keeping her hand on his, "But I do most of the time. It's possible that there is someone for everyone, but it doesn't always seem that way."

"Yeah, well…" He trails off and turns, leaning back against the guardrails as he looks at her over his glasses. "You're right. It doesn't always seem that way, and it doesn't always work that way, either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that I'll bet you right now you couldn't name one person in this world who at this moment could love me the way I am."

Silence falls after this. She hesitates for a few seconds before reaching up and taking off his glasses so that she can see his eyes, and she's startled by what she sees there…a need to be accepted…a need for affection. She touches his face and he closes his eyes, biting his lip to keep from saying anything.

"You're wrong," she tells him, finally, quietly. "I can."

"Who, then?" he asks in reply, his voice barely a whisper. "Tell me." He sounds almost desperate, and she hates it, so she draws him against her, allowing him to hide his face in her neck.

"I could," she says, "And I do." He looks up at her then, startled by what he's heard, and unwilling to believe it.

"You?" he asks.

"Yes," she replies, smiling faintly at his expression. "Me."

And again, there is that silence, but this time…this time, it's different. Rain starts to fall then, starting out lightly, but picking up quickly, and before either of them know it, they're completely soaked, but neither of them care.

It's before they pull the rooftop access door open to go back into the precinct that he pulls her to him again, and this time, when he kisses her, both of them realize that they have finally found what they were missing.