Soundtracks:

The starry sky part: The World Tree – Panu Aaltio

He gently moved his hand to her cheek, wiping away a lone tear. Olivia raised her hand and gently touched his lips with her thumb before pressing her lips back on Elliot's and whispered softly:

"I love you too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They returned to the cottage hand in hand walking slowly, because Elliot's sore leg had not particularly loved the surprising running performance. However, the slow pace did not bother Olivia as she enjoyed every moment she was allowed to share with her partner. Then she suddenly remembered the burning cloth.

"That cloth… Where did you conjure it?"

Elliot grimaced. "I set off running aimlessly in some direction, and then I noticed the red tarpaulin we had just tied to the trees. I tore it off, and when I lit a match, it flashed into flames. Fortunately, it wasn't incombustible material," his grip on Olivia's hand tightened. "So we no longer have any sign, but… It went to better use," he looked at her tenderly and she sighed.

"The others won't like this," she said. "We went there, we almost died and your leg hurts again. I could even say that it was not a very successful trip."

"Really?" There was a mischievous look in Elliot's eyes as he pulled her in front of him and swept her wandering hair behind her ear. Then he pressed his lips behind her ear and muttered: "I wouldn't say it was a complete failure."

Elliot's lips tickled her and made her giggle. "Yeah… Something good despite the fact that within a few days we almost died again."

Then they suddenly heard voices in front of them and detached from each other. Olivia felt her heart skip a beat because she thought the wolves had found them again, but almost immediately she realized that the voices belonged to Fin and Munch. They set out to walk in the direction of the voices, and soon they saw the cottage. The others had gathered outside, and they had apparently lit a campfire. Fin and Munch had a heated discussion about something.

"John Munch, you're unbelievable!"

"But it worked…"

"Hey guys, what's up?" Elliot greeted and the others turned to look at them. Fin's eyes flashed, and he waved his hands irritated.

"Who the hell lights a campfire with underpants?!"

"Excuse me?" Olivia couldn't stop her laughter and made Fin even more irritated.

"I washed my underpants in the brook and put them to dry in front of the fireplace. When I was going to wear them, I couldn't find them anywhere. Instead, Munch was lighting a campfire outside for the prey Brown had brought, and when I looked out the window, my dear partner was using my dried underpants as a tinder! Did it occur to you that they might be the only ones I have at the moment?" He turned to look at Munch again, who shrugged.

"You'll do just fine without them. I needed something dry and flammable to light the campfire. You will thank me soon when you get to eat a bird cooked by the campfire."

This made Elliot's eyes shine and he licked his lips. "Really? Thank God!" Then he grinned mischievously. "I haven't been able to taste the meat cooked by the campfire and Fin's underpants before."

"Shut up, Stabler! You should stop before you start, or I'll eat your portion too."

Hearing this, Elliot raised his hands and fell silent, but laughter bubbled on his face. At the same time, however, Fin's gaze moved to Olivia's torn clothes, and his irritation turned to pure fright.

"Liv, what happened?!"

She glanced at her clothes and noticed that she looked just like she had just been attacked by a pack of hungry wolves. Everyone else fell silent too and stared at her in amazement.

"This? Well… We might have company there," she grimaced, and when the others looked at her questioningly, she continued: "The epic battle against the pack of hungry wolves happened."

"What?!" Fin's voice was dismayed, and the jaws of the others dropped too. Only Cassidy squinted his eyes.

"Looks like Stabler left you as a bait," he said in a low voice. "He's not even scratched." His gaze was almost arrogant, and Olivia had to resist the urge to strangle him right away. Instead, she clenched her fists and snapped:

"Actually thanks to El, I'm even alive!"

Cassidy fell silent but created toxic glances at her partner. Olivia took a deep breath before continuing: "We found a bright red tarpaulin in the wreck of the plane, which we tied with wires to the trees. It was a perfect sign for the rescuers, and we set out to walk back here. However, we did not get far when the wolves appeared in front of us, there were at least five of them, and neither of us had a weapon," she swallowed, and then deliberately omitted some details: "We didn't know what we should do, but then Elliot remembered the tarpaulin and lit it on fire while I distracted them. It was my decision," she added and glanced at Cassidy with angrily flashing eyes. He snorted and she continued: "The burning tarpaulin and Elliot's primitive roar scared the wolves, and I survived like a miracle, only my clothes got scratched."

An unbelieving silence descended around them as Fin, Munch, Cassidy, and Brown looked alternately at Olivia and Elliot. Then Munch shook his head slowly.

"You guys have obviously really decided to try to die," he huffed. As if from a common sign, Olivia and Elliot shrugged and looked at each other with a grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a couple of hours, everyone laid happily in the cottage. Brown had managed to capture three birds, and for the first time in many days they were not starving. The satiety made them all sleepy, and Olivia leaned contently against Elliot's arm. She was almost snoozing when he suddenly moved and announced:

"I'm going to go to the brook."

Olivia blinked and turned to look at her partner in surprise. "But it's already dusk outside," she frowned. After today's events, she wasn't very excited about the idea of Elliot going to wander into the dark forest with his sore leg.

"The brook is right next door," he replied, as if reading her mind. "You stay here, I'll probably be back very soon," he shivered.

"But…"

"Liv, I'll be fine," he gave a laugh and stood up. Olivia looked at him nervously.

"Take at least Fin with you," she asked, but Elliot waved his hand.

"I think I'm going to dedicate this moment to myself," he grinned. "It takes max 10 minutes." Then he gently touched her cheek and limped out the door. Olivia watched as the door behind him closed, and at the same time her calmness disappeared, and she felt anxiety taking over her body. She pursed her lips together and turned her gaze to the flames. Then there was Cassidy's voice:

"Hard times, right?"

"Excuse me?" Olivia turned to look at him, and he turned his gaze towards the ceiling.

"When I laid in the bed and almost died, you didn't even want to sleep next to me, and you disappeared at the first opportunity. But when Elliot walks out the door, feeling good, you look like the world is falling on you. Don't worry, he's already a big boy, and I'm sure he'll be just fine," Cassidy's voice was toxic when he turned to look at her. She squinted her eyes and felt anger grow inside her. She got up to her feet and took a few steps towards him.

"You're unbelievable!" she snapped. "It's all about you, isn't it?"

Cassidy snorted and turned his gaze to his hands. Then he asked quietly: "Did you ever love me?"

Olivia was so surprised that the words got stuck in her throat and she could only stare at him. Then she finally managed to open her mouth:

"Brian, what we had was still so new," she replied quietly. "I…"

However, she didn't have time to talk further when Cassidy interrupted her. "Is that yes or no?" He sounded irritated again.

"I don't know," Olivia managed to keep her voice steady despite her anger. "If we had been together longer then…"

"We should be together," his voice was suddenly desperate and it made her amazed again.

"Excuse me?"

"Forgive me and we can wipe the slate clean. I love you and what we had was great…"

"No, Brian, I…"

"Liv, please!"

"No!" Olivia snapped. "What you did was unforgivable, and you broke my trust. Whatever you'll do, or in this case you won't do… I can no longer trust you, not completely."

Cassidy sighed and suddenly there was a dangerous gaze in his eyes. "Do you love Elliot?"

She flinched and stayed silent for a moment. I love him, I love him more than anything and I've always loved, she wanted to scream, but instead she took a deep breath and replied in a low voice: "He's one of the most important people in my life."

"But do you love him?" Cassidy insisted the answer and grabbed her arm. This made Olivia flinch violently, and she tried to pull her hand away, but his grip was strong. Panic began to flutter in her stomach.

"Let go of me!" She snapped, but his eyes glowed with anger, and he tightened his grip.

"Too bad your Elliot isn't here," he hissed, but then Olivia heard a voice next to her:

"No, but I am," Fin said coldly and punched him in the face. Cassidy exclaimed in pain and she broke her hand away, grabbed her coat from the hanger and rushed out. Despite the darkness, the moon illuminated the environment, and he set out to follow the path to the brook. In the power of emotional turmoil, she only looked at her feet and collided with Elliot, who was walking towards her. She screamed in fright and Elliot raised his hands in surprise.

"Liv, it's me!" He groaned and then Olivia wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He squeezed her gently and soothingly stroked her hair.

"See? I'm alive, even though the water was so cold I thought for a moment I was going to die again," Elliot grinned but then his grin died when he saw the tears on her cheeks. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, and she detached her grip and wiped her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry, Brian just… Never mind, I don't want to think about him."

He frowned and his whole body tensed. "That son of a…" He growled and was already about to stride towards the cottage, but Olivia grabbed his arm.

"Fin already gave him that another black eye you wished. Can we stay here for a moment? I wouldn't like to go inside yet," she asked quietly, and Elliot nodded.

"Of course." Then he gently pulled her in his arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead. They breathed calmly the frosty air, and then he glanced up and asked: "Would you like to do something we did with my mother when I was little?"

"Sure," she replied, and Elliot detached his grip, lifted his jacket's collar higher, and landed on his back to the snow. Olivia looked at him in surprise, and he patted the snow next to him with his hand.

"Come here."

"Okay…" She laid down next to him and looked at him questioningly. Elliot grinned.

"You can look at me too, but I recommend looking up there," he raised his hand to point the sky. She turned her gaze up and breathed in delight. The cloudless sky glittered with countless stars and she watched it dumbfounded.

"It's… Beautiful," she whispered, and Elliot took her hand in his own.

"Slightly different than in Manhattan, huh? My mother always said that when you look at the starry sky, you realize how tiny your own worries are."

They watched the sky silently for a while, and then Olivia whispered: "El?"

"Mmhm?"

"I… Given the circumstances we are in, I am pretty happy right now. Do you know why?"

"I'm all ears."

Then Olivia rose to her elbows and leaned over Elliot. Tears glimmered in her eyes when she pressed her lips to his and whispered:

"Because you're here with me."

The starry sky glittered above them as they closed their eyes and kissed each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yeah… I thought it was time for a fluffy scene, because they deserved it after all they have come through. Calm before the storm I could say…
Also, we are slowly approaching the end of the story but don't worry, there are still a few chapters about to come.
Thank you again for all the reviews!