Hey! Thanks to the few of you who reviewed! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! My phone line was shut off for the past few days. That, and my writer's block sort of morphed into a brick, which grew into a wall, that multiplied into a building, and so on and so forth… But, I think I am completely over it! (We can only hope. ;) So I decided to make this a Munch chapter, because I know a bunch of you love him. I hope you like it!

A True Friend - Why, Life Itself Is Not More Precious!

"Yeah, well you have a good day too, sir!" Olivia held the earpiece away from her as she yelled into the phone. Grumbling to herself in frustration, she slammed the phone back on the receiver.

"Another gracious 'Billy'?" Elliot smiled, softening her anger. They'd been calling people all afternoon with absolutely no luck.

"How many have blown us off so far?" She crossed her arms on top of the desk and let her head fall into them, letting out a submissive sigh.

"Um…" He picked up the list of names they had gone through so far, trying not to laugh at his partner. "Six."

"Make it seven," her muffled voice drifted over. Lifting her head up only far enough to look at Elliot, she sighed. "Who's bright idea was this again?"

"Yours," he reminded her with a grin.

"Right." She shut her eyes and wearily ran her fingers over her forehead and through her light brunette hair. "Next time I have one of those, stop me."

"I'd have better luck stopping a train with a pillow," he chucked at Olivia's sarcastic smile, reaching his arm over the desk. "Go in the crib and take a nap," he offered affectionately. "I'll finish these," he held up the papers marked with the names of the few people she had left to call.

"Are you gonna start doing all my paperwork too?" There was only an air of a grin on her face, causing Elliot to wonder if she was serious or merely joking.

"Maybe…" He raised his eyebrow, waiting for a better precursor.

"So I got you and a secretary in the deal. Definite perk," she grinned, stretching over the desk and snatching back the papers. "But I'm fine."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged and glanced back at his desk, fighting the curl of the corner of his lips. Just as they began working again, a voice interrupted them and brought their attention to the doorway behind Elliot.

"Quite painless really. They're just going to draw some blood, collect some of your hairs for DNA," Munch's voiced drifted into the room, followed by the detective, his partner, and Reid, still in cuffs.

"Hairs? Like from my head?" He motioned upwards with a laugh, tossing his locks of dirty blonde hair around like that was nothing.

"Other one," John corrected him, motioning towards the ground with his eyes for a split second. Reid's forehead scrunched up in confusion as he followed John's stare downward.

"What?" He glanced back to Munch and tried to read his face, meeting with only an obvious glare. "What!" He snapped completely straight as it quickly hit him. "You're gonna pull my hairs out there! That's disgusting!"

"Got a news flash for ya," Fin barked, intimidating the teenager as he moved his face close down to his. "So is rape and attempted murder. Both of which you gonna go down for once we match you to the DNA we found at the crime scene!" Just as the group was disappearing out the door, Elliot caught John.

"So John!" He lowered his voice when he saw that he had his colleague's attention. "You got a warrant for a DNA sample?"

"Yeah," he nodded apathetically. "Guess I can pull myself away from my government theories long enough to do something right," he spoke with fake enthusiasm before popping back out the door.

"Right…" Elliot quietly clucked his tongue and bit the inside of his cheek as an irked sigh escaped him. Olivia just watched all of this like a bystander, only speaking after a minute of tension.

"You haven't apologized to him," she blurted somewhat accusingly.

"I haven't apologized?" He repeated to clarify, appearing offended by the thought that it was his responsibility.

"Apparently not," she crossed her arms and sent an all-knowing look at Elliot.

"You don't even know what we were talking about." He flashed a grin, trying to throw her off the topic.

"You weren't talking." Olivia dubiously raised an eyebrow. "You were yelling. I may not have heard what went on," she forfeited, "but I know that you two have a way of knowing exactly what to say to push the other's buttons." She paused before softly adding something. "And to hurt them."

"You wanna talk about hurt?" He attempted to talk himself out of his corner. "He's the one that attacked me and broke my nose for no reason!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished that he could shove them back in. Olivia silently drew in a breath, taking Elliot's sentence like salt in a wound. She still felt remorse for confusing her attacker with Elliot and everything that had happened as an after-effect of that, including when John had beat him up in the hospital.

"But he apologized," she whispered, repressing her emotions long enough to continue. "John apologized. He knew he was wrong and he tried to make it right. He respected you and your friendship enough to do that. Don't you think he deserves the same respect?" Olivia paused another moment, allowing her words to cut to the bone with their full intent and meaning. "Besides, words can hurt just as much as anything else."

--XXX--

"Hey John." Elliot carefully rose from his chair as he headed towards the wall of filing cabinets in the squad room, feeling Olivia's eyes follow him. She was so amazing at times. Everything she'd said about John was incredibly accurate. He did owe him the respect of at least trying to make amends.

"What." It was more a cold, emotionless habit than a question as he thumbed through some papers and folders in one of the top filing cabinet drawers.

"It's just, about what I said a few days ago…" He nervously brought his hand up to the back of his neck and began itching his skin.

"You mean about the fact that I've been married and divorced four times?" He slammed the squeaky drawer shut and whipped around to face Elliot, anger starting to cover his face. "Or that they were all my fault? Or maybe the fact that I spend all my time on my ridiculous conspiracy theories? What about it? Something you forgot to mention? Some other area of my life that's a complete failure because of me?" John snapped and turned back to the filing cabinet, yanking the closet drawer with such a force that it almost pulled the whole unit forward as it jerked out.

"No! I mean, yes. No…" Elliot tried to figure out which question he was answering as his eyes nervously darted around for something to focus on. "That's what I was talking about, but that's not why I brought it up." He shook his head and lowered his hand from his neck and to his rolled-up cuffs, resting just below his elbow. Fiddling with the button, he finally managed to meet John's legitimate rage. "I wanted to apologize." John cautiously glanced up in hidden confusion, like he was waiting for this to be some big joke. Instead of answering, he let Elliot continue.

"All that stuff I said," Elliot found himself subconsciously shaking his head, "I didn't mean it. I was just upset and taking it out on you, which I shouldn't have done. I just was trying to get you to leave me alone, but I had no right to bring up your personal life. It's none of my business and I'm sorry." Once he had finished, he sucked in a huge breath, awaiting some response.

Just as awkwardly, John found his voice as well. "I guess I'm sorry too…" His voice was quiet as he carelessly shuffled his foot back and forth across the floor in small movements.

"So…" Elliot met his eyes and gave him a hopeful gaze as he shrugged his shoulders. "We okay?" He extended his hand as a peace offering.

"Yeah," John brushed it off and excepted Elliot's hand in his own.

"El!" A stressed whispered hissed from across the room, drawing both their attentions. Olivia was cradling her phone between her head and her ear, a pad of paper on her desk and a pen in her hand as she motioned for him. Obeying, he strolled across the floor until he was standing next to his partner. "Okay, so tomorrow at eleven then? All right, thanks." She skillfully maneuvered the tablet and pen into one hand while she set the phone back onto its receiver.

"Who was that?" Elliot leaned over her shoulder and turned his head to read what she'd written down. It looked like an address.

"Dr. William Aultz." She pushed off of the floor with her foot, turning her chair around to face Elliot. "Well, his secretary," she corrected herself and handed a sheet of paper to him.

"He was in Karissa's address book?" Elliot recognized the printout.

"Yeah. I couldn't get his cell phone or home phone, so I tried his work number. He has his own private plastic surgery practice and office building. Anyway, I got his secretary and I asked her if she knew where William was the night Karissa was attacked." Olivia professionally crossed one leg over the other as she started tapping the end of the pen against her lap. "She said that he had an appointment with a patient at eight."

"So he has an alibi? Then why are you suspecting him?"

Olivia glanced up with a small grin, way ahead of him. "Because he canceled it at the last minute and rushed out of the office."

--XXX--

"You find any priors on him?" Olivia inquired as Elliot sauntered into the squad room, occupied by herself, Munch, and a few other detectives.

"Just some parking tickets and moving violations, nothing serious. Anything on your end?" He passed off the folder to her and she, in turn, tossed it onto her desk and took Elliot's word for it.

"Only that any thoughts I ever had of considering plastic surgery are completely gone." She tapped a few keys on her computer keyboard, slightly wincing at the screen as she did so, like someone watching a gory horror movie. "I was just doing some research. Do you know what they do to give someone a face lift?" She pointed at the screen and stared over the desk to lock eyes with Elliot.

He just nodded with agreeable disgust. "Kathleen and Dickie were watching TV once and she put on one of those plastic surgery specials. A few seconds later Dickie came running into my room screaming that someone was ripping a woman's face off."

"Who needs Freddy and Jason when you have cable TV?" Olivia joked, getting a laugh from Elliot.

Becoming serious again, the detectives threw themselves back into their work and dug up whatever public records on Aultz that they could, getting a feel for the guy before they talked to him. Olivia was just about to call it quits and go home when a scraping noise caught her attention. She looked up to see Munch pushing back his chair as he got to his feet.

In the entire time they'd been working, she hadn't heard a thing from John. Normally, it would have been a welcome oddity, but it stirred up a strange feeling in Olivia as her eyes discreetly followed him. In the split second that she was able to see his face, her hunch felt vindicated.

There was a strange look on his face, that of misery and, in a way, depression. Olivia was absolutely certain that something was off with him as she watched the detective silently head in the direction of the staircase that lead to the roof. Whenever something was bothering John and he wanted to be alone, that was where you would find him.

"I'm gonna go get some air." Olivia suddenly broke the silence in the squad room as she rose to her feet, offering an explanation before she was asked for one.

"Okay." Elliot answered impassively, though he watched from the corner of his eye as she walked over to the coat rack, noticing as she grabbed not only her jacket, but also John's.

Olivia didn't even feel his stare on her as she threw her jacket on and wrapped John's around her arm. She was too preoccupied with her solicitude to focus on much else. John might as well have been her savior after she was attacked. Though she could probably never fully repay him for that, she could try and be there for him.

Pushing the heavy metal door leading to the roof forward, Olivia was met with a slap of cold air. She pulled her coat tighter around her body and stepped up onto the concrete. Night had long since fallen in a blanket of darkness on the city, leaving the street lamps and glowing lights from building windows to twinkle for miles.

It took her only a minute to find John standing on the very edge, propped again the waist-high brick wall circling the roof. He was staring straight ahead into the sky, though the expression in his eyes said that he didn't come up here for the view. His own bubble of thoughts enshrouded his every sense, Olivia's footsteps not even producing the smallest reaction from him. She was only a few feet away when she noticed the cold air was causing his body to involuntarily shudder. Silently, she unfolded his jacket from her arm and draped it over his shoulders, the material almost long enough to touch his knees.

"Liv?" He barely whispered in surprise as he finally realized Olivia's presence and turned to meet her gaze. His aged face seemed worn in despondency and affliction, distress covering his brown eyes.

"Hey John." She offered a quick smile and overlapped her arms in defense against the wind as she stepped beside him, still keeping her eyes on his.

"What are you doing up here?" His voice was gentle, mixed with a subtle accusation that suggested he wanted to be alone more than anything.

"I saw you leave, I was worried about you." Olivia shrugged as her eyes filled up with genuine concern.

"I'm fine," he informed her with no emotion, resuming his position against the wall and breaking their gazes.

"John," Olivia matched his stance and set her elbows on the concrete with her arms still folded, but refusing to look away from his face. "You never come up here when you're fine. Something's bothering you." At her repeated allegation, he sighed and turned his head towards the right, completely removing his face from Olivia's vision. "John, talk to me." She untangled her arms and slipped her right hand on his shoulder, over the material of his coat.

The combination of pleading in her voice and her gesture seemed to finally break through to John. He sighed and faced forward again, still not completely meeting her stare. "It's about what Elliot said, about all my marriages ending in divorce," he paused in hesitance a moment before softly adding something. "And how they were all my fault."

"You know Elliot didn't mean that. No one really thinks they were your fault." Even while she tried to console him, he was shaking his head in contradiction.

"That's just it Liv. I do. I think they were. I know he didn't mean it, but what if Elliot was actually just telling me the truth? What if me and all my conspiracy theories are to blame? What if I am responsible for my marriages failing?" John's voice began quivering, sounding seconds from completely giving way.

"No. John…" Olivia bit her bottom lip and slightly shook her head in denial of his thoughts. Finding herself at a temporary loss for words, she reached both her arms out to snake them around John's left one, directly between his shoulder and elbow. Hugging him close to her, she found the words to explain. "Yes, so you spend a lot of time with your ridiculous ideas and theories," she made a careful attempt at a joke, not receiving any acknowledgment from John. "But that's part of you. Part of what makes you…" She trailed off, trying to find the right thing to say.

"Cynical? Pathetic? A horrible husband? A failure at life in general?" He bitterly finished her sentence for her.

"No!" She forcefully insisted and pulled him even closer towards her, like she was trying to guard him against his own thoughts. "It's part of what makes you the Munch everyone knows. John, you're amazing because of everything you are, including your occasionally eccentric behavior. If a woman can't see that and appreciate it for what it is, then she's not someone you should spend your life with anyway." Olivia paused momentarily to catch her breath. "If she can't accept you 'as-is,' she doesn't deserve you at all." John still wouldn't look directly at her, but Olivia didn't need him to face her to see the tears collecting at the corners of his eyes. "You deserve to be with a person that loves you for your quirks."

Despite his tears, a dry, sardonic laugh escaped him at her last statement. "Please. I've so given up on love," he scoffed in a forlorn tone.

"You can't just give up," Olivia insisted, refusing to believe that he was telling her the truth.

"I can and I have," he snapped. "Besides," his voice suddenly softened into a low moan, "who would love me?"

A smile spread across Olivia's face in spite of the own tears quivering in her eyes. "John, look at me," she quietly ordered. When he didn't, she merely repeated herself. "John, look at me." Unwrapping one of her arms from his, she reached up with her free hand and grabbed his chin. Gently, she turned his stubborn head until he was finally facing her. A smile still on her face, Olivia answered his question. "I love you, John," she whispered as they both locked tearful eyes. "And I always will. Never forget that." Her eyes searched his for a moment before she threw herself into his arms, tightly hugging him in absolute reassurance.

"I love you too, Liv," John spoke almost inaudibly, still slightly dazed as he allowed the tears to finally flow down his cheeks.

--XXX--

Just a note - Not romantic love, like friendship love. No love triangles in this story. (Sorry any OJ shippers.)