Of all the things you choose in life, you don't get to choose what your nightmares are. You don't pick them; they pick you. - John Irving

Death is a part of life.

Every individual to ever wander the Earth recognizes that, especially Elliot. Death petrified Elliot to the core. Not because of the job, or because of his past life serving his country, or even at the loss of his loved ones. It was because one day, he'd have to face death himself. His faith made him believe that after death, there is heaven—A place so beautiful and serene that no one is allowed to see it until the end of their mortal existence. Would he die of a massive heart attack like his father? Would a bullet to his chest end him for good? Would a car accident take him away from spending the rest of his life with Olivia?

It took Kathy's life away.

Why would it be any different for him?

Kathy on the autopsy table troubled his brain. To view someone you formerly loved dead and ghostly white on a slab could do that to you. It brings the strongest men to their knees sometimes. Elliot wanted her gone from his life, not dead. There was a difference. There was someone who was supposed to love her after him. Someone who could give her the love he couldn't and love her for who she was.

It just couldn't be him.

The choice of getting the divorce was his. Though a devout catholic by all measures, when love warps into hate, there's nothing you won't do. Kathy stepping out of his life nearly two years ago was for the greater good; surrendering his faith allowed him to find love again.

And he did.

Elliot found love for a woman he'd loved all along. The nature of their professional relationship and their personal one didn't make sense to anyone who wasn't them. Then again, it didn't make any sense to them either, but it worked. How is it that two people could go nearly a decade without seeing one another and pick up where they left off with minimal damage? Olivia has been back in his life for all of one month, and he was ready to spend the rest of his life loving and being with her till the bitter end.

Whenever his bitter end would be, of course.

Elliot didn't need the deceased image of Kathy lounging in his memories for the rest of his life, but he decompressed enough to be still. The urge to drive his fist at the first thing in sight diffused hours ago. Elliot was drained, and the woman beside him in bed saw that. Olivia was tender and understanding of what he needed right now. The words of wisdom, the desire to feel a warm body beside him, and kisses. Lots of them. He needed all of it. Olivia snuggled her cheek under his chin that night, essentially anchoring him to the bed.

His drowsiness led to a dreamless sleep—a void of nothingness but everything all at once. Yesterday tapped every ounce of energy, and the open communication Olivia came forward with earlier that evening took the last remaining bit he had to give. It was worth his exhaustion because her words were something he desperately needed to hear.

Despite dreaming into the void, his illusion of dark and grey formed a technicolor replica of yesterday. It put him back in the morgue with Melinda. This time he was alone under the harsh fluorescent lights, and he wondered, why? Why did he have to be alone for this?

All Elliot could draw himself to look at was the melancholy blue hospital sheet again. He knew who was underneath it. Melinda said nothing and entered the painful slow-motion to remove the cover from the body. The hair spilling out from under the sheet wasn't mousy like Kathy's, and his stomach turned on a dime.

No

Inert and quiet she laid, draped only in the sheet from the shoulders downward. Elliot lost all breath in the moment he instantly recognized who he was gazing upon across the room.

Olivia

He charged the table, panic-ridden, overcome with rage-filled emotions and earth-shattering hopelessness.

"No! No, no no!" He shouted, dropping to his knees.

He gazed at the M.E for an explanation, but Melinda's mouth moved at the speed of light. He couldn't focus on trying to read the words that fell from her lips when everything was mute. It was all happening too fast.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"No! Olivia!" He screamed more vehement than he'd ever had before.

A force took hold of him, and Elliot sensed he was being dragged away, back through the doors of the morgue to the elevators. He clawed for an inch to get to her, but every inch set him back a mile. The elevator doors closed, and when Elliot looked down, the floor turned into fire. The smoke was choking him, and he was fading quickly. The floor plummeted beneath him. There was nothing left to hold onto.

He was falling into Hell.

"No." He mumbled under his breath, "Liv," he called again.

Olivia cracked her eyes as she began to feel Elliot's restlessness beneath her. The muscles of his bare legs contracted sharply as if her own had hit a wall. She is tangled in him, and she can feel everything.

He wasn't breathing. He was gasping.

Olivia rubbed his chest gently in an attempt to rouse him from whatever he was dreaming about, but he didn't open his eyes. Elliot continued to gasp for air while the actions of his right hand clawed at the blanket covering them both. His entire body went into overdrive, and a wave of heat drowned his system. Olivia disentangled herself from Elliot and splayed a hand to his cheek, "El," She raised her voice, "Elliot."

His constrained breathing ended when his eyes fluttered open into the moonlight-lit bedroom. Elliot's hand unclenched the cotton beneath him and sat up. The sheets merged around his naked waist, "Liv," He strangled, "Oh God."

"You were dreaming," Olivia stroked his jaw with the back of her hand, "Bad one?"

Elliot nodded, "Yeah, " he swallowed dryly, reaching for the glass of water at his bedside and taking a drink. Olivia hiked the sheet up further her chest, tucking a piece of her unruly hair behind her ear. She looked into his eyes for direction, but nothing was clear. He was still coming out of it, whatever it was.

Elliot inhaled sharply—guiding her body closer to his from where she was kneeling on the bed and burrowing his nose in the nape of her neck. She was on top of him, her slow breathing centered him, and the pitter-patter of her pulse brought him back to now.

"Thank god," he sighed, pulling her tightly to his slick chest.

Olivia knew he was petrified, "I'm right here, shh," She soothed, "Elliot—"

Elliot rolled Olivia over onto her back and kissed her lips hurriedly. Their mouths moved in sync. Every second he spent tasting her was a moment he didn't remember that dreaded nightmare. She lured away from his lips just far enough to speak, "What do you need, Elliot?"

He let a tattered breath slip out, "I need you," he confessed, hugging her lower half to his growing erection. Elliot's body responded naturally to the burst of affection. His hand moved up her bare torso and caressed the winding curves of her body. Elliot kissed her harder, securing Olivia to him as he nipped down her bare skin.

She moved with his advances, fastening her leg around his waist to draw him in further. Their sexes are touching, but not yet one. She whispers earnestly, "You have me."

Elliot ran a finger up her chest, feeling supple her skin truly was and brushing the chain that hung from her neck. Olivia's lips move across him, from the spot at the base of his ear, to just below his collarbone.

He was on his back now, his fingers combing through her dark hair as her lips trailed further down the planes of his rigid chest until she reached—oh my god.

She's taken him in her mouth, slowly jerking him up and down between her lips, bringing his erection the rest of the way. Olivia could draw him to an end right there, but that's not what he desired. Elliot wanted the end to be with her. He pulled her up from where she was at his waist and flipped them over again. The fight for dominance was on, and Elliot was winning.

By the peaks of moonlight permeating through the curtains of his room, Elliot watched as Olivia's face contorted in satisfaction when he first entered inside her body. Olivia's teeth caught his bottom lip mid-kiss—she tugged softly, earning a lustful glance from Elliot.

"God, Liv," he moaned into her mouth, thrusting against her hips slowly. No matter how many times they fucked, she was always tight.

Always.

She whimpered his name right back and gasped softly when he hit the spot she was dying for. There was no urgency to his pace, no cries to let go, or any indication that they were pressed for time. There was no reason to. For once, the consciousness of time was in their favor, with nothing more to do than be with each other.

Elliot took her leg and brought it on top of his shoulder, allowing him to bury deeper into her essence. Despite the position change, Elliot didn't stray from his pace.

Olivia's body was in agony, his length was hitting all the right spots inside of her, but her body hadn't allowed her to begin to feel the edge just yet. Her wetness grew, the slickness between them intensified—he was going to make her go absolutely feral.

Elliot sensed the transformation within her and was going to use it to his advantage. He pulled away from her mouth and brought her other leg on top of his other shoulder—her depth alone nearly brought him to orgasm.

"Christ, Liv," he hissed—accelerating his thrust to her hips.

Olivia's hand reached for his thigh to push off. The heightened position and the subtle slam of his lower half to hers was more pleasure than she could manage. She was coming undone.

Under the pads of his finger, he could feel the tremor of her knees around his throat. He wouldn't let her slip away. Not yet.

"Don't stop," Olivia whimpered again—curling her toes, "Ohhh, El," she whispered, breathless and desperate for her climax. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself on the headboard behind her.

"Fuck," Elliot moaned, his calculated thrusts coming faster. A glistening sheen of sweat made him glow inside his bedroom. He watched her as she went for the headboard for stability. Her sex was tightening around him, and he knew she was close. Elliot's breath went ragged, slamming vigorously faster and deeper against her core.

Olivia's mouth flew open, welcoming the rollercoaster of pleasure beginning to make its ascension through her body. A cry escaped through gritted teeth, and her long-awaited white-hot heat had finally landed and ripped right through her tight body.

The sound of her release brought him right there with her, ribbons of his seed coating her walls and easing the exquisite friction between them. He continued to thrust until he physically could not hold himself up any longer.

They panted—exhausted tears flowing from both of their eyes. Elliot released her thighs from his grip and let her fall open like a butterfly. He dove down between Olivia's legs for a taste of what they made together. Her slit was swollen and throbbing against his mouth.

"Christ," he whispered, lapping his tongue against her heat. From where he lay, he watched her chest rise and fall in fleeting bursts. Elliot marshaled enough energy to crawl up her gorgeous frame and plop himself beside her. In the darkness and minuscule amounts of light, their bodies radiated steam and satisfaction until he realized what he had just done.

"I'm sorry, Liv, I—"

"You needed it, El," she said softly, "Maybe I did too."

"I don't want you to get hurt. I know I could hurt you," he leaned in and pecked her lips, "I can't fuck you every time I feel like this."

"You didn't hurt me, you never have, and I know you never will," She spoke with the same level of softness again, "I would rather it be this way."

"Why would you say that?" He said in disbelief, "You aren't some toy I play with when I get like this…."

"You're right," She said matter-of-factly, "I'm not a toy, but I am someone who loves you. I care about you, and watching you hurt makes me hurt too. Sex doesn't fix the problem, but it does ease the tension I know you have," Olivia traced the outline of his crucifix tattoo.

"My body just—"

"Reacted, I know," Olivia smirked, "Mine did too. You didn't hurt me, El. I'm fine."

Elliot stayed quiet for a bit, shifting more comfortably in the bed, "How did I get so lucky to have you again?"

Olivia snuggled closer, "I ask myself the same question every day."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Olivia was back in her apartment once again. Elliot's house had been the default of what they both considered home over the last few weeks. Not that she was complaining.

Elliot had a living room the size of her apartment. A fireplace. A kitchen didn't double as an eating area because there was a wall separating the two and a bigger bedroom. A much bigger bedroom that she thoroughly enjoyed reading in, sleeping in, and most importantly fucking in. He had a mortgage, a garage, and no nosey neighbors. Sure, it was a bit of a drive to get to work, but she liked it there. She liked having the option to get away from the fast-paced city lifestyle.

They had showered at her place, and pizza was on its way to being delivered when the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" She answered, not recognizing the incoming call number. There was a pause before the voice spoke clear and concisely.

"Hello, I'd like to speak to Olivia Benson…."

"This is she…who is this? Hi, Judy, I'm well, thank you….I thought the insurance paid for six, not four….She'll be done?….Oh….It's not a problem….Umm…thank you," she dropped the phone back onto the hook.

"Everything alright?" Elliot asked, opening a bottle of beer.

"Don't know yet," Olivia mumbled, running a hand through her slick hair, "I'll find out Friday, I guess. That was the rehab center in Chelsea," she paused, "The insurance paying for my mom's treatment ends on Friday, I need to come to collect my mother before then."

Elliot furrowed his brow, "She completed the program?"

"So they say," Olivia shrugged, "I guess I'll see if it sticks this time."

Elliot watched her body language go from relaxed to rigid. She put a hand to the back of her neck and rolled her shoulders. Olivia climbed off the couch and paced around her living room. Olivia picked up the single stack of magazines on her end table and violently threw them across the room and into the wall. Elliot swallowed and watched the scene unfold before him. Her small act of violence paled in comparison to any of his, but for Olivia, it wasn't in her character.

"I have to get her apartment ready and go to the…."

"I can go with you," Elliot offered.

Olivia shook her head, "Not a good idea. Drunk or sober, she will try and hit you."

Elliot laughed, "You think she'd remember me after all this time?"

"She never forgets a face, Elliot. She had thousands of students over the years, and she remembers every single one of their names. First and Last. I don't think she ever could forget yours, especially the face of someone she thought was desecrating my purity."

"She's going to have to see me sooner or later, Liv."

"I know that." she yelled, a little louder than intended, "If she's being as good as they say she is, I'm not going to be the one to drive her to drink again."

"Is she going back to the university?"

"It's whatever she wants to do. I won't make that choice for her, but I hope she does."

"It will work itself out."

Olivia balled her fists in her lap, "I thought this fight with her would be over after I left home, got my place, and started my career. She's fought me like hell all the way about all of it."

"I never said it would be easy. Serena's a fighter like you. I won't let her destroy you, Liv, not if I can help it."

"My mom is headstrong. She'll believe what she knows to be true and berate you until she's blue in the face, El. I don't think I can watch it."

"Then don't," he shrugs, "Your mom hasn't liked me from day one. I know that. Serena saw me as a threat to you because she doesn't trust men. After she caught us in bed together, I wouldn't trust me either."

Olivia swallows, "She didn't have to call your house and tell your father all the sinful things you'd done to me. She beat the living crap out of me for it; why wasn't that enough? I just wanted her to leave you alone. I only had a few months until I was eighteen. By then I…."

"What, Liv?" Elliot looked at her for an answer.

"I would have gone away with you," Olivia admitted with sad eyes, "I considered what you had asked when you came through my window that night. I would have married you, Elliot."

It hurt her deeply that she didn't say yes sooner. It broke her even more, admitting that if she had accepted his offer sooner, the radio silence between them would have never happened. Those lost years could have been their years.
He licked his lips and leaned back against her couch. If Serena hadn't walked in on them all those years ago, their lives would have taken on a totally different trajectory.

Olivia would have married him.

The thought of a teenaged Olivia wearing a white gown of any length or design put a lump in his throat. The idea of watching her walk to him down the aisle could make him fall to his knees because it's all he's ever wanted. They couldn't have afforded a luxurious wedding then. As it was, Kathy's family had paid for most of the wedding and the reception that followed. For him and Olivia, it would have been minimal. Perhaps so small, it would be just them, in a courthouse that smelled like law books and second-hand smoke. No white dress, no flowers, or cake. Just them dressed in the best clothes they had and signing a piece of paper.

"What happened made us stronger, you know, time after time, we've proved it. Even before what's become of us now."

Olivia nodded, "Growing up did us some good, huh."

"Yeah, it's just confirmed what I've always known," Elliot tilted his head and smiled softly.

"What's that?" Olivia asked.

Elliot smiled wider, "How much I love you."

Olivia smiled back and clasped her hand into his, "Do you think we'd still be married?" She asked, "Say if I did tell you 'yes'?"

"I honestly haven't thought much about it," Elliot smiled, "I'd like to think we would be."

Olivia nodded, "I'd like to think that too."

Elliot gulped as he held her close. He opened his mouth to speak but began to tremble. There were so few words to accurately describe Olivia's effect on him because it was too great.

Kathy had only been gone a short time. The dealings of her death are laid to rest along with her, so are the feelings surrounding it all.

Love was the best medicine to mend a broken man; Olivia certainly gave him plenty of it.

Olivia was about to submit to another chapter with a woman who caused her a lifetime of pain and hopelessness. Despite it all, Olivia couldn't walk away from her, she couldn't do it then, and she couldn't do it now. When summoned upon in a time of need, Olivia was always there.

"You're it for me, Liv," he grated, "What we have is astonishing, riveting, and passionate. I look at you, and I know what we have is real. It's the most real thing I've ever felt. I won't ask you tonight or even tomorrow, but someday I'll ask you to marry me. What do you say?"

"I'll say yes, El," she kissed him softly, "You're it for me too."

Elliot chuckled, "Now that it's settled, I believe the pizza guy has been knocking for a while now…."

Olivia grabbed the twenty-dollar bill off the coffee table and leaped off the couch to answer the door, but instead of responding to a pimply teenaged kid holding their food, Munch and Fin stood at the door, concerned and slightly irritated.

"Last thing I wanted tonight was to become a human pigeon messenger because you two couldn't answer your phones," Munch threatened, "Give me a horse and a tricorn hat. You can call me Paul Revere."

Olivia cringed, "We didn't hear them ring. They must've been on—"

"Whatever. You two need to get down to the station pronto," Fin spoke seriously.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

Munch stepped forward, "An officer came in with a kid, and it's all hands on deck trying to locate the parents."

The teenager with the pizza approached the door, looking puzzled from the commotion at her front door. Olivia tossed him the twenty and told him to keep the change. She dropped the pie on the table inside and went into her room to change.

"You ain't gonna eat that?" Fin asked, eyeing the cardboard box.

Elliot picked the pie off the table, "We'll take it to go."

They strolled into the precinct just at quarter to eleven that night. The little girl was sitting in a chair waiting with the rookie that brought her in. She was a red-headed little cutie, dressed in a Stewart plaid nightgown and yellow rain boots. The nameless girl looked positively upset and overwhelmed by her surroundings. Telephones rang at all different flashes, and screams came bouncing off from one end of the squad room to the other. For a girl as young as she was, it was all too much.

"Jesus Christ," Elliot whispered under his breath, just loud enough for Olivia to hear. She swept a hand over his shoulder to calm him down. He didn't like cases with kids, but in all honesty, who did?

Olivia approached the little girl first and knelt to her level. The little girl nearly leaped out of her seat.

"Hi, Sweetheart, I'm Detective Benson," Olivia cooed, "What's your name?"

The little girl stared off into space, her blue eyes welling with tears almost immediately.

"She won't talk to me either, Detective," the female officer spoke, "She might be afraid of you."

Olivia knelt back up and stepped aside, letting Elliot take his shot at getting her name.

Elliot gave a lighthearted smile, "Hi sweetie, my name is Elliot. We're not gonna hurt you. Can you tell us your name?"

A tear from the little girl's eye fell, "Tabby."

"Tabby, that's a pretty name," Elliot smiled again, "Would you like to go someplace a little quieter, Tabby?" he held his hand out for her, hoping she would take it.

Tabby nodded, clutching tightly onto her stuffed bunny, and took Elliot's hand. She hopped her little bottom off the chair and waited for him.

"Is it okay if my friend Olivia comes too? She's really nice."

Tabby looked at Olivia and froze for a second, that is until Olivia offered the same friendly smile Elliot had given her too. She nodded, taking Elliot's hand once more, and walked carefully up the steep set of stairs to the lounge.

Tabby climbed onto the sofa and hugged her bunny tighter, not once letting go of Elliot's hand.

Olivia saw the fright in the little girl's eyes when Tabby looked back at her.

"Tabby, how old are you, sweetie?" Elliot asked. Tabby held up three tiny fingers and shivered, nestling closer to Elliot.

"Where's your mommy and daddy?"

"I don't see Mommy no more. Daddy fights fire," Tabby sniffled, "I miss him," her sniffle turned into a stream of tears.

"Shhhh," Elliot soothed, "It's gonna be alright, sweetie, let it out."

"I want my Daddy," she cried, "I want my Daddy."

Tabby's cries were breaking Elliot's heart, "We'll find him," he whispered, "Once we find him, we'll bring him to you, okay?"

Tabby nodded and hiccuped. She let the bunny fall into her lap and leaned more into Elliot, "Do you fight fire too?" Tabby asked.

"No, honey, Olivia and I fight monsters."

Tabby's eyes widened, and she perked up, "Really?"

"Really," Elliot smiled.

"What kind of monsters?" she asked, still hiccuping.

"The big bad ones—the ones that hurt people."

Tabby nodded and snuggled closer to his side and began to doze off, "People like my mommy?"

Olivia's eyes shot to Elliot's, her jaw tensed in concern, and she swallowed.

"Is that why you don't see her anymore, Tabby?" Elliot asked.

The little girl was a few blinks away from sleep but nodded softly. Elliot sighed and looked back at Olivia. It wasn't much, but it helped.

Tabby closed her eyes for good against Elliot's side. He wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Olivia quietly walked over to Elliot's other side and whispered, "I'll relay it over to Cragen. Maybe something will pop," She looked down at the little girl and smiled softly, "You gonna be okay up here?"

"Yeah," he spoke with a similar level of softness, "If she wakes up again, I'll try and find out more."

Olivia kissed his cheek and trotted back downstairs. She shimmied through the crowded desks and into Cragen's office.

"Baby Doe told us her name is Tabby, probably short for Tabitha. Three years old, Mom isn't in the picture, but Dad is. We guess that he's a firefighter somewhere in the city. It's not much, but I hope it helps."

"It does. I'll put a call out to the departments. Nice work, Benson."

"Thank Elliot. Tabby wouldn't talk to me. I think she's scared of women."

"That's not normal."

"Elliot and I gather that maybe the mom was abusive, maybe she hurt her at some point. She gravitated right to Elliot, not me. Elliot had to assure her that I wouldn't hurt her when we went upstairs to talk."

Cragen nodded, "Any physical signs of abuse?"

"No," Olivia sighed, "She's wearing a long-sleeve nightgown. We couldn't see anything. Nothing on her face, no cuts or bruises. She's just freezing and sleepy. It could have been worse if she had been out wandering longer. Temps dropped, and they keep dropping."

"That's good," Cragen nodded, "I remember a little boy who did just about the same thing when I was on the beat. He was much worse off than Tabby. My partner and I spotted him on patrol, and he ran from us. Didn't get very far."

"Thank God, Tabby didn't run," Olivia chuckled.

"He sure was fast, but somehow in the pouring rain, we caught him and wrangled him into the back of the squad car. After he settled down, we found out his name was Lee. He had these….lashes on his back, new and old bruises. You name it. My partner questioned his father when we brought him home about the marks, and the father said he got them at school, fighting some kid on the playground. My partner Max believed it, and I didn't."

"Not that it matters now, but why didn't you say anything?"

"The kid's dad was a cop, and it would've been messy trying to prove what we thought to be true, so I left it alone."

"Times were different, and I forget that."

"That they were, but I never forgot about the father or him. Twenty years went by, and I let it go. Until he came into my office."

Olivia winced, "You saw the kid's father again?"

"Not the father. I saw the kid." Cragen clarified, "He was my new detective. That night all those years ago, when we picked him up, he told us that he hated his real name and just to call him Lee. I pieced everything together in about fifteen seconds."

Olivia's throat tightened, "El-Lee-iot."

Cragen nodded, "Glad you've caught on. Look, I don't think he remembers. He was only a little tike back then, probably no older than Tabby. Anyway, one minute I'm thumbing through his jacket, and the next, he's standing right in front of my desk. It was a moment that everything came full circle for me."

"He's nothing like his father."

"It's not what I saw at first, Benson. I don't know what you did, but you've calmed him down. I've tried."

"I know he's been through a lot and especially as of late with his ex-wife. I don't know what I did either. Everyone has told me that same thing. That he was a hot-head before I got here."

"Well, whatever it is, keep doing it. I'll make the call to NYFD and see if we can locate Tabby's father."

"Thank you," she turned to walk away but stopped, "One last thing. I need to pick up my mother in Chelsea on Friday in the morning. I'll be late coming in."

"Would you like that day instead?"

"No, I'll be a few hours late tops. I need to sign some paperwork for her and bring her home."

"Very well then. You're dismissed."

Olivia left his office and tried to absorb the story Cragen just illustrated to her. She tried to imagine an even younger version of Elliot than what her memory holds of him walking the streets alone in the rain—probably scared out of mind and far from home. She shook the vision out of her mind when she saw him coming down the stairs with Tabby in his arms, awake and more alert than before. Olivia smiled, watching the two chat back and forth about their favorite zoo animals and why they imagined the sky was blue. Tabby was fiddling with the badge that Elliot once clipped to his side in her tiny hands. The sparkle of Tabby's baby blue eyes captured hers just for a second, and her heart ricocheted in her chest, "Someday," Olivia breathed to herself.

"Tabby-Cat is hungry." Elliot chuckled, "We got any pizza left?"

Olivia smiled, "We do."

"What do you think, Tabby? Can Olivia eat with us?"

Tabby nodded and smiled, "Yeah."

They went back upstairs to eat their pizza and asked more questions, trying to figure out how she ended up on the street. They found out that a sitter named Mandy was supposed to be watching her overnight and that Tabby's mom took too many 'vitamins,' and that's why she didn't see her anymore.

At almost four in the morning, a young man with the bottom half of a firemen's uniform charged into the squad room, "Tabby! Tabby!" he shouted, looking over the desks and detectives.

Up the stairs, Tabby scooted herself off the sofa and looked through the bars of the balcony, "Daddy!" she squealed happily, "My Daddy's here!" Elliot scooped her up and hurried down the stairs with her. Once they were level, he let her go into her father's arms. A sigh of relief washed over not just the father but Elliot too.

"De...Detective," The young man stuttered, "I didn't know she was missing, honest—"

"Calm down, relax. We're not here to get you in trouble. We just wanted to get her back home safe," Elliot assured.

The father sighed again, "Thank you, and I hope she wasn't too much trouble for you."

Elliot smiled, "She was an angel. Right Tabby-cat?"

Tabby giggled, "Elliot named me Tabby-cat too, Daddy," She clung to her father.

"I gave her that nickname because she liked to roam around so much when she was a baby," the young man chuckled, "Can I take her home?"

"Yeah, just stop in with my Captain before you leave."

"Thank you, Detective."

The grateful father walked away with his daughter in tow, Tabby waved goodbye off his shoulder, and Elliot returned the gesture. Olivia and Elliot turned on their heels and headed for the cribs for a well-deserved nap. The door locked, and Olivia pulled him into a long kiss by his tie, and Elliot melted right into it.

He pulled away slightly, "What was that for?"

"Getting the job done," Olivia smirked, "I liked watching that side of you in action. It's kind of a turn-on."

Elliot chuckled tiredly, kissing her again, "Someday, you'll see it more," he hinted, full of hope. Elliot brushed his nose against hers.

Olivia let go a breath she didn't know she was holding onto for so long, "Someday."

A/N: Updates will probably be around once a week for a while, depending on my course load. I'm still not sure the exact point our journey will end but rest assured it won't be for a while.

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