So here is chapter 6. It's past 3am now so while I've checked over this since I wrote it a while back, please forgive any minor mistakes. I was gonna wait until I've started writing chapter 9 but then they graced us with THAT selfie and I got some inspiration. I'm gonna stfu now and let you read, idek if this made any sense.

As always, thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter, they always make me smile. I still sadly own nothing, but the show would probs be a lot worse if I was in charge haha

~X~

Nick grinned as Olivia rushed out of her building, trying to pull her jacket on and tuck in the end of her belt at the same time. It wasn't going very well. By the time she reached the car, the belt was sorted but she still only had one arm inside the jacket. He couldn't help but tease her about it when she finally pulled it on properly and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Good night?"

Olivia shot him a half-hearted glare as she ran a hand through her tangled curls in an attempt to tame them. "Great thanks, why'd you ask?"

"Well for one, you have a nice big hickey, just above your sweater there. Second, your hair is a mess. And third? You sounded like you were having a hell of a time on the phone earlier." Nick told her as he pulled out into the traffic.

Olivia groaned and covered her face to hide her embarrassment as she tried not to laugh with him. She should've known better than to think Nick would've missed what was going on, or that he would ignore when he realized. The man had supersonic hearing and he lived to wind her up. She was never going to live this one down. Ever. She finally let out a laugh and shook her head at him as she squinted in the mirror in an attempt to see the hickey in the dark.

Nick chuckled at her as she swore under her breath at the dark purple mark on her neck. He reached into the back seat and grabbed his black scarf, tossing it into her lap. She put it on, for once grateful that her partner's car was essentially just a rolling closet at times.

He turned to her at the next stop light with yet another shit eating grin on his face. "So, I've already apologized for interrupting your night. But it was date night, right? So tell me, how'd it go?"

Olivia smiled happily. "It was lovely. He took me to this little Italian place near our old precinct, it was the first place we ever got takeout from as partners.I didn't even think he remembered. So we had dinner and he knew I was stressed about leaving Maureen with Grace, especially when she has work in the morning, so he got the dessert to go. We ate and watched my favorite movie, which I didn't even know he knew, I really underestimated how much attention he pays to the little things..."

"Then he rattled your brains until I interrupted, right?"

Olivia laughed. "Something like that."

He eyed her for a few moments as they pulled up outside Mercy and climbed out of the car. "On the first date, Benson? I thought you were better than that!"

Olivia's laugh attracted a few confused stares as they entered the ER and she lowered her voice a little as they approached the desk. "Nick, I already have a five month old baby with him, I think we're past caring about sex on the first date. Besides, a fourteen year build up kinda negates the need to get to know him, don't ya think?"

Nick spoke to the nurse behind the desk and she simply pointed to the busy waiting room and told them someone would be out to take them to their vic soon. "You were careful, right? I mean, you already got Grace by mistake. You ready for round two already?"

Olivia gasped in amused shock as they moved to a couple of hard plastic chairs. "Hey, just because you waited a million years between kids doesn't mean everyone else has to!" she looked at him and shrugged before giving him an honest answer. "To be truthful, we weren't. I mean, we haven't talked about it but there are worse things than a baby. I always wanted kids close in age and I'm not getting any younger. With that being said, though, we're trying to take things easy. I'm not sure getting pregnant again so soon is taking it easy... I managed on my own with Grace, I can do it again if I have to. But regardless of what happens with us, he won't turn his back on his kids. I'm sure of that."

Nick gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. If the things he'd heard about Elliot Stabler and his connection to Olivia were true, there was no way she'd be abandoned if she did end up pregnant again. If anything Elliot would be in the squadroom chaining her to a desk until after the baby was born.

"He's good for you, Liv. I'm glad you had a good night, and I'm sorry I had to call you. Just remember whatever's meant to be will be."

Before either of them could say anything else a nurse appeared to take them to their victim, putting a stop to their conversation. Olivia knew her partner was right but despite everything, she was scared that Elliot would take off again if she ended up pregnant again this soon - especially before they'd had a chance to talk about it. Really, she supposed, she should've thought about that before, but it was a little late for that now.

~X~

"I need coffee." Olivia groaned and rolled her shoulders as she and Nick entered the squadroom close to eleven hours after they'd arrived at Mercy the night before.

They'd been at the hospital all night, taking statements from three different girl from the same group of friends. They'd been attacked by members of a frat house from a rival school. Olivia had sat with each of them through the rape kits while Nick had spoken to the parents, the doctors and the nurses. They were both exhausted already, but there was no time to take a break.

"Ask and you shall receive."

Olivia whipped around at the voice only to see Elliot standing in the doorway with a tray of coffees in hand. It was an odd sight, seeing him in the squadroom after so long, especially with Nick standing beside her. She watched him hand out the coffees until he got to her and Nick last.

"Wasn't sure what you drank so I asked Cragen. He said one of these." Elliot handed a canned energy drink to Nick before he placed the last large coffee in Olivia's hands and kissed her cheek.

Olivia sat, slightly stunned as Nick thanked him and moved to sit at his desk. She was surprised at the pang of nostalgia that hit her when Elliot came to lean against her desk, looking down to her as she savored the scalding hot coffee. She missed working with him every day but she knew now it was better this way. He was less stressed, less angry all the time. He looked happier and no longer walked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And she'd much rather things as they were now, building a relationship with him, having a family with him than before, when he was with Kathy and they disguised their feelings for each other behind the job, forever toeing the line of what was acceptable for two people who were supposed to be just partners.

He shrugged when she asked what brought on the need to do a coffee run for the whole squad. He'd even called Cragen to find out what Nick would want. He remembered what it was like to be called out before falling asleep, only to spend all night at the hospital and the next day if not the next week running on empty, and figured that they could use something that wasn't Munch's 'coffee'. A small part of him also wanted to check in with her, see how she really was after last night. If she was worried that they hadn't used protection, it was easy to hide behind a simple text message, but face to face he'd have a much better idea of how she was feeling. He was glad to see that she didn't seem bothered about the events of the night before, he knew if she was that seeing him would unsettle her and instead she just looked tired.

A scowl fell over her face when her desk phone rang and she shot Nick a thankful smile when he reached over and answered it for her. She thanked Elliot for the coffees and promised to keep in touch, he told her he'd take Grace for the night, if she wanted to come to his place whenever she got off work, she was welcome, and if she just wanted a night of undisturbed sleep, he was fine with that too.

Olivia smiled as she watched him go. She wasn't sure what she'd done to be lucky enough to be given this new and improved family man version of Elliot, but she sure as hell wasn't about to complain. What she was going to complain about, though, was Nick telling her that one of the girls from the hospital wanted to change her statement. With only a little bad language, she grabbed her coffee and sulked toward the door to head back to the hospital, leaving her similarly grumpy partner to follow after her.

~X~

It had been a long month. It had taken longer than she cared to admit, but they had finally managed to get the truth about what happened out of the girls. She was sure they were raped, but they'd changed their stories so many times since their initial statements that all credibility they once had was shot. Barba was reluctant to take it to trial but the boys were refusing any and all deals offered to them. She'd been less than impressed when Elliot had told her he had a workout planned for her that he wouldn't let her skip, but in the end it had done her some good and she felt a little better after taking her frustrations out on the gym equipment.

Work wasn't the only thing weighing on her mind though, and the sooner she talked to Elliot about it the better. But she had a day off and she'd promised him that it was as good a day as any to finally have her introduced to Eli as his dad's girlfriend. Elliot and Kathy had done their best to explain that while he and Grace shared a dad, it was possible to have a sibling with one different parent. It had taken a while but in the end he'd come to understand that just because his dad was starting a new family, that didn't mean that his was over. He'd met Grace a while ago when Elliot had been looking after her, but it was only now that he had made the connection that Grace's mom Olivia was the same Olivia that had saved him and his mom when he was a baby. Now he was excitedly telling his school friends all about his baby sister and her superhero mommy.

Olivia took a deep breath as she listened to Elliot thank Kathy for dropping Eli off and Eli's excited questions about his sister and Olivia. From what she'd heard from Elliot and the older kids, Eli was delighted to be a big brother and was desperate to teach Grace everything he knew. She scooped Grace off of the bed and held her on her hip as she moved through the apartment toward the sound of Eli's excited rambling.

Elliot grinned when Eli clocked Olivia's arrival, stopped mid-sentence, and took off in her direction. He wrapped his arms around Olivia's legs and hugged her happily while she bent down and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. When he finally released her, she followed him to the couch and helped get Grace situated in his lap. She sat back and beamed happily as she listened the the young boy telling Grace about everything that had happened since the last time they'd met. When he was finished he looked up and Olivia braced herself for the wall of questions she was sure was heading her way.

Instead, Eli looked her over quizzically quietly taking her in for what felt like an age. "Daddy said you guys used to work together. He said you were a very good partner who kept him safe, and that when I was smaller than Gracie, you saved me and mommy when the car crashed. My mommy and daddy said that you're daddy's girlfriend, like his partner at home instead of work now, and that I have two families now. Do you love my daddy, Livia?"

Olivia nodded at him with a kind smile. "I do, honey. I love him a lot."

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do." Olivia felt tears sting her eyes. He'd sounded confident enough asking the question but Eli's face was the picture of uncertainty. "I love you and your brother and sisters, I'd do anything to keep you guys all safe."

Eli's face lit up. "Do you like dinosaurs?"

Olivia laughed at his sudden change of subject. "I do like dinosaurs. Are they your favorite?"

Eli nodded and launched into an explanation of each and every toy dinosaur he'd brought with him for the weekend. Elliot stood back and watched the scene with a full heart. He knew Eli would love Olivia. He was five years old, so long as he was cared for and had access to dinosaurs, he was happy.

~X~

Olivia looked up as Elliot returned from putting Eli to bed. It was later than they'd intended, but after Grace had gone to sleep they'd gotten carried away watching Eli's favorite dinosaur cartoons and playing with his toys, even though he claimed only Olivia could do the voices right. They'd spent the day wandering around the park taking pictures of Eli's toy dinos in different places and positions and some of him and Grace so he could show his friends at school on Monday. By the time they'd gotten home, everyone had been starving and after dinner the plan had been bath time then bed. Eli had only gone to sleep after Elliot promised that Olivia and Grace would both still be there in the morning.

"He loves you." Elliot told her as he dropped onto the couch beside her and pulled her into his side. "He's head over heels."

"I took a pregnancy test today." Shit. It wasn't what she'd meant to say and it definitely wasn't how she'd intended to bring up the topic but she'd said it now. And Elliot had frozen.

"What, uh, what did-"

"It was negative." Olivia cut him off and she could swear she felt him deflate at her words. "It was more of a precaution than anything else. We weren't exactly careful, and it only took one shot last time. So I wanted to be sure."

Elliot nodded. They hadn't spoken about it since. She'd been swamped with work and he was hesitant to add to her stresses in any way. He figured that since she'd brought it up that now was as good a time as any to finally broach the subject of more kids.

"How you feeling?"

Olivia shrugged. "Okay. It's not like we were trying. Grace is only just six months old. Full disclosure here, I'd love another baby, and I always wanted kids close in age, but we don't have to rush into it right away. I'm happy to wait a little. You already have five kids. Plus Grace."

He looked down in an attempt to meet her eyes but she was resting her head on his chest and showed no signs of moving soon. "Liv, I want nothing more than to make you happy. So if more babies is what you want, more babies you shall get."

"What do you want, Elliot?" She sat up and looked him in the eyes, the last thing she wanted was to force him into extended fatherhood, especially when the majority of his kids were beginning to settle into adulthood themselves.

He sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair. "If it was up to me? You'd already be pregnant."

Olivia laughed at his blunt honesty, and she thought her heart might explode at the look he was giving her. His eyes were so full of love and she knew he was telling the truth. She wasn't sure what to say but she knew her soft smile would reassure him.

"Move in with me?" Elliot's question hit her like a ton of bricks. It wasn't bad, just unexpected. When he felt her tense but realised that she hadn't gotten up and fled the building, he continued. "We can take our time to look around, find an apartment or a house or something with enough space for all of us. Like you said, we don't have to rush this, any of it. But if you wanted to start trying for a baby tonight and house-hunting tomorrow, then that's what we'd do. I'll take your lead here, Liv. I want to be with you all the time. It might sound selfish, but I'm tired of running backward and forward between apartments, I want to be there when you come home at night. Every night, not just when I've got Grace."

"Okay." He'd expected her to put up more of a fight but she agreed. And she'd done so without terms and conditions. When he looked over to her again she was smiling brightly and he pulled her in for a soft kiss.

"I love you, Liv."

"I love you, too, El."

I think this turned out to be a little bit of a filler than anything else. Nick & Elliot will meet again properly in future chapters, don't worry this isn't it for their first interactions. Feel free to stalk me on twitter at mhargibenson, tbh I use it as more of a random thought dump than anything else. Let me know what you thought :D