A/N: Thank you all again for the favorites, reviews, etc. As I've mentioned before, I have written a few chapters later in this fic and I am now just working towards connecting them with what I have already. Thank you for all of your insight and for sticking with me through this little lull. I'm sorry about the delay in posting-I've had a little bit of writer's block.

Chapter 34

Break

The ride back to the city was tense: Olivia took about 6 phone calls from Elliot, 2 from Kayla, the hostess at Serena's, and finally heard from Max as they reached the cusp of the city. From what Alex could tell, there was a break in and Max was at the hospital. Before she could get the whole story from Olivia, she pulled up to the restaurant to see a few remaining police cars and Elliot standing among the broken glass. The car had barely stopped when Olivia opened the door and jogged to her partner—Alex got out and stood a good distance away, as she thought Olivia might need some space to process this.

"El." Olivia placed her hand on Elliot's back, causing him to turn and pull her into a hug.

"I know this probably isn't how you wanted to come back, but it's good to see you. You look…well, Liv, you look great." Olivia smiled sadly into Elliot's shoulder as she felt him beckoning Alex over. "Alex, thanks for taking such great care of my partner here. You both look well rested. Sorry to pull you back early for this."

"El, it's ok. I need to be here. Anyway," Olivia moved away from the embrace and began to talk business. "So, I know we talked a few times, anything since then?"

"Not too much. They took Max to the ER—he should be fine. Kayla is here in the back, she's got a pretty big bump on her head, probably a concussion, but other than that she's ok. They were the only two here."

Alex saw Olivia's eyes take in the scene: the large window in the front was broken open into a thousand pieces on the sidewalk, the tables inside were overturned, and the general state of the restaurant was in shambles. Alex stepped in and asked Elliot what had happened while Olivia entered the restaurant, looking around like a lost child.

"Guy broke in, Kayla thinks it was the guy who came to fix the computer systems earlier in the week. Looks like he tried the lock…" Elliot jingled the front door handle, showing Alex that it was still locked. "And then threw this crate through the window." He pointed to a large metal crate, like the types that hold newspapers on the street, lying amongst the wreckage inside the restaurant.

Olivia heard this explanation and approached with wide eyes. "Computer system? Why didn't he call me? Why would he have someone else come out here…?" Olivia's eyes filled with tears as Elliot put his arm around her shoulders. She silently shook her head as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Liv, listen, there's nothing you could have done. He probably just didn't want to bother you. Everyone is ok. Nothing is hurt—and you have insurance on the place, right?" He continued, attempting at a bit of humor, "You better have insurance on this place after how great I made it." Elliot smiled and gave her a light smack on the back, as a small smile appeared on her face.

"I need to see Max. Do you know what the damage is, business wise?" Olivia was looking the shambles of the interior over as she asked Elliot and Kayla, who had just appeared.

Kayla was a small teenager, from the looks of her she couldn't have been more than 16. She wore tight blue jeans and a white sleeveless blouse, and her long blonde hair bounced as she made her way towards the group. She had a large bandage wrapped around her head and as soon as she spotted Olivia, she ran to her with open arms. Olivia took her in an emotional embrace and cradled the teen, who cried into Olivia's chest.

"Kayla it's ok. Are you ok? Have you called your parents?"

"I'm ok. I called them and they're going to meet me at the hospital. I'm so sorry, Olivia. I wish I could have done something…stopped him or something." She broke down into Olivia's arms, the strong detective cradling the teen close to her breast.

"It's not your fault, Kayla." Olivia kissed the top of Kayla's head and motioned toward the waiting ambulance. "You really should go. I'll be by to see you and Max in a few." Kayla walked toward the ambulance and got in, with some help from an EMT. Olivia watched sadly as the ambulance drove away and turned her attention to Elliot.

"So, what? Is this our case or no?"

Elliot rubbed the stubble on his chin and looked towards Alex. "Well, we got called in because your name is on the emergency and insurance paperwork. They know you're at the 16th, so they called us. Technically, I guess it's not really our case, but I think they'll let us poke around for a little bit. Get whatever you want now, because they won't let us, and especially you, be involved."

Olivia walked around inside, checking her safe places for valuables, and everything seemed to be in check except for the money—all of it. Alex walked up behind her and spoke softly. "Hey…you ok?" She delicately placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "I'm so sorry Liv. I hate that this happened. Is there anything I can do?"

"It's ok." Olivia's voice was soft, almost breaking as she spoke. She opened each cash drawer, throwing her hands up as she found each box completely empty. "It's gone…it's all gone."

Alex approached her behind the counter and put her hands on the detective's. "Baby, it's ok. Once you call the insurance, it'll all be taken care of. We can have the place roped off by the police and they'll process the scene and get the guy. I know it's hard to think about, but try not to worry too much about it." She said all of this with a sympathetic look on her face, trying to hold it together for Olivia. She knew it must be hard: Olivia had worked on this place with her two bare hands and it really was the only standing reminder of her mother that she had—a place where they always got along and where they both understood each other. "I'll help you Liv—with whatever you need."

Olivia turned and smiled sadly at her girlfriend. "Thanks Al. I just need to wrap my head around this. I need to step out and make a few calls. I'll be back soon." She placed a soft kiss on Alex's cheek before pulling her phone out of her pocket and walking out the front door.

Alex found a stray chair and sat down, taking in the scene in front of her: Olivia was pacing back and forth speaking to the insurance company while Elliot was directing the responding officers. Alex looked at the shambles of the restaurant around her and couldn't help but get a little emotional thinking about the memory she and Olivia just made there a week or so before. She couldn't imagine the pain Olivia must be feeling—not only because of the headache of all of this business-wise, but because of how hard she worked to preserve a good memory of her mother through this restaurant.

"So you made her cut her hair?" Elliot's voice startled Alex and she turned in the chair to face him. "Hey! Before you go off, I'm just kidding!" They both chuckled as Alex turned her attention to her beautiful detective, pacing on the phone. "You know, I always liked her better with short hair anyway…why the change?"

"I think a lot of it had to do with the injury—putting it up was just too hard and it wasn't really worth the trouble. I think she could probably do it now, but she was just getting frustrated and it wasn't worth her being so upset about." She paused for a few minutes and admired Olivia before speaking again. "Besides, I always liked her better with short hair too." Alex thought it was nice that she and Elliot had developed a bit of a friendship because of Olivia, and they both recognized the warm feeling of trust and loyalty to one another blossoming.

"Make sure she takes some time to relax. I know she'll want to go see Max and take care of all of this, which is fine, but I don't want her to over do it. She's supposed to come back to work Monday, right?"

"Eager to get her back? I know she has missed it."

"Yeah. I've missed her. She keeps me honest."

"Really? That's interesting, detective. I'd like to think you're honest all the time." Alex playfully slapped Elliot on the arm as Olivia approached, running a hand through her hair.

"Ok. I need to go see Max. I want to talk to him. Do you want to go?" Olivia held Alex's arm as she spoke, looking into the attorney's eyes. "You don't have to if you don't feel like it. I can have El take you back to…uh…" she paused, not sure how to rephrase exactly whose apartment he would be taking her to, but before she could finish forming the sentence, Alex interrupted.

"Of course, Liv. I'll go with you." She smiled at her girlfriend and Olivia sadly winked back. They both said goodbye to Elliot and Olivia thanked him for taking charge and calling her. Olivia spoke with the responding officers and gave them her card so they could call her with details. Minutes later, Alex and Olivia were in the car on their way to the hospital.

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"Max, I just don't know why you didn't call me. You know I can fix that." Olivia spoke to Max as the nurse stitched his head. From what Alex could tell, he needed stitches on his forehead, chin, and hand, and his hand was wrapped in heavy bandages. She sat in a chair a few feet away from the two of them, not watching the nurse stitch up Max.

"Olivia, I wasn't going to call you back into the city for something that would just take you away from that beautiful woman over there. It wouldn't have been worth your time, honestly." Max motioned to Alex and tried to smile through the pain. "I know you could have fixed it. You've done it before, but I just didn't want to take you away from your time off for something that would probably only take you a few minutes. Don't feel guilty—nothing was destroyed, everything can be fixed, and no one was really hurt. Everything is fine, Olivia. Please. Just don't worry too much."

Olivia listened to Max and finally gave in to his reasoning. "I know Max…I know." She sighed and ran her hand through her short hair. "I just wish you would have called me." The nurse finished the stitches and exited the room, leaving the three of them alone. "So, Kayla said she thinks it was the guy who came to fix the computer—did you get a good look at him?"

Max sighed and raised his hands as he spoke. "I really didn't get that great of a look at him, Liv. He was wearing a ski mask and we were closing up so there weren't many lights on. I heard the glass break and ran to the front to help Kayla. I saw him hit her and knock her to the ground when he started taking the money from the open drawers. So, I ran towards him and tried to catch him when he turned on me and knocked my head against the bar. I think I blacked out because when I woke up Kayla was over me with napkins on my head. That's when she called 911 and the cops showed up."

Olivia took in all of the information and slowly replied. "Ok. Are you ok, Max? I know that can be traumatizing. Thank you for taking care of everything the way you did." Olivia paused and lightly squeezed Max's hand before continuing. "So, I called the insurance and they said as soon as we have an estimate of the damage I can inform them and then we can go from there. For right now, just try to relax and get better, ok? Is Crystal working? Can she take care of you?" Olivia thought it was odd that she hadn't seen Max's fiancé but she kept odd hours, as she was an emergency veterinarian.

"No, she's at home sleeping. I didn't want to call and wake her up. She had a few surgeries yesterday and an emotional night—she had to put down one of the clinic's puppies that was really sick…Olivia, don't even start!" He noticed that the detective was going to read him the riot act so he preemptively stopped her. "You would have done the same thing. Plus, I'm fine. I will see her in a few hours…Go home, Liv. I'll call you if I need anything."

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Alex stood in Olivia's bathroom, staring at herself while she brushed her teeth. She could see the detective eyeing her from a distance and felt immensely loved. Alex knew that she couldn't love Olivia anymore than she already did, and felt so lucky that she knew that Olivia reciprocated that feeling. She wiped her face on a towel and exited the bathroom, standing in the doorway for a minute before speaking with a sly smile on her face. "Whatcha looking at?"

"You know, it's always great to be with you on the beach, or walking around in the city. I love seeing you in your green bikini, or in sparkling dresses, but what I think I love the most is seeing you in only a way a lover would see you…" Olivia paused and Alex put her glasses back on her face, making her way into the bed next to Olivia. "I mean, who else would know that you use two types of moisturizers and that you prefer Aquafresh to Crest? I just like seeing you do normal stuff—is that weird? It's like, when we get marrie—IF we ever were to get married, I'd be the only one to know that little, personal information: your favorite cereal, what side of the bed you prefer, your favorite towel."

Alex smiled and cuddled into Olivia's side. "No, I don't think it's weird. I think it's sweet." She placed a kiss on Olivia's neck and snuggled into the detective, wrapping her arms around Olivia's torso. "Liv, I'm so sorry about everything that happened earlier."

"It's ok. I know it's going to be a long road, but at least no one was hurt. The loss of income from the next few weeks is going to suck, but we can make it by. Thanks for being there with me."

"No problem baby…but, I was wondering…" Alex's voice trailed off and Olivia turned her head towards her girlfriend, raising her eyebrows in anticipation of the unasked question. "Did you get another degree or something while I was gone? Why were you so upset with Max for not calling you to fix the computer?"

"Oh, yeah I guess you wouldn't know. Well, don't be too shocked, but for a little while I left SVU and went to computer crimes." She said it so matter-of-factly that Alex sat up in bed and looked squarely at her.

"What? When? Why?"

Olivia chuckled a bit. "It's not funny, but your reaction is priceless." She took a deep breath and continued. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but Elliot and I had reached a point where we both cared about each other more than we cared about the job and it almost got us both killed on one case in particular. But…" Olivia yawned and looked at the clock. "That'll have to wait until tomorrow. Besides, we have an extra day off before we go back to work, so we can move you in tomorrow."

They both smiled as Alex lay back down on Olivia's chest. The last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was the smell of Olivia's cool citrus lotion, and the feel of her soft cotton t-shirt. She knew she could get used to falling asleep like this every night, laying softly atop her lover.